voting

one of the ways that we can affect change in our local communities (not just federal policies and the prez), is to VOTE!    So, this is my little 2-cents for voting....  it's so easy nowadays.  you can register online, now.  no more going to the post office to pick up a voter registration card.  AND you can vote by mail now.  YAY!   i actually first voted by mail when i lived in portland, oregon in 2002.  it was so easy and i loved being able to study up online on who i was voting for, then fill-in the line, vote, and put it in the mail.  done.  so so easy.  no more worries about "will i have enough time to go vote before work?".  it's amazing.  i love voting.  and i love voting by mail.  i keep wondering if (or when) we'll ever be able to vote online. 

up: urban prototyping festival. sf.

That was a lot of fun!  the sf urban prototyping festival was held on October 20.  I went down there to check it out and ended up getting into some very interesting conversations.

I'm especially excited about this "DIY Traffic Counter" that these guys in NY made.  It was so awesome.  I was already thinking of doing a little project in my hood to track car speeds in certain areas where pedestrian casualties have been high over the years (the SFMTA has a great online map that shows you were every pedestrian injury/death has occurred in the city from 2005 to 2010). (and good information is necessary for good planning).  Perhaps, better information on car speeds in these high-casualty areas will be the impetus for further enhancements for pedestrian and bicycle safety.  Now, with this DIY device, I can easily conduct my little study project!  Yay!

the DIY Traffic Counter

Another nifty project that I encountered was SmartStop (below pic).  For SmartStop, while at a bus stop, you can text any question you want to this one phone number and get a response.  Sounds pretty neato, and forgoes the need to have 10 different location-based apps in your smart phone.  However, I'm still trying to figure out just how useful it is because of the need to use text message rather than just an app...

SmartStop: smart bus stop

I am now inspired and fired up to start up some of my own projects.  Likewise, I'm starting to get more serious about starting my own organization (like an LLC).  I need some engineers on my team and perhaps a few web or mobile designers to do the bigger stuff -- but I can already start it out now with the little things.  Time to gather like-minded urbanists that want to DO good work for our communities in a variety of ways!  I'm really interested in the "do-tank" (instead of "think-tank") organizational layout (from my conversation with one of the guys at "Tomorrow Lab").  Think-Design-Do.  Or, Think-Plan-Do.  2dees.  d-squared.  Anyways, this is starting to ramble as I continue to ponder...

so fascinating!

sign street art : "haul it away"

This was one of my favorite recurring street art applications to an existing sign.  As you can see below, I saw these all around Paris and Rome.  It is an existing "do not enter" type of sign (red sign with a solid white bar in the middle).  The "street art" application appears to be a sticker of a shadow person (black image) lifting the white bar and hauling it away.  I thought this was awesome.  I especially loved that I saw these in different cities around Europe.  I wonder how many people actually notice this, and think about it (regardless if they think it is good, bad, or whatever).  For me, it made me smile.

:)

Paris

Paris

Rome

~d

Je t'aime!

I saw this the other day and thought that it was very lovely.  Je t'aime!  "I love you" in French, etched into the sidewalk.  I especially like the exclamation point at the end of the phrase, which (to me) exudes absolute love - to all.  I walk by this section of sidewalk almost every single day, and yet it took almost 3 months for me to even notice this.  To me, this is a form of street art, which I think is actually quite nice -- it enhances my experience of my urban environment.  If it enhances my experience, then it probably also enhances others' experience as well.  I remember the first day that I saw this -- it instantly put a smile on my face.  Then, I thought about the multitude of tourists that come by this area, and hope that at least a fraction of them have also seen this and smiled.

Polk Street - my home

Looks what's happening in our 'hood soon...  

Maybe you have never driven, riden a bus, biked, or walked on Polk Street, but if you have you know that it is a very lively street with tons of restaurants, bars, boutiques, and other such awesomeness.  

a walking tour of Polk Street with SFMTA

(excerpt)

The SFMTA is hosting a series of events in the Fall and Winter of 2012 to get your input. Want to learn more about Polk Street and make sure biking and walking and the streetscape are improved? Join one of these events:

Walking Tours: (need only attend one tour)

• Monday, October 22: 12pm, Meet in front of 1300 Polk Street at Bush.
• Wednesday, October 24: 7pm, Meet in front of 2330 Polk Street OR Northwest corner of Polk and Golden Gate.
• Thursday, October 25: 9am, Meet in front of 2330 Polk Street OR Northwest corner of Polk and Golden Gate.
• Saturday, October 27: 9am, Meet in front of 1300 Polk Street at Bush.

Saturday, October 27, 10am - 2pm, Design Charrette to bring community input in redesigning Polk Street.

If you are a member of the SF Bicycle Coalition, please contact Neal@sfbike.org if you have any questions or want to receive direct notification of events like this.

I'm excited!  Let's make Polk Street a GREEN COMPLETE STREET for all users in our neighborhood.  This is the perfect opportunity to help make Polk Street more livable.

the urbanscape...

Recently, I decided to change this blog from focusing solely on San Francisco to broader urban planning and design issues.  Personally, I am very interested in multi-modal transportation, non-motorized transportation, urban park-space, and the urban form.  Likewise, I enjoy looking at urban planning and design from an anthropological or humanistic lens (maybe this comes from my degree in cultural anthropology).  Furthermore, when I look at a street, a sidewalk, a bike lane, a street sign, etcetera, I always think about the human interaction of this design element.  I have recently begun to call this "UX urban design", or user-experience urban design.  I know I'm not the only person who sees planning and urban design in this way, but I still believe that it is fairly unique in our profession.  Perhaps, it is a change in direction that the younger generation of city planners and urban designers are going...  It makes me excited for the future of our cities, and energizes me to continue on my quest to do good urban planning and design!