Impact Story: Safety Through Connection

Editor's note: This article belongs to our Impact Stories series in which scholars, activists, artists, policymakers, and everyday people share their experiences putting OBI's research and principles into action in their communities. -- In 2022, the...

Impact Stories

Since our founding in 2012 we've believed that research shouldn't be conducted merely for the sake of research. An ancient proverb reminds us, "To know and not to do is not to know." In that spirit our commitment has been for our research center to...

Three-quarters of San Diego region zoned for single-family housing

Just over three-quarters (75.66 percent) of residential land in southern California's San Diego region is reserved for single-family housing, according to a study released Monday by UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI).

Single-Family Zoning in the San Diego Region

Introduction The authors would like to thank Joshua Cantong, Data Analyst at the Othering and Belonging Institute for their valuable insights and contributions. This brief report continues our series investigating the extent of restrictive and...

Respect for Marriage Act represents historic victory for civil rights

The recent passage by the US Congress of the The Respect for Marriage Act, which enshrines into law the rights of LGBTQ and interracial couples to marry, represents a historic milestone in the ongoing fight for civil rights in this country. It of...

San José Directs Affordable Housing Programs to Address Segregation and Unequal Access to High Opportunity Areas

On December 6th, the City Council of San José, CA, adopted a policy to address persistent patterns of segregation and unequal access to neighborhoods where residents experience better life outcomes. The new policy will place more affordable housing...

Connecting the Local and the Global

Where I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, much of our drinking water comes from the Chattahoochee River. The river, whose name comes from the Creek/Muscogee words chato ("rock") and huchi ("painted"), marks the current Alabama-Georgia border and the...

Racial Residential Segregation and Housing Opportunity

On November 14, 2022, OBI's Stephen Menendian and Samir Gambhir presented at the Connecticut Affordable Housing Conference on their interactive segregation mapping tool, fair housing, affordable housing, and much more.

Deconstructing the 'Housing Crisis'

For a several years now I’ve observed with growing alarm, then despair, as California’s housing woes—astronomical prices, skyrocketing rents and rates of annual appreciation, knee-jerk opposition to new housing, an epidemic of displacement and...

A Discussion on the Inflation Reduction Act and Climate Justice

On Oct. 20 we hosted our first event as part of our new Climate Justice Series looking at solutions to the climate crisis and its impacts on communities around the world. In this event, we heard from a panel of experts who drilled down (no pun...

Creating art for belonging

The Democracy & Belonging Forum, an initiative from the Othering and Belonging Institute (OBI) at the University of California, Berkeley, teamed up with Fine Acts to produce a collection of powerful visual artworks on the topic of Bridging &...

Video: 2022 Inclusiveness Index Launch

On Thursday, Oct. 13 we held this virtual event to announce the results of our 2022 Inclusiveness Index and provide a demonstration of our new interactive data table.

Hawaii again leads as most inclusive state; New Zealand tops global rankings

For immediate release BERKELEY: Hawaii ranked as the most inclusive state in the country for the fifth straight year, according to the latest study from UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute released Thursday, followed by Nevada and Maryland...

Video: Rising Up For Reparations

On Thursday, Sept. 29 we hosted a conversation on the promise and practice of reparations being undertaken for Black Americans. Speakers included Trevor Smith, the Director of Narrative Change at Liberation Ventures; Donald K. Tamaki, an appointed...

Community Land Trusts as Stewards of Public Land

California’s affordability crisis has reached every corner of the state, and local governments are examining their assets to find ways to support the preservation and development of affordable housing. This guide documents how local governments can...

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E-Newsletter Archive

An Archive of past issues of our bi-weekly newsletter.
Aug
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Bridging Partnerships for Scaling Housing Justice

Register now Housing justice for all. To truly be for all, we need housing solutions at scale. Scaling just solutions that match what our communities want and need is about more than building more affordable housing units. It requires building...

Blog: Gender, Goosebumps, Grace, and Grieving

Julia McKeown's tattoo inspired by the poetry of Andrea Gibson. “When I left my body I did not go away. That portal of light was not a portal to elsewhere, but a portal to here. I am more here than I ever was before.” From Love Letter From the...