A reporter asked me yesterday why it’s even important to argue about evidence of a fresh water lake at Laguna Dolores, or to pinpoint the founding location of SF Mission Dolores. The sharp questioner, Hadley Robinson, is from Mission Local, the news outlet and laboratory for UC Berkeley Journalism graduate students. Aside from my usual,  more »

This post is a confession—actually a whole confessional litany. I told untruths. Yes. Me. I know, I know: never trust me again! I’ll list them in a moment so you can adjust what you learned on one of my tours accordingly. Friend and Thinkwalks volunteer Nancy Botkin told me the other day that it’s strangely  more »

The Thinkwalks blog is going into full swing today. At least for a time, likely many months, most content here will be related to the Storm Book I’ve begun researching. My intent is to publish articles and a prospectus booklet, eventually extruding a book on the topic. I hope I can nudge The Great Storm  more »

In the recent past, a number of folks have generously volunteered their time to help with publicity, research, social networking, design and other aspects of Thinkwalks. If you have an idea of how you’d like to help, please let me know. Some of the clear needs at the moment are for people to help compile  more »

Chris Carlsson, who leads the bike tours for Shaping SF, is one well-read guy. He understands so many of the specifics about work-related politics. His ideas were formed from reading books that were written back when labor organizer was a radical term. And it seems he’s read everything published since then. On a Shaping SF  more »

How to prepare for your bike tour Thinkwalks bike tours are never strenuous. We travel slowly between nearby stops and never ride steep hills. I’m a hill wimp. That’s why I love the Wiggle so much! Before coming to a ride, you’ll need to be sure your tires are firm and your bicycle is functioning  more »

This is the nerdiest of the standard Thinkwalks. Three and a half hours of walking on water. No sinking. This year’s version of the water tour focuses on the history of the Dolores Creek watershed, above the Mission District. We’ll examine water’s artful sculpting of our hills and shorelines based partly on this book chapter  more »

This is the quintessential Thinkwalk, mixing all themes from the other tours: creeks, urban planning, social history, murals and everything else! Curious neighbors and cyclists alike will love this two hour tour. The Wiggle itself is now so popular, it’s rapidly becoming SF’s human-powered answer to the iconic U.S. Highway called Route 66. The popular  more »

Of all the Thinkwalks tours, this one is best for general audiences, including visitors. It’s also the most often requested for those wishing to customize a tour. As a public mural organizer for more than a decade, I bring insider knowledge of the mural scene. And as a community journalist with an interest in radical  more »

How Golden Gate Park reflects the big changes in society Once a field of dunes, Golden Gate Park was built on a swath of sand called the Outside Lands. An ambitious garden the size of New York’s Central Park replaced the dunes, partly to create a refuge from city stresses of the Industrial Age and  more »