ople's Park Annex," was established at the same time by activist citizens of Berkeley on a strip of land above the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway construction along Hearst Avenue northwest of the U.C. campus. The land had also been intended for development, but was turned over to the City by BART and is now Ohlone Park.
1970s to present
The 1970s saw a decline in the population of Berkeley, partly due to an exodus to the suburbs. Some moved because of the rising cost of living throughout the Bay Area, and others because of the decline and disappearance of many industries in West Berkeley.
From the 1980s to the present, Berkeley has seen rising housing costs, especially since the mid-1990s. In 2005�2007, sales of homes began to slow, but average home prices, as of 2010, remain among the highest in the nation.
The era of large public protest in Berkeley waned considerably with the end of the Vietnam War in 1974.
In 2006, the Berkeley Oak Grove Protest began protesting construction of a new sports center annex to Memorial Stadium at the expense of a grove of oak trees on the UC campus. The protest ended in September 2008 after a lengthy court process.
In 2007�08, Berkeley received media attention due to demonstrations against a Marine Corps recruiting office in downtown Berkeley and a series of controversial motions by Berkeley's City Council regarding opposition to Marine recruiting. (See Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center controversy.)
In the Fall of 2011, the nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement made its appearance at two locales in Berkeley: on the campus of the University of California and as an encampment in Civic Center Park.
On September 18, 2012, Berkeley became what is thought to be the first city in the U.S. to officially proclaim a day recognizing bisexuals September 23, which is known as Celebrate Bisexuality Day.
While the 1960s were the heyday of liberal activism in Berkeley, it
