Dystopia Report: The I-710 Corridor Aesthetic Master Plan

...reeway builder’s utopian promise of speed and liberty delivers, instead, exurban sprawl, congestion and waves of urban decay and gentrification. That utopian vision of Freeway building is personified in mid-century figures like Robert Moses and the city fathers of early 20th century Los Angeles. But Jameson goes on to question, “does anyone believe in progress any longer? . . . are the architects and urbanists still passionately at work on Utopian...

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Saturday Linkages: Forklift Furniture and Pickled Turnips

...t-dog-encrusted shrimp tempura pizza, with mayonnaise: http://boingboing.net/2013/02/06/pizza-hut-chinas-hot-dog-enc.html … Yuckylicious: Salami Bouquet http://yuckylicious.blogspot.com/2013/02/salami-bouquet.html?spref=tw … Urban Farm Magazine owner BowTie sold – Business – The Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bowtie-414242-fancy-company.html … For these links and more, follow Root Simple on Twitter: Follow @rootsimple...

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Native Plant Workshop

...rflies and hummingbirds. With only 4% of our wild lands left, urban and suburban native plant gardens will be the “make or break” difference to the support and preservation of bio-diversity. Lisa will show and tell you about several varieties of native plants as well as provide samples for sale. Immediately after the lecture in the garden we will be conducting a tour of the house to show and tell you about green products and renovation processes t...

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Unflipping the Gentrifence

...eritage Library, an essential resource for anyone interested in historical preservation. I recycled all of the old gentrifence, but had to buy some more lumber to complete the project. To make the oddly shaped pickets, I used a combo of table saw cuts along with a jig for my jigsaw. Making jigs increases speed and safety. I’m not entirely happy with the metal handrail but, since I had it already, I didn’t want to let it go to waste. It’s functiona...

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All Politics Are Local

...can change–ourselves, and our immediate environment: our household, our block, our school district, our city. All politics are local and the good thing about local politics is that you can make a difference. For instance you can: start a community or school garden volunteer to teach gardening or food preservation plant trees build neighborhood resilience and tolerance create bike lanes and walking paths legalize backyard poultry and bees Not that...

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