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Textbook Ebook Data Science Applied To Sustainability Analysis Jennifer B Dunn All Chapter PDF
Textbook Ebook Data Science Applied To Sustainability Analysis Jennifer B Dunn All Chapter PDF
Edited by
JENNIFER B. DUNN
Northwestern-Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering,
Evanston, IL, USA; Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience,
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA; Chemical and Biological
Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
PRASANNA BALAPRAKASH
Northwestern-Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering, Evanston,
IL; Math and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory,
Lemont, IL, USA
Elsevier
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Notices
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ISBN: 978-0-12-817976-5
Contributors ix
Introduction 17
What is adaptive management? 19
Creating value with AI 21
The impact technology canvas: synchronizing AI initiatives 24
Summary 26
References 27
Introduction 29
Case studies 32
Conclusion 38
References 40
Introduction 81
Materials and methods 82
Results 87
Conclusion and discussion 99
Acknowledgments 100
Appendix 100
References 106
Introduction 109
A focus on distributed solar PV 110
Assessing rooftop PV potential across cities 112
Evaluating equity in rooftop PV deployment: a case study for the United States 117
Concluding remarks 124
References 125
Introduction 129
Fundamentals of photovoltaics 131
Data-driven materials discovery schemes 140
Case studies of solar materials discovery 146
Future outlook 161
References 162
Introduction 205
The methodological evolution of remote sensing 208
Using deep learning to identify CAFOs 216
Discussion 221
References 224
11. Towards achieving the UNs data revolution: combining earth observation
and socioeconomic data for geographic targeting of resources for the
sustainable development goals 229
Gary R. Watmough, Charlotte L.J. Marcinko
Introduction 255
Selecting and prioritizing indicators 258
Indicator datasets and data science considerations 259
Data analytics 264
Implications for society & policy 274
Conclusion 275
References 276
Introduction 283
Needs for data to enable data science in sustainability 283
Data sources 286
Data science advances 287
Conclusion 290
References 291
Index 293
Contributors
Mikaela Algren
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
Hossein Ataei
Department of Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at
Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Prasanna Balaprakash
Northwestern-Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering, Evanston, IL; Math and Computer
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA
Elisabeth N. Bui
CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Sergio Castellanos
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
Deboleena Chakraborty
Dow, Midland, MI, USA
Jacqueline M. Cole
Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue,
Cambridge, UK; ISIS Neutron and Muon Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory,
Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire, Didcot, UK; Department of Chemical
Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, West Cambridge Site, Philippa
Fawcett Drive, Cambridge, UK
Virginia H. Dale
University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN, USA
Maggie Davis
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Sybil Derrible
Department of Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago,
Chicago, IL, USA
Leon R. Devereux
Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue,
Cambridge, UK
Jennifer B. Dunn
Northwestern-Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering, Evanston, IL, USA; Center
for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA;
Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Rebecca A. Efroymson
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
ix
x Contributors
Wendy Fisher
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
Stefania Grimaldi
Monash University, Department of Civil Engineering, Clayton,VIC, Australia
Cassandra Handan-Nader
Department of Political Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Regulation, Evaluation,
and Governance Lab, Stanford, CA, USA
Richard K. Helling
Dow, Midland, MI, USA
Michael R. Hilliard
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Daniel E. Ho
Department of Political Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Institute
for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Stanford, CA, USA; Regulation, Evaluation, and
Governance Lab, Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford,
CA, USA; Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA, USA
Henriette Jager
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Daniel M. Kammen
University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Evgenia Kapousouz
Department of Public Administration, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Keith L. Kline
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Amy E. Landis
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
Larry Y. Liu
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Birmington, AL, USA
Charlotte L.J. Marcinko
School of Engineering, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Esther S. Parish
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Valentijn R.N. Pauwels
Monash University, Department of Civil Engineering, Clayton,VIC, Australia
Abolfazl Seyrfar
Department of Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at
Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Ashkan Shokri
Monash University, Department of Civil Engineering, Clayton,VIC, Australia
Deborah A. Sunter
Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
Contributors xi
Niraj Swami
Senior Director, Conservation Technology Strategy & Enablement at The Nature Conservancy,
Founding Partner, SCAD Ventures, Chicago, IL, USA
Gary R. Watmough
School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Ashley Wright
Monash University, Department of Civil Engineering, Clayton,VIC, Australia
Fei Xie
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
CHAPTER 1
Chapter Outlines
Data science is central to advances in sustainability 1
Types of sustainability analyses 6
Data science tools 7
Supervised learning 8
Unsupervised learning 9
Reinforcement learning 10
Tools 10
Overview of case studies in data science in sustainability 10
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without com-
promising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (World Commission on
Environment and Our Common, 1987)
For the purposes of this book, we intend the term sustainability to mean the poten-
tial for achieving a high quality of life in human, social, environmental, and economic
systems, both today and in the future.
For this potential to be realized, society must reach a point where air quality, water
quality, and soil health are robust and do not pose a threat to ecosystem or human health.
Air quality remains unsatisfactory globally, and is the fifth risk factor for global mortal-
ity in 2017, associated with 4.9 deaths (Fig. 1.1) and 147 million healthy life years lost.
(Health Effects Institute 2019) In addition, water quality globally is a challenge, with
only half of water bodies exhibiting good quality per United Nations Sustainability
Fig. 1.1 Number of deaths attributable to air pollution in 2017. Data source: Global Burden of Disease
Study 2017. IHME, 2018. (Health Effects Institute 2019).
Development Goal monitoring initiatives (Fig. 1.2). (UN Environment, 2018) In addi-
tion to air and water quality, soil quality has significant implications for human health
yet can suffer from pollution from industry, mining, or waste disposal. In Europe, sites
with likely soil contamination number 340,000 with only one-third of these under-
going detailed study and only 15 percent of those remediated. (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations 2015) In the US, the Environmental Protection
Agency has remediated 9.3 million ha of contaminated land with 160 contaminated
sites on the Superfund National Priorities List remaining to be evaluated and 49 new
sites proposed to be added to the list. In addition to contamination, other challenges
to soil sustainability include erosion and loss of organic carbon. (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations 2015)
Similarly, the abundance of energy, preferably produced from minimally polluting and
renewable resources, and clean water is essential for society’s survival. Like the quality of
air, water, and soil, energy and water use are closely tied to human activity. The world has
nearly tripled its energy consumption since 1971 (Fig. 1.3). (International Energy Agency.
IEA, 2020) Fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) continue to dominate the production of
energy with the attendant impacts from mining and extraction and subsequent combus-
tion of these sources which releases greenhouse gas emissions into the air which contain
carbon that had been long-sequestered in the earth. Combustion of fossil fuels diminishes
air quality. In addition to considering total energy production, it is important to evaluate
energy efficiency, which has only improved by 1.2 percent from 2017 to 2018. Improving
energy efficiency is one of the best strategies available to cutting energy consumption
Overview of data science and sustainability analysis 3
100%
90%
70%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Overall Rivers Open Water Groundwater
Bodies
Fig. 1.2 Proportion of water bodies with good ambient water quality (percent) in 2017 (UN Environ-
ment 2018).
and associated pollution. (International Energy Agency 2019) The production of energy,
along with many other activities, including agriculture consumes water. Correspondingly,
as the population has increased and clean water supplies have diminished, water scarcity
is a reality for approximately one-half of the global population. (Boretti and Rosa, 2019)
16,000
14,000
Energy (million tons oil equivalent)
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016
Coal Oil Natural gas Nuclear Hydro Biofuels and waste Other
Fig. 1.3 World total energy supply by source (million tons of oil equivalent). (International Energy
Agency. IEA, 2020).
4 Data science applied to sustainability analysis
Challenges faced in achieving sustainability include improving food and water secu-
rity, maintaining biodiversity, reducing air and water pollution, reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, increasing reuse and recycling, and increasing system-level efficiencies in
energy, urban, agricultural and industrial systems.
Furthermore, extracting and disposing of the materials we need to make the equip-
ment, devices, and food we need to run our society can be unsustainable, generating
pollution and operating without concern for the long-term availability of critical
materials. In fact, the very technologies society is relying on to address climate change,
including wind turbines, solar panels, and lithium-ion batteries, rely on metals (cobalt,
nickel, copper, rare earths) that are mined, often in developing countries where envi-
ronmental regulations are often insufficient to protect populations from exposure to
pollution in the air, water, and soil. (Sovacool et al., 2020)
Conserving natural lands is an important part of ensuring a healthy and productive
future for human society. Natural lands such as grasslands, wetlands, and forests provide
innumerable ecosystems services such as mitigating floods, sequestering carbon, and
enhancing biodiversity. Targeted conservation initiatives are required to slow the pace
and extent of extinction, improves environmental quality, and retain the inspirational
value of nature. (Balvanera, 2019)
Economic and consumer preference drivers often can favor technology and soci-
etal developments that advance towards sustainability, but law and policy are important
drivers as well. (Ashford and Hall, 2011) For example, one reason energy efficiency
gains have faltered (Fig. 1.4) is a lack of clear policy to advance energy efficiency.
(International Energy Agency 2019)
Finally, social well-being, in part as indicated by the portion of the world’s popula-
tion that has can viably provide food and other basic needs for themselves and their
3.5%
3.0%
2.5%
2.0%
1.5%
1.0%
0.5%
0.0%
2000-2009 2010-2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Fig. 1.4 Global Improvements in Primary Energy Intensity 2000–20186.
Overview of data science and sustainability analysis 5
900 100%
800 90%
700 80%
70%
Percent of People
600
Million People
60%
500
50%
400
40%
300 30%
200 20%
100 10%
0 0%
East Asia and Europe and Latin America Middle East South Asia Sub-Saharan World Total
Pacific Central Asia and the and Africa
Carribean North Africa
Population 2013 Population 2015 % 2013 % 2015
Fig. 1.5 Number of people and percent of population at the International Poverty Line of $1.90/day
(2011 PPP). (World Bank 2018)
6 Data science applied to sustainability analysis
could collect data that would support these efforts and use the results of these analyses in
policymaking. Additionally, this book could be used in data science and systems analysis
classrooms to provide case study examples, especially at the graduate student level.
In the remainder of this introductory chapter, we review different types of analy-
ses that guide our understanding of and action towards increasing sustainability. We
provide an overview of data science tools that can be used in sustainability analyses.
Finally, we introduce the different case studies readers will encounter in the remaining
chapters. We note that the concluding chapter of this book summarizes data gaps and
research needs for the further building of data science applications in sustainability
analysis.
Fig. 1.6 Examples of sustainability analysis types that are increasingly using data science techniques.
Overview of data science and sustainability analysis 7
designing membranes that exhibit less fouling in water treatment applications thereby
reducing energy and chemicals used in wastewater treatment to exploring next genera-
tion lithium-ion battery chemistries. Additionally, as the Industrial Internet of Things
continues to expand, analysts will apply data science techniques to identify opportuni-
ties to improve the energy, water, and material efficiency of industrial processes. Finally,
evaluating the progress of consumers’ adoption of technology that will be more energy
or water efficient, for example, is another important type of sustainability analysis. This
type of analysis could be based on earth observation data in the case of adoption of large
infrastructure or based on social media posts that indicate shifts in technology use in the
home, on the road, or in the workplace.
Two mainstays of sustainable systems analysis are life cycle assessment (LCA) and
materials flow analysis (MFA). Whereas LCA evaluates the environmental effects of a
product or process – from fuels to electronics to foods – MFA tracks the flows of com-
modities within a system boundary, which could be a city, a region, or a nation. LCA
and MFA are at the very beginning of applying data science techniques, in general
because datasets are often insufficiently large to allow data science approaches to offer
value. As the data revolution continues, these two analysis types have many opportunities
to leverage data science techniques.
Finally, evaluations of social well-being are another important pillar of sustainability
analyses because sustainability is often described as having three pillars – economic,
social, and environmental. One expanding enabler of using data science approaches in
social well-being evaluations is satellite imagery, which provides a bird’s eye view of
living conditions for Earth’s inhabitants. While these data can show us these conditions,
they cannot identify what has caused them. This second and critical step will require
the linkage of image interpretation and causal analysis.
Regardless of analysis type, data availability is a cornerstone of all of these analyses.
In some instances that remain data sparse, the use of data science techniques in these
areas is anticipatory rather than widespread. Furthermore, the examples we provide here
are not all-encompassing and the list of types of sustainability analyses that benefit from
data science approaches today and into the future will evolve and grow.
Supervised learning
It is used to model the functional relationship between the output variables and one
or more independent input variables. Typically, the original function relationship is
unknown and/or hard to derive in an analytical form. The approach starts with a set
of training data given as a large set of input-output pair. The goal is to find a surrogate
function for original function relationship such that the difference between prediction
from the surrogate function and the observed value is minimal for all input-output pair
in the training data and the unseen testing data. Several supervised learning algorithms
exist in the ML literature. Based on the functionality, one can group them as follows:
regularization, instance-based methods, recursive partitioning, kernel-based methods,
artificial neural networks, bagging, and boosting methods. Often, the best method
depends on the data and type of the modeling task, such as volume of data, variety
of data, and speed required for training and inference. Here, we cover several widely
adopted algorithms to cover different groups. We will review them from regression
perspective (predicting a scalar value). Without loss of generality, most of these methods
also handle classification (predicting a class).
Multivariate linear regression (Bishop, 2006) is one of the most simple methods
for modeling the functional relationship between inputs and output. It models the
functional relationship using a linear equation. This is given by the sum of product of
each input with a scaling factor. A bias factor is also added to the equation. The mul-
tivariate linear regression involves finding the scaling factors and the bias. It is one of
the well understood method and often preferred for interpretability and simplicity. It
is important that data science practitioners try and adopt this method as a baseline and
comparison to other methods.
Ridge regression (Hoerl and Kennard, 1970) is a regularization algorithm that is
designed to reduce the model complexity so that the model does not overfit the train-
ing data. This overfitting occurs in supervised learning when the model learns small
variations and/or noise in the training set and consequently loses prediction accuracy
on the testing data. To do so, in addition to minimizing the error between predicted and
actual observations, the method penalizes the training objective with respect to input
coefficients and achieves tradeoff between minimizing the error and minimizing the
sum of the square of the coefficients.
k-nearest-neighbor regression (Bishop, 2006) belongs to the class of instance-
based methods, where the training data is stored in memory and the model is built only
during testing. Given a testing point, the method first finds k nearest input points in the
training data and returns the prediction as the average of k outputs. Typically, k and the
nearest distance metric are user defined hyperparameters.
Support vector machine (Drucker et al., 1996) is a widely-used kernel-based
method. It uses a kernel function to project the input space onto a higher-dimensional
feature space; a linear regression is performed in the transformed space. The training is
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The favourite amusement of the Californians is dancing, and Santa
Barbara is more celebrated for its fandangos than any other town on the
coast. These occur nearly every evening in the week, it being always easy to
get up an impromptu ball in five minutes, by calling in a guitar or harp
player. At these balls there is no exclusiveness, the high and low, rich and
poor, all meet on perfect equality, and dance away their sorrows, if they
have any, upon the same mud floor. No scented cards of invitation are sent
to the favoured few, but all who choose enter and participate freely. At
church and at fandangos Californians all find a level. It appears as natural
for Californians to dance as to breathe or eat. Often have I seen little girls,
scarce six years of age, flying through a cotillon, or circling in the giddy
waltz, or dancing with great skill their favourite jotah or jarabe. The girls
are all elegant waltzers, and will exhaust the strength of an ordinary
American gentleman, who is content with a few turns round the ball-room
and then a long promenade.
The town of Santa Barbara contains about five hundred inhabitants,
among whom are the Norrigas and Carillos, the two great families of
California. It is a beautiful place of residence, with a mild, springlike
climate, and around it are some of the pleasantest rides in all California.
About four miles distant is the little town of Montecito (little mountain), a
collection of farm-houses, where large quantities of vegetables are grown.
Three miles beyond this, in the heart of the mountains, is a remarkable hot
sulphur spring, to which invalids resort for the purpose of bathing, and six
miles in the opposite direction is an Indian village, containing some forty or
fifty wigwams, whose tenants are an industrious agricultural people, who
raise corn, wheat, and potatoes, and bring them into Santa Barbara for sale.
The mission of Santa Barbara is, at the present time, in a better condition
than any other mission in the country. About fifty of the converted Indians
still remain here and cultivate the soil. Around the old mission building are
several extensive orchards, in which figs, apples, pears, and peaches are
grown, and two or three vineyards, producing a grape from which excellent
wine is made. The Padre Presidente, the presiding priest of California,
resides here, the office at present devolving upon Padre Jesus Maria
Gonzales, one of the kindest and most gentlemanly men I ever met with.
SAN DIEGO.
The enormous price of real estate in San Francisco, and the continual
rapid tide of emigration, will ere long cause the settlement of the new towns
seated at various points in the vicinity of the mining region. Many of these
are entirely new, but have grown and are growing with great rapidity. I
propose giving a description of their locations as a guide to those who may
desire to settle in any of them.
BENICIA.
The town or city of Benicia, which in the king’s English means Venice,
is situated in the straits of Carquinez, thirty-five miles from San Francisco,
which it promises yet to rival in point of commercial importance. The
ground upon which it is seated is a gentle slope descending to the water, and
as it reaches it becoming almost a plain. There is sufficient water at its bank
to enable vessels of the first class to lie at anchor there, and discharge their
cargoes, and the harbour is safe and exempt from violent winds. Benicia
contains already about a thousand inhabitants, including a garrison of
soldiers, having been made the head-quarters of the Pacific division of the
United States Army. The large deposits of quartermaster’s stores have been
removed from San Francisco to Benicia, and a site has been selected by
Commodore Jones for a navy-yard at this point. The town was originally
laid out some three years since by Robert Semple and Thomas O. Larkin.
Lots of fifty varas square are selling at from five hundred to two thousand
dollars.
MARTINEZ.
SUTTER.
VERNON.
Vernon is situated on the east bank of Feather River at the point of its
confluence with the Sacramento, one of the most eligible positions for a
town in the whole northern region of California. The banks of the river are
high and not subject to overflow, and this point is said to be at the head of
ship navigation on the Sacramento. The ground is a gentle slope,
surrounded by a beautiful country. From the town of Vernon, good and well
travelled roads diverge to the rich mineral regions of the North and Middle
Forks, Bear Creek, Yuba and Feather Rivers, rendering the distance much
less than by any other route. The town is growing rapidly, and promises to
become a great depot for the trade of the above-mentioned mines. The
proprietors are Franklin Bates, Elisha O. Crosby, and Samuel Norriss.
BOSTON.
The city of Boston is located on the northern bank of the American Fork,
at its junction with the Sacramento River, about one hundred yards above
the old Embarcadero, the site upon which Sacramento City now stands. It
extends upon the banks of both rivers for several miles, and is destined to
become a flourishing town. The banks of the Sacramento at this point are
not subject to overflow, being more than twelve feet in many places above
high water mark. The town is situated upon a broad and well-watered plain,
covered with many groves of magnificent oaks, and the largest class of
steamers, and all vessels navigating the Sacramento River can lie and
discharge directly at its banks.
Boston has been surveyed by J. Halls, Esq., and Lieut. Ringgold, U. S.
N., and is laid out in squares of two hundred and forty feet by three hundred
and twenty feet, subdivided each into eight building lots eighty feet by one
hundred and twenty feet, with large public squares, and reservations for
school-houses, churches, and public buildings. One of the peculiar
advantages of Boston is that, being located on the northern bank of the
American Fork, it is not necessary in proceeding to the gold mines to cross
that river, which is exceedingly high and rapid at some seasons of the year.
The direct and most travelled road proceeds from this point to the rich
placers of the Yuba, Feather River, Bear Creek, and the North, Middle, and
South Forks of the American. The soil is of the richest description, the
surrounding scenery highly picturesque, and the plains in the immediate
vicinity are covered with wild game of every variety which California
affords. The title to the land is indisputable, coming by warranty deed from
Captain J. A. Sutter to Eleab Grimes, Hiram Grimes, and John Sinclair,
bearing date August 10th, 1843. The present owner is Hiram Grimes, Esq.
Lots are selling rapidly at from $200 to $1000 each, and before many
months the city of Boston on the golden banks of the Rio Sacramento will
rival its New England namesake in business and importance.
STOCKTON.
The town of Stockton is the great mart through which flows the whole
transportation and travel to the placers of the Stanislaus, Mokelumne,
Mariposa, Mercedes, Tuolumne, and King’s River, and the various dry
diggings lying between them. Stockton is to the southern mines what
Sacramento is to the northern. The town is located upon a slough, or rather
a succession of sloughs, which contain the back waters formed by the
junction of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. It is about fifty miles
from the mouth of the San Joaquin, and one hundred from San Francisco.
The ground is high and does not overflow, and is the centre of the two great
tracts of arable land which constitute the valleys of the rivers above named.
Vessels drawing from nine to ten feet of water can proceed up the San
Joaquin to Stockton, and discharge their cargoes on the bank.
The town of Stockton was laid out in the latter part of 1848 by Charles
M. Weber, and has been growing rapidly since. Eight months ago there
were but one frame building and a few tents, and now it is a town
containing a population of nearly two thousand permanent residents, and a
movable population of about a thousand more, on their way to and from the
southern mines. Several large brigs and schooners are constantly lying at
the banks, and two steamboats and a large number of launches are
constantly running from San Francisco. Real estate has risen greatly in
value within the past six months,—lots, which could have been purchased
at that time for $300, being now worth from $3000 to $6000. A theatre has
been established at Stockton, and the town promises ere long to be a large
and populous city.
STANISLAUS.
This town is laid out on the north bank of the Stanislaus River, at its
junction with the San Joaquin. The Stanislaus River is the first and largest
tributary of the San Joaquin, and the river is navigable for ordinary-sized
schooners and launches to this point, which, being nearer the southern
mining region than Stockton, will doubtless become a great resort for
miners and traders in that vicinity. The town was originally laid out by
Samuel Brannan & Co.
The city of South San Francisco is located on the bay, about two miles
south of San Francisco, which it promises to rival at no very distant day.
The depth of water at this point is the same as that in the harbour of San
Francisco, and it is said that vessels are more securely protected from the
wind. At many points in front of the town, vessels of the largest class can
lie within a boat’s length of the shore. The land rises in a gentle slope, and
is of a rich clayey soil, which effectually prevents dust during the
prevalence of the customary winds on the bay. The surrounding scenery is
delightful, and near the town is the rich and beautiful valley in which is
located the old mission of Dolores. A stream of fine water, sufficient to
supply all the shipping in the harbour, runs through the town, and the only
practicable road from San Francisco to San Josè, Monterey, and the whole
lower country, passes directly by it. South San Francisco, though it may
never equal its northern namesake, will at least become, at no very distant
day, what Brooklyn is to New York. The proprietors of South San Francisco
are John Townsend and Corneille De Boom.
ALVESO.
The want of a great commercial town at the head of the great bay of San
Francisco has been supplied by the location of Alveso. It is situated at the
head of the bay, on the Guadalupe River, a stream running directly through
the centre of the town, and navigable at all seasons of the year to vessels
drawing twelve feet of water. The depot and business headquarters of the
two finest valleys in California, the Santa Clara and the Pueblo, where
everything required for their already numerous population must be
received; convenient of access to the gold mines, and directly on the route
between them and San Francisco; with a climate unequalled, even in Upper
California; with pure water; free from inundations at all seasons; with mills
which even now furnish lumber at one-third its price in San Francisco,—the
town of Alveso must inevitably grow into importance. It has been carefully
surveyed and laid out into lots; contracts have been made for the immediate
erection of warehouses and dwellings, and a bridge is now being built
across the Guadalupe River, connecting the two portions of the town. The
proprietors are J. D. Koppe, Peter H. Burnett, and Charles B. Marvin, who
will doubtless reap a rich harvest, the fruits of their judicious enterprise.
CHAPTER XV.
LOWER CALIFORNIA.