San Francisco
Does the Fire Code Have to Trump Urban Design?
Planners and urbanists are familiar with the many instances when fire and life safety codes conflict with quality urban design. The city of San Francisco is currently embroiled in policy conflict over the width of its streets.
Lessons from San Francisco’s Healthy Corner Store Program
An article from the SPUR's "The Urbanist" shares insight into the work of the Southeast Food Access Working Group (SEFA).
San Francisco Initiative Preempts Prop B—Asks Voters for Additional Height at Pier 70
Developer Forest City is getting a jump on the ballot box zoning trend in San Francisco. According to reports, the developer will go to the voters to ask for increased height for a large development at Pier 70 in the neighborhood known as Dogpatch.
Do Old Buildings Contribute to Economic Vitality?
Emily Badger crunches the data on the argument by Jane Jacobs regarding the importance of old buildings to the economic health and quality of life of cities—an opinion described by Badger as "received wisdom among planners and urban theorists."
San Francisco: Model for Freeway Removal
Architecture critic John King tagged along with the Congress for New Urbanism. The latter was recently in San Francisco to examine the benefits of freeway removal. The city's prime case study: Octavia Boulevard.
With Ballot Box Zoning Likely to Pass—What Next for San Francisco?
C.W. Nevius examines the consequences of Proposition B—on the ballot in San Francisco in June.
New App Would Auction Public Parking Spaces
The MonkeyParking app works similarly to sharing economy stars Airbnb or Uber, except for sale is an inside line on parking spaces. That means that private users would be auctioning the use of public space. That can't be legal, can it?
'Cap & Toll' Plan Proposed for Mountain View, California
To address the growth of commute traffic to the Google campus and neighboring tech companies in the north (of Hwy. 101) part of this city of 74,000 in Silicon Valley, the city council is proposing a toll on all three road entrances to the area.
Tech Bus Opponents in S.F. go to Court to Halt Buses using CEQA
Having lost their CEQA appeal with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the "tech bus" opponents are taking their case to the court, arguing that environmental impacts from the large, luxury private buses using public bus stops must be addressed.
The Fallacy of the Millennial Housing Shortage
A dissenting argument claims that the efforts of "affluent urban pioneers" to increase supply in the most desirable urban areas will do more harm than good.
Golden State Warriors Drop Pier 30-32 Arena Plans
In what is surely a victory for opponents of waterfront development along the Embarcadero corridor in San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors have purchased a new site farther south, near AT&T Park and the UCSF Mission Bay campus, for a new arena.
Walk, Bike, Transit Advocates Lose Sunday Parking Vote
Despite a grassroots campaign to retain Sunday parking meter charges it only approved two years ago, the San Francisco MTA agreed with Mayor Ed Lee to drop the charges, hoping that voters would approve two transit funding measures in November.
A Comprehensive Examination of the Bay Area Housing Crisis
The Google Bus protests got the media’s attention, and the Ellis Act has politicians' attention, but the Bay Area’s current tech-housing-gentrification crisis is a big, complicated mess.
Coming this Summer: Airbnb Will Collect Taxes in San Francisco, New York State
The ongoing saga of the tax and regulatory standing of Airbnb, the popular room rental app and poster child for the sharing economy, is evolving in San Francisco, Portland and the state of New York.
Cloud Computing Company Will Have its Name in the Clouds above San Francisco
It is only fitting that Salesforce, whose logo is a cloud, won the naming rights to what will be the West Coast's tallest building when completed in 2017 where they will lease half the space. When the fog rolls in, that's all the workers will see!
Street Parking as Car Share Incentive
SFMTA is allowing three car share services: Zip, Get Around and the non-profit CityCar Share to receive designated access to up 450 street and city garage parking spaces in order to promote car sharing as an alternative to auto ownership.
'Living Innovation Zones' Activate Public Space in San Francisco
San Francisco recently launched the Living Innovation Zones program to generate space-activating public art installations around the city. The city hopes the program will create “catalysts for exploration, innovation and play.”
San Francisco Legalizes Rental of 'In-Law Units'
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted earlier this week to allow property owners to rent “in-law units”—a major policy departure that could add tens of thousands of rental units to the constrained San Francisco real estate market.
A Bold Addition to 'Transit-First' San Francisco Streets
In an effort to improve on-time performance of Muni, San Francisco has begun painting transit-only lanes a shade of Golden Gate Bridge red.
Dirty Politics in San Francisco’s Height Restrictions Initiative
The city of San Francisco will vote on Prop. B, an ordinance that would limit the height of developments along the waterfront, in June. The ballot will list the campaign manager for the Yes on B campaign as the official opponent of the measure.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
