55 responses so far ↓

• 1 Bill Lee // Aug 18, 2012 at 5:17 pm

  Ride every tram and visit the trolley museum at the embarcadero for more stuff.

  And look out for cyclists http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/crime/2011/02/fixie-bike-accident-san-francisco-
  highlights-danger-going-brakeless

• 2 David // Aug 18, 2012 at 8:23 pm

  What Bill said.. Cable Cars and Bart are well known, perhaps take the MUNI rail to Harvey Milk Plaza, take a moment to reflect on the bizarre events 32 years ago, return via the F line… http://www.sfu.ca/person/dearmond/agr/SF.pcc.1063.JPG

• 3 tedeastside // Aug 18, 2012 at 10:09 pm

  enjoy San Francisco… a real city with friendly people, high wages, great career opportunity, affordable food, very pleasant sunny climate year- round, great culture and bustling entertainment scene …….everything Vancouver doesn’t have

• 4 Morven // Aug 19, 2012 at 12:24 pm

  Perhaps a brief not on bicyle politics in SanFrancisco might be in order.

  Many of us never tire (tyre) of fresh insight.
  -30-

• 5 waltyss // Aug 19, 2012 at 2:19 pm

  I am not sure if this is a burning city issue but I was intrigued last week with Leslie Boldt’s response on CKNW’s Cutting Edge of the Ledge with regard to tenants in public housing and whether and when they have to move out.

  The issue seemed to be whether a single parent with kids in a three bedroom subsidizied apartment would have to downsize when those kids reach the age of majority.
  My question, if anyone knows the answer, is what are the current rules for City of Vancouver housing? Is there any such or similar requirement or can someone live alone in a three bedroom after the kids have gone?
  Are there any rules about no longer being eligible if a tenant’s income reaches a certain level?
  Who sets the rules: City of Vancouver, CMHC, BC Housing? I am curious to know if anyone has factual information about this.
  Please, neither I nor I suspect anyone else isinterested in the usual City Caucus exiles spewing insults without adding anything of substance.

• 6 Morven // Aug 19, 2012 at 2:50 pm

  Morven # 4

  I wrote “brief on bicycle politics” but by the time is get to the site, it had morphed into “brief not on bicycle politics”.

  The former phrase please.
  -30-

• 7 Julia // Aug 19, 2012 at 3:34 pm

  Waltyss, you were fine until the last sentence. Could not resist?

  Is there only one politically correct view of the world in this town? Since when does ANY political party get it right 100% of the time and since when does a political party become off limits to criticism?

  if you like that way of thinking, you may want to go hang out with Putin.

• 8 F.H.Leghorn // Aug 19, 2012 at 3:50 pm

  @Waltyss#5: I actually know the answer to those questions, but you can find out the same way I did: call City of Vancouver Non-Market Housing department. Then you can shove it.

• 9 waltyss // Aug 19, 2012 at 4:04 pm

  Julia, my point, which regretably you [and your buddy the gutter minded Foghorn Leghorn] proved is that even if one tries to get information, there is a group who only spews excrement. As should be apparent, i was not trying to stifle opinion on whether any particular policy is right or wrong, I was trying to get some facts and avoid the mindless name calling; regrettably I failed as you and gutter mouth proved.
  Why don’t we agree: you ignore my posts and I will ignore yours. Then perhaps I can get information and discuss or debate with those who are interested in civilized debate or discussion rather than namecalling. I can name call with the best of them but it gets boring rather quickly.
  So, can we just ignore each other?

• 10 F.H.Leghorn // Aug 19, 2012 at 4:26 pm

  Once the children of families who occupy subsidized housing have grown up and moved out (if they ever do), the tenants are given three opportunities to choose more suitable units (i.e. 1 or 2 bdrm). If they refuse to relocate they are evicted to make room for some other deadbeat family. BC Housing has a similar policy.
  Why do you ask?

• 11 Terry M // Aug 19, 2012 at 5:07 pm

  Waltyss @5
  “Please, neither I nor I suspect anyone else isinterested in the usual City Caucus exiles spewing insults without adding anything of substance.”
  Mother Earth, Mother Earth calling Rocketship Waltyss, calling Waltyss
  “Waltyss, you are a City Caucus exile, too!”
  And, btw, don’t get excited you bring NOTHING to the forum in here, in fact you never did !
  I see many of the usual posters are staying away from fabula’s comment area because of you.
  I think FHLeghorn @8 responded to your Q in a more than reasonable fashion. I second that.
  Now be sociable. Share…

• 12 F.H.leghorn // Aug 19, 2012 at 8:34 pm

  Waltyss raises an interesting question. Until the writ was dropped for the 2004 federal election, NDP MP and House leader Libby Davies (salary=$155K/yr) occupied a 3-bdrm townhouse in the Adanac co-op (as did Jim Sinclair). Ms. Davies paid a little over $700/month in rent, a bit less than 1% of her disposable income in a riding in which half of her constituents paid over 30% (many close to 50%) of their incomes. The prospect of running while a tenant in social housing led both of them to seek more defensible accomodation. That’s the problem with wealthy socialists (I name no names, but his initials are GR). Completely out of touch with the problems of those for whom they claim such deep sympathy.

• 13 Julia // Aug 20, 2012 at 9:15 am

  At one point I believe Jack Layton and Olivia Chow were in the same predicament in Toronto – living in Co-op housing at $800 a month with a combined salary of $150,000 plus.

• 14 Frank Ducote // Aug 20, 2012 at 9:56 am

  Back to San Francisco for a moment – the new cultural precinct in Golden Gate Park is a must visit. The DeYoung Museum on one side by Herzog and Demeuron and the Natural Sciences building on the opposite by Sir Richard Rogers, I believe, are amazing pieces of architecture as well as significant experiences (not always the same thing, sadly). One would need a lot of time and energy to do both on the same day, as well as enjoy GG Park itself.

  The Judah streetcar can get you close.

• 15 Frank Ducote // Aug 20, 2012 at 10:00 am

  Oops, correction! Renzo Piano was the architect for the Academy of Sciences building in GG Park.

• 16 Raingurl // Aug 20, 2012 at 10:29 am

  @F.H.Leghorn // Aug 19, 2012 at 4:26 pm #10

  Not all folks in BC Housing are deadbeats. Even the rent does not reflect that of a deadbeat family.

  I know I’m new here but all of you are the worst bunch of debaters and hardly ever act Canadian. Why must everything out of your mouths (well, fingers, in this case) be negative or insulting to one or more minority or ethnic groups. This is Canada, this is Vancouver, start acting like you belong here.

• 17 Raingurl // Aug 20, 2012 at 10:36 am

  And now back to the regularly scheduled program……….My ISSUE with this city is the WATER WASTE! Why must I be put on water restrictions while the downtown businesses get to water sidewalks and hanging baskets. Why can’t I water my garden with a sprinkler (there’s a near obsolete word) instead of standing there for a half hour with hose in hand. If I was a quitter I would have stopped gardening all together but then the concrete jungle would win and I am not going to let them win.

• 18 boohoo // Aug 20, 2012 at 11:21 am

  @raingurl

  http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/about-the-watering-restrictions.aspx

  “What you can water during restrictions
  Gardens

  Only lawn sprinkling is affecting be watering restrictions. If a total sprinkling ban is imposed, then you must water vegetables, flowers and shrubs by hand using containers, or using a hose with a spring-loaded shut-off.

  Drip irrigation systems are the most efficient method of watering clusters of plants and are exempt from sprinkling regulations.”

• 19 waltyss // Aug 20, 2012 at 11:26 am

  @ Raingurl, I am not sure what you mean by watering sidewalks. Businesses may wash d0wn the sidewalk which would involve standing there with a hose. The same with hanging baskets unless they have an automatic watering system which I assume would still be subject to the times on watering.
  You can still sprinkle but it involves getting up fairly early to do so. That however should not be too much of a challenge.
  As for the gutter mouth, Foghorn Leghorn, and his fellow travellers, I have resolved to ignore them and I might suggest that you try the same. That’s what pretty well everyone else does.

• 20 F.H.Leghorn // Aug 20, 2012 at 12:23 pm

  My favorite SF location is the Exploratorium on the grounds of the Palace of Fine Arts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Fine_Arts).
  They’re moving to Pier 15 next year so now’s the time.

• 21 Bill Lee // Aug 20, 2012 at 1:02 pm

  Frank Ducotte wrote: Aug 20, 2012 at 9:56 am #14
  “… the new cultural precinct in Golden Gate Park is a must visit. The DeYoung Museum on one side by Herzog and Demeuron and the Natural Sciences building on the opposite by Sir Richard Rogers, I believe, are amazing pieces of architecture as well as significant experiences (not always the same thing, sadly). One would need a lot of time and energy to do both on the same day, as well as enjoy GG Park itself.
  The Judah streetcar can get you close.”

  That’s the N Judah line.
  Also take the L Taraval out to the zoo (could be missed) and walk along the dunes. Same could be said for the N Judah line and looking back to see how all of that part of the the City was desert and sand dunes until redevelopment in the 1920s.
  Note that the sfmta.com web page puts their other languages up front, on top, and in the native script or form. (Not “French” but Français not “Spanish” but Español ) Would that the Vancouver civic page knew what they were or should be doing.
  The SFMTA also has a Livable Streets Program. “The SFMTA is not just focused on public transit. Safety for bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists is a top priority. We promote an attractive and safe transportation experience for all.”

  And of course WHY is there a “new” cultural precinct? Whatever happened to the old Spanish terra-cotta De Young Museum (and he was a newspaper publisher back in the ancient classical days when there were paper wars and that was a power).
  [Oh, a little thing about 1989 in Loma Prieta. Would that it happened here. ]
  Steinhardt Museum too.

  As far as the VAG goes, compare “San Francisco voters twice defeated bond measures that were to fund the new museum project. After the second defeat, the museum itself planned to relocate to a location in the financial district. However, an effort led by generous supporters arose and kept the museum in the Golden Gate Park.”

  The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco used to share space with the De Young Museum.
  [ What would an Asian Museum be in Vancouver with a civic crowd wanting 'gook' taunting castings in Morton Park on English Bay?]
  And now it is in the repurposed ex-San Francisco Public library, only a few steps away from the underground and surface streetcar trams on and under Market Street.
  The AAMSF started as a donation to the city of San Francisco by Chicago millionaire Avery Brundage, (perhaps more famous as the head of the IOC Olympics Committee), who was a major collector of Asian art. Like most SF collections, very uneven, but good at provoking stories and commentary before you travel to see “the real stuff overseas.”
  Perhaps a better repurposing of the ex-VPL sleek, modernist structure which was Vancouver’s first glass curtain building, designed by architects H.N. Semmens and D.C. Simpson. It was awarded the Massey Medal, Canada’s highest architectural honour (or even repurpposing the current mish-mash)

  Since Madame Bula will be visiting City Hall several times across the plaza from the AAMSF she may step in. There are various “free” plans such as first Sunday by Target, and SF-Go cards; cheaper on Thursday nights, and the Asian street festival in June.
  [ Pay for a museum! $20 for a fourth rate VAG! Who ever heard of such a thing!!? ]

• 22 Frank Ducote // Aug 20, 2012 at 1:52 pm

  Good research as usual, Bill Lee. Thanks.

• 23 Silly Season // Aug 20, 2012 at 3:08 pm

  I’m going to use my visit here, for a laff. Which I’m sure we can all agree is much needed in the world—and on this blog

  RIP, Phyllis Diller.

  A bachelor is a guy who never made the same mistake once.

  A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.

  Aim high, and you won’t shoot your foot off.

  Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.

  Best way to get rid of kitchen odors: Eat out.

  Burt Reynolds once asked me out. I was in his room.

  Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.

  His finest hour lasted a minute and a half.

  Housework can’t kill you, but why take a chance?

  I admit, I have a tremendous sex drive. My boyfriend lives forty miles away.

  I asked the waiter, ‘Is this milk fresh?’ He said, ‘Lady, three hours ago it was grass.’

  I buried a lot of my ironing in the back yard.

  I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.

  I’ve been asked to say a couple of words about my husband, Fang. How about short and cheap?

  If it weren’t for baseball, many kids wouldn’t know what a millionaire looked like.

  It’s a good thing that beauty is only skin deep, or I’d be rotten to the core.

  Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going.

  My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.

  http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=751919

• 24 Ned // Aug 20, 2012 at 3:21 pm

  Thanks for that Silly Season #23
  Just what I needed!
  Not too long ago Glissando Remmy was combining his humorous wit with politics… beautifully.
  What happened, Glissy? Writer’s block? Or… staying away from Waltyss wrath like Terry M insinuated? I know I did stay away for a while because of that. SS you put a smile on my face this morning! Thanks buddy!

• 25 Bill Lee // Aug 20, 2012 at 3:46 pm

  And while Madame Bula likes the microclimate of the Mission district (several degrees hotter and drier than points north and east), how does she compare the gentrification of the Tenderloin, and the marketing of the “Uptown Tenderloin” with Vancouver’s “Crosstown” (Victory Square) and Skid Row (Downtown Eastside) ?
  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/us/12tenderloin.html

  And I am sure that she would visit sf-police.org/index.aspx?page=862, the SFPD Tenderloin station in a former ban.

• 26 Bill Lee // Aug 20, 2012 at 3:53 pm

  And bring back “speed cushions” for Vancouver by September for Hastings, Granville, Cambie, Burrard, 4th avenue, 12th avenue, Southeast and Southwest Marine drives, etc. etc. now.

  From the SFMTA Livable Streets program
  ” A speed cushion is a speed hump with slots cut out so that buses can drive through with minimal vertical deflection. This design is safer for standing customers who would be jolted by a speed hump. Speed cushions are generally only installed on Muni bus routes in the City.”

  SFMTA (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency), also called the “Muni,” as a few old-timers call the buses here, “Hydro”
  … every two blocks?

• 27 Silly Season // Aug 20, 2012 at 8:16 pm

  @Bill Lee

  That does it. You’re coming with me on my next tour of SF…

• 28 Raingurl // Aug 21, 2012 at 9:12 am

  @boohoo // Aug 20, 2012 at 11:21 am #18
  &
  @waltyss // Aug 20, 2012 at 11:26 am #19

  Thanks for taking the time to respond and find info for me.

  What I meant by watering sidewalks is every morning when I walk downtown the building operations guys are outside watering their sidewalks. I really don’t mind watering my lawn by hand I just needed something to bitch about. haha.

• 29 Raingurl // Aug 21, 2012 at 9:30 am

  @Bill Lee // Aug 20, 2012 at 3:46 pm 25

  I’m reading the NY TIMES article you posted………..walking tours of “the world’s largest collection of historic single-room occupancy hotels.” I can do that right here. Even been inside a few of them. So boring and not as historical as I had hoped. Not dirty, just boring. I haven’t been in a rat infested SRO, thank goodness. I am curious about San Fran’s SRO’s though.

• 30 Bill Lee // Aug 21, 2012 at 11:38 am

  @Raingurl Aug 21, 2012 at 9:30 am #29
  Then see the (self-serving, of course) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Shaw
  for background of the Tenderloin tour leader.

  And cadillachotelcentennial.blogspot.ca/ for the SRO hotel that he thought might be a museum a la New York City Tenement Museum.
  Good street scene and large catering hall.
  On Eddy at Leavenworth.
  And they have their own page cadillachotel.org/

  They are late to these things, while Canada had a stronger social gospel movement: Rev. Andrew Roddan, “Sally Ann,” etc.
  “The historic Cadillac Hotel was the first non-profit “Single-Residence Occupancy” (SRO) hotel West of the Mississippi. It provides supportive housing for approximately 160 tenants and is an official San Francisco landmark.”

  thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/social-gospel

  But contrast to the new (Woodward’s-like promotions) web pages of the Upper Tenderloin with psychic lines dividing it from the “bad Tenderloin”
  Genesis 4:9 ff

• 31 rf // Aug 21, 2012 at 12:57 pm

  I was in San Fran last month and I was a little underwhelmed. For all the talk about the green this and bike that…I just didn’t see any signs of it.
  Besides…who could bike that town? The hills are ridiculous. The traffic through town trying to get to the Golden Gate seemed just as silly and gridlocked as here. Didn’t see much in the way of bike lanes. Didn’t see an electric car, let alone many Priuses. None of the cabs were Priuses.

  The highways were impressive going from Napa over the Bay bridge to the airport.

  Perhaps it was because we stayed on the south side toward the ballpark…..but it seemed as dingy as any other downtown.

  Only thing I saw that I really really liked was that all of the restaurants had calorie counts on the menu. Even the In-and-Out burger had it.
  Wish we’d adopt that one.

• 32 Raingurl // Aug 21, 2012 at 1:04 pm

  Here’s a burning city issue……….check out the weather forecast. (not that you really have to Since the PNE has started we all know what the weather will be like until Labour Day….LOL)

  http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/cabc0057

• 33 Raingurl // Aug 21, 2012 at 1:06 pm

  Sorry, I posted the forecast for Chilliwack (we all have to get away from the city sometimes, right?) The Vancouver forecast does look the same though. Silly City.

• 34 Raingurl // Aug 21, 2012 at 1:12 pm

  #30 Bill Lee // Aug 21, 2012 at 11:38 am

  Wow, I read some of the WIKI article you posted. San Fran has a way better program for dealing with slum lords. I haven’t read it all but what I got out of that was the conditions are way better than ours. I’m surprised, being this is Canada and all. We’re suppose to have better standards of living. Why did the DTES get forgotten for so long?

• 35 waltyss // Aug 21, 2012 at 3:21 pm

  San Francisco has been and remains one of the world’s great cities. It has however always had its seamier and darker sides. Moreover streets are not exactly the most looked after.
  The cyclists tend to be around the Bay and in Golden Gate Park. It is actually amazing how many cycle across the Golden Gate and take the ferry back from Sausalito.
  To me, one fo the remarkable things about San Francisco is how, unlike Vancouver, it incorporates the old with the new. To me a good example is the integration of an old building which has been transformed into the Jewish Museum and from the street appears to be attached to a functioning church. Cool.
  One of the less to be recommended features is that the City (might be the county) has imposed a requirement on restaurants that they provide health insurance to their employees. The result has been many very upscale restaurants adding a separate line item to customers bills as a sort of health care tax. Only in San Francisco would you have restaurants where the bill might be $150 pp engaging in the unseemly practise of adding a line item for employees healthcare. One of the city’s less admirable qualities.
  @rf the calorie count things are not just San Francisco but must be California and maybe fast food because I saw them two weeks ago in a Wendy’s in Crescent City although not in a higher end restaurant nearby.

• 36 Bill Lee // Aug 21, 2012 at 3:24 pm

  @RF Aug 21, 2012 at 12:57 pm #31

  from Chapter 1 Bicycle Route Network of the Complete Bicycle Plan page 1-3
  at sfmta.com/cms/bproj/bikeplan.htm
  [ or see "The CITIZENS' GUIDE TO THE BICYCLE PLAN (PDF), a short 18 page easy-to-read summary of the approximately 190 page San Francisco Bicycle Plan." ]
  Rather awkwardly coloured maps of the network also

  [Text of ...} Table 1-1 Existing Bicycle Route Network Facilities
  Facility Type Mileage Total*
  Bicycle Path (Class I) 23 miles
  Bicycle Lane (Class II) 45 miles
  Bicycle Route (Class III)** 132 miles
  TOTAL*** 208 miles
  * This is the approximate number of miles of City streets and pathways with bicycle facilities and not the actual number of miles of bicycle facilities, i.e., it is not 45 miles of bicycle lanes, but 45 miles of City streets with bicycle lanes (whether a two-way street with bicycle lanes in each direction or a one-way street with a bicycle lane in only one direction). For reference, San Francisco has a total of 1,029 miles of non-freeway streets.
  ** Class III bicycle routes are signed as bikeways, but do not all have bicycle-specific pavement markings installed; approximately 53 miles of Class III bicycle routes have wide curb lanes and approximately 23 miles of Class III bicycle routes have sharrows.
  *** Total includes additional eight miles of unpaved paths."

  Green? Well they have a bit of green paint.
  "Approximately 20 miles of bike lanes have been added in The City in just the past two years, following a lawsuit that halted installations from 2007 and 2010. A portion of those have been painted green to distinguish them from auto lanes, and some are entirely separated from traffic with plastic posts."
  ..."Locally, Market Street has the most noticeable green lanes, installed in early 2010. More recently, protected bike lanes were placed along John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park this year. Parking spots were moved away from the curb so bicyclists could ride between the parked cars and sidewalk."
  'Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: sfexaminer.com/local/transportation/2012/07/lane-change-bicycle-projects-san-francisco '

  Hills? People here moan about "Adanac Mountain" But with every hills there is a downhill to swoop along hoping to avoid small animals and big cars crossing suddenly in front of you.
  And besides, doesn't everyone have granny gears and 36 crank to 28 cluster gearing or better?
  In July there is the Seven Hells Ride being major peaks and good views, done in about 5 hours.
  Steepest hills of The City
  1. (tie) Filbert between Leavenworth and Hyde (31.5% grade)
  1. (tie) 22nd between Church and Vicksburg (31.5% grade)
  3. Jones between Union and Filbert (29% grade)
  4. Duboce between Buena Vista and Alpine (27.9% grade)
  5. Jones between Green and Union (26% grade)
  6. Webster between Vallejo and Broadway (26% grade)
  7. Duboce between Alpine and Divisadero (25% grade)
  8. Jones between Pine and California (24.8 grade)
  9. Fillmore between Vallejo and Broadway (24% grade)
  Source: San Francisco Bureau Of Engineering.
  [ See a better data source and maps of how much of SF if relatively flat, at car driver's point of view: datapointed.net/2009/11/the-steeps-of-san-francisco ]

  Prius? Wouldn’t you rather have a BMW instead?
  “BMW hopes to make driving and parking in The City less onerous by launching a car-sharing service for electric vehicles and a mobile parking system that lets people find, reserve and pay for parking on the go.
  On Monday Aug. 20, the company’s new DriveNow program began deploying a fleet of 70 BMW ActiveE electric cars for hourly rental. The cars are parked at nine Bay Area garages, to which they ultimately must be returned.
  …During an average day in San Francisco, Robertson said, there are about 505,733 drivers looking for parking among 448,000 spaces. Reducing the amount of time they spend searching for parking downtown will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they emit, the company said.

  ====
  And after all that I would rather walk, popping into every shop to see what’s what, make note of menus, and photo-catalogue back lanes, second stories and street views of the city. walking from the Ferry Building to Ocean way is nothing.
  Remember the old paen to cycling from Burnaby along Kingsway to Vancouver by Madame Bula? Little quaint shops she would have driven past before not seeing easy parking, are explored with a quick jump of the bike or bus (with pass)
  If there a long time, head to City Planning for a zoning map, dot all the bookstores and music shops (signs of civilization) and explore with a SF Go card or Monthly pass, which with four to six trips a day (a couple back to home/hotel to collapse), you will soon use up.
  And on East Bay there are hills too, but rarely traversed.
  See the map at datapointed.net above, it is predominately flat.
  I’ll wait for you at the top of Lafayette Park in Pacific Heights.

• 37 Bill Lee // Aug 21, 2012 at 3:33 pm

  Before she left on holiday, Madame Bula posted this to the Monday Globe and Mail (print and online)

  Real estate
  Olympic village rebranding pays off, but debts remain .
  by FRANCES BULA
  Published Sunday, Aug. 19 2012, 8:44 PM EDT
  Last updated Monday, Aug. 20 2012, 11:36 AM EDT

  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/olympic-village-rebranding-pays-off-but-debts-remain/article4488821/

  About 600 words including debt, loans, incentives, deficiencies and so on.

  I’ll let you find your own KWIC concordance softwares.

• 38 Frank Ducote // Aug 21, 2012 at 7:57 pm

  Bill Lee – having lived on Potrero Hill in SF, I am willing to bet that many streets there are steeper than those on your list above. Rhode Island and 22nd streets, to name but two.

  A pint of beer is at stake!

• 39 Everyman // Aug 21, 2012 at 10:53 pm

  My totally random contribution: Has anyone else noticed a lot fewer bees around this summer? I have an abelia in my garden which usually attracts hoards of them, but this year just a few of the fat fuzzy black and yellow bees?

• 40 gman // Aug 22, 2012 at 12:21 am

  Everyman do you have a smart meter? Here is one study on what may be the cause,or you can just google smart meters and bees. http://wifiinschools.org.uk/resources/Bees_Birds_Mankind.pdf
  Electro smog might turn out to be a real problem after all.

• 41 Raingurl // Aug 22, 2012 at 9:09 am

  @Everyman // Aug 21, 2012 at 10:53 pm #39

  My lavender is usually alive with bees but not this year. I haven’t even been stung once. haha

• 42 Bill Lee // Aug 22, 2012 at 12:11 pm

  @Frank Ducote Aug 21, 2012 at 7:57 pm #38

  Potrero Hills. [ Sniff! Not of proper rank, you could phrase it as South of Mission to seem funky at least. It ain't Marina or Pacific Heights, sniff. ]

  To see if Potrero hills were steep I was trying to use the height elevation chart of an old pedometer tool. But today the elevation feature isn’t working. But I see that it does have a export to GPX file feature that would be useful.
  http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?centerX=-122.40067&centerY=37.75827&zl=16&fl=m
  [ I can't remember that long address, so I just go to the fabled acme.com, > then to the planimeter (measures areas for those not into land map surveying for those who don't want to count small squares) , and at the bottom of the same page > gmap pedometer, having previously adjusted the target in acme.com's planimeter. ]

  So trying several other “runners/cyclists route guides with elevation features:
  usatf.org/routes/map/
  sportdistancecalculator.com/#map
  and several others, I don’t see 30% inclines as mentioned in the San Francisco Bureau Of Engineering chart.
  Did you have a heart-seizing route in mind from that intersection?
  Over to the west on Dolores Heights your 22nd street between Church and Vicksburg was listed as tops with a 31.5% grade.

  Reading U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2195 “Rocks and Geology in the San Francisco Bay Region” By Philip Stoffer (on-line 64 pages, 15 Mbytes pubs.usgs.gov/bul/2195/b2195.pdf ) and the first chart on “Geologic Time” shows marine uplifts from pillow basalts and limestone cherts, fault transforms and so on.

  This is unlike the glaciation and subsequent uplift along with river erosion of the Vancouver area.
  Hills hung around San Francisco for a longer time on harder rock, despite erosion. City structures (streets, houses, pavements) prvent much modern day erosion, so the hills are stuck.

  Seattle’s hills are like Vancouver and many were sluiced down (old gold-rush water cannons) to provide flatland such as Yesler and Denney Regrades.

  Cyclists here shouldn’t complain, but next time they visit the shop get a set of double-crossover gearing in a gear cluster with a granny third crank and learn to use them. Plan ahead!

  [ For those looking for more on geology of SF, I would suggest the "Geology and Natural History of the San Francisco Bay Area; A Field-Trip Guidebook Edited by Philip W. Stoffer and Leslie C. Gordon (2001) known as the USGS bulletin 2188 at [ pubs.usgs.gov/bul/b2188/ ], a good collection of basic papers on the weather, earthquakes, geology, archeaology and demographics of the Bay Area.

  [ For Vancouver, the references in the Geoscape Poster papers are quite good. (Yet another shame of the Harper government closing the Geological Survey of Canada bookstore on Robson Street.) See the right hand rail column also for other cities such as Whitehorse, Toronto and other areas. [ At the Earth Science section of Natural Resources Canada nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/products-services/mapping-product/geoscape/vancouver/5938 Geoscape Vancouver [PDF, 11.2 Mb, 61 x 36 inches scalable and a large image [JPEG, 4.2 Mb, 4000 X 2336 pels ]]
  The Geoscapes online come as short pages of text and graphics taken from the giant poster. And you can scale it down to view or print to fit several pages in Poster Print mode if you wish.

  Most USGS and GSC papers and maps are free, online and often quite a good popular read.

• 43 teririch // Aug 22, 2012 at 12:28 pm

  @Everyman #39:

  My tomato plants are far from producing what they did last year – a very bad crop this growing season.

  One plant blossomed and no fruit came of it.

• 44 Silly Season // Aug 22, 2012 at 12:29 pm

  Here’s something to noodle over, as the viaducts question continues…

  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/opinion/in-the-shadows-of-the-high-line.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share

• 45 Frank Ducote // Aug 22, 2012 at 12:55 pm

  SS@44 – yes, the High Line is an almost perfect example of the law of unintended consequences in action. Beyond the glut of tourists – of which I am one, alas – the adjacent developments make the once open character of the viaduct seem pretty privatized.

• 46 Bill Lee // Aug 22, 2012 at 1:31 pm

  RE: Highline park in NYC @Silly Season #44 and Frank Ducote #45

  ….” The New York City Economic Development Corporation published a study last year stating that before the High Line was redeveloped, “surrounding residential properties were valued 8 percent below the overall median for Manhattan.” Between 2003 and 2011, property values near the park increased 103 percent.”

  “This is good news for the elite economy but not for many who have lived and worked in the area for decades. It’s easy to forget that until very recently, even with the proliferation of art galleries near the West Side Highway, West Chelsea was a mix of working-class residents and light-industrial businesses.”

  “But the High Line is washing all that away. D&R Auto Parts saw its profits fall by more than 35 percent. Once-thriving restaurants like La Lunchonette and Hector’s diner, a local anchor since 1949, have lost their customer base.”

  “Hardest hit have been the multigenerational businesses of “gasoline alley.” Mostly auto-related establishments that don’t fit into Michael R. Bloomberg’s luxury city vision, several vanished in mere months, like species in a meteoric mass extinction. Bear Auto Shop was out after decades; the Olympia parking garage, after 35 years, closed when its rent reportedly quintupled. ”

  Sigh! As was the old (6os?) Fourth Avenue, the three Robson street after 1945 (British, German Robsonstrasse, funky)

  And that’s what the city (Vision) wants, as do developers who want high rents for SPQR rather than stretched out over 20, 30 years.
  They see Cambie south of 12th avenue and expect glitter everywhere, but it is not glitter but only tinsel.

  The pseudonymous author of the NY Times op-ed on the Highline Park #41 has a blog http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.ca/ and there are several internal links in his posting today about other issues (and 59 comments so far)

  “Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York
  a.k.a. The Book of Lamentations:
  A bitterly nostalgic look at a city in the process of going extinct”

• 47 Bill Lee // Aug 22, 2012 at 1:46 pm

  Re: Honeybees
  They came late. I was up in the orchard in May with my paintbrushes and my yellow and red striped overalls applying the brushes to every apple blossom for thrice each over the 10 days the blossoms hand on. No visible bees or flies visiting at that coldish time.

  Got a good apple crop, maybe too many. So 10 apples a day obligatory for everyone: raw, cooked, sliced, chopped, mashed. No cider this year.

  See the Vancouver Sun’s city columnist and arch-rival to Madame Bula, Jeff (civic) lee twittering and blogging and with a separate blog for his New West industrial bee keeping.
  http://www.honeybeezen.com/archives/481
  “Beekeepers in Richmond, B.C. start effort to create a “locally adapted honey bee””
  By Jeff on May 8, 2012 (Categories in Bee behaviour, Bee biology, Colony management, Diseases, Hives, News, Queens )

  See the “magazine” section for stories of a cold spring etc. for 2012 bees.

  [ Alan Garr, urban columnist of the Kerrisdale Courier, is also an urban beekeeper, almost made City Hall beekeeper by Vision ]

• 48 Silly Season // Aug 22, 2012 at 3:57 pm

  @Bill Lee. #46

  Indeed, Bill. The authour used the term” Disneyland” in describing New York. Sanitized. Sterile. On the verge of boring. Let’s see what they do with the Lower East Side.

  Thanks for the link to ‘Vanishing New York’.

• 49 Silly Season // Aug 22, 2012 at 4:03 pm

  You know, there’s an inherent problem with greater density. More dense people.

  Again, from ‘Vanishing New York’s” blog:
  http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.ca/2012/02/urban-etiquette-signage.html

  Time to erect a few signs here…

• 50 Everyman // Aug 22, 2012 at 6:41 pm

  @gman40-Yes I do have a smart meter which coincidentally is just about 10 feet from the abelia!

• 51 Norman // Aug 23, 2012 at 9:22 am

  Unfortunately you will see many examples of homeless people living on the streets in San Francisco, especially Market and the surrounding area. The economic turndown is very visible there.

• 52 Bill Lee // Aug 23, 2012 at 1:26 pm

  PNE Parking.
  Jeff (Civic) Lee announces that his blog is outside the Pacific New Group (Sun, Province) paywall and he will try to post a bit more on his blog.
  http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/08/21/vancouver-has-a-perpetual-private-parking-problem-at-the-pne/
  in which he brings up a 1987 story because he can, and won’t go back through the indexed microfilm or clipping file.

• 53 Bill Lee // Aug 23, 2012 at 3:45 pm

  What does Vancouver look like Vancouver as a computer algorithm?

  “Computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University and the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris have built an algorithm that uses images pulled from Google’s Street View to do much what Pixar’s artists did: Find the small details that appear frequently in Paris and — crucially — do not appear in other cities. In other words: You can’t evoke Paris with just the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. You need to find the distinct visual cues that emerge block after block, street after street. In Paris, the algorithm ferreted out the city’s blue and green street signs, tall double-paned windows, balconies enclosed by iron filigree, and, as Pixar captures above, a particular lamppost style. Paris’s je ne sais quoi, is, to the contrary, quite knowable after all — discoverable by both artist and algorithm.
  The researchers explain how it all works in the video below:”
  [ Link ]

  [ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/print/2012/08/can-a-computer-tell-us-what-makes-paris-look-like-paris/261333/

  "[12]In a paper outlining the research, the team, led by Carl Doersch of Carnegie Mellon, says that of the 12 cities they ran through the algorithm (Paris, London, Prague, Barcelona, Milan, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, and Tokyo), the American cities were the toughest nuts to crack. They write, “It is also interesting to note that, on the whole, the algortihm had more trouble with American cities; it was able to discover only a few geo-informative elements, and some of them turned out to be different brands of cars, road tunnels, etc.” They hypothesize that this could stem from a “relative lack of stulistic coherence and uniqueness in American cities (with its melting pot of styles and influences), as well as the supreme reign of the automobile on American street.” [ more ]

  [12] Paper http://graphics.cs.cmu.edu/projects/whatMakesParis/paris_sigg_reduced.pdf

• 54 Bill Lee // Aug 24, 2012 at 3:49 pm

  Re: Norman // Aug 23, 2012 at 9:22 am #51
  Homeless in San Francisco?

  The San Franciso Chronicle was founded by the De Young’s (see Art Museum other works) as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle in 1865, (switched owners in 2000 to Hearst after battling the Hearst-owned Examiner, but co-operating in a 1965 JOA (Joint Operating Agreement (see Province and Sun as Pacific Press early days on South Granville ) for many years.
  Now as advertising dries up, it is a thin shadow of its former self and dimished rival The Examiner more resembles a right-wing 24 hours. The Chronicle is still the largest and most important paper in Northern California.

  The SF Chronicle have a special section:

  “Shame of The City http://www.sfgate.com/homeless/
  We trip over them on the sidewalk every day. We curse, hand them a dollar, or don’t. We feel pity, guilt and rage at their presence. The city spends $200 million a year trying to get homeless people off the streets and into a better way of life – but over 20 years, the problem has only gotten worse.

  The more able of the homeless find their way into shelters, counseling and housing programs. But the most chronically indigent, called the hard core, steadfastly refuse most help and stay outside. These 3,000 to 5,000 homeless at the very bottom are the most visible, and they give the city its dubious distinction of having what many call the worst homeless problem in the country.

  San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan and photographer Brant Ward spent six months in the streets, parks and alleys with the homeless and those who deal with them-health care workers, police, tourists, residents, businesspeople, commuters-in an attempt to answer the question: How did San Francisco, one of the most sophisticated and cultured cities in the world come to have so many people living so blatantly, so visibly, in misery?”

  [ The topmost story of this list is dated August 6 2012, ]
  “Most SF sit/lie tickets to older drunks” Special report 2nd of 2 Parts S.F. tries to prod violators into services -… [more]
  and it is long form journalism (7 screens long with many small photos)

  Others in the list….

  * Nonprofits merger means more services for homeless
  * The toy-filled play area, the beautiful building, the very sense of… more »
  * S.F. photo exhibit of women who found self-worth
  HOMELESSNESS Photo exhibit of women who fought drugs, abuse, poverty – and… more »
  * Homeless Little Bit changes lives, including hers
  Chronicle staff photographer Brant Ward first spotted “Little Bit” striding… more »
  * Design student creates coat for homeless people A design student at the… more »
  * Soccer team helps homeless men move toward goals Two days ago, Flebotte and… more »
  * S.F.: New homeless on street as others find housing
  * Forced into the streets by the economic downturn, hundreds of newly homeless… more »
  * Homeless artist with neighborhood full of friends
  * In October, an investor gave him a few thousand dollars, allowing him to move… more »
  * Vouchers for homeless veterans face budget ax
  * Human Jukebox’s pen makes way back to girlfriend
  * Transbay Terminal hurdle: hard-core homeless
  * Longtime denizens resist call to leave terminal
  Seven years from now, the downtown Transbay Terminal will be a gleaming,… more »
  * Feds focus on families in new homeless plan
  * Census wants accurate tally of homeless
  * Friends offer help for artist Ace Backwords
  * Homelessness czar Mangano now with nonprofit
  * Homeless vets’ new mission: Get life together
  * Righteous DopefiendBy Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg(University of… more »
  * Streets short trip on memory lane to Skid Row
  Back in, say, 1956 – when Chronicle writer Art Hoppe revealed life in the… more »
  * Exhibit emphasizes timelessness of being poor
  * Anyone who thinks homelessness, economic disparity and national financial… more »
  * S.F.’s once-missing Millie back in North Beach
  * Susan Prather, advocate for the homeless, dies
  * Nearly three years after the election of a mayor who promised to change how… more »
  * SHAME OF THE CITY / A daily walk finds fewer homeless / Second of Three Parts
  * THE CITY’S COST OF A LIFE REDEEMED
  Midnight in the Tenderloin, and Georgia Mitchell sat in her wobbly wheelchair… more »
  * S.F.’S HOMELESS AGING ON THE STREET / Chronic health problems on the rise as median age nears 50

  Many, many more.
  Have a gander.

• 55 gman // Aug 24, 2012 at 7:15 pm

  Everyman @50
  My building has changed the locks and put up signs refusing to allow Corex in,we had to chase them out once already.Our concerns were originally about time of day billing and privacy concerns with the zigbee chip in the meters but after being on the BC Coalition to Stop Smart Meters email list for several months now I can see that there is a lot more to these things than what the Government would like us to believe. You may want to check it out for yourself and get on the mailing list for awhile and have a look at whats going on in other jurisdictions around the world.You might be surprised at some of the non-industry studies they will link you to. http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.ca/html/?page_id=181

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