Re-start

Heading to Dolores park last week, I noticed parallel marks in the pavement that seemed to be the shadows of an old railroad. As a relatively new resident in the Mission, I commented to my new roommate: "There must have been a streetcar line here."

Dolores Street between 17th and 18th

"No way." My roommate responded. I pondered San Francisco's urban development, the transformation of the city with the arrival of the automobile, and the history buried under the pavement. I bet her a six-pack there used to be a streetcar on Dolores Street and decided to restart the Built Environment Blog.

This map shows that there was a streetcar on Dolores in 1943 -- but not between 17th and 18th.
Map from Central Pacific RR Museum via Burrito Justice, one of my favorite San Francisco blogs. 
Bet undecided.

Some things will be the same in this newest phase of the Built Environment Blog. I've still got my independent perspective, and I still take tons of pictures. But after three years of landscape architecture school I'm more into soil and plants than I used to be. I've also gotten to know some fascinating designers and planners, and I've moved to the Mission in San Francisco. I'm still way into old buildings and urban puzzles, though, don't worry.

There may be a post about shrimp farming, at some point.
You can view most photos full-size on my flickr just by clicking them.

I still save an eclectic set of bookmarks at my del.icio.us page and I've also joined Twitter. I tend to retweet more than I post original content, but I find the whole twitter phenomenon fascinating.

Please feel free to post critiques and questions in the comments, or e-mail me through the link at the top right of the sidebar. This should be fun!