Describes likely environmental consequences of the proposed annexation of 150 properties (172 parcels on 189 acres) on the west side of I Street, south of McNear Park and McNear School, and east of D Street, including land with frontage on Sunny Slope Avenue, Sunny Slope Road, Sunny Hill Drive, Morning Sun Drive, and Highland Road. Assessment district would bring Sunny Slope Road and Sunny Slope Avenue up to city design standards.
A Time 100 Must-Read Book of 2020 • A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • California Book Award Silver Medal in Nonfiction • Finalist for The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism • Named a top 30 must-read Book of 2020 by the New York Post • Named one of the 10 Best Business Books of 2020 by Fortune • Named A Must-Read Book of 2020 by Apartment Therapy • Runner-Up General Nonfiction: San Francisco Book Festival • A Planetizen Top Urban Planning Book of 2020 • Shortlisted for the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice “Tells the story of housing in all its complexity.” —NPR Spacious and affordable homes used to be the hallmark of American prosperity. Today, however, punishing rents and the increasingly prohibitive cost of ownership have turned housing into the foremost symbol of inequality and an economy gone wrong. Nowhere is this more visible than in the San Francisco Bay Area, where fleets of private buses ferry software engineers past the tarp-and-plywood shanties of the homeless. The adage that California is a glimpse of the nation’s future has become a cautionary tale. With propulsive storytelling and ground-level reporting, New York Times journalist Conor Dougherty chronicles America’s housing crisis from its West Coast epicenter, peeling back the decades of history and economic forces that brought us here and taking readers inside the activist movements that have risen in tandem with housing costs.
The Peninsula Watershed has been integral to the story of San Francisco's growth ever since the Gold Rush. The rapid influx of settlers to San Francisco during the Gold Rush spurred a sudden demand for a reliable water source, which led to the formation of the Spring Valley Water Works (later purchased by the Spring Valley Water Company [SVWC]) in 1858 (Hanson 2005 ). Over the subsequent 70 years, SVWC bought up large swaths of land on the Peninsula, and constructed a complex system of dams, tunnels, and pipes to capture and transport water to San Francisco. Within the Peninsula Watershed, this system includes the Crystal Springs and San Andreas reservoirs, located in the San Andreas Creek, Laguna Creek, and Upper San Mateo Creek basins along the San Andreas Fau The City of San Francisco purchased SVWC in 1930, and today the Peninsula Watershed, managed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), continues to be a key source of water for San Francisco and for other communities in the South and East Bay. Despite the past 150 years of reservoir construction and other hydrologic modifications, the construction of transportation and utility corridors, and the large-scale suburban development that has occurred to the east, the Peninsula Watershed has remained largely undeveloped and is managed to protect water quality, water supply, wildlife habitat, and a range of other natural and cultural resources. The watershed supports some of the largest intact remnants of contiguous habitat in the region, including extensive oak woodlands, old-growth Douglas-fir forests, serpentine grasslands, chaparral, and coastal scrub. Over the past 250 years since Spanish explorers first set foot on the watershed, however, changes in disturbance regimes and other large-scale anthropogenic modifications, including fire suppression, homesteading, livestock grazing, agriculture, tree planting, introduction of plant pathogens, spread of invasive species, and climate change, have altered vegetation dynamics and changed the distribution and structure of vegetation communities throughout the watershed. The changes have raised many questions about the historical ecology of the watershed: What was the extent, distribution, and composition of terrestrial, riparian, and wetland habitats prior to Euro-American modification? How have vegetation distributions changed over the past two centuries, and what are the implications of those changes for species support? Are there remnant patches of relatively unmodified habitat present in the watershed, or areas that are currently in a state of recovery? Where are current habitat characteristics most similar to or different from historically documented conditions? How have key natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes and processes changed over time? The Peninsula Watershed Historical Ecology Study aims to advance understanding of landscape conditions of the Peninsula Watershed prior to major Euro-American modification, and to provide insights into the nature and drivers of vegetation change since the first Spanish explorers set foot in the watershed 250 years ago. The primary goal of the research was to examine the historical extent, distribution, and composition of terrestrial vegetation types and their trajectories of change within the watershed. To the extent possible, research also addressed historical riparian, wetland, and estuarine habitats; hydrology and sediment dynamics; wildlife support; land use history; and a range of other topics.
"Why do some places affect us mysteriously and yet so forcefully? On a River Winding Home pursues this question in a one-of-a-kind book about a one-of-a-kind place -- Northern California's Petaluma River Watershed. Through the use of stunning photography and intimate storytelling, artist Scott Hess and writer John Sheehy provide a riveting testament to the power of place, showcasing the watershed's stunning landscapes, diverse cultural history, and shifting identity. Scott Hess, a professional Bay Area photographer and longtime Petaluma resident, provides a distinctive melding of the artist as both interpreter and chronicler. His exquisite photographs reveal the beauty and spiritual grace of the watershed's natural landscape, the bucolic nature of its working farms and ranches, and the historic charm of its river city, Petaluma. John Sheehy, an award-winning historian and Petaluma native, seamlessly blends Hess's photographic journey with stories that celebrate the watershed's colorful history, showcasing an eclectic cast of characters, ranging from the native Coast Miwok to Mexican rancheros, Gold Rush settlers, railroad barons, Swiss-Italian dairymen, Socialist egg ranchers, bootleggers, slow growth pioneers, winemakers, and farm-to-table artisans. Part rambling walking tour, part voyage to the past, On a River Winding Home is a rich paring photos and stories for place-loving people."--Back cover.
"Biodiversity." As argument over environmental and conservation policy grows more heated in California and throughout the nation, the term has become a buzzword. But what does biodiversity really mean? What really threatens it? Why should we care? In Our Own Hands offers a readable, scientifically sound view of California's biological diversity and what must be done to preserve it. The book will be an invaluable resource for environmental and natural resource specialists, educators, and general readers. Local and global forces threaten California's wetlands, dunes, oak woodlands, and riparian forest habitats--all declining habitats in a rapidly urbanizing, culturally heterogeneous, and politically turbulent state. Always a bellwether, California will be a model for the rest of the United States in its scientific and political solutions to conservation problems. This book proposes the first steps toward a unified national conservation policy for the twenty-first century. "Biodiversity." As argument over environmental and conservation policy grows more heated in California and throughout the nation, the term has become a buzzword. But what does biodiversity really mean? What really threatens it? Why should we care? In Our Own Hands offers a readable, scientifically sound view of California's biological diversity and what must be done to preserve it. The book will be an invaluable resource for environmental and natural resource specialists, educators, and general readers. Local and global forces threaten California's wetlands, dunes, oak woodlands, and riparian forest habitats--all declining habitats in a rapidly urbanizing, culturally heterogeneous, and politically turbulent state. Always a bellwether, California will be a model for the rest of the United States in its scientific and political solutions to conservation problems. This book proposes the first steps toward a unified national conservation policy for the twenty-first century.
Lewis Adelbert Norton (b. 1819) grew up in Canada and western New York. Banished from Canada for taking the Patriot side in the Rebellion of 1837-1838, Norton settled in Illinois, where he raised a regiment for the Mexican War. On his return home, he led an overland party to California. Life and adventures of Col. L.A. Norton (1887) describes Norton's early life and his journey west. Of his life in California, he chronicles careers as miner, lawyer, and merchant in Placerville. In 1856 he moves to Healdsburg, where his law practice involves him in the Squatter War on the Russian River. The book closes with his account of an 1874 rail trip east, revisiting Canada, New York, and New England before returning to Healdsburg.
In 2006, about 69 million U.S. households had pets, giving homes to around 73.9 million dogs, 90.5 million cats, and 16.6 million birds, and spending more than 38 billion dollars on companion animals. As never before in history, our pets are truly members of the family. But the notion of “companion species”—knotted from human beings, animals and other organisms, landscapes, and technologies—includes much more than “companion animals.” In When Species Meet, Donna J. Haraway digs into this larger phenomenon to contemplate the interactions of humans with many kinds of critters, especially with those called domestic. At the heart of the book are her experiences in agility training with her dogs Cayenne and Roland, but Haraway’s vision here also encompasses wolves, chickens, cats, baboons, sheep, microorganisms, and whales wearing video cameras. From designer pets to lab animals to trained therapy dogs, she deftly explores philosophical, cultural, and biological aspects of animal–human encounters. In this deeply personal yet intellectually groundbreaking work, Haraway develops the idea of companion species, those who meet and break bread together but not without some indigestion. “A great deal is at stake in such meetings,” she writes, “and outcomes are not guaranteed. There is no assured happy or unhappy ending-socially, ecologically, or scientifically. There is only the chance for getting on together with some grace.” Ultimately, she finds that respect, curiosity, and knowledge spring from animal–human associations and work powerfully against ideas about human exceptionalism.
