San Francisco
San Francisco Considers Demand-Based Parking Prices
San Francisco's transportation agency has proposed the installation of parking meters in a handful of neighborhoods that dynamically change their prices according to the time of day and the related demand.
Are San Francisco Planners Going Too Far?
Architects in San Francisco say that the Planning Department has gotten increasingly involved in design decisions over the past two years, favoring traditional projects over contemporary designs.
Streets Improved, And Now the Bill
A variety of road and streetscape improvement projects in San Francisco are reviving the city's streets. But now, the city has to ask itself whether it wants to keep paying for these improvements.
A Crowdsourced Tree Census for Cities
GOOD points us to a new project that harnesses the power of citizens to create a census of trees in San Francisco.
Consolidating Stops to Make Buses Run Faster
Riders of San Francisco's Muni bus system often complain that the buses stop too much. Now, evidence is building that simply consolidating bus stops will help to make the buses run faster and more reliably.
Comparing San Francisco's Tenderloin and L.A.'s Skid Row
This blog post from Governing explores the similarities between San Francisco's troubled Tenderloin district and Los Angeles' Skid Row-adjacent Spring Street corridor, and why one struggles and the other has found some developmental success.
From Bedroom Communities to Jet Engine Communities
More and more people working in the San Francisco Bay Area are opting for cheaper housing outside the region. Some are going way outside the region, commuting by airplane from Portland or Seattle.
Bay Area Rediscovers the Creeks Under The Streets
A new proposal in Berkeley to daylight a portion of Strawberry Creek is the latest in a lineage of small interventions to bring buried portions of the urban watershed to the surface.
Success in San Francisco Alleyways
This piece from The Examiner looks at the alleyways of San Francisco and how they have become activated in recent years.
San Francisco Takes Lessons From Seattle Over Sidewalk Sitting
San Francisco's recently passed and controversial sit/lie laws that prohibit sitting on sidewalks were based on a similar rule passed in Seattle in 1993. Though that rule has been on the books for years, its controversy remains.
Revitalizing A San Francisco Port
The Port of San Francisco is considering plans to redevelop Port 70, one of the last working sections of the city's waterfront.
Broken Inner-City Freeway Reborn as Garden
Activists have turned the site of a former inner-city freeway in San Francisco into a community garden.
Density Uber Alles
Is density a goal unto itself? John Parman argues that a 38-story building proposed for San Francisco has little to do with walkable urbanism, and continues "a sorry tradition of case-by-case rezoning."
Trying to Let the Sun Shine on San Francisco's Public Agencies
The City of San Francisco has for years had a "Sunshine" ordinance, requiring that public agencies make their documents and proceedings available to the public. But recent reviews show that sunshine has been hard to find in the city of fog.
The Meaning of Authenticity
Architecture critic John King reads Sharon Zukin's new book "Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Spaces" and ruminates on the meaning of authenticity in his own hometown, San Francisco.
San Francisco Looks At Converting Parking to Public Space
Inspired by the home-grown Park(ing) Day parking spot conversion event, the city of San Francisco is launching a pilot project to convert street parking in its North Beach neighborhood to outdoor dining areas and public spaces.
A Farm Grows in San Francisco, Where A Freeway Once Stood
A group of San Francisco farmers are turning a former freeway into a productive urban farm.
Atmospheric Cities
Two interesting video submissions this week, one an atmospheric tour of Vancouver, BC and one of San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake.
Making Use of Stalled and Vacant Developments
A new plan being pursued by the City of San Francisco would allow developers with projects stalled by the economic recession hold on to their development rights as long as they make some beneficial use of the vacant land until construction starts.
Double-Fine Zones: Do They Work?
In this op-ed, CA state Senator Leland Yee (D-SF/San Mateo) discusses the result of his legislation to apply double traffic fines, as well as city street improvements, on two of the most dangerous roads in SF, 19th and Van Ness Aves.
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
