On40Acres

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21 posts

A community meeting in the Cubberley Community Center gym, residents at round tables reviewing site plans
Oct 12, 2026

Cubberley, Measure J, and the Paper Trail

Before voting on Measure J, we went looking for the public record behind the $65.5 million Cubberley land deal: what the law requires, what PAUSD has and hasn't done, and three things that don't line up.
Cubberleyparkscommunitypolicygovernment financemunicipality
A vulture, illustrated
Aug 26, 2026

August in <Here>

A land and social architecture that blends original nature into urban neighborhoods to restore original land and rebuild connection between neighbors — starting in Palo Alto, and meant to travel.
missionmovementprinciples
A kingfisher, illustrated
Aug 26, 2026

Native Land

What we mean by native land, why the built and native worlds got walled off from each other, and why keeping them in the same place takes a conscious, ongoing movement rather than a one-time restoration.
philosophyprinciplesnative-plants
Illustration of a municipal ordinance scroll
Jul 23, 2026by on40

One City's Dark-Sky Ordinance Shouldn't Stop at the City Line

Palo Alto just adopted one of the most complete outdoor lighting ordinances in the Bay Area. Here's why every city in the region should adopt something like it — and how a shared model ordinance gets us there faster.
urban planningpolicydark skywildlife
Stylized illustration of a row of trees
Jul 23, 2026by alan

Where to plant: parks and streets in the lowest tree-density areas

Overlaying park boundaries and road centerlines on the native-oak density grid to rank planting priority targets.

Oct 11, 2021by alan

The Land Ethic — Aldo Leopold revisited

Reading the San Country Almanac again after many years, we are reminded of how little has anything changed… the 20th century was going to do what it was going to do, no awakening or ethical considerations would be allowed to defeat our progressive rush to cover all the land with concrete and sell it off, […]

leopoldphilosophy
Oct 10, 2021by alan

plants of sf bay area

CALYCANTHUS FAMILY (Calycanthaceae) Calycanthus occidentalis, Spicebush BUTTERCUP FAMILY (Ranunculaceae) Clematis lasiantha, Chaparral Clematis Clematis ligusticifolia, Western Virgin’s Bower BARBERRY FAMILY (Berberidaceae) Mahonia dictyota, Jepson’s Mahonia Mahonia nervosa, Long-leaf Mahonia Mahonia pinnata, Shiny-leaf Mahonia CACAO OR STERCULIA FAMILY (Sterculiaceae) Fremontodendron californicum, Flannel-bush MALLOW FAMILY (Malvaceae) Lavatera arborea, Tree Mallow Lavatera assurgentiflora, Malva Rosa Malacothamnus arcuatus Malacothamnus […]

plants
Oct 8, 2021by margaret johannsen

ethnobotany of south sf bay costanoans

Derived from work by Barbara R Bocek (work in progress) APPENDIX This summarizes the ethnographic uses of 157 plants known to Harrington’s Costanoan informants. Organization is generally consistent with Munz (1974), with some reference to Munz (1968) and to Munz and Keck (1959), and with genera and species listed alphabetically. Nonnative species are marked with […]

bocekbyxbeecostanoancubberlycuestahistoriographyohlonesfbay
Sep 13, 2021by alan

Some Commentary from Henry George

What is necessary to enable labor to produce these things, is land. When we speak of labor creating wealth, we speak metaphorically. Man creates nothing. The whole human race, were they to labor forever, could not create the tiniest mote that floats in a sunbeam—could not make this rolling sphere one atom heavier or one […]

single taxgeorgismlvt
Mar 6, 2020by alan

byxbee basin walk through

blah balah blaha blah…contining blah Clustered Field Sedge Carex praegracilis CNPS blah Olive Green Cutworm Moth dargida procinctus CNPS looking back Umber Skipper Poanes melane (CNPS) on chaparral mallow malachothamnus fasciculatus Common Ringlet Coenonympha tullia blah Crossing where the water goes across the trail bkag we’re through Byxbee hill in distance…denuded of all life blah […]

walkthroughbyxbee
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