Beyond the bridge
Across the bay from San Francisco, Berkeley is home to architectural gems, mysterious pathways and a roundabout worth circling
LIKE MANY BIG CITIES, San Francisco has its share of bigleague tourist attractions. From the City Lights bookstore to Golden Gate Park, and from Coit Tower to Fisherman’s Wharf, there is a lot to see.
But my husband and I had visited San Francisco before, so when a family wedding took us there earlier this year, we decided to spend more time exploring the cities on the other side of those iconic bridges where mysterious staircases, a floating subdivision and even a roundabout beckoned.
A roundabout might seem like an odd thing to visit on vacation, but the Circle was just down the street from our Airbnb apartment in the Northbrae neighbourhood of Berkeley.
Situated in the heart of an attractive neighbourhood, about 10 kilometres from the Bay Bridge to San Francisco, the roundabout is a thing of beauty all on its own. As a resident of Waterloo Region, where roundabouts have caused their share of consternation, I was mesmerized.
Built in the early 1900s, this roundabout speaks to its grand
past. Classical balustrades, stone pillars, stairways, benches and giant terracotta pots flank it. A huge fountain stands in the centre, complete with plump decorative bears.
Studying the traffic was like watching a courtly dance. Drivers halted, moved gently forward, circled the grass buffer that surrounds the fountain, glided off to the right, almost always in a mindful, polite manner. And that’s a very good thing because there are pedestrian walkways all around, and walkers are given the absolute right-of-way, even at rush hour when the pace picks up.
The Circle isn’t a small roundabout; an estimated 30,000 cars use it each day. Six streets — some one-way, some two-way, some very close together — feed into it. Actually, make that nine, maybe even 10 streets if you ignore names and count the individual forks or add the fact that some streets branch off immediately into others. On a map, the roundabout is like a Medusa of snaking roadways.
Beneath the roundabout is the Northbrae (also called Solano) Tunnel. Originally built for trains, it now connects motorists to Solano Avenue’s shops and restaurants.
We couldn’t resist strolling along some of the Circle’s pedestrian paths, which include Fountain Walk, a wide walkway with a steep descent to Del Norte Street. Black Path and an unnamed pathway nearby meander down to Solano Avenue, passing beautiful homes where terraced gardens tumble onto the walkways and sidewalks.
The carefully designed Northbrae subdivision opened in 1907. John Galen Howard, a University of California architect, envisioned the roundabout and its stately features. Landscape architect R.E. Mansell designed the streets and pathways, And the fountain’s bears were the work of sculptor Arthur Putnam.
Considering the Circle was built in the early days of the automobile, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why?”
Researchers such as Alan Cohen, who has written a detailed history of Berkeley, have come up with an answer that is as intriguing as the design itself. It seems early land speculators were determined to stir up interest in the hilly areas of North Berkeley