Break it Down!

There’s tons of space in Pittsburgh and tons of bricks from demolitions so it would be pretty great to build a rainy or very sunny day pavilion as you see in the top left corner.

The top right corner would hold the Constance Street community bread / pizza oven and would also benefit from spare bricks.

Going down the top center are several long picnic tables.

Trees are much needed on this highway-side of Pittsburgh’s Northside so some nice fruit and shade trees in the middle of a block will sooth the residents and be beautiful and delicious. Sporadic dots both labeled and unlabeled represent trees.

The bottom center of the lot includes plans for some weird seating to be designed by one or several of Pittsburgh’s many amazing artists.

And at the very bottom, a lovely long row of soil-cleansing, sun-worshiping, smile-making sunflowers!

Let’s Make Green Jobs Fixing Our Communities

We have so much public land that’s being wasted as over-grown and trash-filled lots. At the same time, we have so many under and unemployed people. Let’s find a way to create and fund jobs that would enhance our communities, like rehabilitating abandoned lots, while putting under-worked Americans back in the workforce.

I’m underemployed myself and I’d jump at the chance to have a part-time job cleaning up and beautifying my neighborhood.

Give Me Work and Give Me Beauty

We want bread but we want roses too!

1. Check out Marcellus Protest
2. Here are some tips from Pittsburgh organizer Gloria Forouzan
3. Watch background and analysis of Marcellus Shale industry by the Real News Network
4. Watch Gasland and share your story
5. Write letters to the editor
6. Talk to your neighbors
7. Educate yourself

I just can’t take it when I walk by a scene like this:

20 Dead Trees Under BART Tracks

Tree Amputation at its Finest

I dont really like the 30mph either...

How could 20 dead trees benefit anyone?

** Why Not? **

Of course there are many things we can do with cut trees, we will never ever be able to replicate the benefits they provide from just being left alone to live.

Even when we are able to give trees a second or third life by reprocessing them into houses or toilet paper, we still miss out on the very incredible benefits that standing, living, healthy trees provide us as individuals, and as members of a larger community.

Though we may have a piece of paper claiming that we “own” some land and then the trees and life that are on it, it is false. Trees and land cannot be owned by anyone. They are not our private playthings that we can remove when they become an inconvenience or block our view of something else beautiful. Humans are not the only creatures that depend on trees and we have a responsibility to take care of the Earth that we’ve inherited.

Check out this cute PSA passed on to me by my lovely friend and educator Caitlin Lenahan of Tree Pittsburgh (formerly Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest). If you’re in Pittsburgh, you should make sure to check out their Urban Forest Film Festival tomorrow night at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater.

Please take care.

You probably don’t know, but I skipped out of Pittsburgh last month and now I’m living and working in the Bay Area. To celebrate San Francisco, I will share some of my favorite scenes so far:

My first sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge:

My bicycle on a greenway:

Bikes are everywhere. These are bikes that people use to ride to work, friend’s houses, grocery stores, coffee shops. I love it.

And I enjoy this amazing tree outside my window that provides incredible shade and a home for many wonderful birds.

This temporary street furniture suited me just fine! I got to a friend’s house way before they did recently and found this lovely table and chair set up so I just made myself comfortable and got to work. When I was done, some lucky person in need of a new table and chair moved it to their place.

I’ll probably furnish my new place in much of the same way.

I’m fond of this one-man band set-up of a charming fellow I met on Market St.

I’m still the newest lady in San Francisco so every single thing is new and amazing to me. Send me all of your recommendations so I may take them seriously!

What are your favorite places?

to eat? to drink? buy books? read books? to frolic? to ride your bike? to hide from the world?

****************************************************************************

My wife and I have two-year-old twins. We refer to the first 14 months of their lives as “The Time.”

We met on Craigslist. I had looked at so many other shiny faces, with various reasons why they were newly single. Their past sig-o just didn’t have time, found out s/he had gotten someone pregnant and had to set “priorities”, found out they were moving to Burma. I got a little sad looking for you. So many people had tried to find love here and, in the end, just wanted to try to re-coup some of their “losses.” You were so blue in your picture, shiny and shared my interests in soul music and b-movies. Wait, that was someone else.

First Date

I called your ex-boyfriend’s wife about you. I didn’t have a car, so I asked if she could bring you over for our first date. She said yes, but only if I paid for the gas money. You showed up, with your original seat cover, disintegrating bar tape, and water bottle–all from 1987, the year you were born. Most people lose something of themselves over the course of two decades. I was in grad school at the time, and had trouble keeping track of my feet let alone my water bottle.

I thought it probably wouldn’t work out, but you were such a cheap date! The lady only wanted $85 for you. I’m ashamed to say now, Bessie, that I only took you home with me that night because I could afford you. But I didn’t know any better. Don’t hold it against me, okay?I’d never been in a “real” relationship with a bicycle before. I’d dated hybrids casually, had a few close friendships with banana seats and 10 speeds in my youth, but I was looking for something more. I was ready for the real thing. I wanted to climb hills with you, not metaphorical ones, but the literal, San Diego variety. i wanted to travel with you, to other cities, other coasts. I wanted to fly with you, metaphorically this time, but almost literally, you moved so fast!

We had a rough start. I feared for my life a few times in our first two weeks together. Okay. 13 times. I almost died 13 times because I couldn’t control you. You were petite and nimble and made my body do things i didn’t know it could do. The cars, though, they moved like they always had–above the speed limit and with a lot of weight.

Going Steady

After the first two weeks, I knew I was in love. I could finally leave my neighborhood block again. I could go anywhere my friends were going. (They liked you, but only one or three really knew you). People tried to steal you away at the bike shop. You flirted, but you knew who lubed your chain at night. Okay, they lubed your chain, too, but we were very honest with each other on those occasions and it only strengthened our relationship in the end.

All of me was happy, even though there was less of me. My body shrunk while we were together. You introduced me and got me into two bike gangs. You took me to 7-11 dance-offs in hand-made costumes, from Los Angeles to San Diego in one long road-trip, to the beach when I was crying, and to the bar when I was happy. You took me to his house, too, but I don’t hold that against you. You just went where I asked.

When it was time to move to the east coast, I broke you apart (I’m sorry), flew you over, and then learned how to put you back together. I learned your body like no other’s. I’ve never taken apart another’s insides, breathed into their innards, or pulled shrapnel from their soft places. And even though you were no spring chicken, you never really asked for much. Others had come into my life by that time, and they were always making demands–buy me new wheels, get me a new derailleur! But not you. You wanted only to go somewhere. Anywhere. as long as it wasn’t gravel. But you would do gravel if you really had to. But we didn’t like to be on gravel, did we?

Breaking Up and Moving On

The day I broke up with you was one of the hardest days of my life. And I’m not saying that just for literary value. I shoved you back onto Craigslist, knowing that I couldn’t move you across the country again. There were just too many bikes. You weren’t “essential.” (I was wrong about that, but I didn’t know any better. Don’t hold it against me, okay?)

He came to pick you up. He was a hipster but I could tell he really liked riding, and really wanted a relationship, too. He wouldn’t try to change you into something you weren’t. He liked your gears. You two fit.

He handed me a wad of bills, and then rode away on your back. I watched him leave with you, then went inside to drink a beer and cry. Oh yes. I cried. I needed money for Spain, I was moving, I had done such a good job of coming up with all the reasons I had to let you go. But I didn’t know any better. Don’t hold it against me, okay?

Author Lexi lives in California for the moment and has ridden her bike up the California coast, through the mountains of Spain, in the streets of Manhattan, and to and from various bars, grocery stores, farmer’s markets and apartments. She enjoys biking along the beach, long bikerides by candlelight, and blogs at http://slickaphonic.wordpress.com.

If you can’t wait, here’s the way to find them: Bicycle Love Stories.

Tell Your Bicycle Love Story

I am looking for your stories.

My Picnic Speed Hauling Bicycle

And your friend’s stories, too. Please tell your friends who like words and like bikes.

I am looking to bring a personal perspective to people who ride bikes for transportation, exercise, or health, as a way to people watch.  Maybe you’re motivated by environmental, economical, ethical reasons. Maybe not.

I love bikes, I love being able to get where I want, when I want, and as fast or slow as I want. I relish the independence my bicycle affords me, and the ability to get in shape while getting around almost for free. I love that I never worry about gas prices, that I don’t have car or insurance payments, and that it’s always easy to meet new people while riding bikes.

I like making friends at stop lights.

I want to know what motivates and excites other people because I want to see more people on bikes in all of our cities. Because it is contagious and makes riding safer and more fun for everyone of all ages and abilities to ride when the numbers of bike riders increase.

Because bike traffic jams are fun.

For Even More Details…

Submission Details:

I want to hear how biking has changed your life.

I’m looking for joyful, swoony, excited non-fiction (now) stories celebrating bicycles and their impact on your life, family, or community.

If you can tell your story in  300-600 words, that’s best, but shorter or longer pieces are possible too. Please include at least one relevant photograph, a short bio (about two sentences, maybe longer), and a link to your website if you have one. I will include at least one new story/article/post weekly, and but I would love to include more if I receive a number of quality stories.

If you are interested in contributing something longer, or something else entirely, please let me know and we can discuss it.

Email submissions to: moregardenslesscars@gmail.com

Future topics will vary. Suggestions are welcome.

I watched and partied with everyone else but since we can’t celebrate the Steelers win, I want to celebrate the city of Pittsburgh by showing some pictures I really like of this city.

Pittsburgh, You Are Beautiful!

I’m kind of between cameras, so most were taken by photographers on Flickr who have listed their photos under Creative Commons. Thanks for sharing!

This is Heinz Field, home of the Steelers, taken by Flickr user brunkfordbraun.

This photo below is by my friend Dave.  Despite the criss-crossing highways and jail in the background, I think this is a beautiful photograph and scene. I love Pittsburgh’s steps! (More about Pittsburgh’s steps here). And I love the greenery! Pittsburgh, you’re beautiful!

This photo was taken on the Smithfield Bridge, one of about 446 bridges in Pittsburgh,  over the Monongahela River, one of exactly three rivers in Pittsburgh. This gorgeous photo is by Flickr user michaelrighi.

This incredible shot is the inside of the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. Photo by Flickr user Talke Photography.

The photo below is of the 16th St Bridge, one I used to cross daily over the Allegheny River to go to work or the markets in the Strip District. I like this photo by simple pleasure. If you’re interested in reading an idea I have for the Strip District, check out How to Create a Shopping Paradise for Pedestrians: Carfree Saturdays in the Strip District.

These motivational steps in Bloomfield were photographed by macwagen.

I took the photo below of Allegheny Cemetery. This was at noon on a Friday. The sky was so strange!

Something else beautiful:

That 500 people turn out, in the middle of the day on a Wednesday, for the opening of a new bridge just for bicycles and pedestrians. Also beautiful, that Pittsburgh is building bridges for bicycles and pedestrians. Photo by Kordite.

If you’d like to see Pittsburgh in live action, I think the city looks fantastic in this video by Streetfilms, one of my very favorite organizations. I helped put it together for my job at Bike Pittsburgh and a friend recently suggested that I may have killed the internet by over-posting the video. Yikes, so tacky! But the city really does look GLORIOUS here, it’s impossible not to keep looking at!

So I want this, everywhere. Just perfect:

I love plants and I love bikes and I like when more plants mean more bikes and more bikes mean more plants as they do with this clever invention that was nominated for the The Design Museum’s ‘Design of the Year 2010′.

PlantLock – “provides attractive & secure bicycle parking in the home garden, at work and in public places.”

Great! I need bike parking everywhere I go and I want plants everywhere I am.

These could line city streets all over. The could also be on residential streets where bicycle parking is most often absent. Clean up the air with more plants and provide parking everywhere so biking anywhere will be an option for everyone.