Grace from within: A blessing for our domestic animals

Statue of Saint Francis of Assisi
inside San Francisco's Grace Cathedral.

The Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi was celebrated by many Episcopal (Anglican) and Catholic churches across the United States today. Some, like my church of worship, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, commemorated Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of San Francisco, servant to the poor and lover of all creation, with its annual blessing of domestic animals on Sunday as a token of the love Saint Francis showed for all created beings, including animals, as expressed in his Canticle of Creatures.

There is a tradition of blessing animals that dates back to the fourth century, when Saint Anthony of the Desert brought animals into the church for blessing. Now, many churches celebrate it on October 4, the feast day of Saint Francis, whom Pope John Paul II named the patron saint of ecology in 1979.

The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young, who led the procession at Grace Cathedral on Sunday, said: "Francis loved the Earth so much and nature, so I'm hoping that people see the beauty. We live in the most beautiful city in the world, and part of that is the beauty of the redwood trees, the bay and the estuaries."

It's a very lovely and heartfelt experience seeing dogs, cats and other domestic pet animals such as fish and birds on their best behavior, sitting in the pews besides their caretakers, sensing the solemnity of the occasion. Then, being "blessed" individually, both verbally and with holy water, by the Grace Cathedral clergy, all in the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi. (It should be noted that some parishioners choose to bring photos of their pets if it is difficult for their pets to attend the blessing.)

So, just who was Saint Francis of Assisi and why was he such a beloved figure?

Saint Francis of Assisi (born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone) was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher, who lived from the late 12th to early 13th centuries. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis.

"Francis sought occasion to love God in everything. He delighted in all the works of God's hands and from the vision of joy on earth his mind soared aloft to the life-giving source and cause of all," wrote Saint Bonaventure.

Here's a bit about the legacy of Saint Francis of Assisi, courtesy of Wikipedia:

It has been argued that no one in history was as dedicated as Francis to imitate the life, and carry out the work, of Christ in Christ’s own way. This is important in understanding Francis' character and his affinity for the Eucharist and respect for the priests who carried out the sacrament. He and his followers celebrated and even venerated poverty. Poverty was so central to his character that in his last written work, the Testament, he said that absolute personal and corporate poverty was the essential lifestyle for the members of his order.

He believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his “brothers” and “sisters,” and even preached to the birds and supposedly persuaded a wolf to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf. In his Canticle of the Creatures (Praises of Creatures or Canticle of the Sun), he mentioned the “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon,” the wind and water, and “Sister Death.” 

He referred to his chronic illnesses as his “sisters." His deep sense of brotherhood under God embraced others, and declared that “he considered himself no friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died.”

Francis's visit to Egypt and attempted rapprochement with the Muslim world had far-reaching consequences, long past his own death, since after the fall of the Crusader Kingdom it would be the Franciscans, of all Catholics, who would be allowed to stay on in the Holy Land and be recognized as "Custodians of the Holy Land" on behalf of Christianity.

On July 16, 1228, Francis was pronounced a saint by Pope Gregory IX. He is known as the patron saint of animals and ecology – the environment – and is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.

On March 13, 2013, upon his election as Pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina chose as his papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, thus becoming Pope Francis.

In the spirit of Saint Francis, I would like to share with you a 13th century prayer written by Saint Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Grace from within: A blessing for our domestic animals

Statue of Saint Francis of Assisi
inside San Francisco's Grace Cathedral.

The Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi was celebrated by many Episcopal (Anglican) and Catholic churches across the United States today. Some, like my church of worship, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, commemorated Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of San Francisco, servant to the poor and lover of all creation, with its annual blessing of domestic animals on Sunday as a token of the love Saint Francis showed for all created beings, including animals, as expressed in his Canticle of Creatures.

There is a tradition of blessing animals that dates back to the fourth century, when Saint Anthony of the Desert brought animals into the church for blessing. Now, many churches celebrate it on October 4, the feast day of Saint Francis, whom Pope John Paul II named the patron saint of ecology in 1979.

The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young, who led the procession at Grace Cathedral on Sunday, said: "Francis loved the Earth so much and nature, so I'm hoping that people see the beauty. We live in the most beautiful city in the world, and part of that is the beauty of the redwood trees, the bay and the estuaries."

It's a very lovely and heartfelt experience seeing dogs, cats and other domestic pet animals such as fish and birds on their best behavior, sitting in the pews besides their caretakers, sensing the solemnity of the occasion. Then, being "blessed" individually, both verbally and with holy water, by the Grace Cathedral clergy, all in the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi. (It should be noted that some parishioners choose to bring photos of their pets if it is difficult for their pets to attend the blessing.)

So, just who was Saint Francis of Assisi and why was he such a beloved figure?

Saint Francis of Assisi (born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone) was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher, who lived from the late 12th to early 13th centuries. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis.

"Francis sought occasion to love God in everything. He delighted in all the works of God's hands and from the vision of joy on earth his mind soared aloft to the life-giving source and cause of all," wrote Saint Bonaventure.

Here's a bit about the legacy of Saint Francis of Assisi, courtesy of Wikipedia:

It has been argued that no one in history was as dedicated as Francis to imitate the life, and carry out the work, of Christ in Christ’s own way. This is important in understanding Francis' character and his affinity for the Eucharist and respect for the priests who carried out the sacrament. He and his followers celebrated and even venerated poverty. Poverty was so central to his character that in his last written work, the Testament, he said that absolute personal and corporate poverty was the essential lifestyle for the members of his order.

He believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his “brothers” and “sisters,” and even preached to the birds and supposedly persuaded a wolf to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf. In his Canticle of the Creatures (Praises of Creatures or Canticle of the Sun), he mentioned the “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon,” the wind and water, and “Sister Death.” 

He referred to his chronic illnesses as his “sisters." His deep sense of brotherhood under God embraced others, and declared that “he considered himself no friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died.”

Francis's visit to Egypt and attempted rapprochement with the Muslim world had far-reaching consequences, long past his own death, since after the fall of the Crusader Kingdom it would be the Franciscans, of all Catholics, who would be allowed to stay on in the Holy Land and be recognized as "Custodians of the Holy Land" on behalf of Christianity.

On July 16, 1228, Francis was pronounced a saint by Pope Gregory IX. He is known as the patron saint of animals and ecology – the environment – and is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.

On March 13, 2013, upon his election as Pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina chose as his papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, thus becoming Pope Francis.

In the spirit of Saint Francis, I would like to share with you a 13th century prayer written by Saint Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Where do you want to live? A simple question, but ...

For the second consecutive year, Tokyo was selected No. 1 in Monocle's
Quality of Life survey.

It's no secret that the best cities in the world are ones which are vibrant and offer the best quality of life for their residents. The best city environments are those which are tolerant and open-minded, celebrate diversity, have great universities and welcome creativity.

Having quality independent bookshops, green spaces and clean streets as well as efficient transportation systems are big pluses, too.

Back in summer 2007 when Monocle was still just a few months old, the London-based monthly briefing that's become a "must-read" – and a favorite of mine – through its focus on global affairs, business, culture and design, launched its inaugural "Quality of Life" survey, naming the best global cities to call home. Munich was the first No. 1. This year, it's Tokyo reigning at the top for the second consecutive year in the 10th year that Monocle has conducted its "Quality of Life" survey. It's both a source of pride for the cities who make the top 25 list – like receiving a prestigious Michelin star – and every year seems to unearth a surprise or two or three.

Monocle: A briefing on Global Affairs,
Business, Culture & Design.

Over the years, Monocle has added new metrics that take into account both intangibles and infrastructure – from nightlight to pet-friendly parks – which have led to some dramatic changes and brought about a new world order.

"We add to the metrics each year and this time we've measured cities' nocturnal qualities too, from closing times to the places that still serve a good meal after 22.00," wrote Monocle executive editor Steve Bloomfield in a preface to this year's "Quality of Life" survey. "Despite these new metrics, when looking back over the previous surveys it's striking to see how the fundamentals of what makes a livable city have remained the same.

"Among the metrics we still count the number of murders and break-ins, and the average response times of emergency services – because if your city isn't safe it doesn't matter how many art galleries there are. We still grade cities on their transport network too, from infrastructure to cost. Cities that encourage cycling and make it cheap and easy to use public transport continue to score well. So too do those that make it easy to get away; the best cities are connected to the rest of the world. And we still judge our cities on their food, drink and retail – the quality, not just the quantity. Those with a high number of independent bookshops prosper; those with a high number of Starbucks less so."

Bloomfield concludes: "The most livable cities are safe, affordable and exciting. And that will probably still be the case in another decade's time."

While London, Paris and Rome remain three of the biggest tourist destinations in the world, their popularity doesn't necessarily translate into great places to live. Hint: none of the Big three made Monocle's top 25 cities list.

Here are Monocle's top 25 cities in this year's "Quality of Life" survey:

•  1. Tokyo, Japan
•  2. Berlin, Germany
•  3. Vienna, Austria
•  4. Copenhagen, Denmark
•  5. Munich, Germany
•  6. Melbourne, Australia
•  7. Fukuoka, Japan
•  8. Sydney, Australia
•  9. Kyoto, Japan
•10. Stockholm, Sweden
•11. Vancouver, B.C. (Canada)
•12. Helsinki, Finland
•13. Zürich, Switzerland
•14. Madrid, Spain
•15. Hamburg, Germany
•16. Lisbon, Portugal
•17. Düsseldorf, Germany
•18. Hong Kong
•19. Barcelona, Spain
•20. Singapore
•21. Amsterdam, Netherlands
•22. Auckland, New Zealand
•23. Honolulu, Hawaii (USA)
•24. Portland, Oregon (USA)
•25. Montréal, Quebec (Canada)

Of the 25 cities, I have experienced seven of them: Copenhagen, Vancouver, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Honolulu, Portland and Montréal. I've been a return visitor to Vancouver, Amsterdam and Portland numerous times and there's much to enjoy in each of these cities. Vancouver was a welcoming host for both the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the 2015 Women's World Cup football championships and I'm glad to have experienced both events as well as both winter and summer weather in Vancouver.

In justifying Tokyo's No. 1 ranking, Monocle wrote: "... the city's round-the-clock economy is a key feature that makes it one of the most attractive places to live and visit. With a conveniently located international airport open 24 hours a day, bookshops that open at 07.00 and close at 04.00, and restaurants and shops that never close, Tokyo recognizes the pull of being open all hours."

On religion: Finding spirituality through nature

Peaceful summer morning / Stanley Park, Vancouver, B.C.

Summer vacation is a time of the year when many of us take advantage of our beautiful natural resources. We enjoy escaping urban environments in favor of wide open spaces. 

It should come as no surprise, then, that our beaches, lakes, hills and mountains provide us with a much-needed respite from our busy, fast-paced lives.

However, one thing I recently learned that may come as a surprise to you is this: Nature may have a profound effect on our religiosity. 

Golden Gate Bridge /
San Francisco, California.

In an NPR "Cosmos & Culture" commentary penned by Barbara J. King, which I recently read on the NPR website, she noted that in U.S. counties with warm winters, temperate summers and beautiful natural resources -- sounds to me like she's describing the San Francisco Bay Area -- "people's rates of affiliation with religious organizations are lower than in other places, according to a new study."

Fountain Lake /
Albert Lea, Minnesota.

King is an anthropology professor at the College of William and Mary who often writes about human evolution, primate behavior and the cognition and emotion of animals. In her commentary, she cited a study by Todd W. Ferguson and Jeffrey A. Tamburello of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, who wrote in the journal Sociology of Religion: "Natural amenities can be considered as a resource for spirituality that has the power to satisfy some people's need for inspiration, awe and divine connection ... 

Mount Rainier / On a clear day,
you can see it from Seattle.

"When a person hikes in a forest to connect with the sacred, she or he may not feel the need to affiliate with a religious organization because her or his spiritual demands are met." 

Imagine that! God is competing against Mother Nature on Sundays for our spiritual attention.

King writes: "Worshipping God, affiliating with a religious organization and experiencing a sense of spirituality may all overlap -- but certainly they're not the same." She asks: "How do the Baylor researchers distinguish these dimensions, and how did they measure an area's natural resources?" 

Allium summer flowers.

Good food for thought, definitely, and King seeks to answer these questions through breaking down what the Baylor researchers have written in their study.

Granted, not everyone who we see outdoors soaking up nature -- whether it be absorbing sunshine at the beach, jogging around a city lake, hiking through foothills or climbing mountains -- is communing with the sacred. 

However, I think it's pretty cool to know that it's a spiritual experience for us to encounter the sacred in nature.

All photographs by Michael Dickens © 2015.

Is Amazon's company culture innovative or punishing?

Amazon / More than just a dot.com that sells books and music.

The play story on the cover of Sunday's print edition of The New York Times, "Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace" by Jodi Kantor with help from David Streitfeld, has grabbed the nation's attention and lit up social media, but not necessarily for all the right reasons. According to Kantor, Amazon is conducting an experiment in how far it can push its force of white-collar workers in order to get them to achieve its ever-expanding ambitions.

Amazon is the U.S.'s biggest retailer with a market capitalization of $250 billion -- bigger than Wal-Mart and Target -- and most of us know this dot-com powerhouse from being consumers. Indeed, they've come a long way since being just an online retailer for books and music. Now, it's possible to buy over 20 million items -- from Amazon's Kindle to digital cameras to even toilet paper -- and if you're willing to pay the price for Amazon Prime, you can have it delivered the next day.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos

Part of the success that Seattle-based Amazon has enjoyed starts with its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who is the fifth-richest man in the world -- yes, the world. According to Kantor, part of Bezos's success can be attributed to his inventing a way to get the most out of every employee. Yet, while some may look at his management style as draconian, others consider some of the data-driven tactics and practices coupled with the passive-aggressive work environment he's promoted at Amazon as innovative and fascinating.

One thing's for sure, Amazon has a reputation for having hard-working employees. "They do pride themselves on being a tough culture," said Kantor on Monday in an interview with American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, which aired nationwide via NPR. "You know Bezos tells people 'This is a culture of working incredibly hard.' They use the phrase 'unreasonably high' to describe their standards and expectations."

According to Kantor, who interviewed current and former employees over the past six months which included several executives, employees value a lot of aspects about Amazon, including the fact that "it's a culture of innovation, there isn't a lot of red tape, relatively junior people can have a lot of responsibility." However, in reading her damning Sunday story in The New York Times about Amazon's company culture, it came across to me -- and I'm sure was noticeable to everyone -- that Amazon's employees are being hurt by the harsh company culture. "I found that in most of our interviews, we were talking to people who really loved aspects of working for the company, but they were struggling with this kind of punishing culture," she said during her "Marketplace" interview.

Among the practices which Kantor cited that upset Amazon employees included how team members had to compete with one another. "Team members are ranked against each other," said Kantor. "It's a very competitive atmosphere." Yet, because of this, it has morphed into an uncomfortable working environment. Imagine, because of this particular directness, it's possible to send secret negative feedback about your peers to your peers' bosses. While the bosses see who it's from, other workers are not privy to this information.

On Monday, Mr. Bezos responded to The New York Times article about Amazon's uncompromising attitude and hard-hitting management style, saying "I don't think any company adopting the approach portrayed could survive, much less thrive, in today's highly competitive tech hiring market."

In a letter to Amazon's 180,000 employees, Mr. Bezos added: "I strongly believe that anyone working in a company that really is like the one described in the NYT would be crazy to stay. I know I would leave such a company.

"But hopefully, you don't recognize the company described. Hopefully, you're having fun working with a bunch of brilliant teammates, helping invent the future, and laughing along the way."

It became very apparent from reading Kantor's article that work-life balance -- the "Amazon way" that promotes climbing the wall after you've hit the wall -- skews towards employees who rank their work life more important than their personal life. Amazon, by all accounts, has perfected a balance between pushing its employees to the brink -- driven to tears amid a climate of fear -- while making sure they haven't hit their breaking point.

I can imagine Amazon employees asking themselves the following questions: "Is this right for me? Do I really want to work this way?"

Where do you draw the line?

If anything, after reading The New York Times article, I hope it brings the debate about workplace culture into the open and starts a public discussion about Amazon.

Listen to Jodi Kantor's "Marketplace" interview:
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/amazons-company-culture-innovative-or-punishing

Read the New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0

Photos and images: Courtesy of Google Images.

Quality of Life: Naming the best places to call home

No. 1 Tokyo / Provides great quality of life for those who live and visit.

"What makes the good life and where can we find it?" asks Monocle, the global affairs and culture magazine that's published in London. While great cities adapt and change like their residents, it's worth asking: How do we create cities that deliver quality of life for everyone?

Stanley Park / Vancouver, B.C. 

It's no secret that the best cities in the world are ones which are vibrant and offer the best quality of life for their residents. The best city environments are those which are tolerant and open-minded, celebrate diversity, have great universities and welcome creativity. Having quality independent bookshops, green spaces and clean streets as well as efficient transportation systems are big pluses, too.

In summer 2007 when the magazine was still just a few months old, Monocle launched its inaugural Quality of Life list, naming the best global cities to call home. Munich was the first No. 1. Over the years, its added new metrics that take into account both intangibles and infrastructure which have led to some dramatic changes and brought about a new world order. While London, Paris and Rome remain three of the biggest tourist destinations in the world, their popularity doesn't necessarily translate into great places to live.

Place de la Concorde / Paris

"Now we know we are not the only people to draw up a ranking of great metropolises but ours is different," writes Monocle editor Andrew Tuck, in the preface to this year's Quality of Life list. "For a start we ensure that we are not just looking at data about the quality of education or the cleanliness of the streets but also the softer elements that inspire you to make a city your base: cinemas, bars, opening hours. And while much of our survey is pretty data-driven we are happy to say that a good amount comes from the views of our correspondents and editors. And it is also tilted to our readers' needs; we know, for example, that while that Alpine city is cute it's also woefully disconnected and lacks even a modest airport -- so it's not in the running for us."

This year, Monocle also took into account another annoyance: "cities where the cost of living prohibits old bookshops from staying in business or young entrepreneurs finding a start-up space." I guess that's why San Francisco didn't make the Top 25 and Portland, Oregon did.

So, when the ninth annual Quality of Life list was published in Monocle's July/August issue, a new number one emerged for 2015 -- say hello to world No. 1 Tokyo.

On Tokyo, Monocle wrote: "A new and worthy winner. Monocle has made little secret of its love for Tokyo through the years and it does something no other global city can: provides great quality of life for those who live and visit. London and New York, take note.

"Tokyo has appealed to many outsiders and for many different reasons: its cleanliness, tolerance, politeness and difference, as well as its sheer scale, which has always allowed foreigners to bathe in comfortable anonymity. ... It was recently identified as the world's safest city, a stereotype that residents can happily attest to. ... At the heart of this unexpected sense of security is Tokyo's defining paradox: its heart-stopping size and concurrent feeling of peace and quiet."

Powell's City of Books / Portland, Oregon

Monocle asked its contributors, which included architects, chefs, writers and directors, to consider what draws them to their favorite cities and what quality of life means to them.

"Quality of life is ... simple pleasures," wrote Mari Shapiro, founding director of Protocinema, which creates contemporary-art exhibitions. "What makes life good is simultaneously a very simple and complicated question. It is about being in a city that allows you to do or have what makes you happy. Ultimately, this issue often comes down to class and economy and the cities with the best quality of life are those in which the basic pleasures -- to be safe, to have the time to enjoy food, to be engaged with culture, with friends and family -- are available to people of any means. At the top of my list is Istanbul: a strong cay or a grilled fish for a few lira by the Bosphorus is available to anyone."

Bloemenmarkt / Amsterdam 

One thing Monocle hopes, as in previous years, is that the Quality of Life list provokes a stimulating and lively debate.

At the very least, for me, it's always interesting to pour over the list and see how many of the cities I've visited in person -- six (Vancouver, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Paris, Amsterdam and Portland).


Here is Monocle's 2015 Quality of Life ranking of the top 25 cities in the world:

• 1. Tokyo
• 2. Vienna
• 3. Berlin
• 4. Melbourne
• 5. Sydney
• 6. Stockholm
• 7. Vancouver
• 8. Helsinki
• 9. Munich
• 10. (tie) Zürich and Copenhagen
• 12. Fukuoka
• 13. Singapore
• 14. Kyoto
• 15. Paris
• 16. Madrid
• 17. Auckland
• 18. Lisbon
• 19. Hong Kong
• 20. Amsterdam
• 21. Hamburg
• 22. Geneva
• 23. Oslo
• 24. Barcelona
• 25. Portland

To watch a film on the Monocle Quality of Life Survey 2015:
http://monocle.com/film/affairs/the-monocle-quality-of-life-survey-2015/

Photographs: Tokyo - Google Images; Amsterdam, Paris, Portland, and Vancouver by Michael Dickens © 2012 and 2015.

A fast charging, cleaner solution

Electric cars are full of possibilities. From a pure environmental standpoint, they seem to make sense. Now, as interest and demand increases for electric vehicles, so does the need for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

EV charging station
at the Emeryville
Public Market in
Emeryville, Calif.

Recently, I came across a new EV charging station while driving into the parking lot of the Emeryville Public Market, a 14-acre mixed-use site that includes a popular international food court, shops, cafes and movie theaters. At first glance, what looked like a high-tech gas pump quickly grabbed my attention. Then, as I got closer to this EV charging station, it fueled my curiosity once I realized what it wasn't. I parked my fuel-injected, foreign-made automobile near the EV charging station and, immediately, began taking notes.

NRG eVgo (pronounced ee-vee-go) has created the nation's first privately funded, comprehensive EV ecosystem. The company's name is prominently displayed on its EV charging station pumps. According to the company's website, NRG eVgo provides "electric car charging solutions directly to electric car owners as well as businesses looking to serve the EV charging needs of their residents, tenants, employees or customers."

NRG eVgo wants to reframe the way in which Californians think about electric cars. Its goal is providing drivers with cleaner transportation solutions.

A Business Wire report last week noted that NRG eVgo, which is a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc., has partnerships and agreements in place to build more than 200 fast-charging "Freedom Station" charging sites throughout California. (NRG eVgo also serves EV drivers and businesses in Texas and the greater Washington, D.C. area.)

Currently, NRG has 46 electric vehicle charging sites operational, under construction or currently being permitted in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego. This includes the one in Emeryville, which borders Oakland and Berkeley, that's located across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco.

"We are making great progress building a comprehensive infrastructure that will make owning an electric vehicle even more convenient and fun," Terry O'Day, Vice President of NRG eVgo in California, told Business Wire. "As this network is built out, it will make buying an EV attractive to even more drivers across California."

Electric vehicle changing station /
A faster charging, cleaner solution
that improves air quality.

By the end of 2016, the eVgo Freedom Station network is expected to support California EV drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as the Los Angeles Basin, greater San Diego and the San Joaquin Valley (which includes the cities of Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto and Stockton) in central California. The company, which is investing over $100 million in California alone, is gaining the support of public, home and workplace solutions such as retail shopping centers and apartment complexes in expanding its marketplace of locations, which would add a lot of convenience for drivers with EVs.

With an expanded network, NRG eVgo envisions "improved air quality, less dependence on foreign oil, a lower total cost of ownership of vehicles and a better, cleaner California." On paper, it all adds up to a fast charging, cleaner solution to how we use energy and think about our environment. At least, seeing EV charging stations might help to foster how people think about, buy and use energy.

Photos by Michael Dickens, © 2014.

Form + function + green technology = meeting the aesthetic and environmental needs of a city

"Seismic Wave" / Waiting for the Muni
Metro N Judah train at the corner
of Carl and Cole in San Francisco. 

The city of San Francisco has enjoyed a history of environmental sustainability and it prides itself on being a city of inclusion, too.

Reflecting these values are the colorful and artistic "Seismic Wave" Muni transit shelters that have sprouted up all around the City since the first one debuted on Geary and Arguello Boulevards in 2009. By the end of this year, there will be about 1,000 transit shelters that are making use of innovative solar technology and design.

In the words of former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who oversaw the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the first of the new transit shelters nearly four years ago, they "will make getting around this beautiful city easier and greener."

On a recent visit to the City, I rode the Muni Metro train from Embarcadero Station to Golden Gate Park to see the Rudolf Nureyev exhibit at the de Young Fine Arts Museum. During my nearly half-hour ride, I noticed several of these aesthetically-pleasing transit shelters dotting the N Judah route.

On my return trip downtown, I encountered one of the hip, "seismic wave" shelters up close at the corner of Carl and Cole Streets, across from the Crepes on Cole cafe where I had stopped for lunch, in the heart of the City's Cole Valley neighborhood.

I didn't mind that my wait for the next N Judah train would be eight minutes because it gave me time to study and admire the "Seismic Wave's" design and function.

A poster inside one of the shelter's display panels caught my attention: "Form and function combine with green technology to create a compelling, iconic structure designed to meet the aesthetic and environmental needs of a City at the forefront of new age technology."

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) touts its new "Seismic Wave" transit shelters as "the most sustainable shelter under the sun."

It's easy to see how and why.

Among the shelter's many "green" features" according to the SFMTA are:

• Solar-powered photovoltaic cells can generate up to 100 watts of electricity -- enough to power high efficiency fluorescent backlit information panels, super efficient rooftop lighting and NextBus and Push to Talk technologies.
• Up to 40 percent of all energy captured can be recycled back into the power grid.
• Wave-shaped plastic canopy composed of 40 percent post-industrial recycled content.
• Galvanized steel beams created with 60 to 70 percent reclaimed product.

Other features include: ergonomically-designed seats for up to six customers and steel support columns that can vary in length to accommodate San Francisco's hilly terrain.

In a 2009 interview with sf.streetsblog.org., project designer designer Olle Lundberg said it's been fun leaving his signature on the city. Lundberg Design, a local architect, was selected in a competition to design the civic project.

"We've done some really beautiful buildings in the city, but honestly nothing will have the same impact as (1000) of these will," said Lundberg. "These are going to be everywhere and are going to be this kind of icon. I do hope that they become part of the street vocabulary of San Francisco."

Indeed, form + function + green technology = meeting the aesthetic and environmental needs of a city -- the City.

"Seismic Wave" photograph by Michael Dickens, copyright 2013. All rights reserved.