"Walking Shed"

This cool coffee shop walking shed map from MIT (which you should check out) was the first place I saw the term "Walking shed" used, though I've certainly rambled on about Walkability, here , here, and here.

Apparently Walking Shed is a thing already, also referred to as "ped shed" which makes sense, because duh, it just seems so obviously something we operate within. Though car dominated lifestyles have held sway during the past century, there is clearly a shift going on.

SFPUD

Until fairly recently in human history the draw for settlement orientation has been water, but now priorities are transportation, coffee, schools, restaurants, yoga studios... Where a property is within a walking shed has a huge effect on it's real estate value these days, with jobs,transportation portals, (including especially tech bus stops) at the top of the list right now.

Neighborland

and when you look objectively at how long it will take to walk vs. drive plus park...

Mission Creek

I'll be holding open a junior 1 bedroom condo at 888 7th Street on Sunday, 2-4. Since a segment of the Mission Creek Greenway and Bikeway is located on the site, and just for the sake of watershed awareness, I took a look at site on the super cool watershed finder put together by the Oakland Museum. 

Oakland Museum

DeeDee posted this about the new park, under some of which the creek still flows. Here is the big picture to come, and if the freeway actually comes down, wow! The unit I'll be holding open faces the big curve with the mural on the Cal Train tracks. You've gotta like trains, and I do. It's a cool curvaceous industrial view, sparkly at night with the Bay Bridge view. Come by and see me Sunday, and then take a walk in the park.

True Mosaics

Postscript: In chatting with my sister, who works at Adobe, whose SF headquarters is right next door, we got curious about the Baker and Hamilton building.  She came up with this this link, which has lots of fun links, explaining, for example, why the train track curve is there.

"New Urbanism" Awesomeness in the City

CurbedSF

So much of what makes San Francisco (and Marin) wonderful can be filed under "New Urbanism,"  which is quite often the resurrection of old urbanism, before cars took over the universe. Now of course, as a realtor, I have and use a car, but I'm also a pedestrian and cyclist and plant lover, and a big fan of making cities more livable. Cities around the world are revitalizing using these principles, and San Francisco is definitely on the vanguard.

Cycle Chic

Today's San Francisco examples: here and here. Copenhagen has been at this for decades.  Marin, while not quite urban, does have concentrated town centers, often surrounded by protected wildlands, more on Marin in another post.

StreetsBlog

Build It Green - Community Design

OK, our final component of a green home, Community Design, and then we can get back to microclimate and trees.  While improving the efficiency and health of a tract home in a large suburban sprawl development is a good thing, even better is good community design in the first place, or adaptation of less efficient community structure to concentrate services, improve pedestrian access and expand open space.

SFStreetsBlog

"Livable communities enhance the quality of life while reducing impact on the environment. Pedestrian and bicycle friendly neighborhoods provide opportunities for exercising and meeting neighbors.  High density areas where work, shopping and school are all close by allow for less time driving and fewer greenhouse gas emissions from cars." The "new urbanism" everyone's transforming old cities with these days is our 5th green home component. There are multiple benefits to human and environmental health, not to mention enhanced real estate values.

SafeRoutesToSchools

 One of the major attractions of Marin and San Francisco is the abundance of open space adjacent to wonderful walkable communities. While a Google search will turn up conflicting rankings of healthiest cities, our fair metropolis is often touted as the "most walkable".  Preservation efforts, both of wildlands and historic character, by many valiant individuals over the years, have enhanced the quality of life here immeasurably. Worthy organizations such as SPUR, the Marin and San Francisco Bicycle Coalitions, Safe Routes to Schools and many others, continue to work to improve our communities usability and quality of life.

Livablecities.org