San Francisco

Writing in Time, Anita Hamilton examines the rise of peer-to-peer car sharing networks, and why, exactly, the world's largest car company would support such a system.

February 13, 2012 - Time

San Francisco will launch a pioneering electric bike share program this year, with the hope that pricing will help nudge consumers towards more efficient decisions, writes Sarah Laskow.

February 11, 2012 - Good

When the Big One strikes the Bay Area you'll want to be on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, set to open next year. Its flexibility will allow it to ride the earthquake.

February 9, 2012 - The New York Times

Over the last two decades the city of San Francisco has systematically removed its public benches to fight homelessness. Now citizens are clamoring for their return.

January 30, 2012 - The New York Times

The San Francisco neighborhood of Chinatown temporarily removed parking from Stockton Street for a week during the busy Lunar New Year season. Aaron Bialick reports on the results.

January 26, 2012 - Streetsblog San Francisco

Following highly publicized urban highway removal success stories like Boston's Big Dig and San Francisco's Embarcadero, Anthony Flint asks whether similar successes will be easy to duplicate.

January 10, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

SF Park is an outstanding success when measured by 'ticket anxiety'; i.e. the new program allows motorists to reduce the likelihood of being ticketed by making payment easier and allowing for longer parking stays, thus avoiding a $55-65 citation.

January 9, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco's Coit Tower is one of the city's historic and iconic buildings, and it's also home to a collection of historic fresco paintings of Depression-era California. But the building and its paintings are falling apart.

January 7, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

San Francisco's planning and permitting process has become so complicated and expensive that former advocates of preservation are now fighting back against the city's historic preservation efforts.

January 3, 2012 - The New York Times

Parklets are a new urban trend spreading to cities all over the world. It's an idea born in San Francisco, and the San Francisco Chronicle's John King takes a tour of each of the city's new mini-parks

January 1, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

Can the community of Long Beach, California use examples from much larger places like San Francisco and East Village to reclaim its extensive public alleys?

December 23, 2011 - Long Beach Post

In San Francisco, a performance parking pilot program has not had as big an impact as many thought it would. According to Michael Perkins, "Even with high rates, popular blocks still fill up, and other blocks remain under-filled even at low prices."

December 13, 2011 - Greater Greater Washington

Well ahead of it's time, San Francisco adopted a 'transit-first policy' in 1973. However, the 'drive-alone' mode dominates at 39%. While far better than elsewhere in the Bay Area and much of the U.S., transit remains clearly in second place at 32%.

December 2, 2011 - San Francisco Examiner

Hearst Corporation is planning to redevelop the city block that surrounds its San Francisco Chronicle offices at 5th and Mission. The update would include a new mixed use tower containing 1.3 million square feet of commercial space.

November 22, 2011 - SF Gate

In the thick of the campaign, the American Institute of Architects invited the eleven major candidates for mayor of San Francisco to debate their respective visions for the City by the Bay.

November 7, 2011 - The Examiner

Columnist Ken Garcia writes that San Francisco's neighborhood-driven political system has been a more powerful force in shaping the city's skyline than the planning department has.

November 1, 2011 - The San Francisco Examiner

In this Climate Watch blog and accompanying "Miles To Go" radio report, the reporter observes how powerful parking rated as a factor in determining whether to drive, walk, or take transit, and the public policies that affect the quantity of parking.

October 3, 2011 - KQED News: Climate Watch

This past weekend I attended a memorial service for a local activist. Eric Quezada was important in many planning-related issues here in San Francisco – how we create space that reflects the cultural traditions of our large immigrant communities, the importance of preventing displacement of low-income people, the development of affordable housing and institutions that meet the needs of all of our citizenry. I had known Eric for many years, but had the privilege of working most closely with him when I served on our city’s Planning Commission and he was a lead organizer in the Mission District, an historically Latino neighborhood threatened by dot-com fueled gentrification. In his short 45 years on earth, Eric touched the lives of thousands here and around the world.

September 28, 2011 - Lisa Feldstein

In his critique of "Urban Code: 100 Lessons for Understanding the City," San Francisco Chronicle Columnist John King says how the book's formula for a city doesn't do justice to its authenticity.

September 28, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

Warren Karlenzig pays San Francisco a visit to tour its 15 "parklets", tiny urban public spaces carved out of underused road space or a couple of parking lots.

September 27, 2011 - GreenFlow