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Zach Klein Profile picture
Zach Klein
@zachklein
Just doing stuff. Check out the lush garden I grew in the middle of a major city: https://t.co/eRq9qeiLh3
Jan 5, 2024 • 4 tweets • 4 min read
You guys.

My wife's uncle is a major model train buff. He built a 2000sqft train layout over decades and now he wants to retire from the hobby and just give the whole thing away for FREE.

He asked me if I knew anyone...I want to help!


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Image The catch: It consists of 43 modules and it's currently located in Portland, OR. You would have to transport to its final destination, but he can provide expertise for disassembly, shipping, and reassembly.


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Dec 23, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Lake Erie is seiche-ing.
Dec 4, 2022 • 14 tweets • 6 min read
Seven years ago I planted my sidewalk garden in San Francisco. ImageImage Before it was a patchwork of broken concrete. We tore up about 800sqft.

Now all of that permeable surface is collecting rainwater (instead of letting it go to waste in the sewer system); The garden itself requires no additional irrigation. ImageImage
Nov 21, 2022 • 8 tweets • 5 min read
Took more than ten years living in the Bay, but I finally made it out to the Farallons.

Just offshore is a vast wilderness teeming with wildlife. ImageImageImageImage We saw seven whales (a couple grays and mostly humpbacks).

Hoped to spot a white shark, but not this time. ImageImage
Oct 26, 2022 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
The @sfchronicle ran a story about the Greenway effort and they positioned it as my project.

It is not my project. I'm a member of a neighborhood group that has tried to plant on that lot since the 1980s. As I explained in my original thread, I joined after reading about it. Mission Local has been steadily covering this story for years.

e.g. from 2018: missionlocal.org/2018/02/sf-nei…
Oct 18, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
SF governance is tyranny by process paralysis.

Despite a single-party system and access to vast resources, the city predicts 7 years to paint curbs in front of all bus stops to prevent parking because 'agency must hold a public hearing about each stop' before it does. Is it really more equitable to require residents to attend these hearings? How accessible is that inconvenience for most people?

We elect officials to make these decisions expeditiously ... that is the most accessible form of democracy we have.
Mar 4, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
"It is important to note core Russian beliefs that Democracy is equal to Chaos, and Autocracy is superior to Chaos and Mayhem." "The roots of Russian political culture come from the Mongols, who conquered Russia in 1240 and held it for 150 years. It was cruel regime, as evidenced by the Russian words for torture, taxation and corruption, which have Mongol roots."
Oct 23, 2021 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
SFTMA told me it's going to take 30+ months to get a speed bump installed on my street IF my application is approved.

So, I bought one on Amazon for $140, including the masonry bolts!😀

You guys. It works. Observations after watching 20 cars go by:

– 50% of cars slowed down.
– A decent number of SUVs slowed, too!
– The only self-driving car that passed by did not slow down.
Oct 22, 2021 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
When I die and I'm reincarnated, I hope I become a bioswale. They are the epitome of natural urban infrastructure. They improve water quality, create habitats and increase biodiversity, clean air, and require little maintenance.
Oct 18, 2021 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
Something special is happening in Barcelona. It started last month when some parents organized a bike ride to school for just five kids. Now entire neighborhoods are joining. They call it Bicibús – or Bike Bus. Each week they publish a route so people know where to join. The immediate goal is to extend the 'line' to cover several schools with the same 'bus', and then add new lines to cover additional neighborhoods.
Oct 15, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Last night's game was a heartbreaker, but let's take a moment to appreciate the achievement of Oracle Park. Superb example of integrating a venue of that scale within a city. You can reach it by light rail, train, bike, and even ferry! Dodger Stadium on the other hand: hellscape. ImageImage And they've eliminated the surface lots south of the stadium to create a dense urban neighborhood. What a bright spot in SF's landscape. mlb.com/giants/ballpar… Image
Oct 4, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
What’s an event in American History omitted from school curriculum that you wish had been covered? For me, it’s the constitutional crisis of 1876. An acrimonious presidential election like 2020 only ended when the candidate who won the popular vote (Tilden) only agreed to concede in exchange for removing federal troops from the South, immediately commencing the Jim Crow era.
Sep 8, 2021 • 18 tweets • 6 min read
1/ Live in SF and want to help me? Here are some easy things you can do to start... 2/ Did you know that SF has one of the smallest urban tree canopies of major American cities? If you own a house and you don't have a tree out front, you're entitled to one (or several) and @SFUrbanForester makes it easy.
Sep 7, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Great issue, @dwell team.
Aug 2, 2021 • 23 tweets • 5 min read
I've tried this. If you can make it work, it's deeply satisfying to share resources and build dependency on friends/neighbors.

The major blockers preventing this particular model of a bunch of friends buying land together are ... (thread) 1. Out of the box, most rural zoning prevents multiple dwelling units on a parcel of land. You can buy a big piece and subdivide, or buy adjoining parcels, but at that point you're creating a suburb with the same built-in frictions to socialize and share.
Jun 24, 2021 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
We’re selling Beaver Brook.
zillow.com/homes/55-Woods… Image It’s two hours north of NYC and it’s a magical retreat for a creative person, group or family. Here's the bunkhouse that could sleep 24+ people if you wanted. ImageImageImageImage
May 13, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
More often than not eulogies about cities (eg Why I Left...) have the tone of a consumer disappointed with a product. As though the city is their gym and the rowing machine wasn’t routinely wiped down.

Rarely does the writer describe their effort to become civically involved. Something has happened.

It seems that we have cities populated by consumers of cities, rather than cities of citizens.
Aug 8, 2018 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
Last year my aunt found a paper-wrapped bundle of negatives in her home in Buffalo, NY, which has been passed down since our relatives built it 100+ years ago. She sent me the package and @PhotoworksSF scanned them. The images were astonishing. For the first time, we had pictures of our great great and great great great grandparents ... as young parents and children ... and what life was like for Polish immigrants pouring into Early Buffalo.