Summer is winding down and the kids are back at school, but Rockridge is still rockin’ as Rock-N-Stroll returns to College Avenue on August 22 with tons of art, music, and fun for all ages. This is a great way to support the community of businesses, artists, and musicians who call Rockridge home—and remind us all why we love living here. Be sure to visit us at our information table located near Market Hall.
While we wait for final applications to be submitted for the two proposed luxury senior housing projects, we continue to come to grips with the reality that decades of building and rebuilding in a place where there’s no “there, there” has made our hamlet full of $1m+ homes. Housing, once considered an essential need like food and clothing, has instead become a luxury item sold to the highest bidder, leaving most people underserved.
Are homeowners who bought in when Rockridge was affordable and stuck it out when property values dropped as a result of the construction of BART and Highway 24 in the ’70s responsible for today’s affordability crisis? Or, is this a veiled distraction from acknowledging the policies that allowed the affordability chasm to grow unchecked in the first place? We need to fight to change the new state laws instead of blaming the elderly for wanting to age in place.
Meanwhile, in this, our 16th edition of Rockridge Voice, we congratulate dNaga on celebrating 25 years at Dancespace on Hudson, and we welcome Enssaro Ethiopian Cuisine to the eclectic mix of College Avenue restaurants. Read these articles and more as we continue to highlight the diversity of voices in our neighborhood.
Rockridge Voice has chosen to keep all of our content free, accessible to everyone who is interested. We believe that a connected community is a stronger community, and we thank you—our readers, paid subscribers, contributing writers, and our sponsors—for believing in our vision and purpose.
Anna L. Marks
publisher/editor
Highlights of Today’s E-Newsletter:
One Mile. Twenty Bands. Fifty Artists. Rockridge Rock-N-Stroll Returns August 22
More than Fifty Artists on Display at Rock-N-Stroll
More than Twenty Musicians Rockin’ It at the Stroll
dNaga Celebrates 25 Years of Dance that Connects and Heals
New Location, Same Authentic Ethiopian Cuisine and Warm Hospitality
Wait, there’s more…
James Rojas
Guest Author
Guest Author
Anna L. Marks
Guest Author
Can Rockridge Learn from Paris?
By Molly Porter
Recently, I was surprised to learn that Paris has a smaller footprint than San Francisco (41 versus 49 square miles) and houses 2.6 times more residents (2.1 million versus 800,000)…
Letter to the Editor:
Conversation, not Demolition
By Diane LaMacchia
I am very concerned about the proposal to demolish the Rockridge Trader Joe’s at 5727 College Avenue and replace it with two towers up to 31 stories—with no replacement grocery and zero affordable homes, on a block where the height limit is 95 feet…