Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Quality of Life

New Freeway Revolt Grips Guadalajara

By Chris Carlsson | Dec 6, 2010 | 13 Comments

While the world has gathered in Cancun, Mexico, to discuss again a shared approach to Climate Chaos, action is already being taken in countless communities. On a visit last week to Guadalajara, Mexico, more than a thousand miles west of the Climate Meeting, I had the pleasure of discovering a vibrant grassroots movement to block […]

Commentary: Sidewalk Sitting? No Way! Sidewalk Parking? Stay All Day!

By Fran Taylor | Jun 10, 2010 | 96 Comments

Photo: San Francisco Department of Sidewalk Parking. One weighs 200 pounds or less, the other maybe two tons or more. One is involved in odd scuffles, the other in nearly 40,000 deaths nationwide each year. One is being targeted by the mayor and the press in San Francisco, the other sails under the radar. Even […]

Technology and Impotence

By Chris Carlsson | May 28, 2010 | 7 Comments

The BP oil spill goes on. And on. We watch the oil on live web cam pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. And we watch. Political rage is muted, practical responses even more distant. What to do? How do we “take action” on something like this? How can individuals meaningfully respond to this catastrophe? Stop driving? Boycott one brand of gas? Stop buying things made of plastic?

Say What?

By Chris Carlsson | May 24, 2010 | 26 Comments

The vibrations and rumble of cable cars used to occur on many of San Francisco’s streets. We are often attracted to city life for the energy, the boisterousness, the noise. I am a city guy having lived all my life in cities (born in Brooklyn, Chicago until age 10, Oakland until 17, and San Francisco […]

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Detroit Residents Press EPA for Stronger Air Pollution Monitoring

By Elana Schor | Apr 19, 2010 | No Comments

In Washington, "grassroots lobbying" is more often associated with industry-funded issue campaigns than ground-up local advocacy. But residents of Detroit’s industrial southwest neighborhoods took the term back to its roots on Friday, getting a personal visit from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials after a groundswell of complaints about decaying air quality. Cyclists in southwest Detroit. […]

Tea Partying and Beanbagging on Shotwell

By Chris Carlsson | Mar 29, 2010 | 57 Comments

24th and Shotwell Tea Party The citywide Stand Against Sit Lie campaign Saturday March 27 was a big success by all accounts. The website claims over 100 events took place on San Francisco sidewalks, and over 1000 people participated. That doesn’t sound overwhelming at first glance, but if you recall that this began as a […]

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