UC Berkeley student housing
Encyclopedia
Housing at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

consists of student housing facilities run by the office of Residential and Student Service Programs. Housing is also offered by off-campus entities such as fraternities and sororities, and cooperatives (see "See Also" section).

UCB Housing and Dining facilities

When first built in the 1950s and 1960s, the "highrise" buildings of Units 1, 2, and 3 consisted of four buildings surrounding a common ground-level dining area above a mail room, recreation room, and office structure. Units 1 and 2 have many of the newest residence hall buildings, which are intended for continuing and transfer students.

Each nine-story building is named after alumni or faculty and were originally designed for single-sex occupancy and configured with a ground floor lobby and recreation room. Each of the eight floors have approximately 15 14x14 ft. rooms, plus a single large bathroom with lockers, sinks, toilet stalls, and shower stalls. Each room on the floor was a double, except for the rooms at the buildings' corners, which were triples. Even numbered floors had laundry rooms, and odd numbered floors had floor lounges(essentially two adjoining rooms with the wall removed).

Units 1, 2, and 3 have since become co-ed, and all of the bathrooms have had their stalls renovated to improve privacy. Other changes from the original 1950's configuration of Units 1 and 2 include:
  • 4th floor lacks a laundry room (converted instead into a double)
  • Most courtyard-facing rooms are double-occupancy, outward-facing rooms are generally triples
    • except rooms for hall staff (housed on even-numbered floors) and those modified for potential disabled person
      Disability
      A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...

      s use (found on the first floor of certain buildings)
  • The individual dining commons for Units 1 and 2 were replaced by a new larger one called Crossroads located on the block
    City block
    A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...

     separating the two Units
  • As a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake
    Loma Prieta earthquake
    The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time...

    , additional cross bracing was added to the exteriors of the highrise Unit 1 and 2 buildings.


All units usually have an unannounced fire drill
Fire drill
A fire drill is a method of practicing the evacuation of a building for a fire or other emergency. Generally, the emergency system is activated and the building is evacuated as though a real fire had occurred...

 some time during the first few weeks. While the administration has stated that the drill is intentionally unannounced to test the readiness of students, it has been criticized that the unannounced fire drills can disrupt student activities.

The residential dining commons are operated by Cal Dining.

Unit 1

The main buildings of Unit 1 are located at 2650 Durant Avenue, but the facility includes a few satellite locations as well (denoted in italics).
  • Channing-Bowditch Apartments
  • Cheney Hall
  • Christian Hall (opened 2005)
  • Deutsch Hall
  • Freeborn Hall
  • Ida L. Jackson House (formerly known as College-Durant Apartments)
  • Putnam Hall
  • Shorb House, 2547 Channing Way
  • Slottman Hall (opened 2005)


Crossroads is the dining facility serving Units 1 and 2.

Unit 2

Unit 2 is located at 2650 Haste Street.
  • Cunningham Hall
  • Davidson
  • Ehrman Hall
  • Griffiths Hall
  • Towle Hall (opened 2005)
  • Wada Hall (opened 2005)


The resident professor for Unit 2 is George W. Chang
George W. Chang
George W. Chang is a professor and a resident faculty member at the University of California-Berkeley. He resides on campus with his wife Abby, while he is currently an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology....



Crossroads is the dining facility serving Units 1 and 2.

Unit 3

The main buildings of Unit 3 are located at 2400 Durant Avenue.
  • Beverly Cleary Hall (opened early 1990s, formerly Haste-Channing)
  • Ida Sproul Hall
  • Norton Hall
  • Manville Apartments
  • Priestley Hall
  • Spens-Black Hall


Until 1994, Manville Hall was a part of Unit 4 and was the only residence hall directly on the main Berkeley campus. It primarily housed law, graduate, and upper division students and, as such, was known for being relatively quiet, the occupants of the 1992-1993 academic year being a notable exception. It has since been renamed Simon Hall and converted to office use for Boalt Law School. A new "Manville Apartments" building was built near the corner of Channing Way and Shattuck Avenue. Like its predecessor, housing priority for this facility is given to law students.

Café 3 is the dining facility serving Unit 3, and after being closed for the Fall 2006 semester for major renovations, it reopened in Spring 2007.

Bear Market is located adjacent to Cafe 3.

Unit 3 does not have laundry rooms in the residence halls and instead has a centralized laundry room for use by Priestly, Ida Sproul, Norton and Spens Black. It is located underground in the central building.

Bowles/Stern/Foothill/La Loma (Unit 4)

  • Bowles Hall
    Bowles Hall
    Bowles Hall is an all-male residence dormitory at the University of California, Berkeley, world renowned for its unique traditions, legendary parties and camaraderie. The dormitory was the first residence hall on campus, dedicated in 1929, and was California's first state-owned dormitory...

     is the first UC Berkeley residence hall on campus; established in 1928. It is the only all-male residence hall currently in existence (Deutsch Hall being a former one). Bowles Hall is infamous for its location directly above the Hayward Fault Zone
    Hayward Fault Zone
    The Hayward Fault Zone is a geologic fault zone capable of generating significantly destructive earthquakes. This strike-slip fault is about long, situated mainly along the western base of the hills on the east side of San Francisco Bay...

    . The University claims that living there was a great experience for students, filled with tradition and fellowship. Bowles Hall was once ranked as one of Playboy
    Playboy
    Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

    magazine's top-10 college parties during Halloween, however the university within the past few years has cracked down on this activity. Currently, the residence is being courted by the Haas School of Business
    Haas School of Business
    The Walter A. Haas School of Business, also known as the Haas School of Business or simply Haas, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley....

     to become housing for scholars and business professionals who visit Berkeley. There was a great deal of opposition to this plan and since then the school has backed down from that decision.


In recent years, Bowles Hall was heavily considered by Haas School of Business as a potential site for housing members of its executive education program, but was in 2007 denounced. This residence hall is like a fraternity, with many of its residents staying all four years. However, in 2005 the university decided to limit Bowles to freshmen because of complaints that it had become too raucous and was jeopardizing the learning environment.

Stern Hall
Stern Hall
Stern Hall is the name of several buildings, including:*A University of California, Berkeley dormitory Stern Hall *An alternate name for Carnegie Hall's Isaac Stern Auditorium...

 is the all-female residence hall on campus.

Foothill was completed in 1990, and consists of the Hillside and La Loma complexes.

Due to its variety of accommodations, Foothill residence halls are the most expensive to live in. Unit 4 is the only unit to not be certified ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a law that was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush, and later amended with changes effective January 1, 2009....

 accessible.. Recently, in an effort to forward the ADA notion, the Foothill Bridge was installed. The bridge extends from Foothill-La Loma over the road to Foothill-Hillside. There has been controversy surrounding the installation of the bridge, issues that it does involve include helping to alleviates any potential risk for students and students with disabilities when they cross the busy intersection that their residence hall borders.

Unit 4's dining facility is named after Foothill.

Clark Kerr Campus (Unit 5)

Clark Kerr Campus is a Spanish mission
Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style was a United States architectural stylistic movement that came about in the early 20th century, starting in California and Florida as a regional expression related to history, environment, and nostalgia...

 style residential complex located 5 blocks southeast of the main UC Berkeley campus.

History

Clark Kerr Campus was constructed in 1869 as the State Asylum for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. It was used by the California Schools for the Deaf and Blind until 1980, when the schools were forced to relocate after the complex was declared seismically unsafe. Following the school's relocation, a large debate occurred between the City of Berkeley and UC Berkeley. The city wanted to continue the tradition of using the site as a location for affordable housing for the needy, while the university wanted to expand its residential housing. A court decided on the issue, giving the majority of the site to the university, and granting 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) to the city for nonprofit use. UC Berkeley opened the site as a residential complex in 1983 and named it Clark Kerr Campus in 1986, after the first chancellor of the university, Clark Kerr
Clark Kerr
Clark Kerr was an American professor of economics and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley and twelfth president of the University of California.- Early years :...

. In the same year, the city of Berkeley founded Redwood Gardens, a home for financially needy elderly people. On September 21, 1981, Clark Kerr Campus was designated a Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

 Landmark (#42) and in 1982, Clark Kerr Campus was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 (#82000962).

Clark Kerr Campus commonly houses over 500 students during school months. It features several residential buildings that contain dormitory style rooms and suites. Along with the residence halls, the campus also has a pool, sand volleyball area, tennis court, jogging track and a dining commons. The Claremont Hills overlook the campus and are a great place to hike. From the top of the hill, next to the secluded and run down jogging track, one can see a beautiful outline of the city of San Francisco. The college is updating the campus, several buildings at a time.
Construction on half of the Clark Kerr campus was completed in 2009.

Channing-Bowditch

Channing-Bowditch is a resident hall only open to upper-division and transfer students. The building houses 226 students in 57 apartment units spanned across 4 floors. The benefits of living in 'Cha-Bo', as students refer to it, is its close proximity to campus (2 blocks) and offering residence hall living without the 'dorm' feel and the otherwise obligatory meal plan. The complex boasts a laundry room, 4 study rooms, a student lounge, bike racks, and more. Construction for the building was completed in 2003.

Family housing

Students with families are eligible to live in University Village's East or West Village, and in the Smyth-Fernwald development.

University Village

University Village is a housing community for married students. It is located within the city limits of Albany
Albany, California
Albany is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. The population was 18,539 at the 2010 census.-History:In 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping of Berkeley garbage in their community...

 about two miles (3 km) northwest of the main Berkeley campus. The demolition of older buildings and their subsequent replacement with new, more expensive apartment units has prompted student protests. The Village Residents Association, a funding and advocacy group in University Village, filmed a video documentary regarding the lack of affordable student family housing in June 2007. Smyth-Fernwald is scheduled for demolition in 2010.

Smyth-Fernwald

Smyth-Fernwald is within the City of Berkeley. It is about a ten to fifteen minute walk to the main Berkeley campus, on the southeast side of the Berkeley campus. The complex has two and three bedroom apartments, and houses 74 families.

The complex includes a Multipurpose Building. The western section contains offices and a community center. The eastern section was abandoned. In 1999, due to creep structural damage and safety concerns, some complex buildings south of the multipurpose building were demolished.

The complex is within the Berkeley Unified School District
Berkeley Unified School District
Berkeley Unified School District is the public school district for the city of Berkeley, California. Its administrative offices are located in Berkeley's old city hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Way between Center Street and Allston Way...

. On July 13, 1994 the district adopted its current zone maps. Smyth-Fernwald is within the Southeast Zone. Students in that zone may be assigned to Emerson, Le Conte, Malcolm X, and John Muir. The complex is zoned to Willard Middle School. Berkeley High School is the sole zoned high school in the district.

In 2010 the Berkeley Daily Planet
Berkeley Daily Planet
The Berkeley Daily Planet was a free weekly newspaper published in Berkeley, California.The paper was politically progressive, and offered endorsements of progressive and liberal to left leaning candidates....

stated that the university scheduled the remainder of the complex for demolition.

Theme housing

Theme housing provides an academic residential environment for students who share an interest in a particular cultural theme. Students who are a part of these theme programs take a class that explores the histories, language, and literature of the respective groups and work closely with their sponsoring academic department. Students must apply for theme housing. There are currently six theme programs at Cal and their locations, denoted in italics, are listed below.
  • African American (AATP) - Unit 1, Christian Hall
  • Asian Pacific American (APATH) - Unit 2, Cunningham Hall
  • Casa Magdalena Mora - Unit 3, Beverly Cleary Hall
  • Global Environment Theme House (GETH) - Foothill
  • Unity House - Foothill, La Loma
  • Women in Science & Engineering - Foothill
  • Native American (NATP) - Unit 1, Slottman Hall

International House

The International House (or I-House) is located along Piedmont Avenue, right where Bancroft Way ends. It is home to many of the University of California Berkeley's international students, with half international and half American residents. The International House is an independent, self-supporting non-profit organization that has close associations with the university. International House Berkeley officially opened on August 18, 1930. It was the largest student housing complex in the Bay Area and the first coeducational residence west of the Mississippi.

See also


External links

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