Coming Soon: Streetsblog California

Following the launch of Streetsblog in Texas, Ohio, Saint Louis, and the Southeast, we have more good news to bring. Starting in early April, Streetsblog will launch its newest news site, Streetsblog California.

Screen Shot 2015-02-11 at 10.17.03 AMSBCA will feature Melanie Curry’s coverage of policy issues in Sacramento and around the state and some of the work being done in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The site will also feature writing by a network of reporters throughout the state in areas that don’t have a Streetsblog.

As part of the grant from The California Endowment that will allow us to launch the new Streetsblog, we’ll be hiring a writer in Fresno to cover the Livable Streets beat in the Central and San Joaquin Valleys.

We’ll have a lot more news on the site as it develops. In the meantime, check out and share the job announcement for the Fresno writer after the jump.

Part-Time Writer for Streetsblog California

Job Description

We are looking for a professional journalist for a part-time position based in Fresno or elsewhere in the Central Valley to be a local correspondent for Streetsblog California. The position will be expected to provide regular coverage of local transportation projects including but not limited to bicycle and pedestrian planning, transit service, high speed rail, urban planning, and other issues.

Responsibilities

The main responsibility will be to develop and report on the Livable Streets beat. While the position starts as a part-time position, we are working on bringing in more funding to expand the position and hope to work with the writer to bring on more funders and more advertisers, and perhaps grow it to a full-time position sometime in the future.

But the main responsibility of the writer is to write for Streetsblog. The writer should produce between six and ten Streetsblog-quality stories every month.

Qualifications

The winning applicant will have a history and track record of publishing high-quality news articles and have a working knowledge of the culture, politics, history, and urban design of Fresno and the Central Valley.

How to Apply

Send an email to damien@streetsblog.org with a resume, writing sample, and cover letter.

  • Juan Matute

    This is exciting news!

  • Alex Brideau III

    I was thinking it was high time for a statewide Streetsblog. While the writer will be hired to cover the Fresno market, will Streetsblog CA also import some livable streets article feeds from publications in Sacramento, San Diego, and other medium-sized cities (similar to what’s being done with Streetsblog TX and Ohio)?

  • Fakey McFakename

    This is great! I hope it will provide a good opportunity for Streetsblog to do some work on improving statewide policy – I’d love to see some more discussion about how we might go about removing auto-centric rules from state laws and regulations.

    After all, this is a state where a lot of forms of speeding enforcement are illegal under state laws passed in the 50s, where cities can’t reduce speed limits for safety reasons, and where jaywalking laws apply even in areas where vehicle traffic is not impeded (e.g., crossing a street with no traffic). Streetsblog should think about how we would rewrite these laws if we were in charge.

    Similarly, a Streetsblog California should address aspects of statewide land use policy. For example, there’s nothing that requires cities to meet the state’s emissions reductions targets as part of their general plan and zoning rules. That leads to pro-sprawl, unwalkable zoning. I’d love to see Streetsblog discuss ways to make state land use law more sustainability-oriented.

  • Gezellig

    Awesome news! There’s some really cool stuff going on all over the state that is ripe for reporting.

    –> For example, take protected intersections. Both Davis and Sacramento are reportedly at least considering them in a few places:

    http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/is-davis-ready-to-go-dutch/

    http://www.davisenterprise.com/files/2014/10/Dutch-IntersectionW-790×1024.jpg

    https://gettingaroundsac.wordpress.com/2014/12/22/protected-intersections/

    This would be a first in the US and one of the first outside the Netherlands. And all in the Sacramento area!

    –> San Luis Obispo recently mandated that city infrastructure spending should be exactly commensurate to its desired modal share splits:

    http://www.bikewalkalliance.org/storage/DelNE.AuSt.76.jpg

    This is HUGE:

    “This policy mandates that our city must allocate general fund transportation spending at the same ratio as the mode share goal desired. Meaning 20 percent of funding needs to go to bicycling.

    This is a huge shift from business as usual in America.”

    http://slobikelane.org/powerful-bike-funding-policy-nation/

    –> Even more standard stuff like a crucial protected bike lane on a crazy busy arterial over a freeway in Modesto often gets overlooked simply because it’s not in LA or SF (if this happened in SF we’d be celebrating it for weeks on SF Streetsblog):

    http://www.modbee.com/incoming/gj8cns/picture2884996/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/3qAGJ.So.11.jpeg

    http://www.modbee.com/news/local/article3173439.html#/tabPane=tabs-b0710947-1-1

    There’s so much going on–can’t wait to see all the reporting!

  • We’re working on it.

  • The San Joaquin Valley is part of the Central Valley. I think you mean the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys.

  • Sirinya Matute

    Yay yay yay!
    And thank you to all of the readers, foundations and supporters of Streetsblog who are making this possible.

  • Annoyed

    I hope she manages to focus on more than bikes – like Capitol Corridor or MetroRail issues. The SF Streetsblog should be renamed “SF Bikesblog”. Aaron’s singular interest and bias is getting tired.

  • QueerNation

    Wonderful!

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