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Showing posts from March, 2008

Photo du jour: They put up a parking lot

Except this one is not paved. The mid-block lot on the north side of Blake between Fulton and Shattuck has been vacant for the past four years, at least. I had plans for this lot: the 4B Habitat Project. The B’s are bats, bees, birds, and butterflies. Now - within the last month - it is a parking lot. Although it is unpaved, at least one half of the lot is compacted by through traffic. Note the parallel ruts in the second photograph. December 2007 March 28, 2008

Cody's opens on Shattuck

Cody’s San Francisco outlet closed in 2007, ironically in April, the same month it will open its newest store in its home city of Berkeley, though not in its original location. The old storefront on Telegraph remains empty. The posters on the windows predicted an April opening for the Shattuck at Allston store - and the website lists the official grand opening as April 1 - but Cody’s Books opened its doors today for Richard Price’s new novel, Lush Life . The bookstore relocated its Fourth Street inventory to Shattuck - a difference of more than 3,000 square feet - because of rising rents . It’s good to see another empty (corner) storefront on Shattuck filled. Cody’s does not have to compete with Barnes & Noble which closed last fall , but there are two prominent bookstores in the area: Half Price Books on Shattuck at Addison and Pegasus Books on Shattuck at Durant (across from the old Barnes & Noble, now Staples, almost). In an interview with the Chronicle , Pegasus own

ABCs of the Science Times

I am happily a weekly subscriber to the New York Times . In high school, the Science Times was my favorite section of the Times and after reading it this morning, it still is. In lieu of this weekend’s headlines, I’m blogging articles in today’s Science Times. Efforts of dancing bees are often wasted on distracted audience Link to global warming in frogs’ disappearance is challenged * Frogs - the species in question are really toads - are amphibians . Bats perish, and no one knows why Are we ready to track carbon footprints? Tying neighborhoods to fitness efforts And from the Berkeley Daily Planet , an article about the creek and museum plans for Oxford and Center Streets . Read responses to the article here and here . Creek section below the “hazard” sign

Landscape elements of Strawberry Creek Park

Lately I’ve been hanging around Strawberry Creek Park - working with Affordable Housing Associates and scoping out a route and sponsors for the Berkeley Partners for Parks Spring event “Walk Bike Westbrae/ West Berkeley” sponsored with the Hidden Gems Tour and Berkeley Path Wanderers Association. You will recall that I’ve been on the Hidden Gems Tour . The Walk Bike event is planned for Saturday, May 10 with the walk portion starting at the Albany border and the bike portion starting at San Pablo Park, both at 10 a.m. Looking north and south So, I’ve been walking around and through the park and observing berms, swales, and desire paths. The berms and mid-park depression form a bowl for water retention. The berms on the northern side also provide privacy from Addison Street. The berms on the northeast and the south are heavily planted with trees providing two mini-woodlands/ groves. There is a bench beneath the northeast berm which provides prospect over the park, pictured below

Tree Walk: Urban forest and edible gardens at the SF Flower & Garden Show

Two BART trains and three buses. This was the route generated by 511.org to get me from Ashby to the Cow Palace, site of this year’s San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. Luck was with me. I took a direct BART to the city, met a friend for a long lunch, then took another direct BART to Balboa Park. At the Balboa station there was a shuttle waiting to transport visitors to the show! I bought my half-day ticket in advance rather than at the door so I would definitely attend the show. I wanted to see the urban forest garden - “Healthy Communities Grow on Trees” - developed by the USDA Forest Service, California Urban Forests Council, and the Mandeville Garden Company, but I would not have a companion so feared that I would back out at the last minute. In addition to the urban forest garden, I also wanted to see the garden that was the subject of a San Francisco Chronicle series on the show: “Ripples and Rays” by East Bay designers Joy Lung and Christian Ehrhorn of Misty Morning Garde

Weekend headlines March 16, 2008

Leaving behind the trucker hat: young urbanites, learning that dirt can also be soil, are using their overalls as originally intended New York Times Mark Armstrong’s alternative fuel philosophy SF Chronicle Magazine San Leandro firm among few mattress recyclers Chronicle The growth of green [jobs] Chronicle Habitat for harmony: how to garden the way nature intended Slate Magazine

Blooming purple

Pi Day 2008 etceteras

Listening to Ira Flatow on today’s Science Friday , I learned, among other things, that National Pi Day is celebrated on March 14. Pi, as is in “the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter” and March 14 as in 3.14 (see the official National Pi Day and the Science Friday websites). March 14 is also Einstein’s birthday! This plaza in downtown Oakland (below) would almost be a PIazza if it did not have the landscaped square. (Technically, a piazza is an open, i.e. “without grass or planting” square .) Notice the keep out sign for preservation. Back to pi(e)s: if you don’t have one already, you should consider a backyard orchard. You could be celebrating Pi Day with a grown-in-your own-backyard fruit pie. If fruit is not your thing or you prefer pizza, why not order a pie from Pie in the Sky pizzeria on Center Street in Berkeley? However, backyard orchards are the latest “local-food movement” phenomenon , according to the New York Times , so plant a fruit tree o

Around Lake Merritt

Proposed improvements on Lakeshore Avenue A brief excerpt from the poster above outlining the City’s position on tree removal around Lake Merritt (and other city parks): There seems to be a philosophical difference between the approach of the City and that of some citizens regarding trees in urban parks. Some citizens feel that all trees should be left in place until they die, no matter what. The City takes the approach that trees in an urban park should be managed as one would take care of a garden at home.

Weekend headlines March 9, 2008

Homey new uses for old utilities New York Times Shifting demographics hint at SoMa’s future San Francisco Chronicle Pesticide maker owned by political donor Chronicle Mildred Kalish’s little house on the farm Chronicle Tree-sitter’s battle branches out at Cal Chronicle Oakland joins fight to halt State moth spray plan Berkeley Daily Planet Greenhouse gas session generates political heat Daily Planet Surviving oaks still shade Alden Lane Nursery Daily Planet

Selected South Berkeley zoning applications

Several weeks ago I saw a link to the City of Berkeley’s zoning applications map on the Daily Planet web site. I can no longer find this link but the South Berkeley applications are available here (and pictured below) and the North Berkeley applications are available here . I visited several application sites in my South Berkeley neighborhood which are pictured below. The houses at 2205 and 2201 Blake Street are beautiful examples of Victorian and Queen Anne architecture, which according to the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, were landmarked in September 2005 . The online zoning application map must be outdated. The web site states that the Blake Street houses are initiating the landmark process. No dates are included on the web site. The application for a takeout deli and coffee shop located at 2120 Dwight Way is a former printing shop. When I first saw the Dwight Way address I assumed it was the former deli - Roxie - at Dwight and Fulton which has been un

Tree Walk: Land of the oaks

This post began its life as a short essay about “what’s in a name.” I’ve long been interested in the use of natural elements to name places. Of course, it is ironic in a suburban context where streets and subdivisions are named for plants and animals that no longer inhabit the area, at least not in the numbers they did before development. Anyway, I’ve also been enamored of the large coast live oak at Oakland City Hall and thought the combination of place naming and oak trees would make a good post. In 1852 the City of Oakland was officially incorporated from Rancho Encinal de San Antonio owned by Anthony Peralta. The translation is ranch of the oak grove of St. Anthony. The men present at incorporation considered An Antonio, Encinal Oak Grove, and Land of the Oaks, before settling on Oakland ( Land of the Oaks , James Harlow, 1956). Pre-incorporation, the Rancho Encinal de San Antonio hosted 900 acres of oak woodland in present day downtown Oakland (dissertation, David J. Nowak,

Weekend headlines March 2, 2008

Development transforms San Pablo eyesore San Francisco Chronicle Pittsburg pipe dream Chronicle Snowpack not satisfying state water officials Chronicle Helping urban trees to thrive Chronicle Read other articles from the Green special edition: Threats – And Saviors – For The Trees . [Berkeley] Council may face State in court to stop moth spray Berkeley Daily Planet When houses arrived in 30,000 pieces New York Times The way we eat: Sap happy [or maple syrup making by painter Marc Seguin and friends] Times Magazine Preserving a forest and a philosophy [or how to “stay true” to the production of natural products] Times

Connection to mountaintop removal coal mining

I have been reading Michael Shnayerson’s Coal River with shock, sadness, anger, and hope. I borrowed the book after reading a review in the New York Times Book Review. Tonight I found out that coal extracted via mountaintop removal powers my home.* My electricity supplier is Pacific Gas and Electric. According to iLoveMountains.org, PG&E “buys coal from companies engaged in mountaintop removal,” a practice that has devastating consequences not only for the physical environment, but also for social communities and physiological well-being. I encourage you to read Shnayerson’s book. One strategy to end mountaintop removal coal mining, the Clean Water Protection Act H.R. 2169, is being supported by Representative Barbara Lee. Click on the image below to find out your connection to mountaintop removal coal mining and for resources on how you can help to preserve Appalachian landscapes and communities. * via Bootstrap Analysis .