Here's Berkeley, California: Home To The Snobby Liberal Elites

[@NickJohnson]

Here's my entire California playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLq-_cmf3H6yomU5rB6yOC5C9hr0Qnkf1l

[@kskufan]

Yuri Bezmenof said the goal of ideological subversion is to change the perception of reality of every American, to such an extent that, despite the abundance of information, no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves, their families, their community and their country.

[@cjcorallo5775]

@@wgb_jd you don't know much about politics bud

[@matthennagersguitarlessons]

@@wgb_jd You live in Berkeley Bill?

[@wgb_jd]

@@matthennagersguitarlessons No, I live in Canada now.

[@Ben-jq5oo]

@@wgb_jd spot on! 🇦🇺🏳️‍🌈

[@systemicsystems336]

@@Ben-jq5oo his father's jeans instead of unloading in his mom, he should've been....

[@TheEntireWuTangClan]

Berkeley CA: The place where people with "Coexist" stickers on their Prius will give eachother the middle finger for driving too slowly.

[@TheEntireWuTangClan]

Also the place where people with Luxry cars will avoid eye contact with people begging for money in the Wholefoods parking lot on their way back to their 1.5 million dollar house with an "Everyone is welcome" sign in the front lawn

[@NickJohnson]

This is too good!

[@07wrxtr1]

@@TheEntireWuTangClan "We just need Love"

[@Maki-00]

Sounds like a South Park episode!

[@philmabarak5421]

@@07wrxtr1 At least those are signs with positive sentiments. And way more than not the attitude of most of them align with their signs. In comparison, I remember the positive bumper stickers of proud parents and their honor students. Those that are INTIMIDATED by successful people apparently need to ridicule and demean others as their bumper stickers in retaliation read, "My student beat up your honor student." How utterly pathetic and disgraceful this country has become with zero fortitude.

[@jeffhayes3522]

This is one of the all-time best guests you have had! She speaks the undiluted truth.

[@NickJohnson]

She's awesome!

[@07wrxtr1]

@@NickJohnson Nick - I could talk to her for HOURS!!!! I hope you can do a part II.

[@wgb_jd]

There was quite a bit of BS in there. As if anyone was shocked that she didn't do yoga, or admonished her for playing tennis. lol Come on.

[@Lisa59]

@@wgb_jd I think she was just sounding off. She seemed like she felt her neighborhood was full of snobs

[@cynthia8343]

@@wgb_jd I agree, lol!

[@tubercelli]

You do a really great job on all your videos- you report accurately and adding the interviews is great too. I don’t think people appreciate enough how good your videos are- and the huge amount of volume of places that you review is impressive too. Thanks for your output. Keep up the great efforts.

[@NickJohnson]

Aww ok Joseph

[@tubercelli]

Y’all are welcome. Northcakalaky

[@CheapCharlieChronicles]

The town looks nice. Universities are big business.

[@Thefonz94]

Of course it's nice it's Berkeley

[@stevensmith2085]

With homelessness lining the streets … real nice

[@stevensmith2085]

Actually a ton of WANT to be homeless

[@JohnDoe-ph2we]

Brainwashed kids is definitely big business

[@M3spooni]

Berkeley(besides the hills) is a shithole.

[@carmel_coco]

I was born in the early 80's @ kaiser hospital and, taken home to Berkeley, California. Berkeley is my home town and the mid 80' and 90' were great. I LOVED my childhood and my hometown played a huge part in that. I grew up in a hodge podge so to speak, every child played together. I grew up on the south side and, alot of my relatives owned there homes but we were rich. I played at school and, the parks with some of the more wealthy kids but, some how NEVER felt inadequate or was made to feel inferior. As an adult most of my years have been spent in Oakland,pinole and las Vegas and, i feel being raised in Berkeley helped shape me into a woman who is able to connect with people regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or "class". So in the last year ive taken a job a the university so im in Berkeley on a regular bases which i havent done in say the last 23 years. I must say my heart is broken by the Berkeley i see today. I have NEVER felt outta place or even experienced any type of "racial tension" until NOW. Ive had some HORRIBLE things yelled to me while walking to my car from work 😢. I feel like the people look down and turn up their noses a lot now. I feel even a lot of classicism walking through the city and the students are a whole nother story. I get the " wit are u doing around here look a lot. Its SAD!! My grandfather fought in the Korean war, and then bought his family a home in Berkeley in a wonderful area( right across from the ashby bart station). This is NOT the place he settled in i dont recognize the place. Of course there are so many other issue i could get in to. I apologize for such a long post but, if u mad it all the way to the end, THANK U.

[@safeandeffectivelol]

Sounds like the typical progressive place

[@sjackson1739]

I can relate. Lived in Berkeley for over 30 years. Very similar experience and attitude. I find it stressful and anxiety producing now. 😢

[@garyfrancis6193]

“there homes”? outta place”? “wit are you doing”?” If u mad it all the way”? You might learn to spell.

[@hectorfarm9416]

That would be a good topic. "The snobbiest cities in America."

[@NickJohnson]

I did it once kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2THm6Kkh5ejl5Y

[@ab8588]

Neoliberal cities

[@sayten5512]

Carmel Indiana

[@msudoc]

Cary, NC

[@j.cristinamendivil660]

PALO ALTO, CA IS BY FAR THE MOST ELITIST/SNOBIEST UNIVERSITY CITY ON THE WEST COAST...I grew up & graduated from CAL, moved to Seattle, was accepted for graduate school at the Univ.of Washinton with a diploma, worked in King County, returned to Berkeley, because I was hired by Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., Facilities Engineering, Industrial Engineer, lived in PALO ALTO...Yes, I had to take courses at STANFORD U., at night --horrible & dangerous campus for women! NO RESPECT not even for PALO ALTO PD!

[@penjamin_benjamin]

Very interesting video. I moved here last year as my partner attends UC Berkeley and I am attending CSUEB. I moved here from a low income neighborhood in Sacramento which was quite a difficult adjustment for me. I am grateful that I am able to wake up and experience such a city, it has really opened me up to a lot of different people. I live on southside and honestly, the homeless in Berkeley are some of the most chill people compared to people who are homeless in other cities. Yes, the elitism is brutal, however, you can choose to not participate in their mindset which is a very humbling experience. As my girlfriend and I were both raised in poverty, we are greatly looking forward to the outcomes of our education and hopefully we can create a better future for ourselves.

[@lisao6928]

Partner ...you're probably straight

[@GeoScorpion]

I saw the title and was kind of afraid of what I'd find. I was pleasantly surprised. It's a good analysis. Thank you.

[@jauntily]

Katrine is the best guest Nick has had on this channel so far. Relatable and articulate.

[@NickJohnson]

I know top 5 for sure!

[@stephendenney7349]

I wish he had brought on a guest with a different view so we could see more than one perspective. Her experiences and observations are different from mine.

[@raulingaverage]

Love her input on YIMBY-methodology

[@patlynch6517]

She got a smile - more than once - out of Nick! Great video!

[@eastbaykidd8574]

@@stephendenney7349 All you have to is spend a few hours in Berkeley talking to the locales and the "different view" will be quite apparent.

[@johnwallace2697]

These two whiteys have a very typical but flawed understanding of the Bay Area. Berkeley has wealth disparities just like every big city in America. This is amplified by the tech industry here. But saying Berkeley is full of elitist liberals is so far from the truth. Most people I know who live in Berkeley are poor lower- middle class non white people living in a diverse place with lots of opportunity. This is actually a wonderful place, and it is way more accepting to black, Latinx, Asian, middle eastern, lgbtq+ people than most places in USA. There’s a huge difference between liberals who make 250k+ per year and those who are poor. Often rich “liberals” will vote for conservative measures because of financial incentives, such as voting down corporate tax in Silicon Valley. I voted for the tax because I believe the corporations making the most money here should pay the most taxes. In reality all rich here are far more conservative than liberals, especially when it comes to money. At the end of the day, that’s where the line is drawn. You may vote democrat for the president, but locally if you’re voting for conservative measures than you’re actually a conservative.

[@harrykaant]

This channel is filled with comments of people looking to affirm their bias yet ironically it’s also filled with “oh yeah this is just like my city __________” I wonder if it ever leads them to dig deeper than shitting on homeless and libs.

[@Oxalissss]

You are the only intelligent person in this entire comment section that I've come across. Kudos.

[@denverdubois5835]

I inherited my mother's house in Berkeley but after some consideration, sadly decided to sell it because Berkeley isn't the funky, friendly place it used to be. I mean...there were a lot of homeless in the '80s, crime too, but it was concentrated in the downtown and mostly just panhandling and petty thievery. The homeless didn't LIVE on the sidewalks. The rest of Berkeley was still edgy, rebellious and gritty, but it was beautiful too. We used to take walks on the campus as if it was a park, and the parks were great too--especially the Rose Garden with its scenic views of the Bay. But Berkeley was also a blue collar town and affordable. We paid $175 a month for a two bedroom in the mid 1970s. And Berkeley was cool, mellow and, you know, cosmic--the hippie thing, before it went bad and became the weird "me generation" ego trip this video's guest speaks of so eloquently. When I was little, my student babysitter used to do card readings for me and read me stories from "Seth Speaks". Then we'd watch "In Search Of" together and talk about aliens, lol. No lie! Perhaps the ultimate "old Berkeley" thing was a guy on Essex Street, who, since the 1970s, had a mysterious free communal hot tub in his backyard that, if you played your cards right, you could get the gate code to--but if you were male, you could only visit as the guest of a female. It was an honor system and one transgression got you banned for life. No sex, no booze, no drugs, and no bugging women. Astonishingly, this worked--and well--for decades. I went there myself a few times. It was super heated to keep the chlorine content minimal; I couldn't stay in for long but it was so incredibly peaceful. My friend Dana and I would go late at night on warm evenings. The dude's yard was full of huge redwood trees, like a small forest. You could sit on various little benches there, chatting, or relax in the tub. When other people showed up, they'd nod in a friendly way, maybe talk to each other. Nobody acted creepy that I ever saw. There were even nice showers, and you were politely asked to rinse off before using the tub. Everyone did. Now, it's a different world. The global elite presence in Berkeley is actually frightening. The mayor's Antifa ties, domestic terrorist and elementary school teacher Yvette Falerca of "BAMN" (By Any Means Necessary), the presence of Soros and his son in town (the son, Alex, is a Berkeley graduate and lives in Berkeley still, last I heard.) Notice how there aren't really violent demonstrations actually IN Berkeley anymore? Ha. There's a lot of darkness in Berkeley that was never there when I was growing up. Then, it was just disgusting People's Park, occasional creepy government activities on the campus and at Lawrence Lab, and some street people with drug problems. Now the nastiness is festering everywhere just beneath the surface. Berkeley used to be a town full of hard-working ordinary people, bright-eyed young students, pioneering intellectuals and eccentric professors. There were beat era coffeehouses, the best used bookstores outside of NYC and London, jazz musicians, street poets, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Saturday night at the UC Theatre. There were writers, dreamers, yoga teachers, potheads, hot tubs, legendary "Top Dog" hotdogs, and fondue restaurants. Now... it's tent cities, trash and blight by the bay and multimillion dollar homes in the hills, and angry progressives and professional radical agitators plotting the demise of America as we know it. It's real estate investors, weapons research creepers, yuppies and limousine liberals swanning around the overpriced cheese shops--didja know the word "yuppie" was invented by Alice Kahn, a Berkeley writer? It's the one percent hoarding wealth and power over their pricey dinners at Chez Panisse--didja know that Panisse's owner, Berkeley icon Alice Waters, is buddies with James Alefantis of "Pizzagate" notoriety? You can't make this shit up. Berkeley has become everything it used to decry and fight against. We've gone from "Subvert The Dominant Paradigm" to leftist authoritarianism worship and "I bought the new Tesla". (20 years ago it was "look at my Mercedes", 10 years ago it was "look at my Prius"...and when I was a kid, it was "look at my VW bus! We're driving it down to Baja to surf this summer!" See the progression?) My late mother went to college at Berkeley in the 1940s because it was a good public university she could afford. She got a decent job and supported her widowed mother. She loved Berkeley, lived there her whole adult life and never wanted to leave. I'm glad she can't see the tent cities and fields full of garbage now. She would cry. That hot tub owner I mentioned, the one who let strangers use his tub for free, 24/7? After 40 years of simple hippie generosity, he closed up shop. Why? Because mtf trannies attacked him for treating them as biological men and not allowing them unfettered access to his hot tub. That pretty much says it all. The Berkeley my mother and I loved is effectively dead. Thanks for doing this video, man. Nice job.

[@NickJohnson]

Wow what a comment! I used to love In Search Of

[@nigelmarshallkenyonabbott8684]

When does your book come out?

[@rrrobeltnest7295]

This is the most intense truthful holding back nothing comment I’ve ever read thanks for putting it out there.

[@theresaroda]

You reminded me of so many memories of Berkeley and said it like it is now, so eloquently.

[@traincore1955]

I stopped reading when you said you inherited your parents house If that ain't peak Berkeley idk what is 🤦

[@jlh505050]

Please don’t call them “elites,” much to their satisfaction. Call them something else, more derogatory and appropriate. Any ideas? Thanks.

[@Jordan-zj9oe]

Oligarchs

[@puesbien]

Indoctrinates

[@kskufan]

I like to call them the predator class

[@Jordan-zj9oe]

@@Nggrngr YES, GROOMERS!!!! OPERATION OK GROOMER. MUCH love NATE!🤙

[@hogma]

Kooks

[@MH-be6hr]

Hi, Nick. I grew up in Berkeley and Oakland in the sixties and seventies. I have also lived in New Jersey (near Rutgers University) and Provo, Utah. Hot news flash: people in identifiable communities often are intolerant of outsiders, be they from a different locale or have a different mindset. They will insist that they are not intolerant of people not like themselves while doing the exact opposite in their daily lives. People circle around what is valued and important to them, what is sacred to them, and fight fiercely to protect those values. They fear outside ideas because they seem attractive on the surface, but often hold hidden down sides. Both conservatives and progressives/liberals and radical leftists do this. Neither side has a monopoly on this human shortcoming! Different groups of people perceive that they have different vital interests to protect, and tragically, these vital interests are often diametrically opposed and pitted against each other. Berkeley's Free Speech protests of the '60's, Oakland's Black Panther protests and riots of the '70's, and the January 6th Capitol Hill Insurrection have more in common than many people realize!

[@igotstoknow2]

The vast majority of dysfunctional cities are controlled by anti-God people - mostly Dems.

[@jackjohnsen8506]

all those kids who rioted were from Rich Families, and are now CEO's in the very people they claimed to hate's corporations..Polo anyone?

[@maryrobby7134]

THis is all so true and I went to Cal 25 years ago. So so true. All of it. There is one thing with being relatively liberal and then there is a mismanagement of accountability. Things for sure need to change here in California

[@CaptainGyro]

@Big Dick Black It's the weather that is the driving reason for people to be happy in California. In comparison, save Hawaii, weatherize the rest of the USA is a horror show. I've lived or visited extensively all over the USA and the weather outside California makes paying the extra dividend worth it, even with the forest fires.

[@honkhonk8009]

@Big Dick Black I live in Canada, and visited California. I was stunned that people even call it a first world country to begin with. Anaheim smells like litteral cowshit. They setup factory farms right next to residential areas. The zoning is completely fucked, and is designed to inflate housing prices too. Then I went to texas, and the vibe was so much different man. The weather is nice, the people are so fucking chill, and Houston reminded me of a Vancouver suburb. Diverse community, big emphasis on freedom, responsible gun culture, and actually normal zoning laws and shit. They aint joking when they say that Texas is the new cali. If I ever get an American citizenship or some work visa, ik the state im moving to lol.

[@Rhaspun]

@@CaptainGyro I'm enjoying it here in California. I grew up in Stockton and went to college at SDSU. Worked and retired in the SF Bay Area. I'm now thinking of moving to Orange County or San Diego just because of the better weather they have during the winter months. I don't have any issues that make me feel like I have less freedoms.

[@cheesewithxbread]

Who calls it Cal? 🤣🤣🤣 I'm a lifelong Californian, and high cost of living is trending across the US. That's why people are being displaced in Texas and Florida

[@Rhaspun]

​@@cheesewithxbread Cal? Even sportscasters who don't live in California know that "Cal" means UC Berkeley.

[@willasage23240]

I appreciate all the hard work that you put into these videos!

[@tomhansen6450]

I worked at UC Berkeley from '97 until 2011 as a manager of some of the performance venues there. Probably my most memorable "non-event" was when Fox News contacted the university in 2007 about having a Republican Presidential primary debate at our main auditorium. I attended a meeting with probably 15 or 20 people from the chancellor's office, UCPD, University Relations, and a bunch of other departments, and I recall someone from the press office saying something to the effect of, "We can't do that here." When asked why not, they replied, "because this is Berkeley and they're Republicans." I laughed and said, "Oh, I thought this was the place that prides itself on being the birthplace of the free speech movement." The discussion continued, but ultimately it was decided that their space requirements were going to involve shutting down an adjacent building, which we couldn't do because the date they were looking at was in the middle of finals week on the campus. And while I'm pretty liberal myself, I thought it would have been a great experience, although I couldn't help but think that the only reason FoxNews wanted to do it in Berkeley was so they could cover what would have inevitably been an enormous shitshow, if not at the debate itself, then in the surrounding streets where protests would often spontaneously erupt with considerably less instigation.

[@ronyeahright9536]

I find it so odd that liberals have so many characteristics in common with some of the most despicable people in history, yet they try to portray themselves as being so open, inclusive and compassionate. They have the tolerance and open mindedness of dictators like Stalin and Castro, rolled in together with the compassion of the Taliban. And I'm not joking.

[@tessslakimmo7750]

Woke bullies turns every state into shit state

[@eastbaykidd8574]

You noted that bit about how a good portion of the locals in Berkeley have an entitlement mentality and have no problem making decisions for others...

[@eastbaykidd8574]

"And while I'm pretty liberal myself, I thought it would have been a great experience" - You sound like an old-school liberal, the type of person you could sit down with over coffee or a beer and have a civilized, productive discussion. In that sense you remind me of people like Laura Menard, a prominent Berkeley liberal who I have great respect for in her attempts to deal objectively with issues such as crime and homelessness. Unfortunately, too many people in Berkeley today are either foaming, flaming lefty loonies or those cowed into submission, afraid to say anything that might not be in accordance with the Accepted Narrative.

[@ripple947]

As a 20 year resident and property owner -- a 2-bedroom condo that seemed overpriced even back then -- that was interesting. I've driven every bit that you drove hundreds, thousands of times, except for driving through campus like that. The beginning and a later stretch are actually in Oakland. There's a whole lot more including the Gourmet Ghetto, the hills, the flats, etc. The furthur west and south towards the bay through the flays the less affluent. Although those more modest properties are very pricey now of course. And while Katrine does describe a common attitude it's not quite so monolithic. You may or may not know that a few months ago they came in and surrounded People's Park with a wall of shipping containers. Yes, the long-overdue student housing is going to happen, along with low-income housing and a memorial to the park's history. We have homeless and crime here but it's not nearly as bad as Oakland. The current pro-Palestinian protests have been peaceful thus far. And actually, while Cal Berkeley led the way in student radicalism, our other institutions have long caught up and in some cases surpassed it, so it doesn't really stand out in terms of politics. A very large percentage of the student population is Asian, and they tend to be focused on their studies and not political activism.

[@pancakeface2570]

The guest speaker is absolutely amazing! I think I felt a tickle of happiness in my black hole of a soul.

[@theresaroda]

The lady commenting gave a fair representation of Berkeley. I'm 66 and was born in Oakland but have lived in Berkeley most of my life. You drove around the Southside my neighborhood for the last 12 years. It's the most affluent with amazing beautiful homes, some being mansions. College Ave. which is heavily traveled turns into Oakland. I live in an apartment, not a house by the way. You didn't cover the Northside or Hills but attitudes are much the same. Forget about buying a home in Berkeley for those locals of my kids generation. As the lady said unless you have inherited money or wealth you can not buy a home. You will be renting, and that's becoming limited to multiple roomates. In the city where the supposed free speech movement was born, if you don't agree with the narrative you keep your mouth shut. There isn't enough housing for everyone who wants to live here because it continues have people from the East Coast and other countries like China come and they're also the ones with the money. Berkeley has THE BEST VIEW of the Bay. It's beautiful and does have the best year round weather. Additionaly, in the last ten years, "The University" has become a huge business continuing to add thousands more students from other states and other countries because they pay more. Peoples park which was never pretty, has been an ugly drug den dump for as long as I can remember. Student housing should be built there. People have become insensitive to the homeless, mostly addicts and the mentally ill. The increase in crime, worse then ever since the pandemic has been contributed to by the "no accountability" policy of the local judicial system. Those that can see the obvious, like myself are starting to rethink the way they vote but still feel that they can only express this, in comments behind the anominty of the lap top screen because, you will be vilified by the trolls and the self righteous herd that have nothing better to do but continue their narative.

[@richardmorris7063]

There was a time where people didn't express who they voted for usually.And generally speaking whoever got elected was given a fair chance to turn things around.Maybe we should go back to those times...yea probably too late!!!

[@towaritch]

The same " pacifists" that would now like Russia be bombed to ashes.

[@dharmaram7527]

People often overlook how much influence out of state transplants have contributed to the cultural decline in California. Every city in Cali have absorbed massive rise in liberal transplants. IMO it has contributed to the absurdity of failed progressive policy that has destroyed the cities. As an example from afar, Portland is a great example in how much transplants can take over the culture from locals and completely transform it and not for the better. I recommend checking out his video on Portland with interviews from some native locals that talk about this.

[@theresaroda]

Absolutly!

[@cynthia8343]

@@dharmaram7527 Berkeley has always been a hub for liberalism long before any liberal out of state or out of country transplants came, that was part of the attraction for newcomers, UC Berkeley. California in general.

[@gritsngranola]

I'm a native Nor Cal girl; born and raised. And boy oh boy have I seen the changes. To me the whole state is turning into one big BerZerley!

[@jessecolombatto8184]

Bezerkeley

[@gritsngranola]

@@jessecolombatto8184 you mean what I know! :D

[@gritsngranola]

@@gardensofthegods Thanks. Your statement rings true throughout CA. Its makes me sad. I wonder if other communities across the country are having the same issues....😏🤔

[@ab8588]

Rich hippies became the new right?

[@gritsngranola]

@@ab8588 or the rich hippies "sold out" lol

[@emt5330]

As James Hetfield once said : " They are into diversity, but only as long as you are diverse like they are."

[@lisao6928]

I remember that interview and didn't understand what he meant until I moved to the Bay Area. I didn't stay long.

[@user-or6yn8pm3c]

The woke NYC crowd is mad about immigrants now. The same pricks harping for 6 years how no one is illegal and wore deport Trump and racists now want the migrants gone.

[@arlosmith2784]

That's Berkeley: Liberal elitism. ⚖️👎

[@Jordan-zj9oe]

NICK I love your little jabs to the hypocrisy. This guest was really awesome and nice. Thank u for comin on and being very nice and polite

[@davidallen6653]

I grew up in Morristown, NJ and went to college at UC Berkeley in 1989, left there in the early 90's and been trying to get back ever since. This video really resonates with me due to the Jersey to Berkeley perspective. 32 years later and after living in the Deep South for 26 years and Phoenix for 5-1/2, I had a job opportunity in Tech in North San Jose the end of March 2024. Wow, has this place changed. The haves and the have nots are way more extreme than back in the 90's. Crime in the Bay Area is off the charts. SF I wouldn't even consider living over there as I used to. I liked the neighboring town of Albany and my friends inherited their homes from family members. I could not afford to live in the area. San Jose rent was $3800 /mo for a 2br, 2ba last week and too risky to move with the 750,000 + tech layoffs in the past year in the Bay Area. 41, 000 of that number so far this year. I stopped short on my move back up there after having boots on the ground and will stay based in Phoenix. The funniest comment in this video, "the biserkeleys now drive Teslas". in my day there I had my Vintage Beetle and my 84 Fiero out there. I have a VW ID4 EV currently, lol.

[@KittyCarlile-490]

I lived in the bay area in the 90s and drove to Berkeley nearly everyday. My husband (ex) was an electrical engineer and made good money. Time goes on, we get divorced, he moves to Seattle and I move to Phoenix where I had lived in the 70s. I traded the bay area for the desert and I want to go back but here I am many years later. I can't afford it.

[@ShonnMorris]

Berkeley's my hometown. Most of the footage at the beginning of this video is actually in Oakland, Rockridge, and Temescal to be exact. CA-24 at Telegraph Ave. is in Oakland. You can see the 66th street sign has the Oak Tree on it which is Oakland's logo. You crossed into Berkeley when you crossed Woolsey St. The Smokehouse is on the Berkeley (north) side of the street. The south side of that street is Oakland. Other than this, I agree with this. I love my hometown but damn they can be so one-sided and not open at all to other points of view. To answer your question; yes the elitism has ruined the old Berkeley. I grew up there and was a teenager in the 80s. A lot of that old Berkeley was still there then. It isn't anymore.

[@Regenold-o4y]

I , grew up there in the 60's through 80's Berkeley is My Town 🎼 🪕

[@Regenold-o4y]

Dwight Way

[@ShonnMorris]

@@Regenold-o4y What about Dwight Way?

[@fabulousfloydstanton6202]

I grew up in Berkeley in the 50's. Moved out in 1963 to a nearby city when my parents sold their house for $18,000. They had purchased it for $3,200 in the 1930's. That home is worth a $Million today! We are becoming a country of a few rich people and everyone else poor. Ugh! I moved out of California in 1993. Nothing looked familiar in the video, things have changed sooo much! I wouldn't have even known it was Berkeley if they didn't say so!

[@raytree]

Actually there is a split. Homeless people were always here. You being rich is the problem. More of people like you is the problem

[@fabulousfloydstanton6202]

@raytree Lol. I'm far from rich! I'm a lot closer to poor! Were you a resident of Berkeley in the 50's? If not, you shouldn't contradict me!

[@debbied9501]

That's pretty much how all of California is. Except for ag area...I lived in Nor cal 35 years but couldn't stand what became of it. I moved out in Oct 2021 back to realism. Back to east coast...

[@stephenwilson1622]

Important to note that the vibe in Berkeley varies from neighborhood to neighborhood. My family moved from Oakland to the "Poets Corner" area of Berkeley two years ago and have found an accepting, culturally and racially diverse community of people. Our apartment is small and expensive, but the community more then makes up for it with most routine destinations within biking or walking distance. I bike to drop off my daughters to school, take the BART to work, and can walk to the grocery store, and dispensary on the weekends. All while its sunny and mid-60s. Not a bad situation. The places I've encountered the attitudes described in the video have been in the "Gourmet Ghetto" and up towards the hills. This video is clearly trying to communicate a single idea, that although true.....ain't the whole story.

[@pyrettablaze86]

Hey bro, instead of the dispensaries which hella rip people off, hit me up. My small business is failing BAD thanks to COVID and competition like the pot clubs. I'm not far from homelessness despite my rent only being about $750 per month, whereas before COVID we were making over a grand every weekend without fail.....

[@barb2793]

I agree. I am in Berkeley as well. Most of the elitist snobs here are not originally from Berkeley, but from NY, NJ (like this lady), Chicago, etc. Lots of stereotyping in this video.

[@sonar3108]

Can you please share more about the diversity of this area? I recently visited UC Berkeley and was kind of shocked by the lack of diversity. Only two races seem to be represented even though the campus is near some of the most racially diverse parts of the Bay Area (Oakland and Richmond, in particular).

[@barb2793]

@@sonar3108 The most diverse area in the country, probably. Like the United Nations. For better and for worse.

[@sonar3108]

@@barb2793 That sounds more like Oakland than Berkeley.

[@idontgiveoutname3122]

She seemed to be discussing the city around the UC. However, the UC is a major factor to where there is a constant over demand for student housing as the UC keeps upping enrollment numbers, but without responsibility for the effects on the surrounding area.

[@cameronmiller9283]

I love this style, with the interview and driving around the city in the background

[@NickJohnson]

Me too

[@DesperateForSanity]

Years ago Reebok or some shoe company did an ad about East Coast vs West where LA was all pastel colors and slow motion athletes and NYC was fast motion people running in gritty black and white street scenes, so this lady's NJ take was perfect. I know someone from Berkley - you COULD NOT have described her better.

[@yourbossismyslave3409]

If you were in Berkeley as a teen or young adult playing proto video games at Silver Ball & ice skating at Iceland , then you’ve lived peak Berkeley & can die happy 🤗

[@trevorlees1241]

I first moved to Berkeley from Melbourne Australia in 1976 and lived firstly in an apartment on Blake St Loved it then - bought a 66 Mustang convertible ($1600 restored !) and started a business and it was as this lady says but of course prices to me were all bargains then ! It had everything now with the money pressures those old easy to live days are gone ! Glad I was there for the best times Whole US is now far more dangerous with the middle class under threat and hard to find - poverty increasing quickly

[@vipeton.8927]

Are you living in 🇺🇸 now?

[@avodiablackheart6131]

I was lucky & lived in North Berkeley in the mid 70s till '90. It was a Very Progressive & Art Loving Place. Went back in '17... It broke my heart to see what the East Bay has become. I still Love Berkeley, & All the Bay. & I Always Will. Love & Light ♡☆. My Heart Will Always Be There. The Best of My Life Is There, where i Worked for The Dead In '82.. As Melozone. The 'Temple Moon Rose' Shirt I Designed for Greek Theater Shows is Vintage now... Where does the time go. Peace To All. Melozone... [Mel McDannell] Avodia

[@NickJohnson]

Wow you're an icon!

[@avodiablackheart6131]

to Nick... Yea, I live in Illinois now, back from whence i came. I feel soooo Iconic 🪄🤣☮🕉

[@avodiablackheart6131]

@@NickJohnson Love u Nick✌

[@quelcristfalconer3561]

If that's a hell hole what would you call Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana, the states with the highest infant mortality rates, the highest maternity death rates, the highest murder rates, the lowest life expectancy in the US?

[@sistrenyogigal3813]

Don’t leave out Arkansas

[@conor8690]

Also a hellhole

[@MrBearcatjew]

at least there people have homes, they stay in the shitty situation because they lived there a long time. IN cali its you own or you are a slave.

[@eastbaykidd8574]

Why do you avoid discussing Chicago, Detroit and Washington DC?

[@seraph1er]

@@eastbaykidd8574 because Chicago is an amazing city

[@ojdidit34]

Good interview on both sides! Very nice video with editing as well. Great work!

[@Avk576]

The heart of this channel is really more about California than anything else.

[@1_Fish.2_Fish.Red_Fish.]

It’s hilarious. I live in Tracy.

[@alonsolaw8380]

Homelessness. Caused by dope fiends and criminals and bums. And arsonists

[@alonsolaw8380]

Attracts dope fiends.

[@alonsolaw8380]

Trump voters in Berkeley .0001%.lol lol lol

[@alonsolaw8380]

Don't wear a MAGA HAT. It's dangerous. Lol

[@GummyPounder]

I lived in Berkeley for 4 years and never had this kind of conversation with one of the longer term residents, so this is fascinating.

[@420_9R8R]

Great episode with awesome guest, thank you!!

[@NickJohnson]

Ok Glenn :)

[@jondipalma3411]

Wow! Whoever was driving/filming ran 8 or 9 red lights, and not even close on most of them. Great discussion, horrible driving

[@UserName-ts3sp]

if you watch his other videos you'll see it all the time

[@pctrashtalk2069]

The video must go on.

[@MrRezillo]

I lived in Berkeley (actually in Albany, an upscale enclave) from '86 to '93. Living in Berkeley changed me from a liberal to a conservative. Haven't watched this vid yet but here a couple of things I recall: 1. Getting my car broken into - twice - right around the corner from the police state, in broad daylight on a Saturday morning. 2. "People's Park" being too scary and filthy to walk through. There was a small mountain of used clothes there, presumably discards from the better off residents for the "poor" to pick through. 3. If you wanted to get a decent (rent-controlled) apartment, you had to pay an off-the-books "finder's fee" to the renter who was moving out - about $1,000 at the time. 4. Human excrement right off of Telegraph Ave, around the corner from all the trendy shops. At one time, I used to love the college-town ambience, hanging out in coffee shops and bookstores. However, when I moved to the Eas Bay from San Francisco, I soon realized I'd outgrown the coffee shops and hang-outs. Well there you have it; now I'll watch the rest of the vid.

[@jerrywilson4053]

@@Lifetalk849 good tip.thanks.. I lived on College Ave in Berkeley ..such a dump now

[@bocajrs7628]

Nothing will ever change because voters will never change.

[@MrRezillo]

@@Lifetalk849 Yeah, 30 years ago I would have loved it.

[@austinhernandez2716]

If that changed your beliefs then something is wrong. So now you don't support LGBT rights? You want more military spending? Now you want to lock people up for putting stuff into their own bodies? I feel sorry for you. Basically you're saying "People were mean to me so that changed my entire ideology and philosophy." 🤦

[@austinhernandez2716]

@@bocajrs7628 That's a lie. And it's the conservatives that are against change. It's the Republicans that support voter suppression.

[@2piecesensei]

I'm teary eyed right now. Berkeley campus used to be my hang out spot in high school because Oakland was too dangerous and I can't find any of my old haunts. Where's Amoeba Records? Where's the comic book store? Where's Fat Slice and Blondie's Pizza? Where's Rasputin's and Leopold's Records? I used to work at the Togo's Eatery my senior year of high school and I didn't see it when you drove down Bancroft. I see the Gap clothing store that used to be on the corner of Telegraph and Bancroft is now a Subway. People's Park was always a place where the homeless and the dopefiend's would congregate, so I'm not surprised that it's a tent city now. I left the Bay Area in 1994 to go to college and I can't afford to move back home even if I wanted to. Man, Berzerkley has definitely changed since I was a kid.

[@ripple947]

Rasputin's and Amoeba are still there, Nick drives past them. People's Park no longer a tent city, see my comment above.

[@rsohlich1]

I was there in 2017 and had a really strange experience with a shop owner. I walk in this sort of touristy establishment and asked the cashier woman if they carried stickers. I collect stickers of city's/cool places I visit. Anyways, she went on a tirade about Trump and where I could buy a Trump sticker. LOL! I had no clue why she went that direction but I was left with the impression of just how angry and unhappy many of the residents are there. I have no desire to go back.

[@rschier1]

Certainly indicative of the impression regarding the "vibe" of the place, gained from the speaker's insight. It did seem to be an attractive place, however I couldn't last the better part of one day tolerating the "attitude" of what seems to be the majority of the residents.

[@ronyeahright9536]

she probably has sex dreams about Trump, and wakes up frustrated.

[@vincentwaclawek6190]

You should do a show on Alabama and Mississippi politics

[@TigersBlood23]

@@vincentwaclawek6190 why? They haven’t caught the liberal flu so it’s way less interesting

[@boris2997]

So did you get the Trump sticker?

[@milessampson3942]

Great interview, Nick. Berkeley still looks like a pleasant place to visit but with pockets of homelessness and urban decay. I'll be interested to see how these ultra-rich California cities will keep restaurants, grocery stores and other basic services running for their out-of-touch residents without adequate housing for working individuals and families. Despite all the noise about an exodus, most of the recent out-migration from California can be attributed to folks that have decent jobs and careers but are priced out of the neighborhoods worth living in. A hollowing out of the middle, if you will. I'd leave too!

[@rhodamiller7338]

Berkeley is part of a four million contiguous urban area which includes housing at many levels of cost. NOTE Housing costs reflects the level of demand. Desirable areas are accordingly expensive.

[@paulbreisch5020]

I think what has been decided as the ultimate goal for CA is to become the Dubai of the US. So all the workers will be stuck in the Central Valley and take the train two hours one way to either LA or SF to service the ultra rich.

[@zenglider2145]

The exodus of the middle, the center of the electorate, is why expanding areas of this state are morphing into 3rd world microcosms. There will be no resurgence because those capable of restoring its past vitalilty will have fled.

[@zenglider2145]

@@themoviedealers Stacking the electoral deck, i.e. replacing the mostly self-sufficient, productive middle class with groups more accustomed to being dependent upon the government. It's a big win for the democratic party and immigrants ... until its unsustainability causes conditions for immigrants to be no better than what they had left behind.

[@ctr8896]

70% of the homeless ppl in the big cities in California are not from California.

[@sleepycalico]

If I could live anywhere, I would live in the Berkeley hills. Beautiful views to go along with the perfect weather. My favorite architecture, many masterpieces of residential beauty. Perfect gardening soil, put to gorgeous creative use in front of so many homes. Lots of cultural events, lots of smart, kind people. Fun to just walk around and enjoy the beauty. Easy access to SF cultural treasures, without dealing with SF's issues and fog.

[@GarthGoldberg]

You need to look around. I spent time in Berkeley last year. Many, many front yards are unkempt and overgrown with weeds. Most of the houses are not well kept. Not at all like our neighborhood in the East.

[@GarthGoldberg]

@@sleepycalico no cell phone? What century do you live in?

[@petemasterson8852]

The "dirty secret" is that there is plenty of fog in Berkeley. Especially in summer, the fog blows in through the Golden Gate and hits Berkeley (especially the hills) anytime after 5 or 6 in the evening. On some of the higher parts of the hills, it can be so thick that you can't see but one or two car lengths. However, it is "natural air conditioning" so the temperatures are generally quite pleasant, even a bit chilly in the evening, especially when the "wind is up." Best weather is in October as the fog tends not to penetrate as far inland at that time.

[@sleepycalico]

@@GarthGoldberg I'm a Victorian time traveler. 😁

[@sleepycalico]

@@GarthGoldberg I bet you were in the flats, not in the hills?

[@zack4486]

Absolutely love your guest! She's great!!!

[@johnmcpherson5068]

What a "world class" interview. As always Mr. Johnson is Amazing because he asks open ended questions and then...wait for it... He listens to the answer. Omg. That is why his videos are always worth a listen. Simply the best.

[@reenabearkitty]

I appreciate this video. I have been to Berkeley a handful of times since family is not too far from there. I didn’t know things have changed so much from what I remember pre-2010sbbut then I’m not surprised either.

[@carmswtbess8029]

She's so right! I grew up in Berkeley and Richmond, I live in Vallejo now. I remember the "old" Berkeley growing up in the 70's. Now, it's so different and NONE of us can afford to live there anymore. It's only for inherited people who have money and renting there there's no where to live! There's a big homeless community for ppl who were middle class and got pushed out. And yes Berkeley graduates know EVERYTHING.....

[@Blueknight1960]

They think they know everything but actually don't know anything.

[@denverdubois5835]

What a trip...I too grew up in Berkeley and live in Vallejo now. Maybe I like Vallejo because it's a little like 1970s Berkeley, but with more space, wider streets...more parking LOL. The old architecture is certainly much the same, just shabbier. I miss the way Berkeley used to be.

[@stephendenney7349]

Politically Berkeley was probably just as left wing in the seventies and eighties as today, if not more so. And the people who own houses in Berkeley are probably mostly people who bought theses houses before the sharp increase in real estate. The high cost of rent and real estate in the SF Bay Area, in my view, is more because of the rule of supply and demand -- more people want to live in the area but the housing market is limited because of the geography of the area.

[@kevinmitchelljue]

YOU NAILED IT! I moved to Berkeley 11 yrs ago assuming it was still the Old Berkeley Vibe and always would be. Despite the palpable hypocrisy of the Elitists, i remained to my great misery. I now live in a rural smalltown -- Susanville, in California's Sierra mountains which us all about God, Country, and Family; Church, Cowboys, C/W Music, Church, Donald Trump, Church . . . and you know what? I've never loved anyplace as much as i love this town which is friendly, positive, and incredibly open-minded and culturally and ethnically diverse for a small town.

[@925PWEE]

aaahhh Berkeley .... the place where u see black lives matter signs in the most expensive neighborhoods .... but will not see any black ppl there lol I lived in the bay for 20 years , and Berkeley has more or less been the same.... it's mostly the rich parts that act that way, but natives are getting moved out cus of cost of living like anywhere in the bay so u get these transplants who keep the same ideology ... but don't have that sense of the real bay area as a melting pot , anyone from the bay will tell u that's what makes the bay great, but in bay area terms these new people "faking the funk" lol

[@carlsilverman754]

Or live in Oakland to be killed by the Black Pznthers?

[@RM-dc6zd]

i went to undergrad and grad school there. it was a good education, and it was beautiful, a revelation for someone from a small, conservative town. it was a bit more balanced back then, but you could sense the grievance studies people were present and gaining ground. they would ding your grades if you were male, or straight, or white (and god forbid you were all three). it was more affordable back then, but it was still expensive. people are denial about the fact that the ideology has become problematic, maybe always was. like postmodernism: it was meant to get people to question the prevailing narratives, not throw them out entirely and replace them with something worse. So many things have failed, so many people make assumptions about the conservative alternatives. It feels like the end of the 60s. The dream is over, the hangover has begun, and we are in line for a decade or more of growing conservatism.

[@veganobandido7635]

The Opt-ed documentary that the NYT did called 'Hypocrisy of Liberal-ran Cities' nails it on the head as well, as a SF Bay Area native I can absolutely agree that their districts have kids in one area walking among the mentally-ill, drug addicts, garbage and feces in the streets/sidewalks, and active crimes, while another area the kids do not have to face any of that.

[@liannebedard5521]

This woman is a gem. I know old Berkeley…its terrific high school launched my eager, high performing son into a great undergrad university and from there he got an affordable graduate degree..,yes, there was a time.,, Thanks to you…and her.

[@Master_ofReality]

So basically every city?

[@martata8404]

What an asset this eloquent, well rounded and well spoken local lady is ! More of them please !

[@NickJohnson]

She's super!

[@phongphong4640]

Because she still keeps that "Jersey girl" in her!!

[@trzmdpath1981]

There is no place more out of touch with the normal world than a college/university town/city.

[@honkhonk8009]

Thats facts. My buddy used to live in Burnaby, which was near SFU/UBC, and that dude was GONE. I was talking to him about how Trudeau was overreacting over the Trucker protest, and compeltely escalated the situation, and the dude talked to me like I was lower than him and how im some brainwashed uneducated moron. I hate the fact I opened up to that dude about my grades, cus he deadass talks to me like im mentally handicapped now bruh. I honestly dont like these liberal elites.

[@stephenpmurphy591]

Berkeley is the personification white of upper middle class progressive liberal leftists. Who are beyond out of touch with most Americans. They're snobbish intelligentsia & pseudo intellectuals with a side of Buddhism & dash of Hinduism. Berkeley produces more smug condescension than any other place on earth. The Berkeley Hills...$5 million & $10 million dollar homes. The fire of 1991 clean out many of the oldest multimillion dollar homes. Berkeley sucks. I grew up there.

[@RichardKassner]

I graduated from UC Berkley in the late 1980s. I lived next to Golden Gate Park and commuted each day from UCSF to UC Berkeley via the UC shuttle bus. I came to California from the east coast -specifically New York City and New Jersey. I found many Berkeley students and some San Franciscans to be rigid and narrow minded in their thinking on social and political issues. Further, I found many of these same people engaged in "stereotyping" of those who held alternative points of view. It struck me that these Californians engaged in the very behavior that I frequently saw in people from Southern New Jersey where I once lived. In Southern New Jersey, people, in the main, were racists and conservative with little tolerance for the "other." Indeed, stereotyping was common place. I thought it curious that people, who, generally, were better educated, more wealthy, and gifted with higher Intelligence should behave in a similar fashion as those, who, generally, were less educated, poorer, and less intelligent. Perhaps this is a consequence of "tribalism?" However, to this day, sometimes I am puzzled why people who "should know better" still engage in this "critical" behavior. Perhaps these people at UC Berkeley and San Francisco feel threatened? I know the people in Southern New Jersey felt threatened. Perhaps it is an inescapable trap of the human condition rooted deep in psychology? In short, perhaps people who hold "narrow" social or political points of view are less tolerant and more quick to stereotype others who fail to think as they do -regardless of social or political ideology. Perhaps that is why the behavior of "some" people at U.C. Berkeley and, in deed, San Francisco seem so hypocritical and odd. After all, these very people "often" pride themselves on being open or liberal minded. Unfortunately, sometimes they are not. In religious parlance, this failing maybe termed a "sin" and according to most theology "all" humans sin -except for Jesus Christ of course. (After all, some people hold their social or political "belief' as "dogma" much in the way that some people hold their religious belief.) So perhaps we should not be surprised that some people from UC Berkeley or San Francisco miss the mark of their own belief system. At least I found this to be "generally" true at U.C. Berkeley and San Francisco when I was there. Regards.

[@stereotypicalwhitemale848]

This lady sounds like she fits in very well in her neighborhood

[@vipeton.8927]

She is liberal but in a old school way.

[@NickJohnson]

Here are all of my California videos! kzbin.info/aero/PLq-_cmf3H6yomU5rB6yOC5C9hr0Qnkf1l

[@theresaroda]

I enjoy all your videos! I was excited to see you do Berkeley this morning.

[@traincore1955]

Hyperindividualism killed this country. Living under the guise of freedom has only spiraled the folks here into a deeper hole of their own delusion and self worth. Berkeley and other extremes on the conservative side as well are both prime example of that. And the fact we have a single person spear heading the country into a certain direction that it only makes people pick sides even moreso than ever. When in reality, whether liberal or conservative, both sides are equally corrupt living in a flawed system that was built upon industry over a century ago. There has been no focus on maintaining infrastructure. It makes this car centric hellhole an even worse place to live. I don't think there is any going up. We've reached our limit and now simply the tool for private investors overseas. We were doomed from the start.

[@cheetobandido546]

Interesting how this woman doesn't acknowledge her own privilege. For example, how did she and her husband obtain a home in an affluent neighborhood Berkeley? Berkeley is full of these hypocrites.

[@dcpack]

Yes it is.

[@SafetyProMalta]

One of your best, a commenter who was lucid.

[@scottmic3556]

you had a really good guest today

[@paulhunter6742]

I have a friend from Berkeley. CA i met 23 years ago at convention in Chicago, Illinois. He loaned me $2,000 when i risk of losing my house. He remains a loyal friend. Her criticism of people Berkeley doesn't apply to everybody.

[@lu-vly]

Best interview to date. I love that lady...very honest...very genuine. Thanks Nick.

[@NickJohnson]

She's super cool

[@mattmalley]

That drive you did up Telegraph Ave and past the record stores and the left turn at the campus and all around that area is precisely, PRECISELY the drive I did from my parents house near Piedmont ave to buy records and play Joust at Silver Ball in the 80’s.

[@mattl1758]

Lmao! Of course it has those characteristics of no middle class and a great number of homeless. I love hearing how liberal policies work and are fair. Also, those telling me how it works in the middle class while, like she said have to catch a plane to their Paris apartment…What a joke. Thanks Nick.

[@JesusChrist2000BC]

Most of the California liberals who voted for this trash are all fleeing to a state near you to destroy your area as well. Do NOT welcome them with open arms.

[@IIII......]

@Matt L A great number of homeless choose this lifestyle. Many refuse to follow the rules, get mental health treatment, and apply for a job. In Berkeley California, you can easily become rich by getting a useful college degree, gaining work experience in a particular field, and then you'll start making 6 figures a year depending on how hard you work.

[@stevensmith2085]

It’s for the most part so may WANT, CHOOSING to be homeless because the refuse to ‘’Conform ‘’

[@BaldManBeardFace]

@@IIII...... as a person who used to be homeless. I wouldn't put them in the majority. Most want to get out of homeless that I talked with

[@taxthesocialist2602]

*leftist policies. Young people in Commiefornia are hardcore Left. Liberalism is dead.

[@Deb645]

Lived in Berkeley from 1978 to 1990. Sometimes, coming from Ohio, I thought I was in the "twilight zone" - really. The only folks I really related to came from elsewhere. Berkeley is a fine example of the divide lines that exist in America. And, some folks dwell in division, close mindedness, and it's all about me. The hell with everyone else. You guys are spot on. Maybe, just maybe we will learn that it's about ALL OF US. When this happens I think Berkeley will be a better city and we will be a better country FOR ALL. Deb

[@audreyevans7422]

I wish I could be insulted by some of the things said about my home town but when I leave my West Berkeley home, I hardly recognize the city. So much money has been spent on tearing down small businesses all up and down San Pablo Avenue and huge apartments are being built everywhere. How can students afford the high rise apartments? Homes in what had been the working class area between MLK (formerly Grove St.) and 6th street sell for over 2 million dollars. As time goes on fewer working class people live here. Everything is different now but it's been changing for decades like most cities.

[@Uzi577]

Way to go Nick. You hit the nail the head with this interview view. I live in Berkeley. Thank you for doing this video!

[@unknown-user]

Running through those red lights like a champ.

[@steveanderson9290]

If there were a drinking game based upon his disregard of traffic laws, nobody would have been conscious by the end of the video. Nice interview though.

[@pyrettablaze86]

LOL I noticed that too 😅

[@AlexMerenkov2]

It's ok. BPD doesn't issue any traffic tickets anymore. It's perfectly legal to run lights in Berkeley.

[@jonathangreen5124]

I was born at Alta bates in 1980 , I grew up on ward st utill witch was mainly lower class so basically the low income area ... I don't remembering one white kid that lived on ward st... at 9 years old I understood that I was living on the black side of town ... when I got to Berkeley high I started to understand how diverst Berkeley was , back then most white families didn't allow there kids on our side of town .. my family and moved to Haskell st witch was also considered the black side of town ..alot of crime ,a lot of drug dealing and a world that even white people who lived here didn't trust ... my grand mother owned a house on prince witch she owned since the 70s ... I have so many family members and friends that have family members who loved Berkeley more then any place in the world ... I know over 1000 people that loved Berkeley more then any place in the world... my grandma bought her house the first time she came here ,she loved instantly ... I went to every school here , I played sports on evrey sports program Berkeley had , I went to every summer program at every park my whole childhood ... when I walk outside now , it makes me wanna cry ,... genteracation is real ,its been for over 10 years , I lived here for for 40 year and I feel like a stranger , Im outside everyday and its so many entitled white people walking around here... there rude and they have no respect ... you should see San Pablo park every day now, its not one familiar face around here not Evan at the the recreation center right there ... the recreation workers that worked at San Pablo park or at groove st park was a big part of our upbringing , I looked up to people like patty who became police chief for BPD , mostly all of the inner city kids loved her ... now I'm not comfortable in my own city because the new people around have no idea about the history here ... I can show you over 50 houses that black families owned that sold for Pennys because the drug problem had gotten so bad out here .... alls I'm sayin is that the new Berkeley has no history ,they Have no clue the sacrifice our grandmothers and grandfathers made to raise us here , they need to be called out for the entitlment they walk around here with , when they bought there house , the agent probably sold them on the fact that this was a up and coming neighborhood witch means all the black people has moved out lol... i hate it here now , i hate the fact that in 30 years south berkeley want have 1 black family living ... there little genterfacation plan has finally came to life ... I pray that we can atlases reserve our history before it's to late .... maybe we should do a interview to high light whats really going on ... do you have social media ? instagram ? facebook ? my facebook is turk green

[@edmask7365]

I see every chapter you post and I must tell you that as a Spanish viewer living in Spain, your videos are very interesting. I like to know the positive and the negative of living in the USA. This particular one about Berkeley is very revealing. In addition to knowing the opinion of a resident, I have been able to see riding in your car, for example, the poor state of the streets: surprising without a doubt, in a rich area. Thank you for your videos and for the idea of ​​having the opinion of the residents.

[@hurryandleave9680]

Berkeley is not rich by Bay Area or California standards. It's not Belvedere, Hillsborough, Atherton, Woodside, Pebble Beach, Santa Barbara, etc.

[@eastbaykidd8574]

The streets in Berkeley are horrible thanks to the utter mismanagement and neglect of the city government. The mayor and city council of Berkeley don't view themselves as public servants but see their mission in government to advance their particular progressive-left agenda. Jesse Arrequin and the majority of the city council are quick to spend money on various social programs that are not only beyond their mandate but are often unproven and ineffective. The Welfare-Industrial Complex is very real in Berkeley. There's quite a bit of money that gets granted to "non-profit" agencies to provide things to the poor and indigent that seem to wind up costing more than if one acquired the same goods and services on the open market. Some of the head of these so-called "non-profits" earn several hundred thousand US dollars per year, far more that anyone working in the private sector would be paid for a position with comparable requirements and responsibilities,

[@jongallardo8006]

Want to trade places ? I’m tired of being in the rat race.

[@anaclaudiabecker6636]

You chose a good person to talk. This lady knows everything 👏👏👏.

[@norasmith2474]

lmao This lady is part of the upper class and this interview shows. No one I know in Berkeley would gasp if you didn't do yoga. No one I know has a second apartment they can fly off to.

[@tessslakimmo7750]

I know many who do . May be u live in poor neighborhood in Berkeley

[@norasmith2474]

@@tessslakimmo7750 You've basically proven my comment. Thanks for your help.

[@tessslakimmo7750]

@@norasmith2474 there are many poor neighborhoods under the bridge living off of tax payers money or living rent free by protesting

[@norasmith2474]

@@tessslakimmo7750 Those are not neighborhoods, they're encampments. But thank you again for proving my original point.

[@regularolpoet1462]

I was thinking the same thing

[@laserlithuanian]

great video nick!! way back 1970's i lived there, i like the ladies down to earth comments and her common sense and the video from driving around brought back a lot of memories

[@NickJohnson]

Cool Tom!

[@BennyB5555]

I enjoyed listening to her! She could totally have her own radio show. Very interesting indeed!!

[@NickJohnson]

i agree!

[@guatemalantomcat]

I usually tune out when my favorite channels let guests do the majority of the talking but man this lady is awesome. Loved hearing what she had to say.

[@petemasterson8852]

My grandparents moved to Berkeley (from the Rockridge area of Oakland) in 1932. My mother and aunt attended UC Berkeley, graduating in 1934 and 1936. The family home was located 1/2 block north of the UC campus, near the Pacific School of Religion. As a child, I visited my grandparent's home frequently--we lived in West Contra Costa County (now a cess pit). (My grandparent's house is now owned by UC Berkeley where it is a "center for music.") After my grandparents passed away, I lived in the house for a couple of years ('68-'70) to watch over it, while the family was trying to sell it (It sold in about 1971 for about $100K!!). Yes, I had the joy of living there through the "Peoples Park Riots" --- and I can say there is nothing like going out for a Sunday brunch and discovering that I was living inside a "security line" with National Guard troops positioned every 6 feet along the "perimeter" -- I was assured that with an ID showing residence "inside" that I'd be able to return home later in the day.... I recall many nights being disturbed by a loud explosion -- the UC "west gate" guard shack was regularly "blown up" (it was a plywood structure for the guard to get out of the weather while controlling traffic entering the campus--it was unoccupied after 5PM when traffic restrictions were relaxed -- the explosions tended to be around midnight -- a quarter-stick of dynamite (or a couple cherry bombs) would put it out of service). (There was a storage yard visible through a fence on Hearst Ave where you could see a dozen or so "guard shacks" available as replacements. (They were also distributed on football "game days" to various locations when access to streets near the Memorial Stadium were restricted.) Many of the people who lived in Berkeley were rather "self aware" of their "special nature." (I was never that impressed.) Not long after, my employer transferred me to jobs in the Sacramento Valley (Marysville, Chico, Sacraments) before I returned a decade later to their HQ in San Francisco. I never missed Berkeley, though in my youth there were some good times and places to "hang out." When I returned to the Bay Area, I lived in a distant suburb and rode BART to work in downtown SF. Both Berkeley and San Francisco where once beautiful cities, relatively clean and reasonably "policed." It's been nothing but down hill over the years since. I left the Bay Area more than 10 years ago and now live in a somewhat upscale neighbored in SW Washington.

[@kfneely1]

@4:14 that apt building on the right with the rocks on it is berkeley spot on lmao! I uber in Berkeley all the time and that is one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen! I grew up in old berkeley. It has changed so much since my days of youth. I don't even recognize downtown anymore.

[@Noel_13]

What a nice lady. I loved her insights. Good job Nick.

[@spindragon]

I've always enjoy Berkeley. Like any city it's not perfect but I enjoy the people I've met there. Katrine sounds bitter. Why live in Berkeley if you don't like the people or anything else about it? I can't think of anyone who cares whether you play tennis or do yoga??

[@THEdowntowndoll]

When I went to college in DC, I flew to SF with a friend during a school break to stay with her sister in SF for a week. Her sister was in hotel management intern program at the gorgeous famous old Fairmount hotel on the hill. We walked all around SF and went to all the touristy places (like the main park with the old department stores on the hill, Chinatown, the Fisherman’s Wharf with the sea lions, Ghirardelli Square, and later Haight-Ashbury (to see the area Janis Joplin built her career (neighborhood also known as one of the main centers of the hippie and counterculture of the 1960s and heavy drug era) and a subway trip to the infamous Berkeley. Getting off the subway at Berkeley we were welcomed with the horrendous smell of urine everywhere. As we progressed down the street closer to the University, the smell coming out of storefront was that of weed and patchouli. It was quite shocking at the time, how hippy dippy it was (a total stark contrast to the city or any city or town I had ever been to.) Grateful Dead music blasting everywhere and Grateful Dead tie dye shirts and bag stores everywhere. Bong shops. (That was a shocker.) It felt like a throwback to the 60s drug and protest culture. Peace signs in windows. A lot of smelly strange hippies old and young walking around. White people with dreads that probably never showered. Then the shock of all shocks were the actual tree people. There were at least 200 tree people protesting and living up in the trees next to campus. I know the University is world famous but the whole aura and smell around it was such a f***ing turn off that I would NEVER set foot in that town again. Really strange place. I can only imagine how the elitist (of inherited wealth) old hippies are mean and stuck in their own duality of liberalism and extreme wealth.

[@cynthia8343]

It's not really a subway it's called BART.

[@hurryandleave9680]

@@gardensofthegods People would climb the trees and stay in them in shifts to protest the university cutting down the trees. Around that time, there was also "Naked Guy" -- a guy who wandered around the campus totally naked.

[@stephendenney7349]

@@hurryandleave9680 Is it so bad to protest trees being cut down?

[@stephendenney7349]

Actually Berkeley is more affordable and has less problems with homelessness and crime than San Francisco. Compare the downtown San Francisco BART stations to the downtown Berkeley BART station.

[@hurryandleave9680]

@@stephendenney7349 "Is it so bad to protest trees being cut down?" No, it's not bad at all. UC needs to add new campuses instead of stuffing the old ones with new buildings and new students. All they're doing is turning the campuses into overcrowded and ugly concrete jungles, putting a strain on housing resources (making it more expensive to get an education) and putting a strain on local communities. I agree with the protesters. I also have no problem with "Naked Guy". What I do have a problem with is Antifa, Black Bloc and BLM, which serve as violent proxies for fascist corporate interests (while claiming to be anti-fascist)..

[@chadsmith2860]

Great interview as usual, keep up the great videos and interviewees.

[@rach623]

This lady was really interesting to listen to.

[@briancogley4956]

I only had time to watch through minute 16. I live in West Oakland and I work in Berkeley almost every day. This woman's observations are spot on! And her observations are one of the reasons I live in West Oakland...the tough realities of the world aren't hidden or sugar coated here.

[@ChristinMyles]

A lot of crime!? I am a lifetime resident longer than the woman you talked to and no there is not a lot of violent crime here at ALL . Not even a lot of petty crime compared to Oakland/Richmond/other surrounding cities

[@jessmendoza510]

Right?! I don’t know what these people are talking about lol

[@07Rivers]

Yeah I am out here now lol..It's not this video.

[@eastbaykidd8574]

Comparing yourself to Oakland and Richmond doesn't say much.🤣🤣🤣 Why don't you compare Berkeley to Albany and Piedmont, neighboring cities that have similar economic demographics but far less violent crime?

[@jessmendoza510]

@@eastbaykidd8574 Albany and Piedmont? Really? Lol Berkeley has over 100k more people than both those cities. Of course it has more crime, we have more people.

[@chrismclaughlin-gt7ix]

@jessmendoza510 11 months on Now. How is That Rose Coloured Safe Line of Demarcation against The Outsiders Going These Days in Berkeley? Have The Teeenz Been Civil, Safe,Law Abiding ? Let us Know.

[@marvelouspacks35]

My family and I were evicted from our rental duplex in 2019… I bought my first home in the mountains and will never go back to Berkeley. The people really are awful and families/middle class are forced out. More and more will be forced to move and it will be only for the rich and entitled and super poor folk.

[@nemamodgeddi5338]

This is heartbreaking to read and isses me off. Hope you are doing better.

[@rlrober]

It sounds to me like Berkeley is a place that has problems. But the problems they have are the kind of problems other cities only wish they had.

[@dimensions20]

Homelessness? Unaffordable housing? Stunted intellect?

[@rlrober]

@@dimensions20 Not unaffordable for the people who can afford it.

[@andriadebose8484]

It's true what she's saying. I'm born & raised in the Bay Area. Used to go to Bezerkely on Saturday to shop at the thrift stores & the little bargin stores & street vendors. They had the best hand made jewlery and pizza too! Then when crack came everything changed. 😐Meth then came then homelessness got way worse. Rents went way up. Meth hm labs, people using on the streets& UC area got dangerous. People getting stabbed, etc. No longer the fun place anymore just like SF.

[@tiny5500]

Fun fact : Berkeley was the first in the nation to become handicap friendly ( ramps on sidewalk corners and wheelchair busses ECT).

[@rashone2879]

I lived there in the 90s and I came to hate it. Political correctness was toxic. People there are snobs! I had good job skills, but had a hard ti e finding a good job because…you got it, white Anglo Saxon Protestant who wasn’t into politics. I had to step over the panhandlers. When I told people where I worked I was leaving and moving to Florida (my folks were there) they looked down their over educated noses as if I had cooties crawling out of my nostrils. Florida is the most accepting and genuine place I’ve ever lived. You need money and at least two post grad degrees for anyone to notice you exist in Berkeley. Every word this lady says is true!

[@davidtran2026]

There's definitely some pluses Berkeley offers on the surface that makes it a place to be, but obviously the pricing is out of control and the homelessness cluttering the area. The one thing that really bugs me out is of course the ELITISM. Once one lives in the area, it's like it encapsulates that person. I know someone from childhood that went to college there and after living there she's like a totally different person (for all the wrong reasons). Snobby, elitist, really makes you feel inferior if you either don't agree one thing or are short one thing (think $$$)....it's really awkward and depressing to see. I'm still living in CA but for years now I've grown to hate the state and itching to leave, but the family I have tied here is the only reason that keeps me here. Once the ropes are loose though I am bailing.

[@robinmartz9052]

Very interesting hearing what she had to say!

[@astrahcat1212]

Nick you should do Saratoga Springs NY come summer time, you’ll be shocked with how nice it is, like a rich Cali town but no tents.

[@Tonymanero1960]

I took Amtrak from Baltimore to Saratoga Springs last fall. The rail trip scenery was spectacular once you got out of NYC,...and I thought the town was outstanding.

[@wil7228]

Cali ? How drosh

[@stevensmith2085]

Don’t make them come out to Ny

[@astrahcat1212]

@@stevensmith2085 It's okay, NY state is protected because whenever you say 'NY' people think NYC and run away.

[@stevensmith2085]

@@astrahcat1212 haha your exactly right about this . Every time

[@chateaumedia]

Fantastic Channel. I enjoy your videos when it's come across them. 👍

[@wilcanales4251]

You could always move to Waco Texas buy a house for $30,000 shop at Wal-Mart and enjoy the beautiful weather.

[@vipeton.8927]

Great. How much is rent for studio there?

[@1_Fish.2_Fish.Red_Fish.]

@@vipeton.8927 3 dollars

[@vipeton.8927]

@@1_Fish.2_Fish.Red_Fish. wow...seriously?

[@eastbaykidd8574]

You seem butt-hurt about her observations about Berkeley, which are pretty consistent with my own experience there as a Cal student. Maybe you're taking this a bit too personally?

[@armoniqfields8016]

I got a full scholarship to Cal-Berkley Graduated with 2 Degrees. Berkeley was very different back then. I finished in 90. People's Park was the only homeless spot back then. The whole Bay Area has really went bad, very bad. I bought a Ranch in Cotati Ca, sold it anout 22 years ago and moved to Texas.

[@jahreigns888]

I work in Berkeley not too far from where this lady lives. I see a fair amount of foreign nannies. I figure you may be well off if you afford a nanny. It can a bubble here too. There is some condensation towards much of America; in my opinion. That being said I like Berkeley. There are some amazing restaurants, bakeries and eateries here too.

[@WhocaresWhy44]

People's Park is to radicals what Gettysburg is to America. The reality is that it is a crime vector. In police cruisers on the dash a computer gives real time display indicates heavy frequency of break ins etc. South of Campus. Renter insurance goes up West of MLK. West Berkeley used to be industrial. Billy Martin of NY Yankees fame was from West Berkeley home to Heinz Ketchup. He was from the wrong side of the tracks. During the face off between Antifa and Right Wingers in Provo Park the demonstration was refereed by BPD like a UFC match. The mayor got hip and nixed the demos. Good move. This because an elderly resident George Cukor was killed in the hills. BPD was not dispatched because they were busy with the demos. UCPD got their act together and nixed demos in Sproul Plaza after Milo precipitated a riot that caused severe damage to the Student Union. The activist caravan from all over the country to Berkeley. Your guest knows the score. The most chill B town ever was was in the 80s. Yup hip to be square. Sproul had one major demo. That was called Divest. It protested apartheid. The hanger ons and agitators converge for demos and old gray beards of 68 vintage coordinate the madness. One of the best tutorials that show how this gets done is in the documentary 24 Frames a second. About the Battle of Seattle. Love the channel. Thanks for the clog on my hometown Greenville SC.

[@costernocht]

I lived on and off in Berkeley from 1985 to 2009, and everything Katrine says here is depressingly true.

[@craigpoer]

I really liked Berkeley 85' It sure seems to have changed . So many good times. Just to rich now.