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A Picture Says A Thousand Words...

Eric Fredericks • Wednesday November 5, 2008

Barack Obama Hope mural in Houston, Texas

…but this photo by jetheriot says one incredibly important one: HOPE.

No matter what part of the United States or corner of the world you’re from, no matter what your political persuasion, I think that’s the one thing we all share in common today. We all hope that Barack Obama lives up to or exceeds our expectations.

I know that many Americans shared the same feeling that I felt last night: I’ve never felt so proud to be an American.

I bet millions of people have played the famous Lee Greenwood song over the last 24 hours.

Category: Politics •• Region: United States •• Comments

Walk-A-Bowl Has An Important Message For You: VOTE!

Eric Fredericks • Tuesday November 4, 2008

Walk-A-Bowl Bowling Team from the Sacramento Planning and Urban Development Bowling League 2008

The Walk-A-Bowl Bowling Team from the Sacramento Planning and Urban Development League (PUDL) encourages you to stop reading this message and get to the polls!

Pictured from left to right is Jason, George (filling in for Dan who was working on getting voters to the polls), Eric, and Tiffany. No matter who or what you’re voting for, we encourage you to vote!

Category: Politics •• Region: United States •• Comments [1]

Endorsements for the 2008 Election

Eric Fredericks • Sunday November 2, 2008

Political endorsements are new territory for our website, and it is something that I do with huge reservations. However, many feel that this could be the most important election in our lifetime. We face incredible challenges: the economic meltdown, climate change, peak oil, healthcare, foreign wars, and so on. Many of these issues directly relate to walkable neighborhoods and reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil. With so much at stake, I find it difficult to stay on the sidelines and not be active in this election’s political discussions.

In California, there are a few propositions I will explore that are directly related to this website. I will also take a look at the Sacramento mayoral race between former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson and incumbent Heather Fargo. You may be surprised by my endorsement decision.

U.S. President: Barack Obama

Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama

This probably comes as no shock to many of you. The past 8 years under the Bush regime has been some of the worst in American history, and I’ve been critical of the Administration before on this site. While John McCain claims to be a “maverick” on many issues, one issue in particular—working across the aisle with Democrats—he certainly hasn’t displayed this much over the last 8 years, caucusing with George W. Bush some 90% of the time. McCain is far removed from those days a few years ago where it looked like he might change his party affiliation.

This doesn’t mean that Barack Obama gets my endorsement by default. He also doesn’t get the endorsement simply because he’s an inspirational speaker and perhaps the best orator running for President we’ve seen since at least the 1960s. As an Independent, many times I’m just as likely to rail on Democrats as I do the Republicans. But Obama has provided some of the best policies and programs I’ve ever seen from a candidate and perhaps helped restore some of my faith in the Democratic Party. In fact, at the end of this post, I’ve included many of Obama’s positions regarding sustainable communities, mass transit, rail, and energy. I pulled this straight from his website. Even if you despise Obama and would never consider voting for him, I encourage you to read these positions. There are some good ideas that we can only hope both candidates will consider carrying forward as President.

I am not going to go into great detail on all of the reasons I endorse Obama. My feelings are almost identically reciprocated in this fantastic article in the New Yorker on why their editors endorse Barack Obama for President. Photo credit: Flickr user transplanted mountaineer

Proposition 1A – Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act: “YES” VOTE

Proposed California High Speed Rail train. Vote yes on Proposition 1A!

Sacramento Bee Summary: Would provide nearly $10 billion in bonds for a high-speed rail network that would initially link the Bay Area, the Central Valley and Southern California.

My Analysis:
The timing seemed perfect for this bond initiative: gas prices were soaring, airport capacities are nearly maxed out in Southern California, gridlock in California is the worst in the nation, AB 32 climate change goals needed some good projects, et cetera. Then the economy started a severe downward spiral almost overnight. Next, California had the long state budget impasse that did nothing to really fix the long-term financial shortfalls and massive deficit. The Sacramento Bee decided that the economy was the overriding consideration in their reasoning not to endorse Prop 1A, even though they recognized we desperately need this system. I beg to differ, and here’s why.

I consider high speed rail an absolute no-brainer for California. First, let’s look at why freeway expansion just won’t do it. California has stopped building new freeways and expanding capacity for the most part. Most everyone is aware here that freeway expansion induces sprawl development. In addition, there is so little right of way available to expand the freeways in urban areas, and purchasing the right of way is extremely expensive. It’s just not an option. It’s also much more costly to expand the freeway per mile than it is to build a rail system (in most cases). And adding cars to freeways is not exactly the best way to meet the AB 32-mandated greenhouse gas emission reductions to 1990 levels.

Travel by airplane is also going to be very difficult in the future. Southern California airports have nearly reached their maximum buildout and capacity levels. There’s just no more room to expand most of the airports either. (Here’s the proof)

We all know the difficulties with other passenger rail systems in California like Amtrak: most share the tracks with freight rail, making the schedules slow, unpredictable, and unreliable. Having separate tracks would help immensely, but if you’re going to go there, you might as well go all the way for high speed trains.

So, what are we left with for interregional travel? Boats? Our ports are even more crowded. This is why high speed rail is so critical.

The economy is a big issue, yes, but it’s not a dealbreaker. While I do not like the idea of a bond package that further increases the deficit, there is one great thing about high speed rail systems: they’re profitable. Yes, the state is projected to make money back on this project over time ($1 billion per year)—despite having very reasonable fares on the system. The California High Speed Rail Authority, the agency created to oversee the effort, performed a benefit-cost analysis that showed the direct benefits would be more than twice the costs of the high-speed train system.

To see all of the listed benefits of the high speed rail system put together by the authority, click here.

Other website-related propositions:

Proposition 7: Renewable Energy Generation – “NO” VOTE

Sacramento Bee Summary Would require government-owned utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2010. It would require all utilities to generate 40 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2025.

It seems though just about everyone is against Proposition 7. While the proposition has laudable energy generation goals, the proposition is deeply flawed. The Sacramento Bee provides a fairly good synopsis of why they oppose it. At least it’s good enough for me.

Proposition 10: Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy – “NO” VOTE

Sacramento Bee Summary Would authorize $5 billion in bonds to help consumers and others purchase certain vehicles, including those powered by alternative energies.

I don’t like just handing my money over to energy tycoons, do you?

Sacramento Mayoral Race: None of the Above

The Sacramento race is quite intriguing. The race is actually a run-off election between the incumbent Mayor Heather Fargo and former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson. This election is a run-off between the top two candidates from the primary, since no candidate received a majority of the votes in that election.

This is a really difficult decision for me, as I usually always vote for a candidate for an office that I feel will really affect me. However, I don’t feel comfortable voting for or endorsing either one. Why? Well, I am not happy with the job Fargo has done as mayor. While I appreciate her pro-smart growth talk and her support for walking and biking, she has presided over the insane sprawling expansion of the outlying areas of incorporated Sacramento. She should have done everything she could to put a stop to it. The city has also seen a significant rise in crime during her term. In addition, it was reported in the Sacramento Bee a while back that she sent a high-rise condo tower developer back to the drawing board because his plans would block the view of the State Capitol from her office. That’s unacceptable.

But, I cannot support Kevin Johnson either. While I do support many of his revitalization efforts in the under-served Oak Park community, there are some troubling statements he has made during his campaign. A couple examples—he said that he would like Sacramento to be more like Phoenix. He also said that Sacramento needs more auto malls to generate tax revenue.

I don’t think I need to say a whole lot to respond to those statements. Phoenix is pretty much the quintessential example of how NOT to design a city in my opinion. Auto malls are struggling across the country and are not the answer for a “green” Sacramento economy. I’m not sold that he understands all of the complexities that come with being a mayor of a major city.

We need a better candidate for mayor, one that will stand up and do the right thing: say no to sprawl. Focus on redeveloping the problematic areas of the city, and encouraging density in strategic locations. Unfortunately, Sacramentans don’t have a choice this time. >>Continue Reading This Article for Obama’s Smart Growth-Related Viewpoints>>

Category: Politics •• Region: General •• Comments

Grand Rapids Colorburst 2008 Bike Ride

Eric Fredericks • Friday October 10, 2008

If you happen to be in the Grand Rapids area tomorrow, I encourage you to check out the Colorburst ’08 bike ride in memory of two cyclists killed by drunk drivers. The event will commence at 8am at Fallasburg County Park, 2.5 miles north of Lowell, Michigan. Registration includes a pancake breakfast before the ride, and hot soup after the riders finish. Joshua Duggan, the event co-chair, says he expects around 800-850 riders!

The video embedded above is an interview about Colorburst with Joshua Duggan on WZZM, the local news affiliate of ABC for Grand Rapids. Josh is a good friend of mine, and also the founder of PedalGR, a bi-weekly bike ride through the neighborhoods of Grand Rapids.

Speaking of PedalGR, you may have noticed that the website is now listed as one of our partners. We will slowly be adding more links to other websites on this site over the upcoming weeks. If you have a website that is related to walking, biking, smart growth, et cetera, please let us know and we’ll add it. We especially encourage blogs. And of course, we always enjoy a reciprocal link!

And just as I was about to post this, another interesting piece of news related to bicycling just popped up in my Inbox: Bailout gives tax break to bicycle commuters

I have to admit that I’m not a fan of the bailout, but at least we’ve finally got the bike commuting tax break we’ve been looking for. What about us walking commuters? :)

Category: Bicycling •• Region: Grand Rapids •• Comments

Happy PARK(ing) Day!

Eric Fredericks • Friday September 19, 2008

PARKing Day 2008 is in full swing in Sacramento. The park at J & 20th is INCREDIBLE! Here’s a short video clip and a few photos. The video shows a time at the park with the fewest people all day, but a really cool game erupted when the train came. By the way, the train doesn’t come by all that frequent. More to come in the future, but I’m headed back to the park!

Category: Parking Day •• Region: Sacramento •• Comments [1]

PARK(ing) Day Returns This Friday!

Eric Fredericks • Tuesday September 16, 2008

Across the world this Friday, there will be several hundred fewer car parking spaces and just a little more park space. Concerned people from around the globe will be converting car spaces into mini-parks—many with sod, benches, games, etc.

Here in Sacramento, we will be creating several spaces across the grid. I’ve created a webpage that has all the information you need to know about our local efforts. Visit it here. On the page, you will find park locations, contact information, information for Facebook, photos from last year’s event, event flyers, and more. The park I’m involved in organizing will be located at J & 20th Streets in Midtown. The park will be named Presley Park in memory of Jason Presley who was incredibly instrumental in bringing together last year’s amazing park.

For those of you in other cities, I encourage you to check the PARKing Day Headquarters website to see if there’s a park in your community. I had so much fun last year that I’ve decided to spend the whole day in the park this year. It’s one of my favorite days of the year! That game of chess pictured above was not staged, by the way. Two strangers just sat down and decided to play!

Here is the event flyer for our park (Note: we should be out there well before 8am!):

Category: Parking Day •• Region: Sacramento •• Comments

Carnival of the Green #145

Eric Fredericks • Monday September 15, 2008

We’re proud to host this week’s installment of the Carnival of the Green! The Carnival of the Green is a weekly roundup of green issues around the blogosphere and is administered by TreeHugger, the leading media outlet for driving sustainability mainstream. Last week, Tiny Choices did a fantastic job hosting Carnival 144, and next week’s host is The Green Guy. Please make sure you stop by their sites.

I also wanted to take a moment to mention that the person that coordinates the Carnival at TreeHugger, Kara DiCamillo, suffered an injury last week. We certainly wish her the best and hope for a swift recovery! Now, on with the show…

Surfer Sam shares a touching article on how many of our favorite wildlife animals are facing extinction. He details which animals are in danger of extinction, animals that have been saved from extinction, and what you can do to help with conservation.

At The Green Motorist, Melissa takes a look at the two major party Presidential candidates green motoring platforms. Feel free to share with us which platform you think is better.

Nimic at The Green Routine tells us about 8 Products You Didn’t Know Were Made From Oil. I certainly didn’t know about some of these, and I’m sure you will be surprised as well. Can you say peak oil?

MissMalaprop is giving away a pair of children’s shoes made from recycled materials from Pedoodles new eco-friendly collection!! Just follow the instructions on her site.

Were You Wondering… What Do You Do With Leftover Paint? Katrina Cain lets us know what we should and should not do with our leftover paint.

How could I host a Carnival of the Green without mentioning that Friday is PARKing Day?! People around the world will be converting car parking spaces into mini-parks this Friday. Check out more information about the park I’m coordinating in Midtown Sacramento, or learn more about the event on the PARKing Day website.

Is it safe to drink from plastic water bottles? Victoria Everman has the final word on water bottle safety at her website. She also writes about a new green food guide that helps navigate the world of farmer’s markets, food blogs, and charitable organizations, and was able to exclusively unveil Ortolan’s Tarot and Paisley Collections.

At Sweet Solar Home, Brian Overland argues that the time to go solar is now because of rising energy costs and diminishing solar incentives.

Ever wonder where the water that enters your house comes from, how it gets processed, and where your wastewater goes when it leaves your house? The Littlest Guy explains why water conservation is important.

Praveen Puri of Tao of Simplicity alerts us to a big problem in Indonesia: komodo dragons are killing a number of locals on some remote islands of Indonesia, and the locals are blaming the Nature Conservancy. Find out why.

The southern coast of Peru is a desert coast with no plants at all. But the ocean offshore is a goldmine of diversity, due to Humboldt currents and upwelling of nutrients that support a lush population of fish. Sally Kniedel took many photos of the wildlife off Peru’s coast and posted contact info for safe, cheap, and comfortable lodging and transportation at the Veggie Revolution.

Sox First’s Leon Gettler shares that Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists think that renewable energy and green technology will be a lot bigger than the Internet.

Drinking from a straw is fun. But straws are usually disposable and made from plastic. Beth Terry at Fake Plastic Fish has found solution in GlassDharma: a company that is trying to save the world one reusable glass straw at a time!

The Silicon Valley Blogger at Digerati wonders if small spaces and tiny quarters that use less resources are worth the price tag in some regions? Many of our readers would think so I bet :)

Señor José shares a quick and easy green tip on bottles that reduces waste and saves you money.

And finally, JT at the Smarter Wallet offers us 10 tips on how to save money on gas. I would not have posted this normally, but I also think they are good tips for the environment. That doesn’t seemed to be mentioned.

Just to give you an idea of how popular the Carnival of the Green is—slots for 2009 are already booked out. I secured this date over a year ago not knowing that this would be one of my busiest weeks ever! I’m glad I did it though, I learned a lot. Thanks to everyone for your submissions and keep up the fight for a more sustainable world!

Category: Blog Carnival •• Region: General •• Comments [1]

It's Time to Chalk It Up Again

Eric Fredericks • Friday August 29, 2008

Photo from the Chalk It Up Festival in Fremont Park, Sacramento

One of my favorite events in Sacramento is taking place this weekend in Fremont Park– Chalk it Up! Please make sure you check out their website and stop by the event!!

I shot the photo above during the 2006 event. To see more photos, see my Chalk It Up Gallery.