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4th Street
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38 reviews for 4th Street
When I lived in Berkeley, 4th Street felt to me the closest thing to civilization. Needless to say, the South Berkeley/campus area scene was not my thing. Sunday brunch followed by a stroll along the shops with Brownie my yorkie and a frozen treat at Sketch ice cream was a weekend favorite.
The Pasta Shop, Crate & Barrel outlet, ZGallerie and, of course, George were some of my favorites on 4th. The bustling little street will always be a favorite of mine in the East Bay.
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if i were a middle aged woman who liked to scrapbook and decorate my home with trendy, yet sensible decor (flash forward 30 years... ill be there) then i would love 4th street. it's a nice little stroll for some upscale window shopping, but nothing practical for me (ex. a whole store dedicated to necessities when on an airplane...) but an enjoyable outing none the less!
if nothing else, there are 3 great make up stores here: bare essentials, mac, and benefit. (and kiehls for skincare) which makes it worthwhile in itself.
I love this area and the "meltingpotiness" of it. I love the creative and eccentric atmosphere and the laid back intellectual sort of sophistication -- it's like super chill and down-to-earth, but still hip in relaxed sort of way. =)
Parking can be difficult, but not too bad...
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Thumbs sideways.
4th Street has some amazing word-of-mouth in the Cal community. All I heard during my tenure at Berkeley was how awesome the shops were and how it was a little southern-californian-oasis amidst this northern-californian-climate.
Well. After 4 years, I finally ventured out to 4th street, only to be fairly disappointed. Some neat stores, but I was expecting better. Regardless, it fits into Berkeley (or at least, my idea of Berkeley) and has value as a retail district!
Pro: parking
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I have come to 4th Street for many years. It is fun to eat, and browse, and soak up some upscale Berkeleyness.
I still like it, but it has lost some of it's uniqueness, and has moved more in the direction of mainstream.
I still find a trip here entertaining !!
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I love that 4th street is in berkeley. when you have to get a nice present for someone and have some coin to spend, this place is the best bet to find something lovely, in one of the many shops. sure, it's not the most down home kinda place, but you can find those all over the rest of town.
A great place to shop for up scale stuff. I come here for the kitchen/cooking stores. It's a nice place to stroll on a lazy Sunday. (and then eat at Tacubaya)
-Sur La Table
-Napa Style
-Anthropologie
-DWR
-Flight 001
-Crate and Barrel Outlet
-scrapbooking stores
CB2
-George (very cute pet store)
Restoration Hardware
Benefit
The Gardener
Ark Toy Store
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Way back when....back when you young yelpers where still in high school or college....The 4th Street Shops were REALLY something to get out of bed early on a Saturday for. Gal pals were equally eager to get over there to shop til we drop, and even guys saw redeeming qualities about this place; not too much coercion was necessary.
Today? Still has some of the early stores, but it has become this overly snooty place with folks 'trying to look uber hip' for the crowd. I think I've made my last trip to the shops. Too much hassle, tight parking, gas costs a week's salary, and too many people.
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So I cross the Bridge to hit up the Crate & Barrel Outlet (in search of a plate set) and Voila! I find myself in a sea of upscale hippies... kinda different for an urbanite such as myself, but I'm ez and just go with the flow since its my first time visiting 4th St.
My observation- there are a number of cute stores, eateries and lots of little people (kids). Overall, the vibe was good. People were pretty polite and actually held open doors and said excuse me. Ok, ok I have to be honest there was a woman wearing an Ugg type of boot and cargo pants who decided to share her cell phone convo with everyone by talking, walking and stopping in the crowd while her phone was on speaker...I had the great misfortune of walking behind her not once but twice.
After shopping around at the CBO and a few others, I didn't find what I was looking for (ahh a U2 moment) but left with a pleasant experience walking around in the sun (sans the Ugg woman) and a super cute card from Papyrus.
Heads up- Parking was a bit of a nightmare, however, people were pretty polite
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It was love at first sight, me and 4th Street.
After living in Berkeley for a few years and the dreariness of University Avenue and the attitude of Telegraph started to wear on me, I met 4th Street. He was classy but edgy, irrelevant but stylish, confident and slightly arrogant - but not to me.
He had soft edges like the Crate and Barrel Outlet, comforting like a burger at Cafe Rouge, educated like Cody's. Too bad parking is a bitch ... that's just like the rest of Berkeley.
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I'm sorry, did I somehow offend you by existing? Did you actually not see me, or did you run smack into me for some other more obscure reason that I shudder to guess at?
This is what I want to ask someone basically every time I go to 4th Street. People are so snugly wrapped in their bubbles of smugness that people will literally walk straight into you on the street or in stores because they 1) didn't see you through their rose-colored glasses, 2) didn't see you because they were coddling their lap dogs/babies/cashmere-hemp pashminas, or 3) saw you but decided that you being in their way was entirely your problem. I have taken to using elbows.
Try finding a seat at Tacubaya at lunch without some strange encounter that makes your head want to explode, just try it. Admittedly, there are some good stores and restaurants on 4th Street, but I have to be in a very calm place to even attempt going there.
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I was depressed and lonely - not looking forward to my first friday in the bay area alone - when I stumbled upon a light...yes, it was...a MAC store. I felt almost at home...as fourth street is the closest I've found to my beloved Georgetown in the East Bay. I'd go to Union Square if I wanted the full on GTown experience, but for a quick pickme up of yuppiefied shopping, 4th street is the place. In particular - wow! to the Cody books, the bath products store and the Crate and Barrel OUTLET (why didn't I find this when I was buying stuff for my new place? sigh).
I think I may be making several return visits, till I get a hankering for georgetown out of my system.
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So back when I was in college I used to think that 4th street was an anomaly - a little bit of WASPy Walnut Creek in otherwise anti-bourgeois Berkeley. This is when I still lived in a one-bedroom with two roommates on the south-side of campus that upon visiting, almost made my mom cry and pull me out of school, a time when evil corporate empires such as Jamba Juice and Starbucks were not allowed within a one-mile radius of the campus and before I discovered North Berkeley, aka the Bo-Bo capitol. (Bo-Bo = Bourgeois Bohemian)
Now I realize that 4th Street is quintessential Berkeley - that is to say, tailored to meet the tastes of opinionated, food-snob, bourgeois bohemians who scoff at corporate America yet shop at the Crate & Barrel outlet, wax poetic about egalitarian utopia but ignore the throngs of illegal migrant workers a block away trying to pick up work for the day, think that dressing in organic hemp clothing makes you a bohemian and ultimately, simply want to be left alone to think their liberal, hippie thoughts while shopping for ramekins at Sur La Table and imported cheeses at the Pasta Shop.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing. In fact, I love 4th Street. It's the perfect place for a self-professed yuppie like me to spend the day, because when you think about it, there's really not very much difference between a yuppie and a Bo-Bo, except maybe 20-30 years in age.
Grab some tacos from Tacubaya for lunch. Caffeinate at Peet's. Window-shop at Sur La Table and Design Within Reach. Pick up beauty products at Benefit, MAC and Kiehl's. Furnish your place with items from Z Gallerie, Restoration Hardware and Crate & Barrel. Get a double serving of the best ice cream in the world (Earl Grey) at Sketch. Pick up a new skirt at Anthropologie and some stationery at the Paper Source. Finish with dinner at Eccolo or Cafe Rouge ($1 oysters on Wednesday nights!).
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-1 star because since Restoration Hardware recently closed their bathrooms to the public, the only other restroom to use is Cody's (edited: now closed) which can have a pretty long line and smell like crap.
Unless you're going to eat at one of the local restaurants (which I rarely do) or make yourself a customer at Teance, I don't know of any other places to go potty.
Do they not want us to shop there anymore??
Edited: Peets's bathroom is open now, but the lines can be long and I've seen cleaner and better smelling bathrooms at the rest stops on i5 when its 110 degrees out.
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FUCK YEAH
(In truth, I feel smarmy admitting that I love this street, but it's the best "mall" of sorts, and I HATE malls, and I just love love love this place. It's sad really. O Chame is amazing, anthropologie is where i score cutesy dresses, and peets is, well, crack. Also, Cody's. Also, that tiny ice cream place sketch. Crate and barrel OUTLET. As well as sur la table. And I used to be obsessed with MAC, so i'd make pilgrimages here, but no longer. Aveda is pretty sexy too. Unf.)
...in short, if I were homeless, I would make this my resting grounds, so that I may be comforted by the sound of wallets opening (pretty quiet really) and cash-registers changin'. ???
Oh, fuck parking here. Ya ya, take a bike.
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Personally, on a nice day I like to take BART to the North Berkeley station and walk down Delaware St. to 4th St. I usually start at Benefit and work my way down one side and up the other. Lunch at Tacubaya for their tortilla soup, a snack at the Pasta Shop before I leave, and finally a Peet's coffee or tea to hold me over until I get home.
Sometimes, if I want to get more of a walk in, I will head up to Downtown Berkeley via University and take BART home from there or if I am really in the mood to walk, I will just walk all the way home to Oakland continuing down Telegraph, up to College, down Piedmont, and through to Grand Ave. via Linda. A great way to spend a nice sunny day with my hubby or my iPod.
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I lived near 4th Street for years. It was much more charming when the shops stopped @ the same block as Bette's.
After the complex housing Peets, the mini-mall across the street and Cody's opening down the block, it became a playground for those cultureless Beemer-driving yuppies who push you off the sidewalk with their big-wheel-in-the-front baby buggies and giggle rather than apologise when their 10-ft-long dog leashes trip you up as you're trying to rush past their loathesome existences to get a coffee & bagel before noon.
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I love Fourth St.
It's a bit bourgeois-gone-Berkeley -- hairsprayed young mothers strutting along with their strollers behind the gray-ponytailed types who always clog the sidewalks.
And the food selection is okay but not great if you want to spend under $10.
But it's definitely baby-friendly (the trains are a big hit) and you can't beat having a MAC on the same block as Kiehl's and Rabat and Anthropologie.
Parking isn't as bad as folks say. Try parking a couple of blocks away and quit whining.
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one long block of east bay yuppydom. Awesome for people watching, one of my favorite games - try matching the waiting dogs with their credit card toting owners .
Papersource: oh let your crafty side free; there's pretty paper and kitschy books galore; Kiehl's is next to the MAC store on the corner although it's pretty much the antithesis of MAC and their extreme eyeshadow wearing employees (you don't' have to wear all the colors at the same time...) all across the street from Benefit.
Expensive shoes, expensive baby clothes, expensive adult clothes, and for those of you who don't have enough stuff there's a store full of stuff to sit around your house, take up space and serve no real purpose. Crate and Barrel "outlet." It's cheaper than other C&Bs but you know it's still marked up just because of the location, I still love it.
Food/Drink: Peets, Tacubaya ...and some other places.
There used to be a crepe place but it was replaced with jewelry or something - blah.
The soap place is awesome and you can dart across the street and get your olive oil fix too.
Bonus - quiet as it's kept the East Bay Vivarium is just one block over on 5th, lizards, snakes and frogs oh my!
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"Welcome to My Centurion Review!" Cool place to hang, shop, browse, window shop, or people watch...
I just discovered this place this week and was pleasantly surprised. I had only been near this area in the past for REI and the Smith & Hawken Outlet. I had no idea that this amazing shopping area existed. It's easy to waste a morning or a whole day in this area especially if the weather is nice! Since I grew up in Jersey, I'm part of the first generation of Mallrats. There's no concept of outdoor shopping like this that I can recall from NJ.
4th Street is a unique retail/shopping district. Lots of cool stores - Crate & Barrel, Sur La Table, DWR - Design Within Reach, Antrhopologie, etc. Reminds me of the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica (LA) minus the beach, the mall, the theatres, the nightclubs, well lots of things...
I like the outdoor pedestrian-friendly aspect of this shopping area. It's not snobby like the Stanford Shopping Center with any big anchor stores like Nieman-Marcus, Bloomies, or Nordstroms or super-high end stuff at Santana Row in San Jose.
Parking can be challenging but the lot adjoining the Crate & Barrel Outlet has lots of turnover, so just hang out in your car and be patient...
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Fourth Street is the most upscale shopping district in Berkeley, and one of the most original in the Bay Area. You don't come here to buy things you need, you come here to buy things you want. Located as it is just off Highway 80 and Berkeley's main thoroughfare, University Avenue, it draws well-heeled shoppers from all points of the compass. Don't be fooled into thinking it's just like any fancy shopping district anywhere, though; it could definitely exist only in Berkeley.
It's an affluent, eclectic, caf-society sort of place, where people wander about in clothing that ranges in style from Mall D'ordinaire to Dreary-but-Noble and Simply Fourth Street (i.e., expensive and original).
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I worked in the vicinity of 4th Street for two years and approximately four months. This job and my consequent intimate relationship with 4th Street ended (voluntarily) last Friday.
Has anyone noticed it's just not that fun down here? For laughs and drinks I usually had to head back to the office.
I'll miss the breakfasts at Tacubaya, the once/twice daily runs to Peet's and the mad dashes over to Sketch with fellow Yelper Jolt G. for a dish of spearmint ice cream paired with grapefruit granita.
But Oh! Those canvassers!
"Do you have a moment for the environment?"
"Do you have a moment for democracy?"
"Do you have a moment to catch my newborn baby which I intend to toss like a football in your direction momentarily?"
"Do you have a moment to help stop the blood that's gushing through this open wound in my chest?"
Saying "no" always made me look like such a jerk, but, hey, it's hard to pick your place, stand in line, buy your food AND eat it on a half hour lunch.
With the aid of my memory (okay, and Google Maps -- street view) I've provided a list of stores located on 4th Street bound my Hearst and Virginia. I'm beginning my tour at Hydra -- the northwesternmost store and moving in a counterclockwise direction, crossing 4th at MAC and ending the tour at the Northeasternmost store -- Scrapbook Territory.
I've approximated my number of visits to each store during my twenty seven months of employment in the area and I've itemized purchases where I was able to recall them.
HYDRA- 2 (once to borrow a piece of paper and a pen to write down a driver's license # and once to see where that "smell" was coming from.)
TRADITIONS - 0
CODY'S BOOKS - 17 (They rarely have the book I'm looking for, but I've purchased many cards here in a hurry. Nice selection of those.)
NAPA STYLE - 1 (To inquire if anyone had turned in the necklace I lost somewhere on my walk between the office and Peet's. They hadn't.)
DESIGN WITHIN REACH - 2 (Once to inquire if anyone had turned in the necklace I lost somewhere on my walk between the office and Peet's and once to see if the price of a chair was within reach. They hadn't and it wasn't.)
EARTHSAKE - 1 (To inquire if anyone had turned in the necklace I lost somewhere on my walk between the office and Peet's. Nope.)
FLIGHT 001 - 2 (Purchased a carry-on bag that I mostly use as a gym bag)
PEET'S COFFEE - 435
PAVE FINE JEWELRY DESIGN - 0
TEANCE- 2
CAFE ROUGE - 4
PASTA SHOP - 35 (because the salad bar is accessible, if pricey and neverchanging, and I sometimes required a Vosgues chocolate bar fix)
TACUBAYA- 75 (frequent breakfasts of chilaquiles, juevos nortenos or churros and Mexican hot chocolate; frequent lunches of frijoles con todo and tamal de veduras with a a side of pureed sweet potatoes!)
VINO! - 2
FOURTH STREET FLOWERS- 6 (unusual arrangements culled from uncommon flowers and foliage)
STAINED GLASS GARDEN- 0
SUR LA TABLE - 2
THE LIGHTING STUDIO - 0
THE ARK TOY STORE - 0
LA FOLIE - 3; When it was ISABELLE LINGERIE - 3
ECCOLO - 0
O CHAME - 1
THE GARDENER - 11
THIS LITTLE PIGGY WEARS COTTON- 0
JIGSAW - 0
GEORGE- 3 (for Champ's first collar and toy; to check out cat carrier selection and prices, accompany a coworker friend on toy-hunting mission for her dog)
AVEDA - 2 (both times by accident, thinking I was walking into Kiehl's)
KIEHL'S - 4
MAC - 4 (I know I purchased an eyeliner pencil called "phone number")
PAPER SOURCE - 3
ANTHROPOLOGIE- 8
BENEFIT COSMETICS - 2
CP SHADES - 0
ERICA TANOV- 0
RABAT- 7 (Tsubos and sandals)
SLATER/MARINOFF & CO. - 0
BUILDER'S BOOKSOURCE - 2
KET'ER SALON - 0
SHOKA- 0
MOLLY B. - 0
DOWN HOME MUSIC- 1. When it was HEAR MUSIC- 10
SKETCH- 35
BETTE'S OCEAN VIEW DINER - 3
BETTE'S TO GO - 30
CASTLE IN THE AIR- 3
THOUSAND CRANES-0
MIKI'S PAPER- 2
BARE ESSENTIALS - 0
PAPYRUS - 0
JEST JEWELS - 0
MANHATTAN BAGEL- 12 (the breakfast bagel with the synthetic orange cheese until I couldn't stomach it any longer)
CRATE & BARREL OUTLET- 4
RESTORATION HARDWARE - 0
Z GALLERIE- 0
FOURTH STREET STUDIO - 0
WHEELGIRL- 1
STONEHOUSE CALIFORNIA OLIVE OIL - 4
PELLA WINDOWS AND DOORS - 0
SCRAPBOOK TERRITORY - 2
NOTE: Lost on 4th Street: four leaf clover necklace: http://static.px.yelp....
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One of my favorite things to do in my free time is to grab a cup of something, stroll and shop outdoors in the sun in a cool neighborhood and this one fits the bill more than fine.
I love this little shopping area....part yuppy mecca, part neighborhood feeling. Sorta like the make-up of who I am.
Crate and Barrel Outlet, Restoration Hardware, Anthropologie and the beat goes on.
If you have a dog, bring it.
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I love that I can window shop around 4th street and then blow my hard earned cash, albeit a small amount, at the Crate and Barrel outlet store. What is an outlet doing here? I don't care. I'm just glad it's there.
I discoverd this place the first month I moved to the Bay area and consider it one of my greater finds.
Ok I make the occasional trek to 4th Street and wonder why I drove around in a mad search for parking without any real love for the stores over there. (I do enjoy Tacubaya)
If you like to shop, stroll, drink coffee, shop some more....
Try COLLEGE AVE....there is a better selection of shops and just more fun. The parking isn't much easier but at least it's worth the effort. It seems that this street is a magnet for up and coming boutiques.
One of the perks of living in Emeryville is that I'm now so close to Fourth Street. The drawback is that I'm going to be in credit card debt forever. However, if you have more willpower and can keep your spending at bay, Fourth Street is the perfect place to waste away your Saturday or Sunday.
First - parking advice. The public lots (and there are several) offer free parking with 3 hour limit. But fret not if you lose track of time hoarding samples at Kielh's. The "security" do chalk your tires but if you violate the time limit, they just leave you a threatening note saying your license is now on file and next time you will be towed. I've been warned 3 times and and no towing yet.
Okay, onto the fun part in no particular order - Shopping, People Watching & Dining
Shopping
4th Street has got a pretty eclectic mix of stores - think of it as Fillmore meets the Mall (minus the annoying teeny-bops). Anchoring the street is Anthropolgie on the south end, Crate & Barrel Outlet in the middle, and Cody's Book on the north end. In between you will find Benefit Cosmetics, MAC, Kiehl's, Rabat, Bare Essentials, the new Paper Source, the Gardener, Sur La Table, Restoration Hardware, Z Gallerie, Design within Reach, Papyrus, a few kids stores, a few clothing stores, and a great scrapbook store. (notice how I can name all the cosmetics and the home stores?)
Crate and Barrel outlet might be the main draw of this place - you get alot of the similar items from the main stores but at a fraction of the retail price. There is also a big room in the back selling their AS-IS furniture - if you don't mind a few scratches on the headboard (it'll get there eventually anyway), you can save up to 50% off.
People Watching
Due to its location, 4th Street draws a mix of people. You get young professionals, stroller pushing families, people walking their dogs, students from Berkeley (though not too much), and just other hip people of the East Bay. The best place to enjoy the crowd is outside Peets coffee. There are a few tables on the patio but you can also sit along the cement ramp to enjoy the scene over your Scharfenberger freddo.
Dining
Whatever you want to eat, you got it. Be prepared to spend a lot but you will never go hungry on 4th Street. Spengers located on the south end of the street has been a Bay Area institution for years. They offer possibly one of the greatest selection of seafood anywhere. Eccolo and O'Chame are both on the SF Chronicle's List of the 100 Best Bay Area restaurants. Eccolo offers elegant pastas, sandwiches and burgers. It's elegant but not pretentious. O'Chame is Japanese Fusion. There is Tacubaya, an pricier order-at-the-counter Mexican restaurant. Their tortas are excellent. The place with the longest line would be Bette's Oceanview Diner. There is no view of the ocean but who cares when you are enjoying their souffle pancakes! To die for. If you're just looking for a little pick-me-up between the shopping, make sure you stop in at Sketch. The little husband-and-wife owned ice cream shop is ADORABLE. They offer a selection of gelatos and granitas (think the sno-cone ice). My favorite is the earl grey gelato, served in the decorative plastic bowls. There is also a Sugar Bowl bakery behind Bare Essentials. You can never go wrong with a cookie or slice of cake.
So here is Fourth Street in a nutshell (or twenty page thesis). Hope you enjoy your visit.
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yuppies
no parking
everything costs WAY too much $$ (there is a store for doggy treats and accessories that sells jackets for dogs that cost more than my entire personal wardrobe!)
tacubaya is tasty. kiehls nearby is handy for refills.
did i mention it is yuppie-ville?
NOT worth the effort.
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4 stars.... for every store that you have, I will find something, somewhere to spend money. I love it here.
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Look people. There is no reason in HELL that you need to DRIVE DOWN 4TH STREET. There are plenty of side streets to accommodate you and your gas guzzler. (And DEAR LORD if you see someone walking to their car, if they are NOT ACTUALLY LEAVING RIGHT THIS SECOND, don't wait for their spot. Berkeley is filled with street parking...all at least 2 hour...and if you have to walk two blocks, then so be it. You're fat anyway.) Leave us in peace to roam the streets. Hopefully it gets big enough to where they put up blockades to make the row pedestrian only, that way I can frolic with my Sketch Burnt Caramel in peace.
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such a cozy area... i love these types of outdoor shopping areas. nice selection of shops and spots with food...
wish we had a place like this in oakland...
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This is the yuppie part of Berkeley. Lots of shops and boutiques that are pretty pricey. If you like Anthropologie, there's a pretty nice one down on this street. Everyone brings their dogs here or so it seems. You'll see a bunch of them sitting outside with their owner at an outside dining area. If you're willing to look around, you can find parking on the street, but you might need to circle around for a bit. I love the Crate & Barrel Outlet store here. If you're into makeup there's a Benefit, Kiehl's (my personal fave) and a Mac store all within walking distance. It kind of reminds me of Walnut Creek's outdoor shopping mall in a more urban area. It's a great place to browse if you're poor like me, if you have the money to spend, I'm sure you'll be in heaven.
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Lighten-up.... if you don't like Sketch Ice Cream, Miki Paper, Castle In The Air, Hydra, Scrapbook Territory, *CODY's*, Stonehouse Olive Oil, and (as everyone else says) a great place to hang-out with your dog - then just don't go to 4th Street. Get your cards from Hallmark instead of Papyrus, buy your salt at Safeway instead of The Pasta Shop, obtain your kitchenwares from Penney's instead of Sur La Table, pickup your towels & sheets from Bed, Bath & Beyond instead of Earthsake and who knows where you'll be getting your snakes, monitor lizards & tarantulas.
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4th street is like home to me (no, i am not one of the day laborer hopefuls that fill the corners nearby, nor am i that homeless woman outside peets) i am lucky to be one for whom 4th street evokes that warm sentimental "berkeley is my home town" feeling. i have been sipping coffee, shopping & window shopping, people watching, eating, drinking, and working on 4th street for as long as i can remember.
prior to obtaining my current *very important* position....2005 work day: dress in cute skirt and heels, drive to 4th street, peets coffee, open store-work, sandwich from the cute butchers at rouge or salad from the pasta shop or pizza from bette's, sell clothes-work-greet customers-work, gelato from sketch or cookie from bette's, close store-work-fold clothes, cocktails at rouge with co-workers, flirt with bartenders....sigh.
fashionistas and foodies of all ages, classic berkeley yuppies, authentic aging berkeley hippies, and families of all types are drawn to this mini mecca. you all know what stores and shops are there, so i won't list them to ooh and ahh here.
(only 4 stars cause it's too crowded on the weekends.)
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i lived in the bay for a long time but i never discovered 4th street until i went back to visit recently.
i love places like this because it reminds me of little shop areas in LA.
i love walking down a couple of decorated streets filled with little posh shops.
I wanted to like this. I like the marina. I like nice things. I have a good job and appreciate fine things which is may be un-Berkeley in a sense. But I just can't stand being here at all. It is as though people are trying so hard to separate themselves from the town and appear better than the stereotype of Berkeley that they aren't friendly. The stores charge more than walnut creek or nicer areas for the exact same good and the stores are largely useless crap. Not even useless crap I would impulsively buy. There is an art gallery/work space about halfway down the street that I enjoy. It is a space where the artists can actually exist and do their thing unaffected by the expectations of the street. The bike store is sort of sad because you can tell the owners and employees are passionate, but had to dilute themselves to selling extremely overpriced wheels because thats what they had to do to pay the bills and their customers wouldnt appreciate a special bike.
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i was introduced to 4th street as a working person, not a shopper, and i've been working just on the other side of the tracks for the past 7 years. i've seen 4th street change and add more uber-yuppie stores and have hoped and hoped they would instead support an independent local business or two (Cody's excepted) instead of more make--up stores (HOW MUCH MAKE-UP DO SOCCER MOMS NEED??) and utterly unaffordable midlife women's clothing. i have several east bay friends with clothing/jewelry businesses under the age of 35 who are forced to rent boutique space in crappy neighborhoods of south berkeley and Eville and JLS who would do so much better if given a chance here, but when a space opens up, the OverLords of 4th street (developers Abrams Milliken & Kent) insist on putting in crappy overpriced sweatshop stores like "Anthropologie" instead, i guess because the yuppies who shop there have wallets with money just spilling out of them and the developers don't care about creating a sustainable berkeley - they care about maintaining their prestige as having created the highest grossing commercial district per square foot in northern california. watching the Ladies Who Lunch sit and wait in line for parking spaces in the free lot while an enormous but cheap pay lot across the street sits empty just makes me laugh.
i spend a lot of time on 4th street and eat at some of the restaurants, but only because i work in the neighborhood. otherwise, i avoid it like i avoid Sausalito. i note all the people using the words "cute" and "chic" to describe the neighborhood; this means that just like when you see these words used to describe clothing in advertisements, you should avoid it, because if you don't you'll end up looking like one of THEM.
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upscale and fun but not too yuppie. good restaurants and fun little local shops mixed in with biggies such as mac, anthropologie, bare escentuals. a fun divertimento.
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i do so love 4th street.
