San Francisco

Tenderloin National Forest

An unconventional outdoor spaces has helped transform a small part of a problem-riddled San Francisco neighborhood.

August 18, 2011 - Next American City

Red-Light Running Cyclist Kills Pedestrian

On 7/14, a cyclist riding in the bike lane on The Embarcadero hit a pedestrian crossing with the traffic light. She died a month later. While rare, this fatality shows why all vehicles, motorized or not, need to respect traffic laws.

August 15, 2011 - NPR: The Two-Way

BMW Unveils Design Alternatives for BART

A follow-up to last month's story, BMW Group DesignworksUSA released three interior concepts - each one more posh and modern than the last - for BART's "Fleet of the Future." No spy shots needed.

August 15, 2011 - The Huffington Post

Can Community Land Trusts Work for Retail Centers?

New Orleans, San Francisco, and Albuquerque are exploring, and implementing, community land trusts as an economic development tool that can encourage development in business districts while assuring that local businesses are not displaced.

August 5, 2011 - Shelterforce

Going in the Out Door

Want to speed up your transit? Follow San Francisco's lead and let your passengers enter any door they please, says Yonah Freemark. A pilot program on the J-Church line is testing out the idea.

August 3, 2011 - the transport politic

Portable Gardens Move Into Urban San Francisco Space

The Yerba Buena District Street Life Plan starts off its 10-year life to improve public space by placing six mobile gardens in parts of the district that have more concrete and asphalt than vegetation, reports John King for San Francisco Chronicle.

August 3, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Plan Had Vision, But Also Missed Targets

A downtown plan created a vision for development in San Francisco, but couldn't guide the social and cultural changes the city would see over the past 25 years.

July 28, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

Hunters Point Project Moves Ahead in San Francisco

The redevelopment of former Navy land at Hunters Point in San Francisco appears to be moving ahead after a judge overruled environmental objections that could have stalled development of the new residential neighborhood.

July 16, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco's Parklets Become Part of the City

Parking spaces in San Francisco are being repurposed as small patio-like park spaces and out door seating areas. John King of the San Francisco Chronicle looks at how they've become part of the city.

July 15, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

The Role of Background Buildings

San Francisco architecture critic John King talks about his new book Cityscapes and the role that so-called "background buildings" play in creating the city's mosaic.

June 23, 2011 - Metropolis Magazine

Yacht Race to Bring New Cruise Terminal to San Francisco

As San Francisco prepares to host the America's Cup yacht race in 2013, one of the key building areas for the event is also being fast-tracked as the site of a new cruise terminal.

June 23, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

Megaprojects Approved in San Francisco

Two major redevelopment projects - Treasure Island and Parkmerced - have been approved after a lengthy process by San Francisco's Board of Supervisors.

June 16, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Three Model Cities Seattle Can Learn From

Los Angeles, Cincinnati and San Francisco are tackling major urban problems quickly and effectively. This post argues that Seattle can learn much from these efforts.

June 12, 2011 - Crosscut

Treasure Island Project Approved in San Francisco

A massive new neighborhood planned for the man-made former military site of Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay has been unanimously approved by the city's Board of Supervisors.

June 9, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

Political Housing Evolution In San Francisco

Prompted by the May 24 approval by the Board of Supervisors of the massive redevelopment of the Parkmerced garden apartments, The Examiner looks at the city's evolution from protecting city character at all costs to a more urbanist approach.

May 30, 2011 - San Francisco Examiner

BRT Boom in U.S.

A new study says that Los Angeles, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Eugene and Pittsburgh are leading the surge with the best bus rapid transit (BRT) systems in the nation.

May 28, 2011 - The Institute of Transportation and Development Policy

Be Your Own Architecture Critic

John King gives readers the tools to critique plans for the new wing of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art before the designs are released next Weds.

May 20, 2011 - The San Francisco Chronicle

The Planner Behind the Parklets

Andres Power, an urban designer for the San Francisco Planning Department, is the driving force behind the city's now-popular Pavement to Park program. Streetsblog's Bryan Goebel sat down to talk with him about the process.

May 11, 2011 - Streetsblog

Addressing Preservation and its Problems in San Francisco

As officials in San Francisco debate the city's historic preservation policies, this column looks back at some of the ways the city has successfully preserved its past and some of the ways the process is broken.

May 5, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

Improving Planning in San Francisco

The Wall Street Journal talks with Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, about where the city is heading and how it needs to change.

May 2, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.