Sorry to have not posted in so long. At first I wasn't sure what to make of my new coop and wanted to feel more certain, and optimistic, before posting. I've moved to a grad and reentry coop that was reopenned as such after being shut down. It was once the most notorious of coops, still recalled by Berkeley residents and past students for its
Animal House parties, filthiness, and the general mayhem that spilled from its doors. Homeless people slept on the front steps. People dived off the roof into the swampy pool. The back carriage house was used for...use your imagination, that's what went on there. It got to where the neighborhood association filed a lawsuit against the house for noise and disruption, which led to the cooperative association's decision to shut it down.
But the memory of what this house once was is still so fresh--or indelible--that the house was reopenned only under the condition that it must be occupied by graduate and reentry students who will supposedly be much better behaved. For the most part that is true. It is much cleaner than most coops and common areas are used more for studying than say, random drumming circles. But current residents of the house are all a bit bitter that we are watched by the neighbors like hawks on mice to ensure that no one congregates in the yard or that they have had advance warning of parties that must be kept small and very quiet.
The three houses that make up this coop are so nice it is hard to imagine what it once was. My room has a high ceiling, a fireplace, and window seat. I like it.
The picture above is taken from the roof/deck. A rainbow on the hills of Berkeley.
