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Imagining the community of the future begins with an important question: who are we building for? Silents, Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y? According to John Martin of Martin & Associates and Randal Jackson of The Planning Center, it’s Generation M, which stands for multi-generational family.

Introduced during the Imaging the Future Design Charrette at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference, Generation M is anchored by the Baby Boomers (ages 46 – 64), who will become a sandwich generation, providing support for both aging parents and divorced children (and perhaps grandchildren) or children who have moved back home after college. This type of household is found in the housing market in increasing numbers and, according to John Martin, homes designed specifically for Generation M have the ability to turn the housing industry around sooner than later.

In terms of land planning and design, Generation M communities are defined as high density to offer attractive pricing with flexible spaces to serve the changing needs of these multi-generational families. The complete presentation is available on PlanningCenter.com.

The conversation will continue tomorrow with more specifics on Generation M home designs.

San Francisco just adopted the nation’s first mandatory composting law, signed by Mayor Gavin Newsom at the Ferry Building last week.  In a blog article on The Huffington Post, the mayor cited several interesting and compelling facts regarding composting and recycling.

•    San Francisco is currently successful at keeping 72% of its recyclable material out of the landfill.

•    About 2/3 of garbage people throw away is recyclable or compostable.

•    “Green” waste in landfills is the biggest offender in creating landfill methane, a powerful greenhouse gas (72 times more powerful than carbon dioxide!).

•    San Francisco already converts 400 tons of food scraps and other materials per day into organic compost, a product in high demand by agriculture.

•    Using compost rather than fertilizers and pesticides in farming reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

With so may benefits, composting needs to be part of our household routine.  We are fortunate to live in an area where curbside composting is widely offered as part of the waste management programs. All most of us need to do is put our kitchen compostables in our green compost bin along with our yard clippings.

The trick is: how to store food scraps until you can take them to the green bin? The Real Story has encountered a smelly, moldy mess more than once and has some tips:

1. Keep an air-tight compost container in the kitchen.
Pails with air-tight seals are commercially available for just that purpose. Use a spatula to clean out the sides of the pail with each dumping, then rinse it out. Many models come with replaceable filters to keep that aroma of rotting garbage to a minimum.

2. Use empty milk cartons to collect scraps.
Rinse and open the tops of milk cartons and use these to collect food scraps. Since milk cartons are compostable, the whole thing can be tossed into the composting bin, so there’s no dealing with stuck on, decomposing food.

3. Scrape vegetables into a colander or strainer.
You’ll need to empty the colander after each meal as part of your clean-up routine, but there’s no mess and very little fuss.

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In talking to Hunt Hale Jones principal Michael Palza, one of the most striking things about his firm’s collaboration with architecture students from City College of San Francisco for PCBC’s Imagining the Future Design Charrette is their mutual decision to build a new community design on top of an existing neighborhood.  Michael tells The Real Story that instead of demolishing the old neighborhood, the group showed tremendous interest in reprogramming the spaces instead, and re-using old buildings.

The architects and designers, many of whom are from the same Gen Y group as the target market profile, went for creating more holistic, interconnected areas breaking down walls, both metaphorically and literally, to bring people together.
Other presentations shared with the audience of homebuilding professionals included KTGY Group architects with Cal Poly Pomona students, with their vision of the “Pods of Bangladesh”—high-rise towers comprised of self-sufficient pods for living, recreation and community life, and South Coast Architects, in collaboration with students from the University of Idaho in a “Heliotropic House”, whose photovoltaic roof panels would rotate to track the sun.

As temperatures soared this week, The Real Story set off in search of places to cool off without air conditioning. It’s a sure bet that anywhere near the bay or the ocean will be substantially cooler than the inland valleys. Here are some places we found pleasant breezes and enough diversions to fill a long afternoon.

1. Crissy Field, San Francisco
The wide, flat trail between Marina Green and Fort Point makes a great summertime stroll through the marshlands. Perch yourself on a driftwood log and watch the windsurfers and the boat traffic. The warming hut, a repurposed Army shed, serves refreshments, and the visitor center in the old Coast Guard station provides fascinating insights into the National Marine Sanctuary. Breezes always waft through the Golden Gate, so be prepared for coolness.

2. The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay
This beautiful hotel is hosting a Summer Vintner Series every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12 until 5 in its ENO tasting room. Wine educators from featured wineries talk you through the tasting ($20 per person). Afterward, you might want to hunt for shells on the beach or stroll through Main Street’s shops.

3. Crown Memorial State Beach, Alameda
A well-known vacation spot and amusement park during the early 1900’s, Crown Beach is the largest beach on San Francisco Bay. Water is warm and shallow and swimming, windsurfing, kayaking and kiteboarding are popular. Crab Cove Visitor Center at the north end of the beach contains ecology exhibits. Bring a picnic and settle in for a fun and very cool day.

4. Baylands Park, Sunnyvale
The knolls overlooking the bay have plenty of shady trees, so this is a great place to spread your picnic blanket, bring a good book and park for the day. Always a pleasant breeze., walking trails have great views of the restored wetlands (watch for egrets and pelicans). Kids will enjoy the play structures and kite flying is popular.

5. University of California Botanical Gardens, Berkeley
There’s something about Strawberry Canyon behind the UC Berkeley campus that captures summer breezes perfectly. The UC Botanical Gardens, located on 34 acres of the canyon, features one of the most diverse collections of plants in the country. The combination is perfect for a summer afternoon. If you walk up the hill above the Garden of Old Roses, you can see across Berkeley to the Bay. There are benches up there, so sit for a while and take in the view. The gardens offer plenty of secret spots to sit and enjoy the flora, as well as picnic tables.

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In celebration of PCBS’s 50 anniversary, the Gold Nugget Awards brought together some of the industry’s best designers and planners with architecture students to create charrettes around the theme “imagining the future” for the next generation of homes and/or neighborhood design.

Among the presenters were Hunt Hale Jones Architects, who partnered with students from City College of San Francisco to present their view on how Gen Y is changing the way we look at bringing people together.

The Real Story caught up with HHJA principal and senior designer Michael Palza after the presentation.  The group looked at an 850-acre site, originally programmed for approximately 5000+ single family homes, and re-envisioned it as a dense, walkable, transit village, with smaller homes and more green spaces.

According to Michael, Gen Y (also called The Millennials) want smaller homes that provide private spaces—yet have a sense of connection to their community.  Low maintenance is important, as is access to a town center or an employment hub—preferably without using a car.

To download the graphics from this charrette, go to www.hunthalejones.com.

Nothing caps off a great July 4th celebration like a fireworks display.  Here in the Bay Area, there are many festive extravaganzas planned.   Be sure to plan your vantage point in advance, as these events draw large crowds.  Depending on the venue, you’ll want to bring a blanket and something to occupy the kids while you’re waiting for it to get dark.  So keep your fingers crossed for a fogless night, and start planning your fireworks experience.

There are more than 40 displays scheduled for Bay Area communities.  Here are The Real Story’s top five picks:

Antioch 9:30 p.m.
Set to ignite on Antioch’s waterfront in its historic downtown, this display promises “the latest artistic designs in the fireworks industry.”  The display lasts a full half hour with flares glimmering across the water.

Moraga 9:30 p.m.
This display has a true hometown feel, capping off an evening of live music at Moraga Commons.   This year, Larry Lynch and the Mob will offer up tunes that span six decades. Bring a blanket and a picnic and settle in for the evening.

Mountain View 8:00 p.m.
The mother of all fireworks displays takes place at Shoreline Amphitheater.  A live national concert by the San Francisco Symphony and the fireworks are part of a Radio Disney presentation.  The program theme is “Look to the Future” with selections from 2001: a Space Odyssey, The Planets, Star Wars and Star Trek.  Tickets range from $15 to $29.50 with 4-packs and lawn seating available.

San Francisco 9:30 p.m.
The epicenter of San Francisco’s July 4th celebration is Pier 39.  Free entertainment will feature rock by Take 2 and Tainted Love.  The Pier boasts the best viewing area on the bay—and it’s certainly a great spot for people-watching, too.  Plan to take public transportation, as parking and traffic will be major issues.

Yountville 9:30 p.m.
This scenic wine-country community celebrates the 4th with an all-day street faire, afternoon music and evening fireworks at Vintners Golf Course.  And a little wine tasting somehow makes the birthday of our nation all the more festive.