Urban Living in California

This San Francisco Green Map introduces you to the area’s many environmental education resources by pulling them together and creating a graphic portrait of the region’s green reality. It connects current and future San Franciscans and visitors with the local urban environment in a bold and visual manner. Many San Francisco and Northern California residents are unaware of the multitude of projects aimed at increasing sustainability taking place in our own region. The area has proven itself to be the birthplace for an amazing diversity of vital and essential sustainability institutions and movements and is truly a hotbed of green activity. It also has a natural world of epic proportions. With so much going on, it is difficult to find one single location to learn about all these special spots. The San Francisco Green Map/North California Green Access provides a single information resource for the myriad local environmental initiatives, educational programs, issues, services, and institutions in the City and Northern California, helping you reconceptualize the entire regions’ rich environmental resources in a broader, collective context.

{ find out more at SFGreenMap.org }

At long last, the much anticipated rail line from downtown Los Angeles to the Westside is on its way to completion.  Friday marked the beginning of construction in L.A. and many are hopeful that once finished, the new rail line will provide much needed relief to traffic problems plaguing our westward cities.  The line will go from the 7th Street Metro Center to Culver City; plans to extend the line into Santa Monica have yet to be agreed upon.  The L.A. Times provides an insightful look at the subject in their article “Work begins on light-rail line from downtown to Westside” detailing the pros and cons to the construction of this project.  It is clear that Los Angeles lacks the same dependable public transportation system that many of its sister metropolitans such as New York, Washington D.C., and Chicago boast.  And it is also known that residents of the city are notoriously stubborn when it comes to relinquishing their personal cars.  Despite all of that and despite all of the political obstacles that come with this new rail line, it is nonetheless an important and essential step forward.  A change is desperately needed to relieve the congestion in our cities, especially those on the Westside.  Any relief, no matter how little, can only serve to help the situation.  There are many who believe that Angelenos will never learn to give up their cars for public transport, but I believe that we are in the midst of a change.  Developers and residents alike are becoming increasingly aware of our traffic situation and coming to the realization that buses and light rail lines are all resources that need to be utilized to effectively maintain our cities.  It may be that the effects of these public transportation projects won’t become immediately noticeable, but it is an investment in the future of our cities.  If alternative methods to driving are provided, over time people will learn how to use them to their advantage.  As more people trade in their suburban homes for an urban lifestyle in the city, readily accessible public transportation becomes vital.  The new rail line is a forward thinking project that will hopefull inspire more of its kind in the near future.  The full article found in the L.A. Times can be found below.

 Work begins on light-rail line from downtown to Westside

Major construction on the first 8.6 miles of the route is a milestone, but questions on its usefulness persist.

By Rong-Gong Lin II and Jeffrey L. Rabin Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

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Santa Monica, not always the easiest of cities to navigate by car, is giving local residents a lift… literally.  This summer Big Blue Bus debuted a new method of transportation to those living in Santa Monica.  The “Mini Blue”, aptly named for its smaller sized bus, runs every 15 minutes over 5 routes taking people from such day to day locations as the beach, grocery store, school, and special events.  The bright blue and green bus boasts not only a clean and sleek exterior but interior as well, running on eco-friendly bio-diesel.  For attendees of Santa Monica Community College who find themselves having a difficult time finding and paying for daily parking, Mini Blue provides free transportation to and from the SMC campus for both students and faculty.  Especially in a city like Santa Monica where parking is both limited and potentially pricey, Mini Bus offers a convenient alternative that could save you time, money, and the frustration of driving from one errand to another.  Not to mention the global benefits it provides.  To read more on the Mini Bus, check out this article from the Santa Monica Daily Press.  Big Blue Bus also provides a notice announcing the details of this project and a map of the Mini Bus routes on their website.

For the 22 business days ending November 22, sales for all types of Orange County home sales decreased 27.6 percent. The median sales price rose 0.3 percent. The median is where half the homes sold for more and half for less. Types of homes selling, as well as home value changes, cause the median to change.

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By MARTIN ZIMMERMAN Times Staff Writer

Home prices in Los Angeles County showed signs of life last month, rising 4.5% from a year ago to a median of $514,000, according to data released Monday.

That beat September’s 3% year-over-year price appreciation. It also was up from the previous month, reversing month-to-month declines in August and September, according to the latest report from DataQuick Information Systems. Meanwhile, home sales in the state’s most populous county continued to fall, but at a slower pace. Sales of new and existing homes and condominiums fell 21.8% last month compared with October 2005, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick, an improvement from September’s 28% year-over-year drop. The report provided some evidence that the region’s housing market may be stabilizing after several months of slowing. Buyers and sellers have been at a standoff, analysts say – buyers waiting for lower prices, sellers holding out for maximum profit.

“People who thought they would get 15% 0020% off last year’s sale price are just throwing in the towel” and’ buying a house, said Patrick Veling, president of Real Data Strategies, a Brea firm that tracks multiple listing data.

Veling had just come from a presentation at a real estate office, where he heard reports of busy open houses over the weekend.

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