This week, berkeleys City Council Unanimously approved the first step of opting in to a new state law, which gives people the ability to buy an adu or accessory dwelling unit known as a backyard cottage. Sometimes theyre as small as 500ft■ s. They can be as big as 1000ft■ s in the city of berkel, but any size of a backyard cottage is typically smaller than a Single Family home here, so we expect the sale price to be lower as well. According to zillow, the average price of a home in berkeley now sits at around 1. 5 million. Thats why rashi kesarwani, a Berkeley City Council member, spearheaded bringing this proposal to the city council. A lot of times its, you know, existing homeowners who had an opportunity to buy a home when they werent as expensive, you know, so we want to give that opportunity to the next generation. East bay realtor shaniqua badger says it opens the door for more essential workers who cant afford to live where they work. Teachers should be able to buy where the