Urban City Lessons from San Francisco
San Francisco is kind of like the USA’s Brighton – gay, vegan and green! But it has better urban planning than most English cities, innovative ideas to help homeless people and cable cars that carry people around in foggy weather, resulting in less cars on the streets.
Originally named Yerba Bueno (Spanish for ‘good herb’), this city is built on 50 hills, some almost vertical. The Golden Gate Bridge drains water from almost half of California, connecting to the Pacific Ocean.
Driving downhill, advice is to turn front wheels to the kerb (or the side of the road) and set your parking brake. Uphill, turn your front wheels away from the curb and let your car roll back a few inches, so the wheels gently touch the curb. No wonder so many people take the trolley car!
A City Preparing for Earthquakes
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake damaged around 90% of the city, killed 3000 people and left 200,000 people homeless. Back then there were no seismologists who could predict the tremors. National Seismic Hazard Model says the the Bay Area has a 95% change of a damaging earthquake in the next 100 years. This is because the area sits on three major faults.
The San Andreas Fault runs for over 800 miles, the Hayward Fault has been the cause of 5 major quakes in the last 150 years (called ‘a tectonic time bomb’ as 3 million people live on it). And the Calvareas Fault is an offshoot of the San Andreas fault.
Cable Cars and Public Transit
Cable cars in San Francisco are known worldwide, clanging their bells. They form just part of a good public transit network. The cable cars were invented by an English mining engineer, who whilst living in the US, saw five horses dragged to their deaths, when they slipped on wet cobblestones, and slid backwards under their heavy load.
The cable cars help to remove car trips on steep hills. The city also has way more walkable communities and public parks than England.
Car-sharing clubs are also popular, with eco-friendly gas stations and women-owned mechanic outlets, specialising in hybrid repairs.
Hardly anything is sent to landfill. There are reusable nappy laundries, numerous zero waste shops, and even a zero waste supermarket with 800 ‘bulk-buy’ bins for refillable goods.
Addressing Housing Affordability
Homelessness is a big issue in San Francisco, with thousands of people sleeping on the streets or in ‘tent cities’ which most tour buses now witness, upsetting in a fairly rich city.
Pit Stop provides art-covered public bathrooms for rough sleepers, which also offers places to deposit dog poop bags and needle waste. Vet SOS provides food and medical care for street dogs.
Most Dog-Friendly Town on Earth (nearby)
Drive just a couple of hours south of San Francisco, and you end up in Carmel-by-the-Sea, home to million-dollar houses and a thriving artist community. It’s also known as the most dog-friendly town on earth.
The ‘Fountain of Woof’ spurts out fresh water for thirsty dogs, and police patrol the beach, to ensure no dogs are left in cars. Mutt Mitts are provided in dispensers at the top of every stair access to beaches.
There is even a local calendar of local pooches, sold to raise money for animal shelters. One well-known resident here was Doris Day, who ran a dog-friendly hotel.
For two years, the mayor was former Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood. Running as non-partisan candidate, he advocated environmental protection, supporting small business interests and constructed a library annex, beach walkways and more public restrooms.
Today in his 90s, he is member of the not-very-well-known Libertarian Party. A previous supporter of the Republican Party, he says he wished Donald Trump would ‘act in a more genteel way, without tweeting and calling people names’.
San Francisco’s Wine-Growing Napa Valley
Just north of San Francisco is one of the USA’s renowned wine-growing regions, though it only produces around 4% of wine sold. Home to small family-owned vineyards, the word ‘napa’ is Wappo (native American) for ‘plenty’ and sits on volcanic soil that is very fertile, thanks to regular floods in the past. For this reason, the wine here is unique in taste to any other.
