June 2012
112 posts
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You Can’t Eat Silica Gel, But You Can Reuse It →
Silica gel is used as a desiccant, an odorless substance that naturally absorbs moisture to keep our purchases from spoiling, molding or degrading due to humidity.
Defogger Extraordinaire: Safety first! Place some silica gel packets on the dashboard of your car to help maintain a clear windshield in times of high humidity. This works just as well in the corners of your windowsills to...
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nicer drivers in the bay area
in oakland, berkeley, and sf. (other cities i don’t know because i haven’t visited).
today i was on broadway in downtown/uptown oakland, going straight.. and there’s a prius second in line (one car in front of it at the red light) with right-turn signal on. green light but i continued slowing down anticipating that the prius would go ahead and turn right cutting in front of me,...
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How Denmark became a cycling nation →
In the 1960s, cars were threatening to displace bicycles in the main Danish cities. But the oil crisis, the environmental movement and a couple of controversial road projects reversed the trend. This is however just part of the story behind why Danes still cycle so much.
Summer girls riding their bikes in the 1950s Copenhagen
read more: denmark.dk. via copenhagenize.
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Bicyclists: The new limousine liberals →
Libertarians bash D.C.’s successful bikeshare for serving wealthy whites, and miss the point of public transport
Why should Washington, D.C., subsidize its bikeshare system if it’s mostly used by white people with college degrees? That’s the question ReasonTV posed yesterday, and it’s a good one to think about.
But let’s take the reporter at her word… By this logic, we shouldn’t...
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The Bike Plan — Three Years Later
Three years ago today, bicycling history was made in San Francisco. On June 26, 2009, the Bicycle Plan was at the top of the agenda at City Hall and the SF Bicycle Coalition members showed up in force to get the job done. SFMTA Board members listened to over three hours of testimony from more than 200 supporters, including mothers with children in tow, business owners, health workers, city...
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cycling in Montreal vs in London →
Using a Boris bike in Montreal: Unlike London, you don’t need to be physically fit “like a runner or swimmer and be prepared for close calls”. North American media starts to pick holes in London’s ‘cycling revolution’
“This is how to do it. Underpass in the city centre. One car lane removed, protected bike lane added.” this reminds me of that...
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On Data and Cities: New York City, measuring-up →
How NYC has become a city obsessed with innovation, numbers & design
But it’s not just government agencies taking the lead; citizens are activating new technology to achieve policy changes. In 2006, following Streetsblog’s breaking news story on rampant illegal parking by city employees with government placards allowing them to park for free, OpenPlans and Transportation alternatives...
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Woman trapped in submerged car is brain dead →
A 22-year-old Escondido woman who was trapped in a submerged car in a swimming pool for about 10 minutes last week has been declared brain dead.
Ashley Garcia never regained consciousness after the speeding car she was a passenger in went out of control along Calavo Drive near Nordahl Road in an unincorporated area west of Escondido Monday night…
Residents along Calavo Drive said the...
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bicycling in SF is a breeze.
except that clusterfuck part of Market St. where instead of continuing the protected/separated green bike lane, they put in sharrows and arrows that keep crossing motor and bike traffic at every intersection.
lime green directional sharrows on the Wiggle!
took some pictures of JFK Drive’s separated bike lane (with floating parking) in Golden Gate Park, in addition to photos of the Wiggle...
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SFMTA Weekend Transit and Traffic Advisory →
holy sh-t if you live in SF or plan on going there this weekend, read through this.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) advises San Francisco residents and visitors of the following event-related traffic and service impacts this weekend, Friday, June 22 through Monday, June 25.
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oakland is hella friendly
I was biking in the bike lane on Webster in Downtown, and saw a brown UPS delivery truck up ahead IN the bike lane.
*dyahhrr trying not to get angry because i just picked up lunch and no cars in the other lanes and i can swerve around easily, and deciding whatever—don’t wanna stop to take a photo*
and the UPS guy, a black man, comes jay-walking across the street from the left. he sees me,...
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Watchgreat. more negative media.
New traffic signs alert drivers of cyclists. But on the news clip, the story is titled “Bike Battle”. foxsandiego, 21.06.12.
and the news announcement of the signs comes how many months after they’ve been put up?
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Bicyclists Don't Feel Safe on San Diego's Streets →
a couple confident women taking the left turn lane on El Cajon Blvd.
So, is cycling on San Diego’s streets safe? Yes, it is. Without a doubt. Statistically, riding a bicycle is much, much safer than driving a car. The only thing safer than riding a bicycle is riding public transportation or flying…
But the real issue is not whether cycling is safe (it is) but whether...
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Helsinki's Baana Bicycle Corridor →
Helsinki’s new “Low Line” (as opposed to NYC’s High Line) opened on June 12, 2012, providing pedestrians and cyclists with a 1.3 km long connector between the Western Harbour area to Kamppi and Töölö Bay. It’s called the Baana.
It runs through the city centre, providing a safe bicycle route to many points in the city. There four ramps along the way to get back...
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Temescal Street Cinema launches a new season of... →
More than 200 people gathered on 49th Street, just off of Telegraph Avenue, to sit down in the middle of the street and watch a documentary film screened on the side of the Bank of the West building. The weeklytradition in the summer, known as the Temescal Street Cinema, started its season last Thursday and has been a part of the community since 2008.
The films are always by Bay Area...
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“Do you lock up your bike during the day? Outside?
Yeah. Even though...”
– Brennan Cox, Landscape Architect/Urban Designer.
Tell Me About Your Bike: Street Interviews with Cyclists. the spokesman. blogs.sfweekly, 18.06.12.
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Luc Ferrandez: Life in the Bike Lane →
Luc Ferrandez, an ambitious Quebec mayor, shows how bike-friendly planning revitalized a historic Montreal borough.
“I accept that some people think I’m the devil!” Ferrandez shouted over his shoulder, making a right onto rue de Brébeuf. “For them, the Plateau doesn’t exist. It is just a place to be driven through. I don’t give a shit about these people. They’ve abandoned the idea that humans...
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Pecha Kucha Night tonight in Downtown San Diego →
Pecha Kucha Night volume 15 at Orchids, Onions & Opportunities Exhibit. 877 G Street (at 9th Ave.), San Diego, CA 92101 8.20-10.20pm
Nine different presenters will be “Making the case for public space.”
Presenters include one of my professors! Larry Herzog. took his courses on sustainable development and land use planning at UCSD. He also teaches at SDSU.
And Jim Stone, executive...
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APA Poll Calls for Major Shift in Planning... →
Some of the results are beyond obvious —such as the fact that 77% of Americans “agree that communities that plan for the future are stronger” — while others could, if heeded, foretell profound changes for the profession…
In case planners think that their job is to shape the built environment, they should think again. The public thinks that their number-one job priority should...
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Oakland is hella cool.
jus’ sayin’ for those who don’t know.
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Stop Thinking Big →
Forget stadiums: Let’s build a pop-up park. Smart cities know the future is cooler, cheaper — and smaller
Last week, a press release from Chicago’s Office of the Mayor proclaimed something that would have sounded like a Yes Men prank just a few years ago: Rahm Emanuel, it said, has a plan to get rid of the city’s “excess asphalt.”
It wasn’t a proposal for a big new park or recreational...
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re: "good design inspires good behaviour"
quote by Mikael Coville-Andersen (copenhagenize/cycle chic)
so true.
In San Diego:
I’m a careful and law-abiding cyclist, but in a city where I am clearly not welcome on the streets and illegal on the sidewalk, I can understand why some riders don’t see themselves as subject to the rules. On many of the streets in this city, there is no place for a bike and the system is clearly antagonistic...
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