A Sunday afternoon stroll along Solano Avenue in Berkeley might involve a stop at Andronico’s Community Markets for groceries. You might grab a cup of coffee at Peet’s, peruse the fiction aisle at Pegasus Books and then stop at the eclectic artisan gift shop Fern’s Garden to pick up a greeting card for a special occasion in a single trip.
In 1925, Oaks Theatre opened along the strip of road, which runs between Curtis Street to the Alameda, with a showing of the silent comedy film “Steppin’ Out.” It shuttered in 2010 and is now a climbing gym, but its vintage façade and Spanish Colonial-style building still remain. Since 1974, residents of Berkeley and neighboring Albany have gathered for community events like the Solano Avenue Stroll, which now includes music, crafters and food booths. The one- and two-story buildings have largely looked the same since the shopping district’s founding in the early 1900s.
But big changes may be coming to the charming district and two other similar low-rise commercial corridors in the city. On May 6, the Berkeley Planning Commission voted 6-2 to advance plans to upzone portions of Upper Solano, North Shattuck (north of downtown Berkeley) and Elmwood (just south of UC Berkeley) to increase the availability of housing in these wealthier areas. These plans would increase height limits from two up to seven stories and potentially result in about 1,700 new housing units across the neighborhoods. The City Council has the final say on upzoning.
The potential transformation, first devised on a larger scale in the city’s 2023-31 state-mandated housing plans, is difficult for residents and local business owners to stomach. At the May 6 meeting, shouting erupted when the commission limited public comment to one minute per person due to an influx of speakers. One woman told the commission it would need to drag her out of the meeting to get her to stop talking. There were nearly 163 pages’ worth of written remarks submitted on the topic.
Save Berkeley Shops
A group of residents have gone beyond protesting. In November 2025, they started a nonprofit named Save Berkeley Shops to fight the developments. In March, they founded a political organization to raise money — nearly $76,000 as of April 30, documents show — to fund a referendum to undo any ordinance to upzone the areas…