For the first time this winter, bay area residents will not be allowed to burn wood in fireplaces on Spare the Air Days/Nights between November and February. Burning wood can contribute to one-thrid of the total fine particulate matter in the air and can threaten your health. Federal government standards say that the air is harmful if there are 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air from fine particles of 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller over a 24 hour period. There will be an estimated 15-20 days where burning wood will not be allowed. This issue has sparked many complaints but considering that is only about 10% of the four months or so, there are plenty of other days that you can still burn wood as much as you like. For those people who dont like this new rule, get over it and help spare the air.
In San Francisco, Cubix Yerba Buena is a new condominum complex located conveniently in the heart of the city. There are ninety-eight studio homes designed by SF architect George F. Hauser. The prices start at $259,000. Is that a typo? no, is it a mistake of some kind? no, the reason is because the studios range from 300 – 800 sq ft. That is not just one room either, it includes a kitchen area and a bathroom. The goal of these studio homes is to have an affordable home that appeals to single people who want to be close to everything with easy access to business offices, restaurants, and shops. It is not exactly the best place to have parties, but if you are out all the time and just want a place of your own to go home to, then this could be the perfect solution. The homes are designed as efficient as you can get with space saving kitchens, a common laundry room, and City Car Share vehicles located in the garage.
For people who are used to living in similar situations in Hong Kong or Japan, this would be a perfect move. Obviously, there is a particular market that these homes appeal to, but the prices of homes anywhere in the vicity cost a lot more. The rent in the area is also extremely high and for the price of these homes, owning your own home in the heart of the city can become a reality.
The 2008 West Coast Green will be taking place on September 25-27th 2008 at the San Jose Convention Center in the heart of Silicon Valley. The focus this year will be towards green building, innovation and technology. There will be over 380 exhibitors and over 100 experts and leaders presenting.
The featured keynote speakers will be former Vice President and Noble Prize Winner Al Gore, Sarah Susanka, author of “Not So Big House” series, and David Suzuki, author and TV Host of “The Nature of Things.” There will also be a showcase of the SG Blocks Harbinger Showhouse that is built from reused shipping containers. Below is a slideshow of the construction of the LEED certified Harbinger House that will be on display at the convention.
San Francisco Bart is considering charging different rates depending on the time you take the train. I think that is the stupidest idea. Their goal is to have people adjust and take the train at different times to alleviate congestion. Obviously the busiest times for public transit would be during commute hours since everyone has to get to work at a certain time. Just because it is cheaper to take BART at a later time does not mean everyone has the luxury of getting to work later or earlier.
It is suppose to be a good thing that the ridership is increasing for BART as people are choosing to take public transportation but yet, the city wants to punish people for it. This is coming from the city that is trying to be more green and promotes “Spare the Air Days”. Some of the newer stations are also not getting too much ridership and if it costs more to commute into the city, they will even get less people to ride the train. Some people are choosing to take BART because of higher gas prices and they are also being more green. If the prices increase, more people may just go back to driving to work and be less green.
Obviously the best solution would be to have more trains and have trains run more frequently. In Japan, millions of people commute using public trains everyday and they always find ways of making the commute efficient for people. There are other ways that the city can improve on making the BART stations more efficient such as making faster elevators and escalators and having more passageways and improving the flow of people traffic entering/exiting the stations.
On a side note, I hope Proposition 1A on the Nov. 4 ballot passes. This proposal was added in at the last minute by Arnold Schwarzenegger that would cost an estimated $32 billion for the construction of a 800 mile high speed rail system between Northern and Southern California. The train would travel at 220 mph and would take 2 1/2 hours to travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles. This system should have been implemented a long time ago because if it passes, we wont be able to ride it until at least the year 2020.
Whether you are local to San Francisco or a tourist, the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market is something that is worth checking out. Each week, over 100 farmers and 30 artisan vendors setup booths around the Ferry Building and at the Justin Herman Plaza area.
I went there for the first time this past weekend and it was full of people. It was also a really nice day out so the location was great being at the Ferry Building alongside the Bay Bridge and water. The Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market is a California certified farmers market that is run by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA). All of the farmers who sell at the market are certified as producers by the counties they grow in. The market has plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers from local organic farmers. There are also regional specialties such as bread, cheese, jam, and organic meat as well.
The market started here in 1993 and attracts more than 10,000 people each week. The market is actually here every Tuesday 10am-2pm and Saturday 8am-2pm. There is even a Veggie Valet where you can leave all your shopping bags and pull up to load you car. There are also food booths so it can be a great place to make a lunch date out of. The prices are a little pricey, but it is expected since it is in downtown SF at an organic farmer’s market.
The Ferry Building itself also has plenty of food retail spaces inside, many of which have booths outside in the farmer’s market as well. This will definitely be on my list of places to bring tourists as a San Francisco destination. You can find out more about the event and the farmers here.
