Lea Hireche, a junior at Berkeley High School, shared how in the past there hasn’t been a sense of safety when it comes to Downtown Berkeley. “(I’d suggest making it) feel a little safer there, because a lot of times there’s a lot of violence going down,” said Hireche. Hireche offers a solution to decrease this violence and increase safety through “taking better care of the streets, and maybe (implementing) cleanups.”
BHS senior Joseph Casely-Hayford had a creative perspective on how to improve Downtown Berkeley. “I think there should be Afrocentrism,” Caseley-Hayford said. Afrocentrism focuses on the influences of Africa or cultures of African origin. According to Casely-Hayford, this would be the first step to strengthening the Downtown Berkeley community by encouraging the expression and exploration of more cultures.
Jonathan Ziem, a junior at BHS, shared his idea to make Downtown better. “There are not that many parks or green areas,” Ziem said. According to Ziem, Downtown could use more areas where students can go to have lunch and a place to be after school. Ziem also described how there is a large population of unhoused individuals in Downtown Berkeley. “The city could do something to help (unhoused) people,” Ziem said.
Walter Sha, a BHS freshman, described how, after the sun goes down, there isn’t a lot happening for high school students in the area. “I feel like there should be more nightlife,” Sha shared. While Downtown Berkeley does offer places to eat, finding ways to prioritize the overall liveliness of the city during the evening could help increase Berkeley’s sense of community, revitalizing the spirit of downtown.