1. post a string of fixie portraits
2. pick up a few new followers
3. post urban planning stuff (not totally bike-related)
4. hah—tricked you!

jk :P :D

welcome, my few new followers. and hi to all the older peepz. :)

I will try to keep the content here pretty mixed/balanced. (but yeah, like i’ve mentioned before, if i post a slew of bike pics, it’s probably cuz i’m being lazy / i just spent an hour looking at this one blog. or urban planning news is slow.)

and for those who really did click “follow” because of the fixie pics, I hope some of this urban planning stuff looks interesting. better urban design, public spaces, bike- and ped-friendly infrastructure, etc. will make cities all better and safer places to live and cycle.

photo by vicki estrada

Work crews today began demolishing the old Robinsons- May/Planet Hollywood building at Westfield Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego to make room for a new public park.

Officials behind the $14 million project hope to create a 37,000-square-foot civic gathering space that will hold more than 200 events per year…

“This is going to be for our citizens, this is going to be for our tourists, this is going to be for all of us,” Mayor-elect Bob Filner told several hundred people on hand for a special event to mark the beginning of demolition.

Gary Smith, an advocate for downtown residents, said the area’s population has ballooned from 7,000 a couple of decades ago to around 40,000 now, and they need activities.

According to Westfield, which will manage the park and book the events, potential events include concerts, summer movie series, block parties, cultural festivals and holiday celebrations.

The area had been looked upon as a kind of dead zone in the downtown area, used more by the homeless than shoppers. One downtown resident told the City Council last year that the area was an embarrassment.

interview with san diego district 2 councilmember kevin faulconer on kbps, 29.11.12.

artist rendering.

sorely needed public space in downtown san diego. balboa park is more like running or cycling distance, the water is a few blocks away.. where you gonna sit and chill and eat your take-out lunch while it’s still hot?? 

also, my thoughts on why the lack of such a public space was a strong deterrent for the occupy movement in san diego

like the doppler effect stuff, you know?

on the way home today, i was stopped at a red light at telegraph/40th. i thought i had stopped in the middle front of the lane, but as the lane was wide, it turned out i was stopped slightly to the right.

so then a car pulled up to my left.

nothing happens.

then on the green and we both started moving, and of course the car accelerates faster,

and a white guy in the passenger side shouts at me, “i like your booz!”

me: ???!????

dude, you gotta understand i can’t hear what you’re saying when you’re moving away from me. if you want to say something to me, say it when we’re going the same speed right alongside each other. if you say something and you’re driving away, don’t expect me to catch what you’re saying. 

if you want to say something to anyone on the road and you’re not stopped, limit your message to one or two words. two syllables max is the best.

this has happened quite a few times, and the next five minutes afterwards, all i do is wonder what the person could have said.

did he said boobs? but he couldn’t have really seen them from his point of view. and i’m wearing a sports bra and they are kinda squished because of the way i wear my messenger bag. or did he say shoes? my brown and pink etnies are old. or did he say booze? but that doesn’t make any sense. what about my bag? he likes my messenger bag with reflective binding?

no idea.