"Communal Capitalism" a Berkeley Travel Page by tahoesasha

Berkeley is my hometown yet it's unlikely I will return to live there as an adult. Berkeley has a fantastic meld of cultures and intellectual capital. That cultural integration is what makes Berkeley unique, and what made it a great place to grow up. For my parents' generation, UC Berkeley was the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement and a major hub of the Anti-Vietnam War Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. San Francisco was the home of the Grateful Dead, the Summer of Love and the flowerchildren. Therefore Berkeley and the surrounding area attracts the counter-culture, in all its definitions, and many residents stay because the mainstream culture is simply incompatible with their worldview.

However, though its roots will never change, the increased cost of living in Berkeley has greatly affected the cultural diversity. It makes me sad, because Berkeley is a place built upon communal, grassroots, even socialist values, yet like Massachusetts and other progressive areas, you're now got to have serious money in order to live there.