I spent two weeks starting December 22 in the San Diego area, so I missed most of the wind and rain that barreled through northern California during the holiday season. I did return to catch the second half of the smaller, follow-on storm that occurred from January 3 to 4, though. While the San Diego area did get a relatively large amount of rain and wind while we were there, based on what I observed while monitoring conditions from afar I was glad to have not been in Redwood City during the storms. I have an internet-connected backyard weather station, and between it and a few cameras that I have, I was able to reassure myself that my house was still intact and that a tree hadn’t fallen on it. Of course, my neighbors would have alerted me to any serious issues, but there is nothing like being able to check for oneself.

Our house is near Sequoia Hospital, at the base of the western hills. Those hills generally seem to do a good job of protecting our place from the worst of the winds. While the weather forecasts were predicting some fairly powerful gusts, according to my weather station the highest wind gust we received the entire time we were away was 26.2 mph, on January 2 (on Christmas eve day, the winds apparently peaked at 25.1 mph). As for rainfall, our yard saw 6.6 inches (total) over the two weeks we were gone, which is a lot for us, but not so much that we would have had any serious problems. I am pleased to note that as of today, for our current “water year” (which starts October 1) we’ve had just a tad shy of 12 inches, which is a healthy amount. Last year on this date I had only recorded 7.4 inches, and the year before that (2024) I had recorded 6.2 inches. Then again, in 2023, by January 9 we had received nearly 19 inches of rain. And as most of you probably know, what we receive on the ground here in the Bay Area is far less important than our snowfall accumulation, which so far this year has been quite pitiful: our temperatures have been too high, so much of what has fallen up in the Sierras has been in the form of rain, and not snow. Hopefully that situation will improve: we get around 30% of our water from our yearly snowpack…

Enough on the weather. The fact that I was away from Redwood City for two weeks meant that when I went out walking this week, I was hoping to see some real changes. And while there were indeed some, two weeks, when compared with my usual one week, didn’t really make all that much of a difference. I did, however, return right when the tides were especially high, making walking out east of the highway more interesting than usual. Here, for instance, is what the section of Redwood Creek where Docktown Marina used to be looked like on Tuesday afternoon:

That’s about as high as I’ve ever seen it. And walking along the path that runs behind the large project now underway where the Century Park 12 Theatres used to be, nearly all of Bair Island was under water:

That bit you can see running through the center of the image is the trail that runs along the eastern edge of Inner Bair Island. Some years ago, when the island was restored to its more natural state, that trail was elevated somewhat, presumably to keep it above high water. Normally you can see quite a bit of the island itself behind that trail, but when I was there the island was pretty much invisible: it seemed as if I was looking out into the center of the bay.

I regularly walk along this trail to get a good look at the 557 E. Bayshore (Syfuy) project, which ultimately will consist of two large apartment buildings and a VillaSport fitness club. Right now, all of the work is focused on building the northern apartment building, which in my absence did make some good progress:

The concrete parking garage is up to four levels now, with just one more to go. On this side of the project a few of the second floor apartments (all of the wooden framing) have been framed up, with three more levels to go. And in the center of the building, between what will be two protruding wings of apartments, there is now some steel framing that will support the resident’s double-height fitness center and rec room:

Around the other side of the project, along E. Bayshore Road, the openings in the garage walls (up against which the apartments will sit) and are being filled in with concrete blocks, and the apartments that will line the freeway-facing side of the building are also being framed up (but so far only at the first level):

Finally, the southern end of the parcel — which borders on the property where the various Boardwalk automotive dealerships are located — is where the VillaSport fitness club will be located. So far, the driveway that will run behind the fitness club and make its way out to the second of the two apartment buildings has been graded flat, and the the area (just to the left of the driveway) where the fitness club will be located looks ready for foundation work:

So far, though, no actual construction on the club has yet taken place.

On Veterans Boulevard, at Brewster Avenue, nearly all of the windows have been installed in the building that will one day soon be a 91-room Hampton Inn hotel:

Down at the Broadway Village project (at Broadway and Chestnut Street), the exterior of the large building that stands along Broadway looks to be complete (interior work likely continues, however). Along Broadway the driveway and sidewalk seem to be the focus of the action, at least outside of the building. Even the back side of this large building, viewed from Bay Road,  looks complete:

One of the last things I’d been waiting for was the finishing up of the entrance to that building’s childcare center. That has now been done (the orange area at the center of the image). With the affordable housing building along Chestnut Street having been completed first (resident move-in should take place this month), that only leaves the third building, which stands along Bay Road, to be completed — and that building’s exterior is nearly done:

While I was there I watched as a backhoe with a jackhammer attachment was tearing up what remained of the sidewalk on that side of Bay Road, presumably in preparation for the installation of the new sidewalk extending from Chestnut Street to a point just off the right edge of the above photograph.

South of the Broadway Village development, I as usual checked in on the progress of Stanford Health Care’s latest building, a nine-story medical office building being constructed at 500 Broadway. The steel framing is done, and when I was concrete was being pumped to the building’s upper levels, presumably for the floors (atop which will be laid carpet, tile, or whatever):

On Vera Avenue, just off El Camino Real, work continues on the foundation for the seven-story affordable apartment building that will soon loom over its neighbors:

I now see that this foundation is going to take a while: it is quite complex. From the rebar I can tell that it’ll be pretty thick (which makes sense, given that the foundation needs to support a seven-story building) and of course will contain a rather complex set of conduits and pipes. Plus, the foundation needs to be extended nearly to the sidewalk (where I am standing), and a well needs to be formed for the front elevator (I presume that is what the round hole surrounded by white sandbags is for; it seems to be in the right place based on the preliminary plans I have), so there is still much work to be done before concrete can be poured. Once the foundation has been poured, however, and cured, the fun will really begin, since this building will be composed of modular components and thus should rise up rather quickly.

Walking up Vera Avenue takes one to Red Morton Park, where of course the Veterans Memorial Building/Senior Center stands pretty much complete, but not yet open (and still seemingly being tinkered with). Surely it is nearly to the finish line: all of the signage seems to be in place now, down to the address marker:

Those are the highlights of my walk this week, which was absolutely delightful: it was a bit cold out, but the sun periodically peeked out from behind some local overcast. It felt incredibly good to be back home and walking through the city again. Next week, though, I’m going to have to think of somewhere else to walk: given how little changed over the past two weeks, a repeat visit next week would likely not reveal much new of significance. It’s probably time again to walk beyond Redwood City, perhaps into San Carlos or North Fair Oaks. But I’ll decide that later, after I’ve had a weekend resting, protesting, and visiting friends.

If you are as upset about the recent activity in Minneapolis and then, just the next day, in Portland, Oregon, consider attending one or both of the Indivisible rallies that will be taking place in Redwood City. The first rally, “ICE Out for Good,” will take place tomorrow, January 10, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the intersection of El Camino Real and Jefferson Avenue. Information is here, but there is little to know other than the date, time, and location: everyone is welcome to just show up and help swell the crowd. But if you are willing, do sign up both to help the organizers get a better count of the number of attendees, and to give them your email address so that you can be informed of future such events. The second of which, by the way, will be taking place at the same time and at the same intersection just one week later, on January 17. That one — No War on Venezuela — is focused on, well, the recent and possible future actions on the part of the US in Venezuela.

On Monday, January 12, the Redwood City Council, at its regular public meeting, will be holding a study session on the “Greater Downtown Area Plan Draft Vision Framework.” Community members are encouraged to attend in order to learn more about the city’s current vision for the expanded downtown area, and to (optionally) provide feedback. The meeting will commence at 6 p.m., and will take place in the City Hall Council Chambers at 1017 Middlefield Ave. Of course, you need not attend in person: you can either watch the meeting live, online, or watch it after the fact. For information on connecting via Zoom, or for watching on local cable channels, see the meeting agenda and supporting information. To watch it after the fact, head to the City Council Meetings, Agendas, and Minutes web page.