Geo 301 Revisiting a Great Memory

Connor Aguilera

Zachary Lauffenburger

Geog 301

May 5, 2017

Revisiting a Great Memory

Introduction

        When moving to San Francisco, many people picture a concrete jungle. A place that is unforgiving and will move forward with or without you. I know this because that is exactly how I felt when moving here. It’s a big change from the slower paced SoCal town I lived in. After a long day of exploring the city I walked and stumbled upon the Presidio of San Francisco. I was taken back by its slower pace and its greenery that surrounds you on most sides. Since that day, the presidio has been a place I go to in order to slow down and take time for myself. On Saturday April 22, I took my girlfriend to the Presidio of San Francisco as part of our celebration for our 1 year anniversary. This spot was where we had one of our first dates and it holds a special place in both of our hearts.

        The history of this location is something that is undoubtedly diverse. Offering a background in major historical events as well as a background of environmental preservation. This site is very important in the Bay Area’s environment. It is one of the first parts of SF to be in partnership with the National Park Service as well as a place that is dedicated to showing the beauty of the city we live in. Whether it’s through its luscious green grass and tall trees, or its historical backstory, this slice of San Francisco is a place that has many great things to offer to the Bay Area and its environment.

Discussion

        Depending on how you get to the Presidio, you are greeted with tall, stunning trees or the view of the bay, ocean, or the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge. Walking the grounds, you see that the Presidio’s history is apparent and embraced. Starting as a fortified location for New Spain in 1776, it was later passed onto Mexico who then gave it to the United States in 1848. It was then decommissioned in 1989, no longer making it an active military installation of the U.S. Army. In 1996 the United States Congress created the Presidio Trust to work on the inner land and nature while the National Park Service managed the coasts.

        In regards to our class, the Presidio of San Francisco is very important and interesting. When visiting the Crissy Field Center, an environmental education center located on the Presidio grounds, I noticed the push the facility takes to remain both environmentally conscious and environmentally green. Just outside the facility are about 5 or so wind turbines that generate energy from the kinetic, circular motion they move in. Open air windows along with plenty of natural light exposed these grounds to the perfect opportunity to embrace the sunny days by using it for indoor lighting with a skylight in addition to helping the  environment around the area grow more foliage.

While walking the grounds of the Presidio, I never noticed before how much cooler the area surrounding the slew of orange and white buildings was. I was finally able to connect that this northern part of the San Francisco Peninsula can be classified as a microclimate. While researching my theory further, I noticed a trend in the area. I opened and used the Wundermap from the WUnderground website that was used in our microclimate lab in order to get a better historical reading of the weather in the Presidio area versus the entirety of San Francisco. I noticed that most days out of the last 5 days reported, the Presidio had an average of around 60 degrees Fahrenheit while downtown was around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The northern part of the peninsula is an average of about 10-15 degrees cooler than other parts of San Francisco. It was definitely a fun way to tie in a few things I have learned in this course and attribute that knowledge to a place that I love.