198. Urban renewal

The cost of urban renewal

(In the sense of sustaining the existing built environment, not the way the term was misused in the 1940s to 1960s.)

Here are some photos I took this morning of my alley now that all the scaffolding is finally down. It took months, and must have cost a fortune, but the two big buildings facing Powell street and the cable car line are now weatherproofed and re-painted.

I didn't move that landfill toter into the frame, but I also didn't move it away.

Good shot of the paving we would like to replace, not a project I want to be in charge of. You can actually see here how the paving is level in the background (my end of the alley) and starts to slope left to right by the foreground. When it hits Powell, the slope matches the slope of that street, which rises about 40 feet in a single block. If the alley isn't properly paved it won't drain to Powell, and will drain into the lower level of the building on the right. Before I passed the project off to the manager of that building, I did get a bid for replacing the existing alley with concrete for $26,000. 

It's really hard to get a good photo of the alley side of the larger building on the right. I don't feel like climbing up on our roof. 


Turns out there hasn't been anyone living in the unit across from my building because they were waiting for the scaffolding to come down so they could get moving trucks in. 

Events

Thursday was a JP Morgan corporate charity race. I hadn't worked it for a couple years and now I remember why. Give people a numbered bib and a banana and they act like apes. 

The "venue" for this was a large parking lot near the San Francisco Giant's stadium. The Giants own the parking lot (there's a plan for a big mixed-use development here) and scattered dozens of large, concrete planters around the lot. Unfortunately, they didn't get around to adding the trees yet, so the runners and their corporate enablers decided to use the planters as trash containers. it took us no time at all to take down and sort our official eco-stations, but then it took hours to sort out the planters. 

On the positive side, that was the day we got some tropical moisture up from the Gulf of California which brought our heat wave to a close and gave us lovely clouds and at least the smell of moisture, if no actual rain. And the full moon was battling with the Bay Lights for the attention of anyone looking toward the bay. As nice as fog can be, it's not the same thing as real clouds.

Tomorrow is Opera in the Park. Last year I worked Solano Stroll instead, but this is easier to get to -- and much easier to get back from, as AC transit stops serving the Berkeley end of Solano street by the time we're finished.

I have very mixed feelings about Opera in the Park. I always like working Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park (excuse to have breakfast at the Pork Store), but I dislike opera. (There is a stirring piece from Turandot that I won't mind hearing.) This is one of the picnic events we work, which are something of a pain because everyone holds onto their trash until the last minute. Most of the trash comes in a huge wave as the crowd is breaking up and overwhelms our eco-stations. Mary, my boss, is crew chiefing the event this year, and I've already giving her my suggestion for how best to manage this, but we will see if she can get everyone to actually monitor the key stations at the critical time. Two years ago, we had it all planned out but it was foggy and cold and they wrapped up early. I read the clues right and got into position in time for the rush, but it took the others by surprise, as they were going by the clock. This is why I tend to ignore the maps and schedules we are given and just play it by ear. 

As expected, my work schedule is really filling up now with an event or two every week. I'm already signed up for the International Dragon Boat Races -- one of my favorites (and a killer to work). The first week of October is always a monster for us, but this year is going to be even worse with HSB and Fleet Week happening the same weekend, and also overlapping with Oracle OpenWorld. 

The latter is a mystery as it is happening at Moscone Center which is currently torn apart for a huge expansion program. I have no idea how they plan to make this work. I may work it (for a change) just to see.