Settlers and Location Location Location

Inspired by today's open house on the sunny hidden culdesac of Houston Street in North Beach (er, technically Russian Hill), I am thinking about microclimate and historic settlement.

JK Hendricks

Did you know that Washington Square in North Beach was Jauna Briones's corral? She spent much of her youth in the El Polin Springs area. She and her husband moved to that funny little indent in the Lyon Wall on the east end of the Presidio- when her husband proved abusive, the resourceful Jauna moved to the east to farm in the sheltered valley near Yerba Buena Cove (which was closer to the water at that point) and later moved her ranch to the sunny climes of the Los Altos/Palo Alto area, which were more suited to ranching once the gold rush hit.

google books

To find the friendliest local microclimates, one can often look to the very earliest buildings. Once the boom and bust cycle hit San Francisco, real estate speculation encouraged construction beyond the most salubrious locations, but since the earliest settlers (unlike the soldiers in the Presidio) had the choice, they chose sunny sheltered relatively level spots near water. At Point Reyes, where real estate speculation was stopped by creation of the national park, you'll find the old homesteads, and remnants of homesteads, in beautiful sheltered dells.

PRWeb.com

Hikeability, Marin and SF

A friend involved with trails planning at the Presidio Trust recently took me on some new connector trails in the Presidio. Wonderful to explore some new access routes to places I have been circling around for years.

Presidio Trail

We are so blessed here with great places to walk/hike. Here's a great place to start if you want to hike in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  Also, the Presidio Trust, and San Francisco City Parks  (Golden Gate Park, McClaren Park etc) have many lovely trails, not to mention gardens for your walking pleasure.

Strybing Arboretum

In Marin we have the wonderful Point Reyes National Seashore, and Marin County Parks and Open Space,
Marin Municiple Water District  as well as Samuel P.Taylor, China Camp and Mt Tamalpais State Parks. For Marin I highly recommend the Tom Harrison maps, during my vegetation mapping days I found them the most accurate and easy to use, and they cover all the parks/wildlands in a given area. They are available at many park visitor centers, and online at Toms site. Alas, due to budget restrictions, the State Parks are subject to closures, so check the website for specific parks before you head out.

Tom Harrison Topo Map

What does this have to do with real estate?  Property near hiking trails is of high value, because people love to breath the fresh air and absorb the soul solace that nature provides. Contact with nature is good for our health and attention spans, and we are truly blessed here with so many parks and wildlands so close to our world class city. Many thanks are due to the persevering people who made sure these lands were protected. and that's a matter for later post...

Fire on the Mountain

Though I am rather a glass full and overflowing kind of gal, I am noticing that the topics that come to me here are rather gloom doomish. If you have seen a local disclosure package, you'll know it is quite lengthy, and if you actually read it all, you may worry that owning property here at the golden gate is fraught with peril. 

OHExpress

Fortunately, any given property is unlikely to be subject to all of the perils outlined in disclosure packages, and if you take the time to educate yourself (and /or have a great realtor) ahead of time, you can avoid or ameliorate problematic issues, or at least choose which risks to take. 

JDubrasky Hazard Disclosures

Hiking on the mountain and smelling the chemise and coyote brush reminds me that we are now in the fire season for our area, so today's subject is choosing real estate with fire in mind.

NPS.gov

The WUI zone is where structures and other "human development meet and intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels." In other words, houses surrounded by wildland plant life.

NIST

Though I am a plant nerd, and love the feeling of luxuriant vegetation, in our mediterranean climate, where we get little to no rain during the summer, vegetation dries out and becomes tinder by September/ October, just waiting for a spark to set it off.  On the coast the fog keeps things moist, so the fire prone areas are more inland in the hotter locations such as Novato and the eastern slopes of Mt. Tam. 

DreamNotof Today

Much of Marin's wonderfulness is due to the fact that almost anywhere in the county you can walk to open space of some kind: Marin County Open Space, Marin Municiple Water District, Mt. Tam State Park, Point Reyes National Seashore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. 

Marin County

Since much of these open space area's contain fire dependent vegetation, fire is a natural part of life in these area's. Property ownership within these plant communities comes with the likelihood of fire at some point. As people have increasingly moved into fire prone areas, fire protection costs have become prohibitive. Here's info about the new state fire protection fee. 

Firewise

While defensible space is key to protecting your property in a WUI zone, it is good to consider location first and foremost. Understanding basic fire behavior is important if you are looking at property adjacent to fire prone wildlands. 

hphanson

Moving into a high fire danger location, and then mowing down all the vegetation that makes the place magical in the first place, may not be the most practical (not to mention ecological) approach. In certain locations, defensible space will not protect you. Personally, I would especially avoid owning property at the top of a narrow or box canyon, in chaparral, no matter how gorgeous the views. If you insist, maybe build your house with stone, steel, or concrete.

Montana.edu