citymaus

cycleangelo:

It’s getting brisk out there. The high was 26 degrees with the wind chill factor, and it’s about that time where the fingers begin to get numb and the eyes get watery after about an hour on the saddle. Regardless, we suck it up and spin. I was going to attempt to write something worthy of expressing my love/hate for the cold season riding, but then I came across some wise words from Gem Atkinson that pretty much sums it all up.

“Within the struggle lies the honour. Never once will I regret a winter ride, the rewards are there to be reaped. As I jump aboard the winter hack, don the weatherproof jacket and head for the hills, I know that come July this will all have been so worthwhile.”

The most significant change to San Francisco’s landscape in 2011 involves a conjuring act that turns parking spaces into pedestrian nooks.

They go by the name of parklets, a word that didn’t exist two years ago, and when 2011 arrived there were only four. Now there are 22, with six more approved and 44 in various stages of review…

They’re also attracting attention beyond the Bay Area. Parklets have popped up in Philadelphia and Vancouver, British Columbia. Several are planned for Los Angeles. Architectural Record devoted a page this fall to “the ultimate revenge on the modern city: one two less parking spaces, one more park.”

sfgate, 29.12.11.

The Four Barrel Coffee parklet — one of seven in the Valencia Street area — has two bars, with bicycle parking in between. Photos: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

also see: Columbia Ave. Parklet.

BART will be running trains until 3 a.m. on New Years Day, three hours longer than usual. San Francisco’s Muni system will offer free light-rail service until 6 a.m.

The last Caltrain will leave the city at 2:15 a.m. All trains will be free after 11 p.m., Caltrain officials said.

BART trains will run on their normal intervals during extended hours, meaning that if a train normally arrives at a station at 11:00 p.m. it will also arrive at midnight, 1 a.m., 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., said BART spokesman Jim Allison.

BART will also run special trains to and from the fireworks show in Downtown San Francisco, Allison said.

Starting at 8 p.m. some trains will stop at either the Embarcadero or Montgomery Street stations, but not both, Allison said. This alternate schedule will ease overcrowding by dropping people off at both stations, Allison said.

BART will add extra trains right after the fireworks show to get all those early-to-bed-party-poopers home.

sfgate, 28.12.11.

But what about 3am to 7am or whenever the first BART train runs on a normal sunday???

and every HOUR. That’s not a frequent enough interval.

I remember that weekend when repairs were being made on the Bay Bridge, and I had gone out with friends to SF for a party at Popscene or Blowup. I made sure to have us all leave in time to catch the next BART train home. Got to the nearest BART station to see it gated closed. So we had to walk farther to the next one.

And found out we had just missed the last train by like 6 minutes. So we had to wait nearly an hour for the next one.

The station got so packed. Partiers were sitting everywhere on the dirty floors, resting their feet. Finally got on the train. Inside got even more jam packed as we stopped through the final SF stops, picking up partiers fron North Beach, before we left for the East Bay.

But yeah, maybe those AC Transit night owl buses still running after BART runs off with it’s 3am train? And at least the Bay Bridge is still in working order.

Looks like Abercrombie & Fitch has another “situation” on deck, only this time it has nothing to do with getting the cast of Jersey Shore to doff its merch. The American retailer is among 14 global brands Greenpeace is calling out for allegedly releasing hormone-disrupting chemicals—specifically nonylphenol ethoxylates—into the environment. Used as surfactants in textile production, NPEs subsequently break down to form toxic nonphenol, an endocrine disruptor that builds up in the food chain and is pretty nasty even at minute levels…

“By failing to take action to eliminate these chemicals, global brands like Adidas are expecting customers to do their dirty laundry for them,” Li says. “Every time clothes containing these chemicals are washed, hazardous substances are released into waterways across the world.”

ecouterre, 23.08.11.

Al-Sharif, 40, is one of more than 50 Iraqi refugees who have been moved to East Oakland by the International Rescue Committee. The nonprofit’s officials say they won’t settle refugees in unsafe neighborhoods, but Al-Sharif and dozens of other Iraqis blame the organization for exposing them to an unfamiliar type of violence - one perpetrated by gangs rather than political militants.

sfgate, 28.12.11.

I’ve heard good things about the IRC (International Rescue Committee).. but I guess non-profits + limited funds = below target outcome

and East Oakland needs a lot of work done to reduce crime..

It’s nearly impossible to be accepted as an Iraqi refugee to the United States, which means the ones who do make it almost certainly suffered horrendous trauma in their home country.

“They’ve survived, and they’ve come to the U.S. to start a new life, and if you settle them in an environment like that, you bring back all these things,” Abdulkhaleq said.

There are dozens of USDA programs through the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative geared toward helping local food businesses, she said.

“This is about jobs, the economy and community vitality,” she said. “It’s created a renaissance in agriculture and that’s very exciting.”

sfgate, 27.12.11.

Way back in 1957, Bay Area planners were thinking big. Concerned about the booming population and worsening traffic congestion, they proposed a round-the-bay rapid transit network that eventually spawned today’s BART.

Now, 54 years and 4 million people later, it’s BART’s turn to think big. Planners are working on a new vision for the future - one that could include express trains, all-night service, new stations along existing lines, trains traveling different routes and extensions to Livermore, Ocean Beach, Brentwood and Crockett.

“Over the past few years, we’ve just been trying to keep our heads above water,” said Carter Mau, BART’s executive manager of budget and planning. “Now that we’ve recovered a bit, it’s time to start looking at our future.”

The planning effort, which is just getting started, is called the metro concept, and will focus more on growth within the existing system and the urban core of the Bay Area than on extending the system outward. Still, it could include extensions within the BART district, which includes Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties.

Mau said the main goals are to increase capacity, enhance service and increase coverage, recognizing that BART’s original role as a system hauling commuters from the suburbs into San Francisco needs to be transformed.

BART is already taking the first step toward increasing capacity, ordering a new generation of cars with three doors - to speed loading and unloading - and increasing the size of its fleet. But it will also have to modify stations, and increase service, to handle larger crowds.

The BART of the future would run more frequently between the most popular - and populous - areas, offering more “show up and go” service where riders don’t need to check schedules. It could also feature express or skip-stop trains that would provide more direct - and faster - trips for commuters…

BART planners expect to spend seven to eight months studying current and expected travel patterns and future development, looking at different ways of transforming BART, then developing a plan. The agency will ask for public input with a series of town-hall meetings.

BART has no estimated cost for remodeling the system but the effort would clearly run into the billions. And those desires would have to compete with - or wait in line behind - an estimated $7.5 billion in long-term maintenance and modernization needs over the next 25 years that have no source of funding.

“The BART system is 40 years old now,” Mau said. “We need to replace not only our railcars but the system that powers those railcars and supports those railcars. Finding some way to maintain the system we have now is going to be critical.”

sfgate, 27.12.11.

The [patent] application filing stated rather bluntly that due to “our country’s continuing reliance on fossil fuels has forced our government to maintain complicated political and military relationships with unstable governments in the Middle East, and has also exposed our coastlines and our citizens to the associated hazards of offshore drilling. These problems have led to an increasing awareness and desire on the part of consumers to promote and use renewable energy sources.”

inhabitat, 22.12.11.

omg! 18 new miles of bike lanes!

this event was a few days ago.

New bikeways on:
Santa Clara Ave
Fruitvale Ave
Foothill Blvd
MacArthur Blvd
E 12th St
W Grand Ave
Santa Clara Ave
MacArthur Blvd
14th Ave
Park Blvd
27th St/Bay Pl
38th Ave
Telegraph Ave
Lakeshore Ave
Webster St
2nd St
Washington St

New signage on:
Fruitvale Ave
38th Ave
E 12th St
Tunnel Rd
Shafter/Colby
55th St
53rd/Cavour

2011 Totals:
Total Bikeway Project Miles: 18.1
Miles of Roadway Striping: 10.2
Miles of Wayfinding Signage: 7.9
Miles of New Bikeway: 9.4
Miles of Upgraded Bikeway: 8.7