Welcome to the weekend miscellany, so named because gallimaufry is too difficult to spell:

Maybe Ann Coulter was too quick to give up on Berkeley.

Coulter, conservative author, pundit and self-promoting provocateur, cancelled an appearance at UC Berkeley last week when, well, it’s a long story. If only she would have known: This week, Berkeley was ranked the fifth-most desirable U.S. city in which to live by niche.com, a website that “helps you discover the schools and neighborhoods that are right for you.”

Niche.com gave Berkeley an A+ for public schools, nightlife, diversity and being “good for families.” The city got a C+ for both housing and crime, and safety. Other factors considered included traffic and weather. The grades, by the way, were arrived at through “advanced algorithms and statistical techniques to compare, normalize and connect millions of data points to thoroughly analyze U.S. schools and neighborhoods.”

Sounds simple enough.

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Peterson: Deportation fears are sending many ‘back into the shadows’

Peterson: Concord the No. 1 U.S. retirement destination — really? What the website didn’t cite, but could have, is Berkeley’s free-spirited, free-thinking residents (more than 70 percent have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher), the UC Berkeley campus, the kaleidoscope of sensory stimuli to be found on Telegraph Avenue, the hills and their commanding view of the Bay Area, proximity to more traditionally vibrant cities in which tie-dye is not recognized as an official color, and the occasional political rally that turns into an episode of the Jerry Springer Show.

One reviewer who relocated to Berkeley from Houston wrote niche.com: “At first, the city does provide a bit of a culture shock because people are so eccentric, and almost too friendly!”

Imagine if this reviewer had been around for Naked Guy.

“The amount of cultural food is absolutely insane,” the reviewer continued, “and more diverse than any other city I have been to.”

Snippets from other reviewers: “The area is very walkable” … “Anyone can find a community here” … “The history of the city is rich with political activism” … “Overpriced, overly political and overcrowded, but, you know what, the food’s really good.”

Berkeley ranked behind only top-rated Ann Arbor, Michigan; Naperville, Illinois; Arlington, Virginia; and Columbia, Maryland in the 100-city survey. Two other Bay Area cities made the top 25: Sunnyvale (15) and San Francisco (24).

Talk about pay to play: Under the terms of a new two-year lease, the Warriors will pay dearly to Oakland and Alameda County for the right to call Oracle Arena home. The new lease calls for $2.5 million per year, an increase of $1 million — or what Kevin Durant earned every four dunks during the regular season.

Speaking of heaping gobs of money: The 2.2-mile bike path along the Bay Bridge’s eastern span was opened this week for seven-days-a-week use. Not only that, but a $2 million vista point was opened at the point where the path meets Yerba Buena Island.

If you’re thinking that $2 million for benches, restrooms, a bike rack, a water fountain and a killer view is a little pricey, recall that the bridge cost $6.4 billion ($5.4 billion over budget and 10 years behind schedule), jaw-dropping fiscal irresponsibility that was celebrated, naturally, with a $5.6 million grand opening.

Even if he wanted to, Durant couldn’t offset that cost unless he dunked into his 70s. Hey, don’t laugh:

Finally, it recently came to light that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, in her new two-year budget, initially proposed diverting soda tax revenues to cover a budget shortfall — which would have broken a promise made to voters to commit the funds to fight diseases related to high-sugar drinks.

Which explains the chants you may have heard outside City Hall this week: “No taxation without carbonation.”