North Berkeley

North Berkeley Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components and Symbols

Residents: white = High Income, yellow = Middle Income, red = Low Income.
Tiles: a building tile shows its housing type in its quadrants. An M quadrant is Moderate Income housing, which the legend describes as occupied by yellow (Middle Income) or red (Low Income) residents only. An L quadrant is Low Income housing, occupied by red (Low Income) residents only. A quadrant with no letter is Market Rate housing, which can be occupied by any resident.
$ on a tile is its spending cost. Some buildings require government subsidy to build.
Constituent cards each show a +1 condition and a -1 condition. Policy cards show a rule that changes the game.
The board is marked with streets: Virginia Street, Delaware Street, Sacramento Street, and Acton Street. Some constituent cards refer to the squares next to Virginia Street, Acton, and the Greenway by these names.

Note: the legend on the source's Phase 1 illustration uses the term "Moderate Income" for the M quadrant; the rest of the rules call the same tier "Middle Income". Both terms are transcribed as printed.

1 Populate the Neighborhood

Randomly place existing residents in the existing houses & apartments.

4 high income
4 middle income
4 low income

Set aside the other 24 residents. They don't live in the neighborhood yet, but are planning to. At the end of the game they'll attempt to move in.

If you don't build it, they'll still come. Job growth is driving the population increase. If not enough homes are built at the station, existing and new residents will have to compete for the limited number of existing homes - with the high income ones winning and displacing the rest.

Refer to last page for details on move-in and displacement.

2 Form your political coalition

Shuffle and deal each player or team their starting Constituent cards. You don't have to reveal what they are.

2 Players: 3 Cards Each
3 or 4 Players: 2 Cards Each
5 or 6 Players: 1 Card Each

Meeting their goal earns you 1 point at the end of the game.

Miss their goal by too much and you'll fail, losing 1 point at the end!

Note that some cards can score both a +1 and -1, for a net of 0, at end of game.

3 Negotiate Phase 1

You have 10 minutes to come to an agreement on what 4 tiles to place in the 4 Phase 1 spaces.

Can't agree? Once 10 minutes have passed, any player can call for the state government to step in. If that happens, randomly select tiles to fill any unoccupied Phase 1 spaces.

Construction Options

Towers - Tall buildings with more than 8 floors. Space for 4 residents.

Market Rate Tower - No Spending Required
25% Inclusionary - 25% Low Income Housing. No Spending Required.
50% Inclusionary - 25% Low Income + 25% Middle Income. Spending Required: $1
Mixed Income Social Housing - Mixed Income. Spending Required: $2
Workforce Housing - All Low or Middle Income. Spending Required: $4
Low Income Public Housing - All Low Income. Spending Required: $6

Midrises - Buildings with 4-8 floors. Space for 2 residents.

Market Rate Midrise - No Spending Required
50% Inclusionary - 50% Low Income Housing. No Spending Required
Workforce Housing - All Low or Middle Income. Spending Required: $1
Low Income Public Housing - All Low Income. Spending Required: $2

Townhouses - 2-3 floor homes with individual entrances. Space for 1 resident.

Market Rate Townhouses - No Spending Required
Middle Income Townhouses - Middle Income. No Spending Required
Low Income Townhouses - Low Income. Spending Required: $1

Other

Garage - Spending Required: $1
Park - Spending Required: $1

Each building type comes in 2 or 3 styles, this is purely aesthetic and has no impact on the game.

4 Get another constituent

(only occurs in games with 2 or 3 players)

Each player randomly draws another Constituent and places it face up in front in front of them. If the card is already scoring a -1, you may discard and draw another; repeat as necessary.

Example

The Fiscal Conservatives card scores -1 if spending is over $8.

Therefore, if you draw this card and there's already more than $8 of spending on the board, you may discard and draw another one.

5 Choose more constituents

Next, draw 7 Constituents and place them face up in the middle.

Players announce their current score. Starting with the player with the lowest score, and then going onto the 2nd lowest, and so on, each player chooses another Constituent and puts it face up in front of them.

In the case of ties, whoever last participated in a political activity goes first.

6 Pass a policy or two

Building takes time, and as the housing crisis worsens, people demand fast action. Shuffle and draw 2 policy cards. Players must agree to enact at least one of them.

Under regular rent control, rent increases are limited, but only if the same tenant is living there. Once they move out, rent can be raised to any price.

With vacancy control, rents remain controlled even after the tenant leaves. This reduces the incentive for landlords to evict so they can bring in a higher paying tenant.

Low Income housing is typically restricted to households earning no more than 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

Middle Income housing is typically restricted to households earning no more than 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

Accessory Dwelling Units, also known as in-law units or granny flats, are small apartments located in the backyard, a converted garage, added onto a house, or carved out of an existing space by dividing up the house.

Matching funds from bond measures at the state and county level allow cities to leverage their funds into additional money, funding more units than they could otherwise fund by themselves.

These funds are often awarded in a competitive process, to maximize the number of new homes produced.

7 Negotiate Phase 2

You have 10 minutes to come to an agreement on what tiles to place on the remaining 5 sqaces.

Can't agree on some or all of the spaces? Again, after 10 minutes have passed, any player can call for the state government to step in and randomly fill any remaining vacant spaces.

8 People move in

Start with the 8 new high income residents.

New Market Rate Homes - First, fill any Market Rate spaces in new buildings with new High Income residents.
Accessory Dwelling Units - If the Accessory Dwelling Units policy was selected, place any High Income residents next to Existing Houses (1 per house).
Existing Houses - If there are still High Income residents to be placed, they displace Low and Middle Income residents in Existing Houses.
Existing Apartments - Finally, for High Income residents still to place, displace Low and Middle Income residents in Existing Apartments.

Next, take the 8 new, plus any displaced middle income residents.

New Middle Income Homes - First, fill any Middle Income spaces in new buildings with Middle Income residents.
New Market Rate Homes - If there are any vacant Market Rate homes left, fill them with Middle Income residents.
Accessory Dwelling Units - If the ADU policy was selected, place Middle Income residents next to Existing Houses (max 1 ADU resident per house).
Existing Houses - If there are still Middle Income residents to be placed, they displace Low Income residents in Existing Houses.
Existing Apartments - Finally, for Middle Income residents still to place, displace Low Income residents in Existing Apartments.

Finally, take the 8 new, plus any displaced low income residents.

Any Remaining Vacant New Homes - Place Low Income residents in any remaining Low Income, Middle Income, or Market Rate spaces left on the board.

9 End of Game - Scoring

Add up all the costs on new tiles to determine total spending.

When calculating number of residents housed, include residents in new and existing buildings.

Reveal all cards. Total up the +1 and -1's from your constituents. Highest score wins!

In the event of a tie, whoever has the fewest -1's is the winner. If it's still a tie, both win.

Glossary

Affordable Housing - subsidized housing where prices are set so that residents spend less than 1/3 of their income on rent or mortgages. Residents must earn below a certain income limit to qualify.
Business Improvement District (BID) - a special tax district where businesses pay additional taxes, which are spent on services and projects within the district.
Inclusionary Housing - a policy where some homes (typically 5-25%) in new buildings are reserved for low income residents. The rent on these homes is lower.
Market Rate Housing - housing that is sold or rented on the market, at whatever price someone is willing to pay.
Ohlone Greenway - a bike and pedestrian path that follows underground and overhead BART tracks from Berkeley to El Cerrito.

Policy Cards

Each policy card's printed text:

Vacancy Control - Residents in Existing Apartments and Houses cannot be Displaced.
100% Affordable Housing - All housing placed in 2nd phase may only contain Low or Middle Income homes.
Accessory Dwelling Units - Houses can now hold an additional resident.
Matching Affordable Housing Funds - If at least 7 Low Income units are built, when calculating spending, the cost of all housing is halved. Cost of parks and garages remains at $1 each.

Constituent Cards

Each Constituent card shows a +1 condition (green bar) and a -1 condition (grey bar), as printed on the card sheet. Scoring is as described in steps 2 and 9. The 22 cards are:

Affordable Housing Organizations

+1 if: All 12 Low Income residents are housed.
-1 if: Less than 6 Low Income residents are housed.

Labor Unions

+1 if: At least 18 new homes, of which at least half are Low or Middle Income Housing.
-1 if: Less than 12 new homes.

Developer

+1 if: At least 10 new Market Rate homes AND spending under $10.
-1 if: Spending over $13.

Middle Class Millennials

+1 if: All 12 Middle Income residents housed.
-1 if: Less than 8 Middle Income residents housed.

Anti-Gentrification Activists

+1 if: More than half of residents are Low or Middle Income.
-1 if: Less than 4 Low Income residents.

North Berkeley Business Improvement District

+1 if: At least 16 new homes AND at least 1 garage.
-1 if: Spending over $10.

Refuse Capitalism

+1 if: At least 8 Low Income residents housed AND no more than 4 new Market Rate homes.
-1 if: Over 8 new Market Rate homes.

Fiscal Conservatives

+1 if: Spending under $5.
-1 if: Spending over $8.

People Concerned About Property Values

+1 if: No more than 4 Low Income residents housed.
-1 if: Over 8 Low Income residents housed.

Landlords

+1 if: All existing apartments occupied by Middle or High Income residents.
-1 if: Vacancy control in effect.

Real Estate Speculators

+1 if: All Houses occupied by High Income residents, AND spending under $9.
-1 if: Spending over $12.

East Bay Park and Ride Coalition

+1 if: At least 2 garages.
-1 if: No garages built.

Neighbors for More Parks

+1 if: At least 2 Parks AND spending under $11.
-1 if: No parks built.

Stop the Shadows

+1 if: No Towers or Midrises on the two squares next to Virginia Street.
-1 if: One or more Towers on the squares next to Virginia or Acton.

Save Our Views

+1 if: No Towers anywhere, AND Spending under $8.
-1 if: Three or more Towers.

Urbanists

+1 if: At least 6 squares occupied by Midrises or Towers.
-1 if: Less than 4 squares occupied by Midrises or Towers.

The Bike Lobby

+1 if: At least 10 homes next to the Greenway.
-1 if: More than 1 garage.

Tech Corporations

+1 if: 20 new homes AND spending under $12.
-1 if: Less than 8 new Market Rate homes.

Inclusionary Housing for All

+1 if: Each square with housing contains at least one Low or Middle Income home.
-1 if: Less than 7 Low Income residents housed OR Less than 7 Middle Income residents housed.

Eco-Primitivists

+1 if: More parks than garages.
-1 if: More than 1 garage.

Friends of Neighborhood Character

+1 if: Townhouses on at least 3 of the 4 corner squares.
-1 if: Towers on any of the corner squares, OR spending over $14.

Save Our Parking

+1 if: At least 1 garage for every 6 new homes.
-1 if: Less than 1 garage for every 8 new homes, OR spending over $11.