Summa time

Sorry I haven’t updated recently (assuming that people care?).  I forget how to be a functioning human being sometimes.  All I know how to do is turn my face towards the sun and feel the blissful heat.  But I’m ok with that for now.  My free time ends again on Monday, and then I will become disciplined and smart and contributing.

I’ve been biking and walking everywhere.  The midnight rides are just thrilling to the bone.  I am a summertime dirt bag.  I need nothing more than a bottle of Sunny Brook and my bike and my friends.  Gotta be wild n free, nah mean?  Work cramps my brain; I feel muddled and constrained.  I feel like I need a change but it won’t happen for a long while.

My Next Tattoo

"Make no little plans.  They have no magic to stir men's blood."

It's a really nerdy thing that goes along with my major. Sshhh... It's ok.  I love it.  I actually usually really despise wordy tattoos, like a lot.  But I may have to throw myself under the bus for this one.  I think I will get it somewhere around my knee, weird I know.  It's a quote by Daniel Burnham (think: Flat Iron building), probably considered the first Urban Planner. 

Complete Streets - What do you want to see in Salt Lake?

I'm looking for your opinions people.  What would you utilize in Salt Lake?


What are Complete Streets you ask?

Complete Streets are streets for everyone. They are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities must be able to safely move along and across a complete street. Complete Streets make it easy to cross the street, walk to shops, and bicycle to work. They allow buses to run on time and make it safe for people to walk to and from train stations. [source]

This is not the trending practice in Salt Lake.  Our streets are wide and straight making cars the prefered and fastest method of transportation.  Many of my favorite big cities (San Francisco, Portland) have complete streets allowing for the flow of people to be quick - and the fastest way to get places is not by car.  A few streets in the downtown area are becoming complete streets.  We have bike lanes (not that a painted line is really that ideal, but it's better!), TRAX lines, and wide sidewalks in places.  We don't, however, have bicycle only streets, seperate bikeways, adequete and frequent pedestrian crossings, or slow enough speed limits in the downtown area..What are things you'd like to see that would encourage you to get on a bicycle, or the train, or walk?  The city can be a scary place for a person, and that's not right.

Copenhagen's streets have a seperate bike road safely away from the car traffic



Parking lots have been eliminated in Copenhagen to allow for more bicycle parking



San Francisco has complete streets and separete bike lanes in many areas

Have a poke around www.completestreets.org!

Please, my dear friends, help me out.

This is something I am extremely passionate about, and I want you to be exited about it too!  The Salt Lake City council is meeting next week to discuss zoning changes for Salt Lake City in regards to Urban Agriculture.  The proposal is to allow for all zoned areas (including residential, downtown, commercial, manufacturing, etc) to be able to grow urban gardens and potentially produce high volumes of food at a local level.  A few of the wonderful possibilities that could stem from this:  more greenhouses, cold frames, hoop houses, small solar and wind energy systems (e.g. solar panels and wind turbines) urban farms, community gardens, and seasonal farm stands.

From Mayor Becker's Proposal:

The proposed changes being considered by the City Council are intended to support and encourage local food production and use of renewable energy systems.  This will help reduce the need for imported foods, create new sources of affordable energy and reduce environmental impacts from transportation and air pollution.

City Council Meeting 

April 5th, 7:00 PM

City and County Building

451 S. State Street, Room 315

 I will be at this meeting, and I really encourage you to go!  If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask me. I was terrified about going to a city council meeting my first time, but they are open to the public and it's pretty fun!  You can say something (or not) but if these council members see how many people are in support of this, the better off we all are.  Our council members vote based on the people they represent - us! 

Here are some resources from the Salt Lake City Government website that will provide more information:

Urban Agriculture Fact Sheet - what is urban agriculture; how would these zoning ordinances help me?

Vision for a Green City - Salt Lake City's Sustainable City Code Initiative (short and fun to read!)

What is your opinion on the proposed changes? - This is a public forum on the City's website that allows you to post your opinion about changing the zoning regulations to allow for urban gardens, etc.





images from weheartit

Installation Art

I love the idea of interacting with my urban environment.  As an avid walker and biker in the downtown area, I love being able to connect with my surroundings.  I want to do something like this in my neighborhood that will alter the daily paths of people and break up the monotony.

Is anyone interested in forming a team to do things like this??

Images from Candy Chang.

I love being up at the butt crack of dawn and seeing the season change.  When this semester started it was still pitch black outside at 6:50 AM.  Not any more!  It's really beautiful watching the mountains and the sun come up when I'm waiting for the train.  I can't wait till the warmth follows.

Want your mind blown a little bit?

Brian Dettmer, the book surgeon, takes old encyclopedias and carves the art out of them.  He doesn't alter any pages or put in any drawings.  He simply extracts the art from the pictures already present in the book.  Can you imagine the time put into these?

Click here for images and an interview with Dettmer.