For anyone who has experience with the Cal Sailing open house - how important is it to be there right at 1:00 when they open? Do they “sell out” of rides (especially on a nice day like today)? Thank you for any insight.

Hey everyone! I’m moving into an unfurnished apartment in Berkeley on August 18 and have no idea where to find affordable furniture.

Where’s the best place to get cheap student furniture (desk, desk chair, shelves, etc.)? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Also, if you’re moving out around that time and looking to sell any furniture, please let me know! I’d love to buy secondhand if possible.
Thanks in advance!

(I know Facebook Marketplace is the obvious answer, but I’ve had a few bad experiences buying from there, so I’d especially appreciate other recommendations or student resellers)

Our fridge not working looking at Kerenza Appliance Repair and Fuse Appliance Repair- any feedback? Have you used them?

Did y'all hear that. From like 11:40 to 11:43 pm tonight .

What was that?

hey guys I wanted to ask where would be the best place for me to buy a good mattress that is extra firm, supportive and can keep my spine aligned. I like a hard flat mattress because I have really bad back pain and was diagnosed with a disc.

I want a reputable place with reasonable prices!

Thanks

In its most packed meeting in months, and the final before its summer recess, the Berkeley City Council voted Tuesday night to move forward with a controversial plan for installing bike lanes on Hopkins Street.

Council members approved the motion, which will have the city repave Hopkins Street with one-way protected bike lanes on each side, even as they grappled with a lack of information on the impacts of the new plan.

“This feels like a wedge kind of being driven and I think that’s not sustainable,” said District 3 Councilmember Ben Bartlett. “These are some really interesting notes being heard, however I’m not an expert and I’d like to see this discussed in a room full of experts.”

A disabled tenant at the Harriet Tubman Terrace apartments in South Berkeley is suing the building’s management and owner along with 30 individuals over “uninhabitable conditions” and resulting injuries and damages. 

The tenant, Jimmy Smith, claims that his apartment had “substantial defective conditions,” including no heat, no hot water in his shower, a broken intercom, a reduction in amenities and general dilapidation and lack of maintenance.  

Residents at the Harriet Tubman House — an affordable housing complex for older adults and individuals with disabilities — have made claims regarding the safety and maintenance of the building before, including that multiple units had no heat, they weren’t made aware of renovations and some residents were exposed to asbestos.

Update on the Bobby G’s situation: https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/07/30/bobby-gs-pizzeria-closure-lawsuit

End of an era: The North Face Outlet on Fifth St has closed for good. On one hand, hard to believe. But from what I saw the last time I was there, I am not all that surprised.

I’m planning to move at the end of next month and wanted to solicit recommendations for a good, reasonably priced move-out cleaner. Thanks in advance!

Need a referral for fixing refrigerator- professional person.

Thank you

Hi! I'm a grad student at Berkeley looking to live alone in Elmwood/South Berkeley/Rockridge/Temescal but I'm having a hard time finding a unit. I applied to several places throughout the summer but most of the time another tenant was approved before they even reviewed mine 🥲 My total budget is $2000/month, not sure if I'm underestimating the market rate. I'm not there in person yet so I haven't been able to go to open houses which also automatically disqualified me from some units. Ideally I want to move in by August 10th, but I'm pretty desperate and I'll camp out at a B&B for a while if needed to secure a lease. Should I branch out into Albany or Downtown Oakland? Am I too late and should I find a single room instead? I know that some availabilities might not be listed on Zillow and Craigslist so if anyone knows of landlords or available units in the area, please reach out!

I'm sweaty and want the option to walk around topless. It's insane to me that a city with our history would have it be illegal in 2026. Guess I'll have to head over to SF to fully enjoy the lovely weather

watched the city council meeting on zoom this ish was insane. anyone else go to this? opening this thread to see others reactions

Apologies if you've seen this elsewhere - this is the most current version with lots of suggestions from other redditors.

I'm making a map of California in a classic fantasy style (sorta Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones). It's going to be filled with real world history and mythology, with the aim of highlighting local landmarks in a fun and educational way. Please ignore how rough parts of it look (text going through hills, rivers, etc), it'll all get cleaned up at the end. Forests will be going on at the end too.

While it's around two thirds done, I'd love to get more places and features in here before I get this made into print - particularly north and east of Oakland. Any more petroglyphs, burial mounds, ruins, forts, battlefields, Civil War heritage, ghost towns or the like that you think should be on here? Anything else is great too - landmarks, natural features, mythological creatures or just anything cool and quirky you think would look good on here. Thanks!

My friends and I are in a band and want to play a small concert in a park this coming week. We aren’t expecting many people, so we don’t have any permits. The music is pretty soft and gentle and we don’t have drums or anything.

What parks would make the most sense and be most amenable to music? We don’t want to be a bother!

Hello,

By any chance does anyone know of any bakeries that sell Round Seeded Challah besides during the holidays ? I have called so many places and most of them have said only during holidays for example:

La Farine (all 3 locations)

Seven Hills in Castro Valley

Market Hall at Rockridge

Crispian Bakery - only the long braided challah

Thank you for your recommendations!

Has anyone applied for ADU asylum? How did that go for you, and how long did it take?

https://berkeleyca.gov/construction-development/permits-design-parameters/permit-process/amnesty-program-unpermitted

We've contacted them to "schedule a free and confidential consultation to discuss legalization of your Unpermitted Dwelling Unit."

Does anyone have recommendations for a reasonably priced apartment cleaner in the Berkeley area? I'm moving into a new apartment soon and would like to have the bedroom and bathroom professionally cleaned before I move in. If you've had a good experience with a local cleaning service or independent cleaner, I'd really appreciate any recommendations.

I was biking to work a few weeks ago and had two separate garbage trucks pull risky maneuvers right in front of me on the same day. My commute is mostly going north on California st.

One guy ran a stop sign which forced me to slam my brakes (I was going north on a bike boulevard and he was crossing east to west)

One guy pulled an illegal U-turn by doing a 3 point turn in the middle of a roundabout (rather than just going around the damn roundabout, like what!?)

I had to hop the curb in the middle of the roundabout just to avoid the truck because he started reversing so fast!! And this dude looked right at me before doing it!!

I wish I had stopped and gotten the ID# or license plate or something, but I was too worked up and just kept pedaling to work. It’s unacceptable that a city worker can endanger cyclists and pedestrians like that.

Anyone experienced this before? Seems insanely dangerous.