Dear Streetsblog California readers:
I am retiring as Editor of Streetsblog California this week.
I had put together pages of notes about what I wanted to say in this post, with many links to past coverage (I did add some - see below). I was going to write about the important work the Streetsblog team does, about how much fun it has been to have a platform from which to poke at dumb words and actions by California leaders, about how difficult this job is, and about what a huge privilege it has been to do it for these last ten-plus years.
Then Los Angeles caught on fire.
For more than eighteen years now, Streetsblog writers across the nation have worked to bring attention to bad policies and poor decisions that have led us to this moment, when one of our biggest and most beloved cities is suffering the terrible consequences of inaction. We have been trying to turn the ship towards a better, safer, cleaner, more energy efficient world. Clearly we're not there yet. We have made some progress, particularly in California, towards rethinking how we invest in our future, but we haven't moved the needle enough. And some of what looks like progress is really only lip service, with the usual deciders merely changing their words to sound aligned with the "right" ideas, while continuing to conduct business as usual.
I am proud of the work our team does, and I am proud of my work - even when I wrote too much and dove too deep into wonky details that maybe only I was interested in. But I wouldn't take back a word of it. It's been a huge privilege to be allowed to listen to the important (and unimportant and frequently glib and often grandstanding) conversations among leaders at state agencies and the legislature, and to report what I see and hear for people who don't have the time for meetings. What gets discussed in these hearings affects our communities, our livelihoods, and the way we live our lives in deep and interconnected ways, and people need access to information about it. I'm glad I got to provide some of that.
I am not leaving this job because I don't love it. It has been, for me, the Best Job I Could Ever Have, and I am so lucky to have been able to do it. It hasn't been easy. Even with its huge perks - I have worked from home the entire ten years of it, and could set my own schedule, and my goodness nobody ever told me I had to write anything in particular or that I couldn't write about what I cared about! - writing is a lot harder than it should be. Some aspects get easier over time, but it's still difficult, especially when you want to get it right. And I always wanted to get it right.
The world, and California, has changed dramatically since I took this job. At the same time, the issues we cover - safety, spending, climate change, equity - are still issues that need fixing. I have noticed that after ten years I seem to be writing the same stories over and over again. Not because I'm boring or single-minded (well, not entirely because of that), but because those problems are still big, and they continue to plague us. I need to step out of this daily deluge of news, and clear my head. And maybe you, dear readers, need a different editor's perspective.
I started planning this change many months ago - long before the election, and way before Los Angeles caught fire. It feels a little like I am abandoning a project that I love just when the work we're doing is more critical than ever. But the work of Streetsblog will always be crucial, and it will always be there.
Besides, I am leaving you in good hands. Streetsblog California is not going anywhere. Damien Newton, who founded Streetsblog Los Angeles, supported Streetsblog San Francisco, and gathered the funding to launch Streetsblog California, will take over the helm of our statewide site starting next week. Contact him at damien@streetsblog.org - send him story ideas! You know his reporting already, and he will introduce himself more thoroughly soon. Meanwhile, I would be honored if you spent a little time listening to - or reading - this week's SGV Connect podcast (see below), in which the two of us talk about the Streetsblog California legacy (so far) and about my work, too. It's sort of a mini retirement party for me.
Streetsblog California will keep covering bike news, as well as the underfunded and oversubscribed Active Transportation Program, bills in the legislature, the high-speed rail program, important agency meetings, and the fact that California leaders will continue to build and expand highways despite their own perennial, ongoing realization that we need to figure out how we can make it possible for people to drive less. Hopefully one day we will take real action on that one.
I wrote stories that are too long, too complex, and had too much of my own opinions in them. In my defense, these are complex topics, and I have never appreciated journalism that is shallow or that misses important nuances. What a privilege it has been to be allowed to write whatever I want to write, about whatever I want, to express my opinions, be sarcastic, and write pieces that are so long it's doubtful anybody reads them through to the end.
I admit that it has also been a lot of fun highlighting some of the dumb things that California leaders have said and done. People should know about them! And sometimes just putting a few paragraphs online about what was said at a meeting can bring much-needed attention - and maybe change - to a situation.
My few regrets are about some of the stories I never got around to writing. There's a little town in Calaveras County called Murphys where residents have been trying to get a stop sign installed in front of a school, but it's on a state highway. Their education in bureaucratic obfuscation is a cautionary tale for the ages. Bike advocates in Santa Maria have been pushing Caltrans and local planners for better bike safety, and their story is both inspiring and exhausting. The state e-bike incentive program... well, that's a story for a different day.
Maybe I'll be allowed to write about them for Streetsblog, as a freelancer.
I owe a big debt of gratitude to a lot of people for making my work better. To the people who called me up to offer story ideas, the people who answered my calls and explained wonky topics or gave me important background information: I couldn't have done any of this without you. To the advocates and allies who work hard to bring change to our institutions by speaking up, and by digging in to data and writing reports and analyzing the outcomes of state policies: we need you. I also want to acknowledge and appreciate the staff at multiple agencies and the legislature who are quietly and diligently - sometimes at odds with their leadership - working to improve California.
And I never could have done this job without the insight, patience, wise words, great editing, and camaraderie of the Streetsblog team in California: Sahra Sulaiman, Joe Linton, Roger Rudick, Kris Fortin, and Chris Greenspon, and our fearless leader Damien Newton. I have learned so much from each of you. It has been an enormous privilege and an honor to work with you.
Last, but not least, I must thank my entire giant family, including my dear departed mom, my #1 fan, who read everything I wrote until she couldn't. Everyone needs a mom like her! My daughter, Marta Alvarez, is an inspiration for everything I do. And my husband, Alfonso Alvarez, would not only listen patiently to me explaining the convoluted background of some story I was trying to make sense of, but was actually interested in the subjects I ranted on about and would ask me wise and insightful questions.
They're letting me keep my email address for now, so you can contact me if you wish at melanie@streetsblog.org.
Okay, pat me on the head and shoo me out the door. There's work to be done.
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Below are links to a few of my favorite stories.
The Hair and Heels protest: Representative Diane Harkey complained that the gas tax would force people to ride bikes, and that she just couldn't do it "with the hair, and the heels!" Then-Emeryville Mayor John Bauters and State Senator Scott Wiener had a blast making fun of the notion that clothing prevented bike riding - by riding around San Francisco with a bunch of like-minded people, most wearing wigs and high heels. Of course it was all more complicated than that, and of course I tried to spell it all out - but the "Hair and Heels" protest itself was just fun. Here's one quote: "Wearing a long wig and high heels should be a pretty good way to get attention, although, this being San Francisco, the noisy group of bicyclists attracted only a modest number of stares. Did any of them realize that was their senator in the pink wig?"
Highlighting the dumb things leaders say and do:
Senate Transportation Vice-Chair Says Active Transportation Projects Increase Emissions. Right.
Debunking dumb oil industry arguments: Oil Industry Tries a New Tack, Blowing Smoke at CA's Climate Change Policies. I used words like "dimwitted" "cynical" "evil" and "wacky" to describe this backhanded oil industry campaign. And it was satisfying.
Exposing dumb (and dangerous) design decisions: Bakersfield Is Hoping Pedestrians Will Just Go Away. The solution to a dangerous crosswalk? Remove it! Nobody walks in... wait a minute.
Ripping apart really dumb ideas from legislators: A CA Bill Would Double the Size of Highways 5 and 99 and Remove Speed Limits. I got away with this ridiculous phrase, referring to the claim that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced when traffic moves quickly: "This pathetic justification is a very popular shade of lipstick among pigs these days."
It was fun to just report some of the mean things leaders said, adding a wee bit of snarky context: California Transportation Commissioners Question CalBike and the Need for an Equity Lens. This conversation highlighted how hard it is to speak sense to power - and to be heard.
There was that hot mic at the California Transportation Commission. I simply reported what was said! And that turned out to be the last meeting of developer - oh, excuse me, my early notes said he was a farmer - Paul Von Konynenburg, who had recently been selected as chair of the CTC by the other commissioners.
Here's me arguing that everyone should love the things I love: Why You Should Care about Statewide Transportation Guidelines
…and really getting into the weeds about things that I think are important: Bill Would Dramatically Restructure Active Transportation Program
…and endlessly explaining the gas tax and induced demand and why you can't build your way out of congestion and our favorite alphabet soup, VMT-LOS-CEQA.
