Corrected Version

Turns out there was a math error in the map I submitted that led to District 7 being drawn too large (around 18,000 people) and District 8 drawn too small (around 10,000).  Here is the corrected version that balances the population so that both are around 14,000.

I've come up with a possible fix, and in the map below have indicated the areas moved from 7 to 8 in a darker shade of pink.  Will finalize after the community meeting on April 29th. 

Click map to enlarged.

Student District, the solution

Freed from the 1986 boundaries, rotating all districts clockwise allows most of the dorms, fraternities, sororities, and cooperatives to fall into District 6.   It also gives West Berkeley and the Berkeley Hills each their own cohesive district.

Equal District Population: 14073
District 1 - North Berkeley: 13973
District 2 - West Berkeley: 14021
District 3 - South Berkeley: 14001
District 4: - Downtown North: 14116
District 5 - Berkeley Hills: 14039
District 6 - Student District: 14156 
District 7 - Downtown South & Telegraph: 14142 
District 8 - Elmwood & Claremont: 14132

Comparison to existing

A Berkeley Student District? The Challenge

Berkeley has 8 City Council districts.
The orange rectangle is the area around campus where most students live.  25% of the city's population lives here.
None of the current council members lives there.  
Each council district must have 1 council member's current residence in it, no more, no less.
Each district must have around 14,000 people (28 dots) in it, no more, no less.

The Challenge: How to avoid splitting up the residents in the orange rectangle?

Back for 2013

As you may have heard, the process is restarting again!  This time, there's no need to adhere to the 1986 lines.  However, council members cannot be drawn out of their districts.  Therefore, is there really that much new flexibility?  I'll try a couple ideas out but my first instinct is no, and that creating a student supermajority district will still be a challenge as none of the 8 council members lives within 6 blocks of campus.  Read more on Berkeleyside.