Fourth Street Strops, Berkeley, California

http://www.fourthstreet.com/history.html

After our discussions of Santana Row in San Jose, Emeryville Bay Street Shopping Mall, and Fourth Street, especially when some members of our class described the development of Fourth Street as organic, I was curious about the history and growth of Fourth Street in Berkeley. In the mid 1960’s, Fourth Street was intended originally to be an Industrial Park, but businesses passed up Berkeley in light of the political turmoil and activism that pervaded the city at the time. Then, in 1976, the small design/build firm Abrams/Millikan & Kent proposed a concept of a Building Design Center on Fourth Street to cater to the home owner, a shopping area of businesses specializing in furniture, stained glass, solar power, hot tubs, lighting, textiles and interior design. The area continued to develop, businesses thrived, and Abrams/Millikan & Ken also built restaurants there and developed several additional properties. By 1981, a shopping neighborhood, with a regional clientele, was born. Fourth Street started moving beyond crafts and shops devoted to the home and expanded to include restaurants, independent clothing stores and boutiques. The Fourth Street shopping area’s philosophy has been to attract retailers that provide unique, interesting and high quality merchandise. Thus, the development of Fourth Street occurred gradually over the past few decades to become the vibrant shopping neighborhood it is today.