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.

Two waves of scientific, random sample surveys by a leading independent firm, show that UC Berkeley students support this project by a 2:1 margin.

As part of our commitment to full transparency, you are invited to review:

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, former Berkeley City Council member Rigel Robinson, former Berkeley Vice Mayor Lori Droste

Read the SF Chronicle's editorial supporting the People's Park Housing project.

Read why Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín, former City Council member Rigel Robinson, and former Vice Mayor Lori Droste, support the People's Park Housing project.

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

We solicited extensive public feedback regarding our plans for People's Park.

When our public engagement process began over three years ago, we started with small and individual meetings to discuss the site and consider opinions about the future from a variety of perspectives. The next phase of engagement included focus groups with the architects and representatives from the campus and city communities, to formulate site layout options and project concepts. This was followed by large open house events open to the general public. Each successive open house introduced ideas, tested concepts, and allowed everyone to share their thoughts and ask questions directly with the project team. There have also been numerous opportunities for public comment on the project and its environmental review.

Throughout this process, we listened carefully. Feedback from students, faculty, staff, city leaders, and neighbors has helped to shape and improve the finalized plan and to create a visionary project that is a win-win-win-win for the campus and the community.

Some of the people and groups we’ve presented to and met with about this project:

  • Mayor Jesse Arreguín
  • Vice Mayor Lori Droste
  • Councilmember Kate Harrison
  • Councilmember Rigel Robinson
  • Jacquelyn McCormick, Chief of Staff to the Berkeley Mayor
  • Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks
  • State Senator Nancy Skinner's staff
  • City of Berkeley Housing & Community Services Staff
  • City/UC/Student Relations (4x6) Committee
  • Vedanta Society Berkeley
  • Student Advisory Committee to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
  • Student Advisory Council on Undergraduate Education
  • First Church of Christ Scientist
  • Berkeley School of Theology
  • UC Berkeley Transition Planning Committee
  • ADA/Section 504 Compliance Office
  • Telegraph Business Improvement District (TBID) Board
  • Berkeley Design Advocates
  • Le Conte Neighborhood Association
  • College of Environmental Design Students
  • Associated Students UC (ASUC)
  • Graduate Assembly
  • Homeless Service Providers
  • Park Advocates and Historians
  • Southside Safety Committee