San Francisco

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.

April 16, 2014 - TechCrunch

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.

April 15, 2014 - SFGate

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!

April 14, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

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.

April 11, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

'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.”

April 7, 2014 - The Architect's Newspaper

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.

April 3, 2014 - SF Gate

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.

March 18, 2014 - San Francisco Examiner

harbor and Bay Bridge

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.

March 14, 2014 - SFGate

Pop Quiz: What's the Difference Between Aerobic Decomposition and Anaerobic Digestion?

Yes, one is with and the other without oxygen, and both divert waste from the landfill—but in terms of the end products, what is the advantage of anaerobic digestion? Simply put, does society face a shortage of compost or renewable energy?

March 14, 2014 - NPR Morning Edition

San Francisco Sprawl

SPUR: The Bay Area Has A Sprawl Problem

SPUR states its case clearly by announcing, “We believe cities are the key to our future” at the opening of a new report called “SPUR’s Agenda for Change.”

March 13, 2014 - Next City

Water Bottles

San Francisco Enacts Plastic Water Bottle Ban

First came plastic bags, then styrofoam cups, and now, plastic water bottles—though the ban is not as far-reaching as the former two in that it is restricted to sales on city property, including street fairs.

March 8, 2014 - San Francisco Examiner

The Dichotomy of California's Frontier Myth: 'Hell-A' and Utopian San Francisco

“[There] is something about the frequency with which California and 'the future' are used synonymously,’ writes Kristin Miller. But the future looks much different when set in Southern California as compared to Northern California.

March 6, 2014 - BOOM: A Journal of California

San Francisco Announces New Pedestrian Safety Program: WalkFirst

With its own “Vision Zero” goals in place to eliminate pedestrian fatalities within a decade, San Francisco has developed the WalkFirst plan to target the most dangerous intersections in the city for safety improvements.

March 6, 2014 - The San Francisco Examiner

A Guide to Organizations for Change—San Francisco Edition

The conversation about San Francisco has been dominated recently by housing, so maybe you forgot that San Francisco has a tradition of leading on social causes. Josh Wilson recently created a list for navigating the city like a radical.

March 3, 2014 - The Bold Italic

From Google Buses to Google Youth Muni Passes

Turns out all those protests against the ubiquitous Google (and other tech) luxury buses that often crowd out S.F. Muni (public) buses have contributed to a show of good will to public transit in the form of a $6.8 million gift to fund youth passes.

March 1, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Density

San Francisco's Running Out of Room for Cars

In terms of land area, San Francisco’s a small city. Yet if current policies persist, the city will build 92,000 parking spots for residents by 2040, on just 49 square miles of land.

February 17, 2014 - SF Streetsblog

280 Freeway San Francisco

San Francisco Planners Pitch Freeway Removal

Planners in the city of San Francisco have a proposed a $1.4 million study to examine the possibility of removing part of Interstate 280 in the city and convert a rail yard would yield 37 acres of prime urban real estate.

February 9, 2014 - SF Gate

Ballot Box Zoning Initiative Possible for San Francisco

Proponents of a ballot initiative that would require a vote for any development on the San Francisco waterfront that exceeds existing height limits have gathered enough signatures to put the issue to a vote.

February 5, 2014 - SF Gate

nyc. subway.

Which U.S. Cities Have the Best Transit?

Walk Score has published its analysis of the quality of public transit in 50 of the biggest cities in the United States. The rankings may surprise you.

January 31, 2014 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Report: Caltrans Systematically Quelled Bay Bridge Safety Concerns

Instagram images and group bike rides now celebrate the Bay Bridge’s eastern span, but the bridge’s long construction process was a constant source of concern. A new report details what went wrong to (hopefully) prevent future mistakes.

January 25, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

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.