Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 4, Fri. Dec 4

Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 4 – The Long Now.

Rick Prelinger, a guerrilla archivist who collects the uncollected and makes it accessible, presents the fourth of his annual Lost Landscapes of San Francisco screenings. You’ll see an eclectic montage of rediscovered and rarely-seen film clips showing life, landscapes, labor and leisure in a vanished San Francisco as captured by amateurs, newsreel cameramen and industrial filmmakers.

How we remember and record the past reveals much about how we address the future. Prelinger will preface the screening with a brief talk on how historical memory is shifting away from mass culture towards individual expression, and what consequences will arise from the emerging massive matrix of personal records.

Join us for a reception with no-host bar following the Seminar in the main Lobby of the Herbst Theater.

Doors open 7 pm, Talk begins 7:30pm lasting ~1.5 hours

Herbst Theatre on Van Ness Ave. San Francisco, California

 

SPUR Event: Planning on the Edge: 6 West Coast Planning Directors, Wed. Nov. 4

The San Francisco Planning Department and SPUR (San Francisco Planning +
Urban Research Association) proudly present

PLANNING ON THE EDGE…OF THE CONTINENT

A conversation with the Planning Directors of six of North America’s most
innovative cities (at least we think so)

Featuring:
Bill Anderson – San Diego, CA
Susan Anderson – Portland, OR
Amanda Burden – New York, NY
John Rahaim – San Francisco, CA
Diane Sugimura – Seattle, WA
Brent Toderian – Vancouver, BC

When: Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 –  6:00 to 8:00PM
Where: San Francisco City Hall – North Light Court This is a free event

 

Saving The Bay | KQED Documentary Series Begins Thur Oct. 8

Saving The Bay | KQED Public Media for Northern CA.

Narrated by Robert Redford, this lively and timely series is about one of America’s greatest natural resources – San Francisco Bay. Shot in high definition, it consists of four episodes focusing on the geological, cultural, and developmental history of San Francisco Bay and the larger northern California watershed, from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Farallon Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
From the Gold Rush to the Golden Gate Bridge, and through World’s Fairs and World Wars, San Francisco Bay has been central to the identity of one of the world’s leading economic, academic, recreational, and cultural regions. This series explores its evolution, how we almost lost and then saved the Bay, and how we are planning for the future, including wetland restoration, increased public access, and balancing the often competing needs of a fragile ecosystem that is the centerpiece of a major urban area.

Upcoming Broadcasts:

Marvel of Nature (Prehistory – 1848) (#101) Duration: 56:31 CC Stereo TVG

In the first episode, photo-realistic animation illustrates the formation of the Bay following the last Ice Age. It introduces the first inhabitants along the Bay’s shores, including Native Peoples along with flora and fauna, and continues through European exploration and settlement, including Spanish, Russian and ultimately, American influences that dramatically altered the region.

Harbor of Harbors (1849 – 1906) (#102) Duration: 56:42 CC Stereo TVG

This episode follows San Francisco’s “rapid monstrous maturity” into a major metropolis following the California Gold Rush. Establishing the infrastructure to support the instant city meant radical change for San Francisco Bay. By the century’s end, San Francisco Bay was the center of a broad economic empire on the Pacific.

Miracle Workers (1906 – 1959) (#103) Duration: 56:58 CC Stereo TVG

This episode begins with The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906, which accelerated the dispersion of people and industry to the East Bay region. Advances in engineering gave rise to the first of California’s massive water re-distribution projects, paralleling the era of great bridge building. World War II saw the Bay transformed into the greatest shipbuilding center the world had ever known.

Bay in the Balance (#104) Duration: 56:46 CC Stereo TVG

In the final episode, the very survival of the Bay is threatened by the postwar boom. Viewers are introduced to the leaders of the Save the Bay campaign of the 1960s and the birth of the national mass environmental movement. As the Bay Area looks to the future, the issue becomes how best to balance the competing demands of a major urban center set amidst an environmentally significant landscape.

 

Society for American City and Regional Planning History, Oakland Conference Oct. 15-18

To All Urban Historians, Planners, Activists, and Academics in the Bay Area and Beyond:

The conference organizers are very pleased to announce the upcoming 13th National Conference on Planning History, taking place in Oakland, California October 15-18, 2009.  The event is sponsored by the Society for American City and Regional Planning History (SACRPH).  The preliminary program and conference registration forms, as well as travel and hotel information, are available on the conference website: http://www.barnard.edu/urban/sacrph09.  Interest in the meeting has been remarkable, with the number of paper and panel proposals up 20-25% over all previous SACRPH meetings.

The conference location, the Oakland Marriott City Center, is accessible by BART (Oakland City Center / 12th Street Station) and is convenient to the 880 and 980 Freeways.

Local Highlights: While the conference is international in scope, a number of events focus on the Bay Area itself. These include:
- A Thursday pre-conference tour entitled “Democracy on the Ground in West Oakland: Immigrants, Migrants, and the Development of an African-American Community”;
- A Thursday night address by Richard Walker of the University of California on “West Oakland and the Bay Area Region”;
-  A Friday morning plenary roundtable on regional equity, focusing on the East Bay;
- A Friday lunch plenary featuring pioneering urban planners of the Bay Area;
- Sunday morning tours of Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Marin;
- Papers and sessions throughout the conference on local and regional topics such as urban renewal in San Francisco; Chinatowns in San Francisco and Oakland; gay neighborhoods and the geography of sexuality in San Francisco; the 1906 earthquake and its aftermath; race and housing in Fremont and Richmond; and many, many more.

SCHEDULE:

All paper sessions will take place between 8:30 am on Friday, October 16, and 6:30 pm on Saturday, October 17.  The conference schedule and full registration includes receptions Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, breakfast Friday and Saturday, and lunch Friday and Saturday.  In addition to the paper sessions and round tables, we’d like to draw your attention to two New Media sessions, an undergraduate and Master’s student poster session, a proposal-writing workshop and reception for graduate students, and the screening of a documentary film-in-progress allowing participants to provide feedback to the director.  The book exhibit, open on Friday and Saturday, has a record number of participating presses.

The Thursday and Sunday events (Thursday’s Oakland symposium, and the Sunday tours) require separate registration, as explained in more detail on the website.  The Thursday tour of West Oakland promises a fascinating look at the multifaceted history of a neighborhood.  The four Sunday tours will take advantage of the rich variety of the Bay Area:  Historical Development and Ethnic Change in Oakland; Berkeley Architectural Tour; Urban Renewal in San Francisco; and finally, North of the Golden Gate: Growth Control, Open Space, and Alternative Agriculture on the Urban Fringe.

AICP CREDITS

We have worked closely with the Northern California chapter of the American Planning Association to ensure that the conference will bring together scholars and practitioners.  AICP members can earn Certificate Maintenance (CM) credits for many activities at the SACRPH Conference. More information about AICP’s CM program can be found at www.planning.org/cm.

CONTACT

Questions about the conference?  Please e-mail SACRPH@history.rutgers.edu.

CALL FOR STUDENT VOLUNTEERS

Student volunteers are needed both before the conference (to help with local arrangements) and during the conference (to staff the registration desk and provide AV support).  Each three-hour shift will qualify a volunteer for one free day of conference registration.  This is a great opportunity to meet with the leading scholars and practitioners in the fields of urban planning, urban history, architectural and landscape planning and history, urban design and preservation.  Please contact Stephanie Dyer at stephanie.dyer@sonoma.edu or Asha Weinstein Agrawal at asha.weinstein.agrawal@sjsu.edu for details.

We look forward to seeing you in Oakland.

With best wishes,

Robin F. Bachin, SACRPH President
Alison Isenberg, SACRPH President-Elect and Program Committee Co-Chair
Owen Gutfreund, Program Committee Co-Chair
Jim Buckley, Local Arrangements Co-Chair
Gail Sansbury, Local Arrangements Co-Chair
Stephanie Dyer, Local Arrangements Co-Chair

More on SACRPH: SACRPH is an interdisciplinary organization dedicated to promoting scholarship on the history of planning cities and metropolitan regions.  Its members come from a range of professions and areas of interest, and include architects, planners, historians, environmentalists, landscape designers, public policy makers, preservationists, community organizers, students and scholars from across the country and around the world.  SACRPH publishes a quarterly journal, The Journal of Planning History (http://jph.sagepub.com/), hosts this biennial conference, and sponsors awards for research and publication in the field of planning history.  For further information please consult http://www.dcp.ufl.edu/sacrph.

 

JAS A Festival of Grassroots Economics, Sept. 26

INVITATION TO PROSPECTIVE PARTICIPANTS

Please accept our invitation to participate in a festival of the alternative, grassroots, and do-it-yourself economy. We call it the Just, Alternative, Sustainable Economy or JASeconomy Festival.

The festival date is Saturday, September 26th 2009 at the Humanist Hall in Oakland, on 27th St. near Broadway – a landmark venue. Both indoor and outdoor exhibition space will be available at very affordable rates. The festival will be a free event for the public to attend between 10 am and 4 pm.

Individuals associated with SF Bay Area cooperatives and collectives, non-profit organizations, volunteer associations, community-based financial institutions, and more, are organizing this festival. The aim to demonstrate to the local community the rich diversity of projects that function as “another economy.”

We envision displays from worker cooperatives, and other democratically managed enterprises, alternative energy information, a Farmers’ Market outside in the grassy area, a bike maintenance clinic, natural healing demonstrations, creative arts play for adults and children and … well what else? Suggest other activities.

Informative workshops will be organized. These will link the participants to various areas of expertise and to the larger social context. In this way we hope to maintain and enrich our alternative economy.

The JASeconomy Festival is planned as a celebration of our achievements.

We are living in scary times. The dominant economy has never served our interests, but now it literally threatens our lives. The creativity that exists within our communities to meet our real, daily needs in very practical ways must be stepped-up. The times call for solidarity, for innovation and for expansion of all our efforts to build a better way of organizing our lives. We must do this ourselves. And with the JASeconomy Festival we believe we can demonstrate what’s possible by showing what has already been accomplished.

WHY PARTICIPATE?

Besides an unprecedented opportunity for exposure to an interested public the festival offers participants the chance to meet others involved in a variety of projects in other economic sectors. A summing up at the closing available for all the participants will enhance the possibility of networking to create alliances, to coordinate economic benefits or to gain additional expertise.

HOW MUCH WILL THIS COST?

In recognition of the values of the economy highlighted by this festival, all financial arrangements will be transparent to all participants. Costs of the festival will be based on a sliding scale. All volunteer groups for instance will be requested to donate $40 and those enterprises that are expected to benefit immediately from their presence, either through sales of goods or services will be requested to donate a minimum of $100. All other participants can self select their donation based on expected benefits from the festival. Participants can also trade display space for in-kind donations of services.

The participant donations will provide for one 2.5’ x 6’ table and 2 chairs or approximately 25sq feet of space for a display. Morning bakery treats and a modest lunch are included for one person per table. For the summing up at the end of the day we hope to include a dinner. (Extra persons participating with organizations can donate $5 to $10 depending on final cost assessments for food and availability.)

Sponsorships are encouraged in exchange for placement in adverts and signage at the festival. Both 1,000’s of event cards and 100’s of posters will be printed to promote the festival throughout the Bay Area.

There will be several literature/info tables for those groups who want to be represented but who cannot directly participate in the festival.

Both print and electronic media will be kept aware of the progress of the festival throughout the summer leading to a build up of publicity in August and September. Several journalists who have been made aware of our plans to do the festival expressed great interest in learning more.

Given the continuing meltdown of the economy we believe that the festival will intrigue the media. If the public is adequately informed of the festival, we expect a popular turnout. Unlike all other fairs and festivals the JASeconomy Festival will be FREE TO THE PUBLIC.

Lastly, space is limited. The uppermost limit to participation is 50 projects. Also because we want to show the diversity of the “other economy” we may have to limit participation of certain sectors.

If your group wants to participate please contact us early. We expect to fill the venue by June.

AIMS OF THE JASeconomy FESTIVAL

• Participants will have an opportunity to present their projects/enterprises to a motivated public.
• The festival will provide a venue for the public to witness the diversity and vitality of a people-oriented economy. The aim is to demonstrate to the public an alternative perspective and a practical “economic” way of organizing a sustainable economy.
• Participants will benefit from networking with the other participants, including those invited with specific expertise in financing, marketing, legal issues and other areas.

For more information please email: info@jasecon.org

Visit our website: www.jasecon.org.

To leave a phone message: NoBAWC @ (510) 835-0254

 

Jon Christensen, Friend of the CSA, Appointed Executive Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West

Press Release – August 18, 2009

Jon Christensen appointed Executive Director of the

Bill Lane Center for the American West

The Bill Lane Center for the American West is pleased to announce that Jon Christensen will become the Center’s Executive Director beginning September 1, 2009. Christensen will succeed Tammy Frisby, who has held the position since 2007.

The Bill Lane Center for the American West is an interdisciplinary research and teaching institute founded in 2002 and named in 2005 in honor of Bill Lane, the retired co-chairman of the board of Lane Publishing Company, longtime publisher of Sunset magazine, and former United States Ambassador to Australia and Nauru.

The Center is dedicated to advancing scholarly and public understanding of the West’s past, present, and future. It supports research, teaching, and reporting about land and life in the western half of the continent, including the trans-Mississippi United States, Canada west of Ontario, and all of Mexico. Current research programs address issues of western water supply and management, California constitutional reform, and the social, economic, environmental, and cultural status of the rural West. The Center also sponsors both undergraduate and graduate courses concerning the region, offers student internships as well as research fellowships for visiting scholars and journalists, and organizes lectures, conferences, symposia, media programming, and continuing education programs aimed at a broad public audience.

The Executive Director is the Center’s chief operational, strategic, and development officer, reporting to the Center’s Faculty Directors, David M. Kennedy and Richard White, both in the History Department.

Christensen brings to the executive directorship a deep interest in the West cultivated in his 21 years as an environmental journalist and science writer. His work has appeared in The New York Times, the western regional newspaper High Country News, and many other newspapers, magazines, journals, and public radio and television shows. He was a Knight Professional Journalism Fellow at Stanford in 2002-2003 and a Steinbeck Fellow at San Jose State University in 2003-2004. He is now finishing his Ph.D. in the Department of History at Stanford and has served as Associate Director of the Spatial History Project under the auspices of the Bill Lane Center. His dissertation, “Critical Habitat,” is a history of ideas, narratives, science, land use change, conservation practices, and the extinction of a species – the Bay checkerspot butterfly — in time and space. His broader research and teaching interests include environmental history, natural history, and the history of the biological and ecological sciences, climate change, conservation, and journalism.

Richard White, Christensen’s principal dissertation adviser, said that “Christensen brings to the Bill Lane Center a deep personal familiarity with the West, two decades of experience as a journalist reporting on the region, its environment, and its people, and a scholarly interest in both its past and its future. With his interests in history, public policy, and the contemporary West and its people, he is a perfect fit for the Bill Lane Center.” Kennedy added that “Jon’s creativity and energy, his deep roots in the West and his passion for its landscapes and its fate constitute a fine match with the Bill Lane Center’s mission. We look forward to his long and productive tenure as Executive Director.”

For more information about the Bill Lane Center for the American West visit: http://west.stanford.edu

Sue Purdy Pelosi

Publicity and Events

The Bill Lane Center for  the West

Y2E2 Room 347

Stanford University MC 4225

(650)721-2252

fax( 650) 721-3223

http://west.stanford.edu/

 

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins Keynotes Event at East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy : Thur. Oct. 15

BUILDING POWERFUL BRIDGES:
Community, Faith and Labor For a Just Economy

Thursday, October 15, 6:00 PM
Hilton Garden Inn, 1800 Powell St, Emeryville
Keynote Speaker: Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO, Green For All

EBASE has forged powerful bridges between truck drivers and environmentalists, congregants and immigrants, and residents and workers, bringing about major victories for working people. While the current crisis poses serious challenges,  together, we can create an economy where workers earn enough to live in dignity. Please join us and celebrate as we set the stage for 10 more years of progress!

 

Jon Rowe: Thank You, Sarah Palin

CSA steering committee member Jonathan Rowe has a new piece in Slate that wonders if Sarah Palin isn’t onto something with her opposition to cap-and-trade climate policy. “Let’s take her advice one step further,” Jon suggests.  ”Put cap-and-trade aside—and consider another way to curb carbon emissions. The Alaska way.”

He continues:

We would start by repealing the federal income tax on individuals—most of them, at least. Alaska has no personal income tax at all. We could alter that a bit and keep the tax on, say, the richest 5 percent, for reasons I’ll explain later. We would keep the corporate income tax, however, and at a high rate, as Alaska does.

Second, we would increase federal spending per capita to roughly the level of Alaska, which is the highest in the nation. I haven’t done the math, but this would help pay for universal medical care—whatever plan Congress adopts.

The upside looks pretty good.

This dividend—plus the elimination of the income tax for most of us—would take at least some of the sting out of higher energy taxes. And you’d get the dividend whether or not you used a lot of fossil fuels. The less fuel you burned, in fact, the more you’d gain, because then your dividend check would be pure gravy, rather than just a kind of tax rebate. Drive a hybrid, or walk, or take the train, and the people in the SUVs would in effect be paying you to do so.

The result would be a climate dividend for citizens instead of a cap-and-trade system quickly gamed by Goldman Sachs.

Who knew Sarah Palin was such a visionary?

 

Listen: Christensen, Worster, White: A Passion for Nature: Exploring the Life of John Muir| Aurora Forum

John Christensen, with Richard White and others leads a great program called the Spatial History Project at Stanford. All historians of nature, take a listen to this conversation on KQED about Donal Worster’s new book on John Muir. Fantastic stuff.–ed.

A Passion for Nature: Exploring the Life of John Muir

Donald Worster and Richard White with Jon Christensen

Thursday, May 7, 2009 | 7:30–9:00pm | Kresge Auditorium

In Donald Worster’s new biography, John Muir’s “special self” is fully explored as is his extraordinary ability, then and now, to get others to see the sacred beauty of the natural world. A Passion for Nature is the most complete account of the great conservationist and founder of the Sierra Club ever written. Rich in detail and personal anecdote, it traces Muir from his boyhood in Scotland and frontier Wisconsin to his adult life in California right after the Civil War up to his death on the eve of World War I. It explores his marriage and family life, his relationship with his abusive father, his many friendships with the humble and famous (including Theodore Roosevelt and Ralph Waldo Emerson), and his role in founding the modern American conservation movement. Inspired by Muir’s passion for the wilderness, Americans created a long and stunning list of national parks and wilderness areas, Yosemite most prominent among them. Yet the book also describes a Muir who was a successful fruit-grower, a talented scientist and world-traveler, a doting father and husband, a self-made man of wealth and political influence, and a man for whom mountaineering was “a pathway to revelation and worship.”

via A Passion for Nature: | Aurora Forum.

 

Tom Killion at Kepler’s in Menlo Park May 28

Tom Killion will be appearing at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park to discuss his and Gary Snyder’s new book, Tamalpais Walking: Poetry, History, and Prints, on May 28 at 7:30 p.m.  From the Kepler’s announcement:

In a new collaboration by the authors of the bestselling The High Sierra of California, Tom Killion and Gary Snyder, readers are introduced to the unique mountain overlooking San Francisco Bay. A source of story and myth since time began, Mt. Tamalpais has inspired conservationists, trail builders, botanists, artists, and poets for more than a century. With freshness and sustained delight, Tamalpais Walking explores Mt. Tamalpais s natural, cultural, historic, and spiritual dimensions. It is a book shaped by two master craftsmen collaborating on an enterprise nurtured by long and passionate involvement.

Woodcut and letterpress artist Tom Killion grew up in Marin County, on the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais, where the rugged scenery inspired him from an early age to create landscape prints strongly influenced by traditional Japanese woodblock prints. Along with publishing fine art letterpress books, Killion holds a Ph.D. in African history from Stanford University and has taught history at several Bay Area universities.

Kepler’s Books
1010 El Camino Real
Menlo Park CA, 94025
(650) 324-4321 Store Hours

 

Joel Makower: Green Economy News

Joel Makower is a mover and shaker  in green economic development. He’s got his finger in a lot of pies and advises venture capitalists and corporations on greening industry. His blog is worth a look see, not because the CSA is promoting his wares, but because the blog has some good digs on whats happening with the so-called green economy, especially in California.

 

The Green New Deal for the North Bay

A unique grassroots commission began its work last night in San Rafael.  Media activist and author Norman Solomon and North Bay Labor Council director Lisa Maldonado co-chaired a public hearing on how to fashion a Green New Deal for the North Bay.

Norman has described the initiative in a series of related articles, including this recent one on truthout.  The short version is that the commission (I’m on it) is trying to integrate the labor and environmental agendas in Marin and Sonoma Counties.

Harvey Smith kicked off last night’s hearing by discussing the connection between  California’s Living New Deal Project and the commission’s mission.  Then we heard a great deal from local residents, small business people, and activists about a range of issues, especially the need to review Marin County’s approach to  waste, recycling, and water treatment.

We’ll hold seven more public hearings over the next month. In the fall, we’ll take testimony from experts on water, housing, transportation, agriculture, and other areas. Then we’ll write a report and launch a public dialogue on the findings.

 

“California as an International Environmental Policy Leader — Climate Change, Water Policy, Chemicals Regulation, and Biosafety” — One day conference April 30 in Wash., D.C.

The California Institute for Federal Policy Research presents a one day conference April 30, 2009, titled “Managing Biosafety and Biodiversity in a Global World — EU, US, California and Comparative Perspectives”.  The conference, according to the Institute’s announcement, is:

the culmination of a two-year project examining the roles that California and the European Union play in defining the forefront of domestic and international environmental policy solutions. The goal of the project is to produce concrete, actionable policy recommendations to further regulatory cooperation between the EU, California and the US on transatlantic environmental issues, including climate change, chemicals policy, biosafety, water regulation, and biodiversity protection. As socioeconomic and environmental issues become increasingly integrated, innovative policy solutions are required to identify and address the complex nexus between society and environment. The project has developed a network of representatives from the US and the EU in academia, industry, the NGO-sector, and government.

The project is funded by the European Commission (DG External Relations) within the framework of the pilot-program on Transatlantic Methods for Handling Global Challenges. Event sponsors include:

• UC Berkeley IGS Center on Institutions and Governance (http://igov.berkeley.edu)
• Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• University of California Washington Center

Thursday, April 30, 2009
9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
U.C. Washington Center
1608 Rhode Island Ave, NW, Washington DC
RSVP to UCDC to attend

To attend the conference, reply to Conference@UCDC.edu . For more information, visit http://igov.Berkeley.edu.

 

Author event at Capitola Book Café: Eric Soderquist and Chris Burkard presnt their “California Surf Project” April 22

The Capitola Book Café will present the authors of The California Surf Project April 22, at 7:30 p.m.  From the book café’s listing:

Eric Soderquist is a professional surfer and artist who has participated as both in numerous contests, films and community events while traveling the world from Peru to Australia. Chris Burkard is a surf photographer who has worked for Surfer, Surfing, Transworld Surf, Surfline.com, Patagonia and Burton Snowboards; he is the winner of the Follow The Light Foundation grant (in memory of Larry Moore). Together they cajoled their Volkswagen bus along Highway 1 from the Oregon border to the Tijuana Sloughs. Their fully illustrated book is a love letter to the astounding California Coast and a testament to the passion for catching a perfect wave. This event includes a visual presentation.

CAPITOLA BOOK CAFE
1475 41st Avenue, Capitola, CA 95010
831-462-4415

 

“Journeys in the Land of Sunshine: The Natural History of Early Los Angeles” – Lecture at the LA Main Library, April 5

The Los Angeles City Historical Society & the History Department, Los Angeles Public Library
present the annual Marie Northrop Lecture, on Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 2:00pm, at the Mark Taper Auditorium of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library, 630 West Fifth Street (between Grand Avenue and Flower Street), Los Angeles.  This year’s lecture will be given by Elizabeth Pomeroy; she will speak on: “Journeys in the Land of Sunshine: The Natural History of Early Los Angeles”

From the historical society’s notice:

Through books and photographs, we can trace the early topography and natural features of Los Angeles and its surroundings.  The river, canyons, embracing hills and broad plain to the sea all influenced the settlement which grew into our metropolis of today.  Come and learn the history of this place so famous for its natural environment.

Elizabeth Pomeroy, a California native, holds a Ph.D. in English from UCLA.  She has taught English at Pasadena City College and served on the staff of the Huntington Library.  She has long been active in organizations devoted to history, nature and conservation, serving as a Board member of the California Preservation Foundation, the Pasadena Historical Society, the Sierra Club, and other groups.

Her writing includes literary studies and books on Queen Elizabeth I and John Muir.  Her recent volumes, Lost and Found and Lost and Found II, contain the best of her many newspaper columns by that name on historic landmarks around the San Gabriel Valley.  These take-it-with-you guides reveal the history and geography of the Southland, with glimpses of art, culture and society. In 2000 she established Many Moons Press, which has published titles on California history and nature, including new editions of classics long out-of-print.  She continues to explore Southern California’s
interesting characters and gives seminars on the skills of the grassroots historian.

Free and open to the public – Made possible by the Wood Family Trust

This facility is handicap-accessible. Validated parking is available for $1.00 (between 1pm and 5pm only) at the 524 South Flower Street garage (validation at library desk with library card, obtainable that day.) Check www.lapl.org for more information, or call (213) 228-7000. The Metro
Blue Line and Metro Red Line both have stops near Central Library, and most buses
coming downtown stop near the Central Library; check www.metro.net for rates, routes and schedules.

Los Angeles City Historical Society       PO Box 41046, Los Angeles CA
90041           (323) 936-2912            www.lacityhistory.org

 

San Francissco CounterPulse Bicycle History Tours March 14 Eco South; March 28 Dissent; April 26 Transit; May 26 Eco North

Bike Tour: Ecological History (South)

Sat. March 14, noon, $15-50, benefitting Shaping San Francisco

This trip through San Francisco’s lost sand dunes, ponds, creeks and coastline will focus on the city south of downtown and SOMA, traversing the Mission, Mission Bay, Potrero Hill, Bayview, and the southeast coastline, including several new public parks. It’s a social, historical and critical 4-hour tour through the city’s ecological past and present.

Bike Tour: Dissent

Sat. March 28, noon, $15-50, benefitting Shaping San Francisco

Covering everything from literary dissenters to urban riots and protests, this tour examines sites of conflict and unrest, the social movements and upheavals, that have shaped San Francisco since its origins. It’s a social, historical and critical 4-hour tour through the city’s contrarian past and present.

Bike Tour: Transit

Sun. April 26, noon, $15-50, benefitting Shaping San Francisco

Discover lost freeways, ghosts of train routes, and a vivid account of how San Franciscans moved around this peninsula through time. Hear about the violent strikes that shaped public transit, the graft and corruption that conquered the Outside Lands. It’s a social, historical and critical 4-hour tour through the city’s transportation past and present.

Bike Tour: Ecological History (North)

Sat. May 17, noon, $15-50, benefitting Shaping San Francisco

This trip through San Francisco’s lost sand dunes, ponds, creeks and coastline will focus on the city from downtown north, covering the heart of the city, the waterfront and Yerba Buena cove, Telegraph Hill, Black Point, and Crissy Field in the Presidio… It’s a social, historical and critical 4-hour tour through the city’s ecological past and present.

 

One Tract Mind: Installation Artwork by Gerald Clarke, Jr., at the Gorman Museum

The C.N. Gorman Museum at UC-Davis is currently exhibiting an installation artwork by Gerald Clarke, Jr., entitled, “One Tract Mind,” which deals with the building of tract housing throughout Southern California.  From the museum’s website:

About the Exhibition:

“One Tract Mind” is a mixed media exhibition that examines the building of tract housing throughout Southern California and its effect upon native communities. Water rights, the environment and the preservation of sacred sites continue to be issues that find the State and California’s Indigenous People in opposition. Conflicting ideas of progress, quality of life and individual rights seem to be at the center of these interactions.
The exhibition will feature both video and photographic work, a sculptural installation and other assorted materials.

About the Artist:

Gerald Clarke Jr. was born in Hemet, California in 1967. He is a member of the Cahuilla Band of Indians and lives on the Cahuilla Indian Reservation near Palm Springs. Clarke earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in painting and sculpture and graduated with honors from the University of Central Arkansas. In 1991, he entered the graduate program at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas and received his M.A. degree in 1992 and his M.F.A. degree in 1994. Clarke then spent the following ten years teaching art on the community college and university level. In 2003, he left his teaching position at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma to return home to the reservation following his father’s death. Today, he and his wife Stacy own and operate a small storage business, help run his family’s cattle ranch and Clarke teaches art classes at Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, California. In January 2008, he was elected to the Tribal Council of the Cahuilla Band of Indians. In addition, he has devoted himself to learning the traditional Bird Singing of the Cahuilla people and to further his knowledge of Cahuilla culture. He states, “through art, I can come to an understanding of myself, my community and the world around me”.

The exhibition will continue until March 13, 2009.

 

Climate Change and the Energy Crisis: Lessons from (California) History; Feb. 10 at USC

The University of Southern California’s School of Policy, Planning and Development and the Keston Institute are sponsoring an Urban Growth Seminar, at 12:15 p.m. on Feb. 10, 2009.  Paul Sabin, Professor of History at Yale University, will speak on “Climate Change and the Energy Crisis: Lessons from History.” Prof. Sabin will explore the history of energy politics in California and the nation to anticipate likely contours for future energy policymaking.

From the announcement:

Over the past three decades, society has failed in its efforts to ad-dress either the climate crisis or our dependence on fossil fuels. As a new presidential administration elevates energy and climate is-sues to the forefront, we must ask why we have not addressed these critical problems thus far, and whether history and historians might suggest useful lessons and implications for future policy-making. Professor Sabin will examine the history of past energy transitions to show how unprecedented and politically challenging it will be to make a dramatic shift away from fossil fuels. His themes include the vital role of government in accelerating change in the energy markets, as well as the generations-long political struggle that is likely to play out within administrative, judicial and legislative settings. Sabin also will touch on the contributions that historians have made to our thinking about adaptation to climate change and the role of climate in driving past societal transformations.

The location of the seminar will be on the USC campus in Ralph and Goldie Lewis Hall, Room 101.

For more information or to RSVP please contact Louise Dyble dyble@usc.edu, 213-740-3489

 

Silicon Valley Green Economic Development

BELOW, you will find our preliminary organizing principles and research questions into the project on the Silicon Valley green economy. CLICK here for more information about this project at the Center for Community Innovation and the Department of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley.

FIND BELOW:

* Research Questions

* Bibliography

* Webography

Contact:

aaronwilcher AT gmail DOT com (Aaron Wilcher, MCP student researcher)

smontero AT berkekey DOT edu (Sergio Montero, MCP student researcher)

Research Questions: Silicon Valley’s Economic History and Innovation Assets

* Social Networks (see Saxenian, Castells, Rhee, and Joint Ventures annual reports)
–leadership organizations and associations (Joint Ventures, SV Leadership Group [formerly Manufacturing Group]), American Leadership Forum
–industry associations (see Saxenian, 1994)
–neighborhood associations
–community organizing groups (People Acting in Community Together PACT)
–labor groups: South Bay Labor Council and Working Partnerships
–nonprofit and volunteer associations

* Industrial Development (Saxenian, 2 books; see also Walker, Rhee, and Benner; Castells, Pincetl)
–How did flex-spec evolve and diversify? Where does the Valley stand in relation to broader national and international materialist developments in industrial production practices: social networks, spinoffs, flexible employment? With what cities does it share economic-industrial development practices? (see O’Mara’s current work: Bangalore, Shenzhen, Silicon Valley)

* Labor Markets (see Benner, Zlolniski, Pitti, Alarcon, and Saxenian)
–evolution of flex spec and polarized income-wealth distribution
–migration patterns international and domestic-regional
–visa labor markets and illicit markets
–industrial relations: while high tech emerged unorganized, Working Partnerships has led some innovative policy initiatives and been a power broker in the Valley

* Geographic Factors (Spatial Political Economy) (see O’Mara, Matthews, Winner, Findlay, Pitti, Trounstein and Christensen, Rhee, esp. Ch. 4; in general, see Pincetl; see land use reports from the SVLG and Joint Ventures annual reports)
–Political economy of land use
–Stanford’s networks and the political economy of “cities of knowledge”
–in the context of the rise of the Sunbelt
–evolution of economic development factors
–Identify political regimes and their impact on land use and economic development (see especially Trounstein and Christensen; Rhee, Walker 2002, O’Mara)

* Economic Development and Regulatory Contexts (Pincetl, Saxenian, O’Mara)
–crossover with political economy of landuse and development, but specifically, how did city and state policy affect the economic development climate?
–“good business climate”?
–What kinds of policies lay the groundwork for “green economic development”?
–with whom has the Silicon Valley competed and with whom is it now competing (see O’Mara’s current work: Bangalore, Shenzhen, Silicon Valley)
–How have/will regional consumer practices influenced/been influenced by

* Environmental History (see David Pellow, Pincetl, Walker)
–the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition; Superfund sites
–how has the interaction of EJ, environmentalists, federal cleanup, and business corrections and abuses affected the political economic context for developing a green economy?

* Education Institutional Framework (see Saxenian, O’Mara, Walker, 2002; Findlay)
–community colleges, state colleges and research universities, Stanford
–How were these institutions both power brokers in the political economy of land use, but also engines for economic development with employment-education agreements?

* Finance Capital (see Saxenian, Castells)
–how did VC evolve and what did its presence do for the evolution of the Valley
–Can we place this VC market in the context of other global knowledge cities? How might these relationships change? How do these investment patterns model other places? Who are the players and what are their portfolios? Are the major finance brokers betting on other places? If so, how?

Bibliography

Adams, Stephen B. “Regionalism in Stanford’s Contribution to the Rise of Silicon Valley.” Enterprise Soc 4, no. 3 (September 1, 2003): 521-543.

Alarcon, Rafael Guadalupe. “The migrants of the Information Age: Foreign-born engineers and scientists and regional development in Silicon Valley.” Dissertation, Dept. of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, 1998.

Arbuckle, Clyde. Clyde Arbuckle’s history of San José : the culmination of a lifetime of research. San José: Smith & McKay Printing Co., 1986.

Beers, D. Blue Sky Dream: A memoir of America’s Fall From Grace. New York: Doubleday, 1996.

Benner, Chris. Staircases or Treadmills?: Labor Market Intermediaries and Economic Opportunity in a Changing Economy. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2007.

—. Work in the New Economy: Flexible Labor Markets in Silicon Valley. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2002.

Berlin, Leslie. The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley. Oxford University Press, USA, 2006.

Brook, James. Resisting the virtual life: the culture and politics of information. San Francisco  ;Monroe  OR: City Lights, 1995.

Brown, John Seely, and Paul Duguid. The Social Life of Information. 1st ed. Harvard Business School Press, 2002.

Canty DJ. “At Home In San-Jose + Architect-Directed Redevelopment Program Transforms The Center Of California 3rd Largest City.” Architectural Record 178, no. 10 (September 1990): 132 -137.

Canty, Donald J. “At Home in San Jose.” Architectural Record 178, no. 10 (September 1990): 132.

Castells, Manuel. The Rise of the Network Society (New Edition). 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2000.

Christensen, Terry, and Tom Hogen-esch. Local Politics: A Practical Guide To Governing At The Grassroots. 2nd ed. M.E. Sharpe, 2006.

Claiborne, J. “Rebuilding Downtown San Jose: A Redevelopment Success Story.” Places 15, no. 2 (Winter 2003): 4-11.

Cornford, D. Working People of California. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1995.

Cronon, William. Under an Open Sky: Rethinking America’s Western Past. W. W. Norton & Company, 1994.

Egan, Timothy, and Timothy P. Egan. Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West. Vintage, 1999.

English-Lueck, J. A. “Silicon Valley reinvents the company town.” Futures 32, no. 8 (October 2000): 759-766.

Findlay, Jonathan. Magic Lands: Western Cityscapes and American Culture After 1940. Berkeley; Los Angeles; London: Univeristy of California Press, 1992.

Hackworth, Jason. The Neoliberal City: Governance, Ideology, and Development in American Urbanism. 1st ed. Cornell University Press, 2006.

Hall, Peter. Cities in Civilization. Pantheon, 1998.

Hall, Tim, and Phil Hubbard. “The entrepreneurial city: new urban politics, new urban geographies?.” Progress in Human Geography 20, no. 2 (June 1, 1996): 153-174.

Hansen, D. The New Alchemists.

Hayes, Dennis. Behind the silicon curtain: the seductions of work in a lonely era. Boston  MA: South End Press, 1989.

Hossfeld, K. “Why Arent High-Tech Workers Organized?: Lessons in Gender, Race, and Nationality from Silicon Valley.” In Working People of California, 405-432. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1995.

Jackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. Oxford University Press, USA, 1987.

Jiménez, Francisco. Ethnic community builders: Mexican Americans in search of justice and power : the struggle for citizenship rights in San José, California. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2007.

Kriken,  J. “Lessons from downtown San Jose.” Places-A Forum Of Environmental Design 15, no. 2 (WIN 2003): 30-31.

Lessig, Lawrence. The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World. Vintage, 2002.

Lewis, Michael. The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story. Penguin (Non-Classics), 2001.

Logan, John R. “Logan on Molotch and Molotch on Logan: Notes on the Growth Machine-Toward a Comparative Political Economy of Place.” The American Journal of Sociology 82, no. 2 (September 1976): 349-352.

Markusen, A. The Rise of the Gunbelt.

Matthews, Glenna. Silicon Valley, Women, and the California Dream: Gender, Class, and Opportunity in the Twentieth Century. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 2003.

Matthews, Glenna Christine. A California Middletown: The Social History of San José in the Depression, Dissertation, Dept. of History, Stanford University, 1976.

Molotch, Harvey. “The City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place.” The American Journal of Sociology 82, no. 2 (September 1976): 309-332.

Nguyen, Vu-Bang. “Vietnamese-American Community Outreaching: West Evergreen in San Jose, California,” 2004. Berkeley Library Catalog.

O’Mara, Margaret Pugh. Cities of Knowledge: Cold War Science and the Search for the Next Silicon Valley. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Park, Lisa Sun-Hee, and David N Pellow. “Racial Formation, Environmental Racism, and the Emergence of Silicon Valley.” Ethnicities 4, no. 3 (September 2004): 403-424.

Pellow, David, and Lisa Park. The Silicon Valley of Dreams: Environmental Injustice, Immigrant Workers, and the High-Tech Global Economy. NYU Press, 2002.

Pincetl, Stephanie Sabine. Transforming California: A Political History of Land Use and Development. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

Pitti, S.J. The Devil in Silicon Valley: Northern California, Race, and Mexican Americans. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2003.

Rawls, James and Walter Bean. California: An Interpretive History. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 1998.

Reisner, Marc. Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition. Revised. Penguin (Non-Classics), 1993.

Rhee, Nari. “Searching for working class politics: Labor, community and urban power in Silicon Valley.” Dissertation, Dept. of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, 2007.

Saxenian, A. Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press, 1994.

—. The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy. Harvard University Press, 2007.

Scott, A.J. Technopolis: High-Technology Industry and Regional Development in Southern California. Berkeley; Los Angeles; Oxford: University of California Press, 1993.

Self, Robert O. American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland. Princeton University Press, 2005.

Shih, Johanna. “Circumventing Discrimination: Gender and Ethnic Strategies in Silicon Valley.” Gender & Society 20, no. 2 (April 2006): 177-206.

Siegel, Lenny, and John Markoff. The high cost of high tech: The dark side of the chip. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.

Stanford Environmental Law Society. San Jose: Sprawling City; a Report on Land Use Policies and Practices in San Jose, California. Stanford, Calif., 1971.

Trounstine, Philip and Terry Christensen. Movers and shakers : the study of community power. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982.

Turner, Fred. From Counterculture to Cyberculture. Stanford University Press, 2006.

Langdon Winner. “Silicon Valley Mystery House.” In Michael Sorkin, ed. Variations on a Theme Park: The New American City and the End of Public Space. 1st ed. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992.

Walker, Richard A. The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area. University of Washington Press, 2008.

—. Silicon City: The Evolution of an Electronics Mecca. Unpublished manuscript, 2002.

White, Richard. “It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own”: A New History of the American West. University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.

Zlolniski, Christian. Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists: The Lives of Mexican Immigrants in Silicon Valley. 1st ed. University of California Press, 2006.

Webography

Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Communities
http://www.bayareaalliance.org/

Building Partnerships USA
http://building-partnerships.org/

BVN San Jose 1975-2006
http://www.bvnasj.org/SanJose19752006.htm

b l a n c a ~ a l v a r a d o
http://www.blancaalvarado.org/mainpage.html

California Redevelopment Association
http://www.calredevelop.org

Central Valley Partnership
http://www.citizenship.net/partners/pan_valley.shtml

CJTC — The Center for Justice, Tolerance and Community
http://cjtc.ucsc.edu/

CommuniverCity
http://www.communivercitysanjose.org/

Conference Program SJSU Immigration Conference
http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/SocialSciences/socsci_files/Conf_program.htm

Opportunity Fund
http://www.opportunityfund.org

Enter the World of Eichler Design
http://totheweb.com/eichler/

green planning facilitation education
http://www.greenplanning.org/contact.html

Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC) UC Berkeley
http://issc.berkeley.edu/

Interview with Ted Smith SV Toxics Book
http://www.temple.edu/tempress/authors/1788_qa.html

Joint Ventures: The Index of Silicon Valley
http://www.jointventure.org/publicatons/siliconvalleyindex.html

Knowledge Cities
http://depts.washington.edu/kcrg/silicon.php

Leadership Institute | Urban Habitat
http://urbanhabitat.org/li

Manuel Pastor Presentations in pdf
http://people.ucsc.edu/~mpastor/presentations.htm

Margaret O’Mara – Home
http://faculty.washington.edu/momara/

Mysteries of the Region Knowledge Dynamics in the SV Paul Duguid
http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~duguid/SLOFI/Mysteries_of_the_Region.htm

Oanh Ha won a 2003 award for reporting on Mayfair
http://www.gradethenews.org/pages/SPJ%20awards03.htm

Professor Langdon Winner – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
http://www.langdonwinner.org/

Resources : SV Modern | Celebrating the Silicon Valley’s Mid-Century Past
http://www.svmodern.com/sv-modern-resources.html

San Jose Redevelopment Agency
http://www.sjredevelopment.org/aboutsjra.htm

San Jose Underbelly Cool historic al photos
http://www.sanjose.com/underbelly/unbelly/Sanjose/sjsigns/signs4.html

Santa Clara County Archives – County Clerk-Recorder (DEP)
http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/rec/agencychp/?path=%2Fv7%2FCounty%20ClerkRecorder%20(DEP)%2FCounty%20Archives

SiLiCoN vAlLeY dE-bUg
http://www.siliconvalleydebug.com/index.html

Silicon Valley Community Foundation – Publications & Research
http://www.siliconvalleycf.org/newsResources_pubsResearch.html#pubs

Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits
http://www.svcn.org/

Silicon Valley History
http://www.netvalley.com/svhistory.html

Silicon Valley History
http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~jones/shockley/sili_valley.html

Silicon Valley History Online
http://www.siliconvalleyhistory.org/

Silicon Valley Local History Resources
http://www.sjsu.edu/~jwhitlat/svlh.htm

Silicon Valley Online: Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance
http://www.siliconvalleyonline.org/

Silicon Valley Prospector: Economic Development Available sites, buildings, demographics, businesses and GIS mapping–
http://www.siliconvalleyprospector.com/ed.asp?bhcp=1

Silicon Valley Workforce Investment Network, connecting job seekers and businesses.
http://www.work2future.biz/

SJSU Communiversity
http://www.communivercitysanjose.org/

Somos Mayfair
http://www.somosmayfair.org/community.htm

Sourisseau Academy
http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/history/Resources/Sourisseau.htm

South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council
http://www.atwork.org/

Stanford Silicon Valley Archives
http://svarchive.stanford.edu/main.html

Sustainable Silicon Valley
http://www.sustainablesiliconvalley.org/

SVTC: Silicon Valley Toxic Tour
http://www.etoxics.org/site/PageServer?pagename=svtc_silicon_valley_toxic_tour

The Regional Advantage of the Silicon Valley and Its History
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/regadv.htm

Thrive Alliance of San Mateo County Nonprofits
http://www.thrivealliance.org/

Transweb – Mineta Transportation Institute
http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/index.html

UC berkeley Labor Center Leadership Schools
http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/leadershipschools/

UCB Guides to City & Regional Planning Research
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/cityguid.html

University of Minnesota Syllabus on Silicon Valley History
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~jbshank/syllabus.html

Working Partnerships USA
http://www.wpusa.org/

Working Partnerships USA Reports
http://www.wpusa.org/Publication/index.htm#ev

 

Stephanie Pincetl writes on plans for the L.A. River

In a blog post Jan. 21, 2009, Stephanie Pincetl, Director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment, Urban Center for People and the Environment, discusses current efforts to “restore” the Los Angeles River. Dr. Pincetl asks whether plan for the river constitute a restoration or a reinvention. From the post:

“In the early 1980s, Louis McAdams, a performance artist, had a vision that the Los Angeles River could be restored and returned to life, extricated from its concrete confines, and allowed to flow naturally. This vision, at first ridiculed and trivialized, has become the city’s own. Plans are a-foot to create parks along its long trajectory from the San Fernando Valley to the sea, to build new river-oriented housing and commercial developments along the river, and to remove the concrete lining where feasible, balancing public safety from flooding, cost and ecological considerations.

“But is this restoration or the(re) invention of the Los Angeles River? The river’s flow today is tertiary treated sewage from the Tillman Sewage Treatment Plant and dry weather run-off from urban irrigation. Most of the River’s own indigenous flow is captured by the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for the city’s drinking water supply and kept in underground aquifers. Only when it rains does the river have true flow, and since the river is channelized to prevent flooding, most of the rainflow is directed to the sea.”

 

Going Green in L.A. and Saving Money – A Note from Julia Stein

Going Green in 2008 and Saving Money

In spring of 2008 I stopped using plastic bags because I learned that millions of our plastic bags are in the Pacific Ocean killing birds and fish. In the spring at Santa Monica College I heard Marcus Eriksen read from his book “My River Home: A Journey from the Gulf War to the Gulf of Mexico” about taking a raft he made of soda pop bottles down the whole length of the Mississippi. Eriksen worked for Algalita Marine Research Foundation in Long Beach, California, which does research on plastic bags in the Pacific Ocean. In late spring he and his colleague took Junk, a raft they made out of plastic, and sailed it from California to Hawaii doing research all the while on plastics in the ocean.

I decided if Erikesen could sail the raft across the Pacific I’d quit using plastic bags. Whenever I went grocery shopping, I trained myself in a new habit of bringing my cloth bags to haul my groceries home. A lot of community groups gave out free cloth bags so I have quite a collection. I also bought organic cloth bags for $30 to bag fruits and vegetables rather than using the small plastic grocery store bags. I don’t have all these plastic or paper bags cluttering up my drawers or needing to be recylcled, so cloth bags are definitely more convenient.

Also, I started composting in my mother’s backyard. I took a class in composting that the L.A. Parks and Recreating holds at its Griffith Park composting facility:

http://www.laparks.org/dos/camps/facility/griffithPkCompost.htm

After the class I bought one of the low-cost big green composting bins they had for sale. Learning how to compost was very easy, and I got two households to compost: mine and my mother’s. Actually it was amazing to watch how the compost reduced itself. Keeping up the compost doesn’t take much time–just add more fruits, vegetables, leaves, lawn clippings and water. One needn’t take a class. In a half hour Internet research one can find out how to compost. By composting, getting rid of the plastic bags, and recycling all paper, metal, and plastic in the blue bins, I’ve reduced my trash for landfill quite a lot.

Also in 2008 I helped plant three trees. I donated money to Treepeople to plant a tree as a memorial for two friends who had died: my mother’s old friend Delores Smith and our family friend Dr. Saul Niedorf. I find it comforting that out there in Southern California there is the Delores Smith tree and also the Dr. Saul Niedorf tree growing.Treepeople, who have planted one million trees in the Los Angeles area, can be found online at

www.treepeople.org

I also got a free tree from the Los Angeles Conservation Corps which was planted in the parkway in front of my mother’s house and I’ve ordered another tree from them for the parkway. In Los Angeles people can get free trees from either Los Angeles Conservation Corps or LA DWP as part of Mayor Villaraigosa’s initiative to plant a million trees My mother’s garden already has a fig tree, an orange tree, a tangerine tree, and a lemon tree, and we’ve ordered a fuji apple tree. I’ve also had bougainvillea planted around my mother’s back window to shield the house from the sun.

In the spring my brother and I planted our first vegetable garden in my mother’s backyard. I figured if I want to green the earth I’d start by learning about our backyard soil, so did a test to see how quickly the soil absorbs water and also put store-bought compst to improve it before we planted We used Pat Welsh’s excellent book “Southern California Gardening: A Month-by-Month Guide” as our bible. We planted corn, beans, tomatoes, carrots, watermelon, strawberries, radishes, and herbs–basil, sage, parsley, rosemary. I used the basil to make pesto, the carrots to make carrot cake, and we enjoyed eating the corn. We didn’t plant in the fall but I want to resume planting as soon as possible. Though a few things didn’t work out–the watermelon, for instance or the zuchinni–but we learned a lot and are proud of our first vegetable and herb garden. I had to learn how to dry and store our rosemary and sage.

I’ve also enjoyed the whole process of going green this year, especially the gardening. I love to cook, and love to go to the garden, clip off rosemary or sage or tomatoes or lemons from the lemon tree–nothing could be finer. I’m sorry we let the garden go fallow in the fall but hope we’ll have a bigger, better garden using our own compost. In the end I think I saved money through all these measures. Now my brother I am are planning our garden so we’ll soon do a winter planting but we live in L.A. and crops grow year round!

 

Smogtown: Author Event at Book Soup in L.A. Jan. 8

At Book Soup on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, Chip Jacobs presents and signs his new book, Smogtown.  From the Book Soup website:

Smogtown is the story of pollution, progress, and how an optimistic people confronted the epic struggle against aerial poisons barraging their hometowns. With wit, verve, and a new look at history through never-before-compiled sources, it highlights the bold personalities involved, the corporate-tainted science, the terrifying health costs, the Buck Rogers-like attempts at cleanup, and how the smog battle helped mold the modern-day culture of Los Angeles.

Thurs., Jan. 8, 2009, 7:oo p.m., at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., W. Hollywood CA 90069.