Cafe Culture in Romania

Sandra with her daughter in Fagaras.
Sofas, wood tables and,
 in Europe, the obligatory ashtray.

A fellow bike blogger (although she writes from a mother's perspective - more on that later), Sandra from Des Moines, Iowa shared some photos of a very recent return trip to her birthtown of Fagaras, Romania. Given that lately I have been on a outdoor cafe and restaurant rant, I asked her if I could share her photos of her trip.

In looking at the photos it almost looks as though scene is from an outdoor living room with comfortable sofas and wooden tables. Reminds me a bit of how New York has recently put furniture in the middle of Broadway in midtown Manhattan.

I don't think we are there yet but it sure would be nice to have some clean and comfortable outdoor spaces like this. Thanks for sharing, Sandra.

Sandra's husband enjoy a nice day
in the fortress town of Fagaras, Romania

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Sandra;'s blog, Simply Bike; Bikes, Parenthood, and Academia, chronicles her cycling lifestyle from the midwest, which is not always the most bike friendly place. With the birth of her daughter her cycling life has changed somewhat, but she still finds time to remain active.

Her posts are interesting and highlight her peripetetic life; describing her early years in  Romania, her emigration to Germany, university studies in Germany, France, and the U.S. and finally her completion of her PhD in Iowa.

She recently traveled to that other Bay Area city to the north, San Francisco, and shared some comments along with some great pictures.

in san francisco: doing the things we love to do at home

Thanks Sandra.

Recent and related posts:
A new stardard for civility. How about liveability?


They make great coffee, not just great places.


New building going up in the heart of downtown Campbell

Cafe Culture is for Canadiens not for Californians

Day 9 Trois Rivieres to Quebec City  While bike touring through Quebec, Canada I was amazed that in a smaller town on a Thursday eveing the streets were alive with people eating, walking and just generally enjoying themselves outdoors.

Upcoming Cycling Events - June 28, 2012

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Thursday, June 28, 2012
New Themes Selected:

August: Olympic Ride
September: Rocky Horror Ride
October: Halloween Ride


San Jose Bike Party

"Olympic Ride"

Friday, July 20, 2012

Wheels hit the street at 8:00
Route and Start Location posted 24 hours in advance.

Test Rides

Test Ride #2 (Slow Ride)
Tuesday, July 3, 2012 6:30 pm
Ride Start: Small Parking Lot at Central Park, Santa Clara

Test Ride #3
Monday, July 9, 2012 6:00 pm
Ride Start: TBA

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San Jose Fixed SJF
15-25 mile Bike Ride
Every Tuesday 6:45 @
Meets @ IMinusD Fixed Gear Boutique
112 Paseo de San Antonio (See Map Below)

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San Jose Bike Party Ladies Ride

Test Ride #2
Saturday, July 7, 2012 3:00 PM
Ride Start: San Pedro Square Market




San Francisco Bike Party
Friday, July 6, 2012
(More info)


East Bay Bike Party
Friday, July 13, 2012
(More Info)


San Jose Bike Party Ladies Ride
July 14, 2012 - (Sorry guys, ladies only)

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The Cafe Tour
Sunday, July 15, 2012 at 10:30 am

Join San Jose Bike Clinic volunteers and Content Magazine for a Café Tour of San José.

Bike repair education and tune ups are at 10:30am outside of B2 at the San Pedro Square Market, followed by the ride. Featured coffee shops include: B2, Roys Station, Crema, Top Nosh Cafe, Bellano, Barefoot Coffee, plus one secret location TBA!

All participants in this ride recognize that bike riding can be a hazardous activity and choose to do so at their own risk.

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7th Annual Menlo Park Grand Prix Sponsored by Mikes Bikes
Sunday, July 22, 2012 7:30 am - 6:30 PM

More details to follow.

Tour de Fat - San Francisco
Saturday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
September 22, 2012
Golden Gate Park

Also note the Guadalupe River Trail will be closed for paving construction soon. The closed portion will extend north of 880 all the way to Gold Street in Alviso. check Twitter for more details.

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

They make great coffee, just not great places

What you can't see is the
 intense light and heat being
 reflected off the curtain
 of windows from up above.

Wednesday I commented on what a gorgeous day it was, weatherwise at least. I had stopped at the Safeway Marketplace to get a bowl of soup for lunch and found out that they removed their outdoor tables and chairs. After lunch I walked down Santa Clara St. which is not the most picturesque in the city, but I noticed something else about outdoor dining or some sort of outdoor cafe culture in this city. There is none. Aside from a few restaurants and cafes on Paseo de San Antonio there really isn't any form of outdoor street dining, and when there is, it is just a token gesture.

I say this becuase as I was walking down the street, I passed Taza Coffee (street view). In the years I have been downtown I haven't ever seen anyone sit outside with their cup of coffee. It doesn't take long to figure out why. But here are some reasons I came up with which defy all logic in regards to placemaking in cities.

1. The store sits on the south side of a building on the north side of Santa Clara St. which is in full frontal view of a southern solar exposure.
2. There are no street trees on this side of Santa Clara St. to filter the sunlight.
3. The sidewalk is wide, expasive, and highly reflective with no shade. It even gets relected sunlight and heat from the buildings windows above street level which reflect the southern exposure right to the wide sidewalk. During the summer the light and the heat is intense.
4. Given the nature of the streetscape, and the lack of commercial buildings, this part of Santa Clara gets few pedestrians, and rember half the fun of sitting in an outdoor setting is to watch the people go by.

So until this day I have yet to see anyone outside in the three key summer months. Any takers?

Recent and related posts:
A new stardard for civility. How about liveability?

Cafe Culture in Romania

New building going up in the heart of downtown Campbell

Cafe Culture is for Canadiens not for Californians

Day 9 Trois Rivieres to Quebec City  While bike touring through Quebec, Canada I was amazed that in a smaller town on a Thursday eveing the streets were alive with people eating, walking and just generally enjoying themselves outdoors.

New building going up in the heart of downtown Campbell

New commercial/rest. bldg
going up in Campbell.

The last bit of work is being done on a new mixed use building to replace the old I.O.O.F., or the Independent Order of Odd Fellows building. The building located at 1st St. and Campbell Ave. right in the heart of the bustling downtown corridor is different than adjacent buildings for a few reasons.

First, the design is such that the building is actually adheres to traditional design. It is replacing a 50 year old building which was set back from the both streets and allowed for at least 20 parking spaces adjacent to the street (see Google Maps Street View link).

Second, if you also look at the Street View map and the photo below you'll notice that the City of Campbell already has done some great work on softening the streets scape by placing bulbouts, textured sidewalks, large radii corners, and nice street furniture (benches, lamps, and trash cans).

Attractive streetscape adds
 to the developer's
building improvements.

Third, the restaurant space has a courtyard on the north side of a building on the south side of Campbell Ave., which with the ample street trees will keep this space well shaded when the sun rises higher in the sky in the summertime. This will add even more outdoor dining options to downtown Campbell (compared with a decline in outdoor dining options in downtown San Jose).

And lastly, what is really nice and rarely seen in the Silicon Valley outside of Palo Alto or maybe Mountain View is the folding accordion doors. In James Kunstler's now famous TED talk (James H Kunstler dissects suburbia), he speaks of restaurants and other commercial establishments of possessing a permeable membrane, in which strollers passing by can see activity within the restaurant, pub, or shop.

Well done, Campbell. This project brings many improvements to an already successful downtown.

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Related posts.

Cafe Culture is for Canadiens not for Californians

Day 9 Trois Rivieres to Quebec City  While bike touring through Quebec, Canada I was amazed that in a smaller town on a Thursday eveing the streets were alive with people eating, walking and just generally enjoying themselves outdoors.

A new stardard for civility. How about liveability?

Cafe Culture in Romania

They make great coffee, just not great places

 

Installing sliding accordian doors.

A new stardard for civility. How about liveability?

Gone! No more street furniture.
Such a gorgeous day, too.

What a beautiful day today. At lunch I ran over to the Safeway Marketplace to get a bowl of soup. Since it was wonderfully warm outside I proceed to grab me a spot on one of the tables before they were all taken. As a headed out the door and around the corner I was surprised that all the tables and chairs were gone.

I stepped inside to ask the manager what happened to this wonderful space. She said that (you can insert your standard orders from headquarters speech here) they were removed the day before yesterday. When I pressed her a bit more for information she mentioned that their had been fights and other behaviours that warranted their removal.

Its funny that we use terms like "canary in the coal mine", and "indicator species" to euphemistically highlight environmental sustainability but we are ignorant to indicators for civic sustainability or civic vitality. Cities can print out reams of LOS (Level of Service) data or traffic volumes cross tabulated by time of day, but we don't track or show concern for indicators of civility or even personal safety.

Another change since the store opened
 is the addition of this turnstile.
Most urban folk walk and thus carry
bags that make this a real obstacle.

The only statistic or indicator that cities, especially San Jose has historically relied on is the annual homicide rate as if this is a true indicator of livability.

This comes after last year's removal of the street furniture in front of the only downtown Peet's Coffee shop. I do wish we somehow could figure this thing out. Cities in countries like France, Italy, Romania, and even here in North America, Montreal seems to have it figured out.

Oh well, at least the weather was nice.

Recent and related posts:
New building going up in the heart of downtown Campbell

Cafe Culture in Romania

They make great coffee, just not great places

San Jose Bike Clinic and Content Magazine team up for the Cafe Tour

What do the San Jose Bike Clinic and Content Magazine have in common? Well,

1. They are both new San Jose startups,
2. They both do amazing things in the area, and
3. They are both teaming up to bring you the Cafe Tour.

Join San Jose Bike Clinic volunteers and Content Magazine for a Café Tour of San José.
Bike repair education and tune ups are at 10:30am outside of B2 at the San Pedro Square Market, followed by the ride.

Featured coffee shops include: B2, Roys Station, Crema, Top Nosh Cafe Bellano, Barefoot Coffee, plus one secret location TBA!

All participants in this ride recognize that bike riding can be a hazardous activity and choose to do so at their own risk.

Hey, we can clean up our own parks!

Big rigs unload for this weekends
 San Jose 2012 gymnastics event

This morning while pedaling past the Shark Tank (HP Pavillion), the smell of freshly cut grass and the sound of trucks and forklifts filled the air. Workers were busy setting up for this weekend's U.S. Olympic Team gymnastics event (which is perfect timing giving that next monhth's San Jose Bike Party's July theme is "The Olympic Ride").  Titled the "Road to London", the event has its own specially painted tractor trailer rigs. Ths weekend San Jose will be dubbed "Gymnastics City".

It's nice to see this park get a fresh haircut and cleaning. I even saw city Rangers and Park workers, which are rarely noticed these days to due to fiscal constraints.

It would be nice to see this park, the Arena Green, used as it was originally intended with fully functioning restrooms and an operational carousel. I can't remember the last time the carousel was operational or even how long it was in service before it died an quiet death, four years, or maybe six?

Shuttered Carousel.

 But a larger story emerges from all of this. Gone are many events and community festivals, because of the cost of providing protection from cars (street closures), or for security. Given the high costs of San Jose's first cyclovia event, Via Velo, instead of an eight mile route similar to Los Angeles or Portland, we had to settle for just over a half of a mile of San Fernando street. Also due to the short linerar layout and the high costs booths and stages with sponsors were sought to offset the high costs. What we were left with was a gloried, two wheeled farmer's market.

I mentioned in previous posts the loss of one Independence Day event as well as street openings such as Via Velo, along with other community developed festivals. One of several reasons usually given is the costs associated with paying off-duty police officers to provide overly proscribed traffic and security detail.

 I'm not sure what the city of San Jose negotiated with the Olympic event organizers to get the city to perform the added maintenance to the park and surrounding areas, but I'm not worried because a look at the "event partners" (also called sponsers) highlights a team of well financed international corporations (even a sponsor dealing in varicose veins). So, in light of library closings, poorly maintained parks, increasing graffittii, how do we make sure that there is adequate funding to provide for basic services?

Not a cheaply constructed ticket booth,
which has seen better days.

In future posts I plan to highlight in greater detail;

1. The high operational costs in putting on events in San Jose,
2. What that means for smaller, community oriented festivals and events in creativity and experimentation. And in a somewhat related vein,
3. How we have created such high fixed costs by over-engineering everthing, and
4. Why we need to seek other funding sources, such as tourism.

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Gymnastic Events begin Thursday.

Good Karma Bikes - Transportation for Transformation

Jada celebrates her 9th birthday with a
pink "Disney princesses" bicycle
 by Good Karma Bikes!

Had a great conversation with Irene yesterday from Good Karma Bikes. Good Karma is one of three Santa Clara County bicycle coops that I know of in this area. The other two are the Silicon Valley Bike Clinic of San Jose and Bicycle Exchange in Mountain View. (I hope to feature these two in future posts). Good Karma has been around for a couple of years and holds a weekly bike repair clinic at Diridon Station on Saturdays.

Saturday Repair Clinic
10 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Adjacent to the Diridon Station (see map below).
102  S. Montgomery Street,
San Jose

Good Karma Bikes can be found under the red pop-up tents in the Stephen's Meats Parking Lot Across from Patti's Inn.

They are also giving free classes on how to fix bikes at the shop located on Sunol Street.  If you would like to be involved in this just let them know by e-mail.
 
Good Karma also has a Yahoo group if you are interested: 
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Friends_of_Good_Karma_Bikes/ 




View Larger Map

Upcoming Cycling Events June 20, 2012

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

New Themes Selected:
August: Olympic Ride
September: Rocky Horror Ride
October: Halloween Ride


San Jose Bike Party

"Olympic Ride"

Friday, July 20, 2012

Wheels hit the street at 8:00
Route and Start Location posted 24 hours in advance.

Test Rides

Test Ride #2 (Slow Ride)
Tuesday, July 3, 2012 6:30 pm
Ride Start: Small Parking Lot at Central Park, Santa Clara

Test Ride #3
Monday, July 9, 2012 6:00 pm
Ride Start: TBA

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San Jose Fixed SJF
15-25 mile Bike Ride
Every Tuesday 6:45 @
Meets @ IMinusD Fixed Gear Boutique
112 Paseo de San Antonio (See Map Below)

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Ocala Avenue Bike Lane Improvement Project Neighborhood Meeting
Thursday, June 21, 2012 6:00 PM
Hillview Branch Library - Community room
1600 Hopkins (just north of Ocala)
Agenda consists of Project Overview and Review, Project Update and Schedule, and a Q&A section.

Bicycle Music Festival 2012
June 23, 2012

For more info:
Facebook
Previous Post on this site




Downtown San Jose Public Bikeshare Neighborhood Meeting
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 6:00 PM
San Jose City Hall - Wing Room W118, 119, & 120
200 East Santa Clara St., San Jose
Agenda consists of Project Overview and Review, Project Update and Schedule, and a Q&A section.

For questions, contact Jesse T. Quirion at:

Phone: 408-975-3299 Email: jesse.quirion@sanjoseca.gov

Follow the project on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/@SJ_Bikeshare

San Jose Bike Party Ladies Ride

Test Ride #2
Saturday, July 7, 2012 3:00 PM
Ride Start: San Pedro Square Market




San Francisco Bike Party
Friday, July 6, 2012
(More info)


East Bay Bike Party
Friday, July 13, 2012
(More Info)


San Jose Bike Party Ladies Ride
July 14, 2012 - (Sorry guys, ladies only)

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The Cafe Tour
Sunday, July 15, 2012 at 10:30 am

Join San Jose Bike Clinic volunteers and Content Magazine for a Café Tour of San José.

Bike repair education and tune ups are at 10:30am outside of B2 at the San Pedro Square Market, followed by the ride.

Featured coffee shops include: B2, Roys Station, Crema, Top Nosh Cafe, Bellano, Barefoot Coffee, plus one secret location TBA!

All participants in this ride recognize that bike riding can be a hazardous activity and choose to do so at their own risk.

---

7th Annual Menlo Park Grand Prix Sponsored by Mikes Bikes
Sunday, July 22, 2012 7:30 am - 6:30 PM

More details to follow.


Also note the Guadalupe River Trail will be closed for paving construction soon. The closed portion will extend north of 880 all the way to Gold Street in Alviso. check Twitter for more details.

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

Whats your Agenda? Key local meeting agendas

Today, June 19, 2012, 1:00 p.m.
City of San Jose
1:00 Transportation & Aviation Services
(Full Agenda)

6.1 Measure B Vehicle Registration Fees Agreement.
Recommendation: Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute a funding agreement with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority for the receipt of Measure B Vehicle Registration Fees approved by Santa Clara County voters on November 2, 2010 and collected by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Wednesday June 20, 2012
10 a.m.

Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority
Meeting of the Board of Directors

BART Boardroom 10am
Kaiser Center 20th Street Mall
Oakland, CA 94612

Simultaneous teleconference calls will take place at
San Jose City Hall - Tower Building
200 E. Santa Clara Street, Room #T1853
San Jose, CA
(Full Agenda)

Key Calendar Items
Managing Director's Report
  Work Completed
      a. Business Plan Update (FY2012-13 - FY 2013-14(
      b. Capitol Corridor Service to Caltrain Santa Clara Station
      c. Transportation for law enforcement officials on Capitol Corridor Trains.
      d. Launch of Initial e-Ticketing (April 16, 2012)
      e. Marketing Activities (February - May 2012)

Work in Prgress
   a. Sacramento Railyards Relocation Project
   b. Yolo Causeway West Crossover Project
   c. Positive Train Control Update
   d. Sacramento-Roseville 3rd Track Environmental Impact Review
   e. Proposition 1B Transit Safety Improvement Projects
   f. Proposed Extension of Capitol Corridor Trains to Salinas
   g. Upcoming Marketing Activities


HP Pavillion Board of Director's meeting
Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 1:00 p.m.
4:00 pm Transportation & Aviation Services

Presidents Room
525 W. Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA
 Full Agenda
4.6
San Jose Municipal Stadium Committee Accept Reports on FY 2012-2013 Capital Budget items.

Ocala Ave. Bike Lane Improvement Project Neighborhood Meeting

Don't forget this Thursday the City of San Jose will be hosting the Ocala Ave. Bike Lane Improvement Project neighborhood meeting.  The meeting details are as follows:

Date: Thursday, June 21, 2012
Time: 6:00 PM
Location:  Hillview Branch Library
                 1600 Hopkins Dr.
                  San Jose, CA 95122

The city's Department of Transportation will update attendees on their plans to place dedicated bike lanes on Ocala Ave. between Capital Expressway and South White Rd. This project will incorporate the reduction of one travel lane in each direction in order to accommodate the implementation of buffered bike lanes. Minimal parking impacts are anticipated with this project. Please provide your feedback at this meeting.

San Jose Trails - Lower Guadalupe River Trail Construction Update

Recent Progress
 - Construction contract awarded to Wattis Construction of San Jose.

- Submittals for detour and construction signage reviewed and approved for use.

- Pre-Construction site visit conducted on June 15. Contractor, engineers, architects, and inspector walked Phase I to look at all site conditions and respond to questions before work proceeds.

- Project schedule and phasing plan under review.

1. Phase 1: 880 to Trimble

2. Phase 2: Trimble to Montague

3. Phase 3: Montague to Gold Street

Upcoming milestones:

- Construction to commence on Phase 1 during week of June 18. Work anticipated to take 3 months at this site before next phase is closed for construction.

- Contractor to survey the site and install storm water pollution prevention measures during the week of June 18.

- Contractor to install detour signage for Phase 1 (week of June 18). Signage will direct trail users to avoid the Phase 1 area with signs posted at Hedding and Trimble, directing bicyclists to use North First Street.

The Lower Guadalupe River Trail extends from Highway 880 to Gold Street in Alviso.

The 6.4 mile project will pave the existing gravel trail and include 5 interpretive stations along the route.

- The current gravel trail is jointly used by the City for recreation and the Santa Clara Valley Water District for maintenence. 

- The project is funded through the 2005 Federal Transportation Bill (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users or SAFETEA-LU) and local City funding.

About the project:

Spring bike goodness sprouting up all over San Jose

What do you think?

What ever else happens this year nobody can say that it was a bad year for cycling in the Silicon Valley. Some of the changes made this year or to be completed by the end of the year include:

1. Bike Share in Palo Alto, Mountain View, and San Jose,
2. Road diets coming to downtown San Jose,
3. Colored cycle track on San Fernando,
4. Changes to the Guadalupe River trail south of 280,
5. Guadalupe trail paving from the airport to Alviso, and
6. Completion of the trail along 237 (paving, striping, & fencing).

Two public meetings are schedule this month. Your presence Ms. and Mr. cyclist is highly encouraged.

Ocala Avenue Bike Lane Improvement Project Neighborhood Meeting
Thursday, June 21, 2012 6:00 PM
Hillview Branch Library - Community room
1600 Hopkins (just north of Ocala)
Agenda consists of Project Overview and Review, Project Update and Schedule, and a Q&A section.

Downtown San Jose Public Bikeshare Neighborhood Meeting
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 6:00 PM
San Jose City Hall - Wing Room W118, 119, & 120
200 East Santa Clara St., San Jose
Agenda consists of Project Overview and Review, Project Update and Schedule, and a Q&A section.

For questions, contact Jesse T. Quirion at:

Phone: 408-975-3299 Email: jesse.quirion@sanjoseca.gov

Follow the project on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/@SJ_Bikeshare

From Blight to Bright in Willow Glen

Dallas of Bay Area Cargobikes meets
with some community volunteers
before the event start.

A dedicated crew came out yesterday morning to show community support for the northern half of Willow Glen. The goal was to create a pedestrian and bicycle connection from the growing residential community near Lincoln Ave. just north of Freeway 280 to the increasingly popular Willow Glen Business District (see map below).

I put this event together to get more residents to walk or bike to Willow Glen instead of taking the light rail to downtown Campbell. If residents don't feel that it is safe, clean, or health to walk the mile long route the won't be spending their money in the Glen.

This first event was modest but there will be others this summer. We will be asking volunteers from the cycling community to lend a hand in the future.  Thanks to all those that came out.

88 containers of trash and garbage
 were cleaned up in addition to
containers of oil, and mattresses

View Willow Glen - Lincoln Ave. From Blight to Bright in a larger map