citymaus

I think I’ll go bike riding on Mandela Parkway when I get back to Oaktown.

and I’m not sure if I ever ran the fire trail in Claremont. It’s not the same thing as the path up Strawberry Canyon, right? If so then yeah, I’ve never run it. If I recall correctly, only the fastest guys on the cross country team went on that run.

and Middle Harbor Shoreline Park? (yelp?)

moved there 4 years ago, but then my mom didn’t allow me to go out alone. esp. since it is Oakland. and then college, away from Oakland, so I’ve had no time to really get to know that city that well. Even though prior to Oakland I’ve lived my life just one city away in Berkeley. Oakland’s been pretty limited to downtown/Chinatown for me. Piedmont, East Oakland, Temescal and other areas I haven’t been to much.

Well, now I’ve got a handy bike to get me around in Oakland, so.. adventures and nice walks/bike rides next year when I’m back (currently still in Berlin)!

This (today, thursday 16.12.2010) is a special day promoting the use of reusable shopping bags! Over 125 stores all around San Diego today are handing out FREE reusable bags!  I always have a hard time remember to bring my reusable bags to the grocery store and I’m thankful that this day is here to remind people like me.  And I love free things:)

Here is a map of all the locations throughout San Diego giving away free reusable bags!

And here are tips on ways of remembering your reusable bag. There are also many stores that offer incentives for people to bring in their reusable bags. 

365 things to do in san diego

I just hope they’re that good kind of fabric-y bag or made of recycled plastic of something like that and not too cheaply made ones that will break or have been printed with lots of logos and stuff using ink with bad chemicals and such.
Yeah, you know.

Here’s a nytimes article from 2008 about Whole Foods’ decision to do away with giving away plastic bags in their stores.

Hey, look at Germany. No plastic bags in supermarket for how long?
If you forget to bring your bag you can either try to cradle it all in your arms or buy a plastic bag for 40eurocents.
Get on with the program America.
And thanks WF for showing that it can be done. Quick and without a fuss. 

yay, research confirms the obvious/common sense.

I can’t figure out the correct key words to search with on flickr to get a picture of people walking in a nice neighborhood on a nice day, so here’s a photo of the shop front of Boss Robot Hobby in Elmwood, just down the street (like two blocks) from where I used to live in Berkeley.

and check out walkscore.com. 
My hood in Berkeley got 95/100. yeee gosh I miss living in Berkeley.
walking around in Oakland not suuuper great. Plus my mother doesn’t allow me to walk or bike around at night. 

ahah my hood in Oakland actually topped that and got a perfect score of 100/100.
But this doesn’t take into account the width of the streets, the quality of the parks, crime rate, number of trees and such. But yeah, I guess, still very walkable, though delightfulness rating of walks isn’t as high as in Berkeley.

and my hood last year in UTC/La Jolla (San Diego): a somewhat surprising 78/100 “very walkable”. This is true; based on amenities nearby. But really? No. NO ONE fucking walks around here. Whenever I’ve walked in this hood, I felt like drivers (who noticed me walking) would think “WTF is that girl doing?!” 
The width of sidewalks is inappropriately short, streets/car lanes are excessively wide; it’s just not a good place to take a walk.
The distance to UTC mall is physically very close, but everyone living in the area would probably get into their cars to drive 2 (large) blocks to the mall.

If you lived in UTC for at least a week and had a bit of insight into urban studies/street planning/sustainability/walkability, you’d be fucking miserable like I was.

Definitely moving to Hillcrest when I return to San Diego in the spring. Even if getting my own apt. is quite a bit more pricey and it would take me 30-40 mins to get to campus. (and because right now it takes me 20-40 mins anyway, so I’m getting used to it.) 

oh, and my current residence in Berlin: 53/100 “somewhat walkable”.
yeah, not much to do in mein kiez (moabit). I just take the u-bahn everywhere. (u-bahn station 1.5-2 short blocks away.)

and if I had gotten this apt. in Kreuzberg: 77/100 “very walkable”.
also with good ethnic restaurants.. 

oakland north, 11.12.2010.
more about the proposed project: alice st energy harvester. 

in my hood! (?)

and why wouldn’t it be good to convert an old parking garage into a spectacular energy-efficient (less energy consumer than platinum LEED rating standards!) that will be part of the revitalization of the downtown Oakland area?

and what does the oakland hotel matter? that’s the only nice older building in the vicinity; the rest of the surroundings is crap. If this building gets built, hopefully more will sprout up and the area will be a lot nicer, safer, and lively.

yee~ It’s on the list!
I thought it might not be because I read somewhere earlier that there actually aren’t many jobs in this field. 

yea.. I would like to do something related to urban planning..

masters in USP? ieeee…yahh x/

The Cal Park Hill Tunnel, which starts at the industrial south end of San Rafael and empties out behind the Century Larkspur Landing movie theater, is only 1,106 feet long. But it is a precious 1,106 feet because it will cut 20 minutes off the commute. During rush hour, a cyclist will be able to beat a motorist from one side to the other, and that’s while sticking to the tunnel’s speed limit of 15 mph.

sfgate, 08.12.2010.

props to the Marin Country Bicycle Coalition and SMART (Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit).

Participants will have an opportunity to shop at the many businesses along Lakeshore Avenue, Grand Avenue, and Piedmont Avenue.

Meet at the park area on Lakeshore (east side of street) between Longridge and Mandana at 9:45 a.m. on December 11th to join in the holiday fun. We plan to leave promptly at 10:00.

We plan to arrive at Piedmont ave, via the Morcom Amphitheater of Roses, by 11:15 for a look around some of the stores. We’ll reconvene at 11:45 at the Key System Plaque near the corner of 41st and Piedmont (by the Longs Drugs parking lot) and follow Glen Echo Creek back towards Grand Avenue.