Spring Winds A Blowing

North Wind Fables - Wikia

Personally, I find the wind wearysome. Must get up early before it blows if you want to get a good walk in, keep a shawl and layers handy everywhere you go. Ugh.

SJSU SF Bay Wind Patterns

I tell myself this heinous wind has it's place, even as I hide from it. It allows for upwelling that brings cold, nutrient rich waters to the surface, which is why we have such awesome and diverse marine life here. Also the wind keeps the air quality so fresh. 

Ocean Upwelling Boostdam

Spring is a little like winter, in that it's a good time to get a realistic sense of how windy it is at the property you are considering buying. When I lived in Sausalito you could walk three houses down and be in a completely different climate, and same is true in much of San Francisco and Marin. Also, the ocean gales can be a nice breeze in the hotter parts of Marin and San Francisco. I'm addicted to the ocean and must weather the gales, alas. Perhaps you are less so and can shop for property further inland, or find a special little microclimate withing the coastal zone.

Windy Golden Gate - allposters.com

Stormwater, Sewers and Sinkholes

Though SF is plagued with a combined sewer and stormwater system, the city is very forward thinking regarding waste water issues.

SFist - New Plan for Valencia St Gutters

Which is a good thing, because SF has old sewers that can really present problems.

SFGate Inner Richmond Sinkhole

Exponent - Sea Cliff sinkhole

Sewer lines are clearly relevant to real estate, and to potential development, such as the planned 8 Washington project.  So, again I say, inspect and care for your sewer line, because you are responsible for it till it meets the city line, and prevention is always better (and cheaper!) than crisis repair. In Marin the sewer systems are managed by individual or combined districts, more info can be found here.

Beautiful Walkable City

As fascinating as the sewer system is, today I am looking forward to a walk date with a dear old friend, and feeling the joy of our fair cities Walkability. I am not the only one. In this article about "Bruce Almighty", the Giants manager,  he attributes much of his relaxed style to long rambling walks he takes after games, here and away. I love that his wife "is a fast walker, so she keeps (him) at a good pace".

Walkonomics

Dolly Lenz, real estate queen, was here last week, and was raving about how beautiful it is here and how "you can just walk for miles and miles". There's a not so new app called Walkonomics, which "uses ‘Open Data’ and ‘Crowdsourcing’ to rate the pedestrian-friendliness of over 14,000 streets in San Francisco". I don't always agree with the rankings, or criteria, but the data is interesting so it's worth checking out if you have an iPhone and like to walk.

It's a great day for a walk, and if you go briskly enough, you'll have time to smell the roses...