Category: City & County
Can BayREN’s Biggest Budget Ever Amp Up Energy Equity?
I visited a beautiful home nestled on a hill in Berkeley this July. Inside, over a dozen construction workers were busy electrifying the home…
Crunching the Adaptation Numbers – Not Peanuts
Regional agencies made splashy headlines when they released a joint study on the likely cost of protecting Bay Area shores from rising seas: $110 billion. But the top-line number didn’t offer much insight into the complexities. A new inventory and map from the same agencies is much more revealing.
Riding the Bus As Climate Bliss?
You’re on the bus. It’s your evening commute. The bus is almost full. Soft waves of chatter wash over you as you watch the blurred lights of storefronts pass by.

All Stories
LA Heat Officer Shares Lessons for Northern Neighbors
Marta Segura, California’s first Chief Heat Officer, talks with KneeDeep Times about making extreme heat a priority in Los Angeles.
Can BayREN’s Biggest Budget Ever Amp Up Energy Equity?
I visited a beautiful home nestled on a hill in Berkeley this July. Inside, over a dozen construction workers were busy electrifying the home…
Crunching the Adaptation Numbers – Not Peanuts
Regional agencies made splashy headlines when they released a joint study on the likely cost of protecting Bay Area shores from rising seas: $110 billion. But the top-line number didn’t offer much insight into the complexities. A new inventory and map from the same agencies is much more revealing.
Riding the Bus As Climate Bliss?
You’re on the bus. It’s your evening commute. The bus is almost full. Soft waves of chatter wash over you as you watch the blurred lights of storefronts pass by.
Being Human in Big Weather
When it rained this May, it felt unexpected. Based on over 150 years of climate data for San Francisco, May typically gets several days with a light rain. But context is key, and we are coming out of three years of drought—a fact which will generally color memories in a drier hue. “If I’ve learned anything it is that people’s perceptions are usually wrong,” says Jan Null….
New Flood Protection Standard for the Peninsula
In San Mateo County, new planning guidance may help cities account for rising seas when approving new developments. OneShoreline’s proposals are stricter than current requirements from federal, state, and local agencies, but those are also evolving. “The intent is to go where we already see regulators are going,” says Makena Wong, a project manager.
A Fruitvale Microgrid Could Inspire Resiliency if Approved
33 Fruitvale homes in Oakland could look forward to improved air quality, lowered water usage, greener energy and an innovation in the local energy system called a microgrid through a project called EcoBlock.
Humanity on the Fence
A new public art installation, called Fencelines, redefines the only barrier separating Richmond’s residential neighborhoods from the Chevron oil refinery: a wire fence.
Growing a Rainbow in the Urban Dirt
Debbie Harris directs Urban Adamah, a Jewish urban farm in Northwest Berkeley. She is a farmer by trade but her role at Urban Adamah requires her to be “a horticulturalist, a plumber, a therapist, a teacher, an organizer.”
Food Forests Green Solano
This spring, Sustainable Solano hosted open gardens that they helped plan and plant, offering visitors a chance to discover these food forests: a garden layered like a natural forest that includes fruit-bearing trees and edible plants.
Picturing Winter on Coyote Creek
In this photo essay, Megan King captures the Coyote Creek watershed swollen with water after winter storms. Last year, she explored something completely different: drought.
Region Reconnoiters on 30×30 Aspirations
Keeping a third of California unpaved may be ambitious in a state where the car remains king, but politicians are coming around. The Bay Area has 117 projects lined up to be counted.
