Student and community support for People's Park Housing.

We have taken an important step to ensure we are listening to the full range of representative student perspectives regarding housing issues in general, and plans for People's Park in particular.

In August 2021, the campus engaged Qualtrics, a leading independent survey firm with extensive experience helping student voices to be heard on university campuses across the country. Qualtrics conducted two waves of scientific, random sample surveys of UC Berkeley undergraduates and graduate students at a 99% confidence level and 3% margin of error.

Results from the initial survey showed that UC Berkeley students supported the People's Park project by a 56% to 31% margin even before being provided with basic, unbiased information about the project's four main elements (student housing; supportive housing; preservation of 60% of green space; commemoration of the park's past.) Once informed about those elements, the survey found that project support among Berkeley students grew to a 64% to 24% margin, with 68% specifically supporting the construction of student housing on the site.

Qualtrics conducted a second, identical survey of students in May 2022. The results showed student support for the People's Park project growing to a two-to-one margin (57% to 27%.) Then, after being provided with basic information about the transitional housing and new daytime drop-in center being provided for unhoused people in the park, the survey found that project support among Berkeley students grew to a 62% to 27% margin, with 73% specifically supporting the construction of student housing on the site, and 70% supporting construction of supportive housing on the site.


Plans for a vibrant new future for People's Park have gained support from the mayor, members of the city council, the media, our neighbors, local churches, faculty experts and professionals who have dedicated their lives to helping and supporting unhoused people. We are grateful for their endorsements.

The park has played various symbolic roles in the last 50 years, and today, it is time for it to play yet another — one that includes housing and support for the homeless, green open space that honors the park’s history and dense student housing. We are committed to guiding that transition.
Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín, Berkeley City Council member Rigel Robinson, former Berkeley Vice Mayor Lori Droste
I strongly support the university’s vision for the future of People’s Park. We can honor its rich history, while reimagining it as a place where all people can come together, where we can shelter our homeless and provide needed housing for our students.
Jesse Arreguín, Mayor, City of Berkeley