31st Street Green Street Demo Project - One to Call My Own!

Three-and-half months later and life Keeps Moving On, here in the Berkeley/Oakland/San Francisco home front. Still working on water issues, with exciting news on my project with Urban Releaf, a grassroots tree planting organization. The 31st Street Green Street Demonstration Project officially broke ground today, October 21. It's the same site I blogged about before here.

31st Street is located in the Hoover neighborhood of West Oakland, a neighborhood with a median household income of ~$20k and faces serious lack of tree canopy and greenery, high asthma rates linked to air pollution from nearby freeways and diesel truck serving the Port of Oakland, and many, MANY other environmental, social and economic disadvantages. Urban Releaf is bringing The Greens (federal, state, and local dollars) to this community in the form of Greens (jobs, youth development, environmental education, and of course, trees!). We are also contributing to science by designing and implementing innovative tree wells that will help retain storm water and reduce storm water pollutants.


The groundbreaking/media event went really well! In attendance were the media, many of our long-time government, community and business partners and supporters, including CA Dept of Forestry & Fire Protection (CALFIRE), CA Dept of Water Resources, California Releaf, City of Oakland, retired Senator Don Perata, Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, the Black Repertory Group, St Mary's Senior Center, UC Berkeley's urban forestry guru, Prof Joe McBride and his PhD student Lara Roman, our board members Pam Wallace and David Ralston, etc etc. Thank you everyone who pulled serious weight to make this event happen and help the 31st St green street move forward!

UC Davis' Dr. Qingfu Xiao is the lead scientist on this project, designing a monitored experiment to quantify water flowing into and out of the tree well and get a grasp on the retention capacity of our innovative tree wells. The tree wells will contain special soils that save water in two ways:

• First, the mix of red lava rock and soil helps retain storm water that would otherwise run off directly into the City's storm drain, relieving burden off of the City's infrastructure system in the future.
• Second, trees and soil help filter out pollutants in storm water and prevent them from entering our precious Bay habitat.

According to the USDA Forest Service Center for Urban Forestry Research, trees in urban areas mitigate air pollution, beautify the neighborhood by adding greenery and shade, save on heating and cooling costs, build a sense of community, and provide opportunities for green job training -- all in addition to saving water. Trees also address global warming by making streets safer and more attractive for walking and biking, as an alternative to driving, and by sequestering carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

Construction for a pilot test tree well is targeted for November 13-19, pending our permit approval from the City of Oakland. We will then apply the prototype tree well to and come up with other innovative designs for the rest of the two-block project area. In a couple of years, fingers crossed, insya allah, 31st Street will be transformed into a pleasant walking environment, a community asset, and... a national demonstration bringing together the myriad benefits of our city's trees!

Cities all over the world are facing water crises and are seeking water-sensitive tree well design and approach to urban forestry. The CA Department of Water Resources Urban Drought Assistance Program provided funding for this project to educate local residents on California's water shortage and the importance of conserving water. The project also received funding from the West Oakland Project Area Committee Neighborhood Projects Initiative Program.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Got back from my trip nearly 3 weeks ago, properly charmed and energized. Whirlwind only begins to describe the 2.5-week trip in the Rhone River valley. It was a "Tortoise and the Hare" kind of trip, feeding my addiction to contradictions and unlikely combinations: Working frantically like the Hare in the deep, leisurely Provence countryside in south east France (my room is dubbed The Rabbit Room). Then, taking it easy like the Tortoise, checking out cool urban spaces and trends in two frantic cities, Paris and New York. Slipped in meetings, field trips, and partying in Lyon in between all of that. Many surreal moments, e.g. "I can't believe I'm shopping for lunch for 25 people on Malaucène market day in the middle of Provence!!!"

Arrived June 3rd in Paris and barely caught my TGV down to Lyon, to join a meeting of European government agencies and researchers sharing experiences with river restoration, as they are now mandated by the EU Water Framework Directive enacted in 2000. (Ten years later, we are finding ways of classifying and measuring the health and physical conditions of European waterways.) Field trip to the Yzéron followed by a visit to a rather touristy Oingt village in the Lyon hinterland, and wine tasting at Domaine du Sornel in the village of Letra

The Yzéron (ih-ZEH-ron') river, tolerated by a couple of ducks despite its ugly banks, apparently concretized with "leftover" materials from a nearby river infrastructure project.

Cute lil' restaurant/hostel
Village of Oingt

Breathtaking view from the foot of the church
Village of Oingt

Wine tasting numéro un
Domaine du Sornel, Village of Letra, 1+ hour south Lyon


Frog legs for dinner, fried with garlic and herbs (actually it was just appetizer!) with the Forecaster group of European river restoration managers
Village of Letra, south of Lyon

The next day, we drove down to Institut Beaumont, the site of a week-long course on river restoration taught by Profs. Matt Kondolf of UC Berkeley and Hervé Piégay of CNRS Lyon plus other wonderful guest speakers. The course took place at a restored farm house in a village, or hameau, on the northern face of Mont Ventoux in the valley of the Toulerenc, a tributary to the Rhone. The closest municipality, or mairie, is Beaumont-du-Ventoux, the nearest town is Malaucène, bike capital of the northern Provence and the Mont Ventoux circuit. This cherry growing region (terroire de cerises) is roughly equidistant to the east and between Montelimar and Avignon on the A7 freeway. See map below and zoom in for a closer look. Photos follow the map.


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Entrance to hameau Les Alazards, a village of about 15-20 houses, with cherry orchards and against the dramatic background of Mont Ventoux.

Bienvenue à l'Institut Beaumont, the restored farm house with wildly climbing rose bushes. We're just before the village fontaine and lavoir.

The gorgeous kitchen in the farmhouse, where sparks fly and the magic happens!

Ta-da! Chef Robin whipped up a marvelous salade niçoise aux anchois.

Lasagne au saumon two ways, filet and smoked, the night of the Ventoux winds. Hands-down the best meal, courtesy of our French chefs Mélanie and Vincent. Hint: The secret was the bechamel sauce.

Mairie de Beaumont-du-Ventoux (nearest municipality, town hall building with the flag).

Cherries oh-so-in season!

View from the verandah of the house, on the 2nd floor (the French say "à l'étage," or 1st floor).

Dentelles de Mirail, nearby.

That's all for now, folks. More stories and photos and maps coming soon!