About Steve McKee

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24 12, 2009

Why we travel: The hidden Puerto Vallarta is there for the taking – PART 4

By |2009-12-24T06:13:32+00:00December 24th, 2009|The Mexico house, Travel Tales, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Why we travel: The hidden Puerto Vallarta is there for the taking – PART 4

After the rain ended earlier in the day, the evening stroll through downtown Puerto Vallarta was especially delightful. The cobbled streets were just wet enough to reflect the different color lights from the restaurants and shops. Here was Vallarta, an old friend, looking as good as ever. I was there alone for a four day trip to finalize the sale of my parent’s winter home – the house that I had personally designed and helped build for them over twenty years ago in a village a half hour north of PV. Between the occasional lawyer meetings there was enough time [...]

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1 12, 2009

How we lost our bit of paradise to someone’s greed – PART 3

By |2009-12-01T06:14:57+00:00December 1st, 2009|The Mexico house, Uncategorized|Comments Off on How we lost our bit of paradise to someone’s greed – PART 3

When it all went wrong, it was mind-boggling that someone could get away with something this wrong, something so totally unethical. But there they were, trucks and bulldozers, filling in our oceanfront with land fill. The bastards knew just what they were doing, too. It was all part of a massive effort to callously transform several hundred yards of Mexico coastline and make themselves millions of extra dollars in profit. For months and months trucks loaded with boulders rumbled by the front door while barges with huge dredging pumps created massive sand bars to fill in [...]

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25 10, 2009

The new rules for downtown

By |2009-10-25T06:16:06+00:00October 25th, 2009|Benicia, Uncategorized|Comments Off on The new rules for downtown

Owning a house or a building in downtown Benicia has long had its own set of extra rules that govern what you can and can’t do with your structure. In 2006 those rules were revisited and rewritten when the city hired an outside group of planning consultants to come in and lead a series of “design workshops” in which interested citizens could participate in discussion groups that would allow the planners to gain insight into the priorities of Benicians. Based on this input, as well as the planners’ own observations about the physical dynamics at work in Benicia, the planners [...]

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20 09, 2009

A remarkable San Francisco bike ride reveals the city

By |2009-09-20T06:17:49+00:00September 20th, 2009|Random observations, Uncategorized|Comments Off on A remarkable San Francisco bike ride reveals the city

One day of every month a massive group of bicycle riders assembles in downtown San Francisco in order to ride around the city as a group of cyclists so huge that it gets to take command of the streets and intersections. “Critical Mass” began seventeen years ago in San Francisco as a monthly ride to assert bicycle rights and the idea has since spread to hundreds of other cities. It is prominently known for being a leaderless group. No agenda is set, other than the time and place for the start of the ride. The politics of cycling aside, I [...]

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23 08, 2009

How to almost miss out on architecture school

By |2009-08-23T06:19:37+00:00August 23rd, 2009|At the School of Architecture, Uncategorized|Comments Off on How to almost miss out on architecture school

It was working out pretty good knowing by age eleven that I wanted to spend my life drawing up cool stuff. In fifth grade my buddy Paul and I had an unofficial “drawing club” where we assigned ourselves all these detailed drawings of jets and tanks and things like that. We would meet in the library at recess to admire each other’s effort. Our pal Bob was also sort of involved, though his drawings usually showed more “heart” than technical skill. We always found something to praise. I remember we each drew a cross section that showed a cutaway view [...]

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2 08, 2009

Visiting Italy in the movies

By |2009-08-02T06:21:09+00:00August 2nd, 2009|Travel Tales, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Visiting Italy in the movies

Can’t afford to visit Italy this summer, eh? If a flat economy has put a damper on travel plans, then you can do the next best thing and visit vicariously, and do so from the comfort of your own home. All with help of movie magic. I’m quite fond of that certain sunny peninsula – you know, the one shaped like a boot – so I had the idea of listing the most engaging movies on that subject. Of course I then had to watch a wide variety of movies. (Thanks Netflix.) All in the line of duty as a [...]

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