Now Face North

thatgirlisfunny.com

As we all know from life and from fables, here in the northern hemisphere, north is the direction of cold and dark. Here by the golden gate our prevailing winds, especially in the spring, are from the northwest. Brrrrr. (Storm winds come from the south, but that's another story for another post.)

Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary

In San Francisco it is fairly easy to line yourself up with Ocean Beach on your left and say "OK, now I'm facing north." In Marin one's sense of north and south can be confused by the fact that the coast veers west, so the ocean is not necessarily to your left when you are facing north, it could be behind you. 

shieldteam.net

If your property faces north, particularly if its located on the north side of a hill, your hours in the sunshine will be significantly fewer (especially in winter) than those of your neighbors on the other side of the hill.  So we see redwoods (who like it cool and damp) on the north side of the hill, while more heat and drought tolerant oaks and scrub grow on the south.

Norway Green Roofs

If you have a home on a north facing slope, you'll want to be extra mindful of gutter cleaning, keeping vegetation away from the structure and keeping your roof in good repair to keep your house dry and free of mold and dry rot. Otherwise you may end up with an unintentional green roof, which will slowly rot and eventually leak. Intentional green roofs  include extra support and a membrane to protect the structure from moisture. You'll also want to be sure your north facing home home is insulated and sealed tight against those cold north winds.

san-francisco-california.onetravelsource.com

Having said all that, many of our most iconic views are to the north and northwest, and northern light is lovely and consistant. There are plenty of really wonderful places to live on northern slopes, you just want to be aware of the reality of the climate effects, especially if you are looking at property in the summer, but are planning on living there all year round. Additionally, if you are very forward thinking, and want to install your own little wind turbine, some NW exposure is a good thing. 

Our crazy weather, in a nutshell

Though all bets are off with weather these days, here's my attempt to summarize what's "normal" here. This weeks rain was just weird.

Spring Winds, Summer Fog, Fall warmth, Winter rains, that's the basic pattern, with 3 day islands of perfect beach weather sporadically interspersed. In general, the closer to the coast you are, the cooler and breezier and/or foggier your life will be. The good news is, if you really want sun, you can live in Marin or the Mission or Potrero Hill, and you can still be close to your friends like me who really like the fog and its cycles, or at least don't mind them as much.

The lines of hills block the wind and fog, but they move through gaps in the ridges, at accelerated rates. Also, the fog wall has a lip, that will flow over the tops of the ridges to varying degrees. So if you, the sun lover, live in Noe Valley, for example, you would be happy on the east side of the valley, and your foggy friend would thrive in the fog spillage on the west side, just below Twin Peaks. Where the topography is sharply oriented relative to the wind, you could be two or 3 houses down from your friend and live in different weather universes much of the time. Where I lived in Sausalito, up the hill in Hurricane Gulch (pay attention to a name like that...) I would walk down the street in a down jacket and have to shed it in a block or two.      

The ultimate fog/wind gap is, of course, the Golden Gate. Huge rivers of fog/wind flow through it at speed, so the east bay communities straight across the bay from the gate are cooler then those to the north and south. The northern parts of the city, and the southern parts of Marin are cooler as well. Heading north through the widening Marin peninsula, Mt. Tam rises to block the coastal weather, and it gets warmer and warmer.

Of course, if its REALLY foggy, you'll have to go far, far away from the coast to be warm. Many sensible people make plans to be in the mountains, or anywhere but the bay area coast in Fog-ust. Or you could just make some soup and popcorn, and be glad you don't have to put as much sunscreen on.

"Stand in the place where you are, now face north"

OK, now that I've got the tree rant out of my system (for now), this weird November in June weather has me turning to the crux of what I think is most important about property location; the interaction between weather and topography, ie the slope (steepness of terrain) and aspect (orientation - North, South, East, West) of a property relative to our marine influenced Mediterranean climate.

GOES.NOAA.GOV

I will admit, numerous other factors; schools, architecture, walk-ability, density, crime levels, and access to open space and transit, do powerfully affect livability and property values. (Lots of links on the right for more local detail on these subjects.)

My feeling though, is that slope/aspect/climate interactions ultimately trump these (if not actually determining them in the first place) in terms of daily quality of life. Plant life and vernacular architecture all over the world reflect the diversity of these interactions.  Thus I shall begin a series of posts about our many local micro-climates and how they got that way, as soon as I can untangle all the interlocking parts enough to figure out where to start.

http://tornado.sfsu.edu/geosciences/classes/m356/Pastlinks_F2004.html

sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com

Happy November in June!

    

Oops, no tree resolution after all...

Larry says he's not buying the house next door,
 so all that was just gossip and innuendo...

More on tree trouble

Here's the follow up to recent San Francisco tree trouble that got more or less resolved with a whole lot of ($40,000,000) dollars.

There are also tree tribulations in Marin, though yards are typically much larger.  Also in Australia, and elsewhere around the world, wherever there are trees and people.

Of course, the trees are not the problem. We are the problem. So if we think ahead to match mature tree size to location, we allow for long term magnificence.

Yew tree planted at St. Bartholomew's Church more than 1500 years ago

Nolo Press has some FAQ's if you find yourself with legal questions about your tree dilemmas. and of course, all this is good to think about when you are contemplating buying or selling property.