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- November 24, 2009
[Literature] in the City
BY COLLEEN MCHUGHThe Young Urbanist [Literature] in the City forum at SPUR on November 10th presented a lively discussion on this topic and other aspects of the history and culture of San Francisco’s literary community. Stephen Elliott of the San Francisco Writer's Grotto and editor of The Rumpus, writer and City Lights editor Elaine Katzenberger, and Filipino American poet and professor Barbara Jane Reyes joined the forum moderator, poet Matthew Zapruder, in an exploration of the relationship between literature and the city.
The forum began with readings from each of the three panelists. Barbara Jane Reyes shared poetry of a walking tour through San Francisco’s cultural landscape, Elaine Katzenberger spoke from a speech given by City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti during his acceptance in 2000 as San Francisco’s first Poet Laureate, and Stephen Elliott read from his critically acclaimed new book The Adderall Diaries. What followed was a debate over the extent to which San Francisco remains a center of bohemian culture that nurtures artistic expression. The panelists spoke to rising rents and gentrifying neighborhoods. But when asked why writers continue to live in this city when it may make little financial sense, the speakers referenced family, a strong writing community, history, and a counter-culture unique to San Francisco. Stephen Elliott expressed, “There is something nourishing about this place.”
Ultimately, the evening’s panelists agreed that a certain culture of resistance – to the norm, to consumerism, to war – permeates this city’s literary community. Moderator Matthew Zapruder reasoned that San Francisco might be the most “American” city in the country in that it embodies this ideal of personal freedom.Tags: Literature, Young Urbanists - November 21, 2009
Windfall for All
BY BEN LOWE
Study after study has shown that cities prioritize development that lets visitors and residents walk, bicycle, or take public transit to get around, people are healthier and have far less negative impact on the environment. Now, a new study by TransForm entitled Windfall for All demonstrates another benefit to developing livable communities: people who do not use cars to get around spend far less money on transportation than people who do. Citing AAA estimates, the report shows that, on average, it costs $8,097 per year to own, maintain, register, insure, and fuel a vehicle. In all, individuals in the Bay Area spend $34 billion on private transportation, most of which on owning and operating cars.Especially in current tough economic conditions, finding ways to cut costs is critical, and that includes money spent on transportation. Yet many Bay Area towns and cities have prioritized development that not only encourages auto use, but precludes other ways to travel. As the study asserts, people can only move away from expensive auto use toward more affordable transportation means if cities give them the means to do so by putting housing near transit, ensuring pedestrians and bicyclists can get around safely, and investing in pleasant places that are nicer to be in than to drive past.
- November 16, 2009
Picturing Climate Change: Special Event!
BY LAURA TAM, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIRECTORThis Wednesday, join the Alaska Conservation Foundation for an evening with National Geographic photographer James Balog. Mr. Balog, an award wininng photographer for over 25 years, will share his groundbreaking work to capture the reality of climate change by photographing the world’s shrinking glaciers. Through time-lapse footage, Mr. Balog will share his efforts to design equipment, underwrite, and produce one of the world’s most convincing records of climate change. For more information (and stunning photographs), visit www.extremeicesurvey.org. Half of the U.S. coal reserves, by the way, lie in Alaska—making it a very important front line for stopping global climate change.
Event details: Wed, Nov. 18, Fort Mason Officer's Club, 1 Fort Mason, San Francisco
Program (Free, but RSVP required): 6:30-7:30 pm
RSVP: Lorraine Guyer, at acfinfo@alaskaconservation.org, or call (907) 276-1917. 
- November 12, 2009
Planning for the San Francisco Bay, Wayne Gretzky Style
BY JORDAN SALINGER
How fast do you have to be to outrun rising tides? According to Will Travis, of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission this is a challenge that the Bay Area faces. Travis informed and entertained a large crowd at a forum at the Urban Center this past Tuesday, covering a wide range of issues including environmental justice, adaption strategies, importance of tidal wetlands, and his thoughts for the future of the bay.Climate change poses a severe threat to the San Francisco Bay. Ocean water temperatures will continue to increase, sea levels will inevitably rise, and storms will become more violent. Decreases in the Sierra snowpack will mean less fresh water in the spring and summer months, allowing salt water to travel further up the delta than ever before.
While his prognosis was certainly bleak, Travis offered a wide range of strategies aimed at combating these changes. Some of these strategies included the protection of tidal wetlands, continued compact mixed use development near transit, and planning for future, and not present, conditions. Travis concluded his remarks by quoting hockey legend Wayne Gretzky who said the goal is to "skate not where the puck is, but to where it will be," emphasizing the importance of making sure our plans stay ahead of changing conditions and rising tides.
Tags: good government - November 10, 2009
Emerald Cities: How are Cities Advancing the Shift to a Green Economy?
BY EGON TERPLAN, REGIONAL PLANNING DIRECTOR
[Image: Green roof in Toronto from urbanneighbourhood]
How can cities best position themselves in the green economy? What is the role of manufacturing in urban areas? How can a city best choose an economic development strategy given its size and unique economic history? How should federal policy support policy innovation among cities?
Join us for an evening discussion with nationally-recognized visiting writer and professor Joan Fitzgerald. She will give us a preview of her new book, Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development, to be published by Oxford University Press in early 2010. In the book, Joan Fitzgerald shows how in the absence of a comprehensive national policy, cities have taken the lead in addressing the interrelated environmental problems of global warming, pollution, energy dependence, and social justice. Her analysis includes a comparison of 24 cities throughout the United States - major cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco (of course) but also less known places such as Toledo and Syracuse.
Join us on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 6:00 pm
Where: SPUR Urban Center (654 Mission Street)
Joan Fitzgerald is a nationally-recognized writer and professor who directs the Law, Policy and Society Program at Northeastern University. Earlier this year, Fitzgerald edited The American Prospect’s April 2009 special report on “The Green Challenge: Will Cleaner Energy Produce New Industries and Good Jobs for Americans?” The answer, says Fitzgerald and the six other contributors to that report, is Yes—provided that governments at the federal, state and local level give green manufacturing the support it needs to flourish. That means much more thanfunding specific companies; it requires crafting and implementing a comprehensive industrial policy. Such a policy, Fitzgerald writes in her piece Cities on the Front Lines, would recognize how traditional sources of manufacturing strength can serve as the base of a renewable energy economy. She cites how a former glass technology and manufacturing center like Toledo, Ohio has now become a leader in solar energy.
And last month in an op-ed for the Boston Globe, Fitzgerald warns that absent a broad and coherent industrial vision that connects demand, supply and technology, the United States is likely to cede leadership in renewable energy production and other clean technologies to German, Japan and China. - October 30, 2009
XERO Dallas
BY BEN LOWE
On October 29, architects David Baker and Amit Price Patel of David Baker + Partners Architects and David Fletcher from Fletcher Studio presented Xero Energy, their winning entry in the Re:Vision Dallas competition. Sponsored by Urban Re:Vision of San Francisco, the competition asked designers to propose a fully sustainable city block.The proposal envisions an array of energy-conservation and -generation methods used in concert to reduce the overall energy "footprint" of the building, from photovoltaic panels and geothermal energy generation to on-site community agriculture that would reduce the distance -- and concomitant fossil fuel use -- of residents' food. In reaching for sustainability, the Xero Energy proposal reached far beyond the 2.4-acre site they were assigned to work on as well, presenting a vision of an expansive greenway and connections to Union Station, a handsome Beaux-Arts rail station nearby.
The full Xero Energy proposal can be seen here along with the rest of the submissions -- after you've taken a look at the finalists, go here to vote for your favorite!
Tags: regional planning - October 26, 2009
Living West: Presentation and Book Signing with Sam Lubell
BY JULIE KIM
Don't miss this presentation by Sam Lubell, editor of the California edition of The Architect's Newspaper and author of Living West: New Residential Architecture in Southern California, published this month by Random House.
The details:
Tuesday, October 27, 6 pm--presentation and book signing
SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, SF
Free for SPUR members; $5 general admission
See below (or here) for more info. See you tomorrow night!A dense concentration of design talent, uniquely varied topography, and one of the world’s most pleasant climates have made Southern California a crucible of architectural innovation. There, forward-looking clients respond to dramatic modern interpretations of form and site that capitalize on natural light and magnificent ocean views, perch delicately on steeply graded land, or maximize privacy on a sliver of a city lot.
Thirty of the best designs by the most creative firms portray the diversity of Southern California’s architecture. Author Sam Lubell draws examples from Montecito to San Diego and the arid conditions of Joshua Tree to illustrate the wide range of responses to geography, budget, and space. Featured architects include Barbara Bestor, Belzberg, Griffin Enright, Lorcan O’Herlihy, Michele Saee, the Office of Mobile Design, and Predock Frane, among others.
Tags: architecture, books - October 26, 2009
This Week at SPUR: World Renowned Climate Scientist Ken Caldeira
BY JULIE KIMSPUR is thrilled to welcome Ken Caldeira, head of the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University, to the Urban Center for a lunchtime forum.
The details:
Wednesday, October 28, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Free for SPUR members. General admission is $5.
Location: SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission St. (between New Montgomery & Third).
Renowned for his groundbreaking research on ocean acidifcation, Caldeira's been in the news this month for publicly chiding Superfreakonomics authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner for misrepresenting his research on geo-engineering as a substitute for agressive mitigation strategies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (In fact, while Caldeira knows a lot about weather manipulation--perhaps more than any other climate scientist working right now--he views it as a last resort, only to be employed once we are certain about its many risks.)
Here's a bio of Caldeira from an Oct. 22 post on the Guardian Environment Network (which republished a great interview conducted by Yale 360):Atmospheric scientist Ken Caldeira first became known for his groundbreaking work on ocean acidification, a phrase originally coined as a headline for one of his papers. Of late, however, Caldeira's research has led him into the controversial area of geo-engineering — the large-scale, deliberate manipulation of the Earth's climate system.
Many scientists have shied away from the subject because they feel it is a wrongheaded and dangerous path to pursue. But Caldeira — who heads a research lab at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University — has not been so dismissive, in part because his climate modeling has demonstrated that some geo-engineering schemes may indeed help reduce the risk of climate change. In fact, few scientists have thought harder about the moral, political, and environmental implications of geo-engineering.
Caldeira has become a focal point recently in the controversy surrounding the publication of Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner's SuperFreakonomics, the follow-up to their previous best-seller, Freakonomics. A chapter of the book that deals with geo-engineering and quoted Caldeira was circulated on the Internet prior to the book's publication and was widely criticized for its poor understanding of climate science and its cynical, contrarian perspective. - October 23, 2009
SF Battles the Yogi Berra Parking Problem
BY BEN LOWEYogi Berra once posited about a restaurant suffering a perceived decline, "Nobody goes there anymore -- it's too crowded." San Francisco parking faces the same dilemma: high parking occupancy and low turnover make parking in San Francisco a headache as drivers are forced waste upwards of 45 minutes orbiting for a space, adding to traffic and burning gasoline.
To combat this problem, the SFMTA is considering two proposals: SF Park, an initiative to use parking technology to make finding and paying for parking easier, and the recently unveiled the Extended Meter Hours Study (EMHS), which would extend parking meter operations in a number of neighborhoods. Increasing turnover and making more spaces available should be quite welcome in a number of neighborhoods where parking is at 100% utilization (or more, when counting cars double-parked, left in illegal spots, or parked on the sidewalk). Implementing the EMHS would also raise an estimated $9 million per year for Muni.
There has been some push-back. Some merchants are concerned that an increase in the cost of parking will push shoppers to drive to malls where parking is ample and free. And advocates of the EMHS are concerned about the fate of a similar measure in Oakland, where the City Council saw fierce resistance to, and ultimately retreated from, an attempt at extending parking meter operations and raising the parking fee. Public outreach regarding the EMHS is ongoing; hopefully SFMTA will be able to provide easier parking for motorists and higher revenues for transit.
Tags: parking, transportation - October 23, 2009
Lawn Chairs in Times Square
BY BEN LOWE
At a SPUR lunchtime forum yesterday, President of the Times Square Alliance (TSA) Tim Tompkins spoke about the evolution of Times Square over the past several decades. For decades, New York fought the uphill battle of making Times Square cleaner, safer, and more inviting, only to find themselves with a new set of challenges: the area has become so popular, particularly with tourists, that the sidewalks and plazas had far exceeded capacity, and locals worried that the area was losing its New York identity.
Tompkins talked about a range of initiatives the TSA undertook to make Times Square better able to handle its famous foot traffic while strengthening the area’s New York identity, from widening sidewalks and putting in art installations to building an award-winning, wedge-shaped structure on Duffy Square combining the TKTS half-price ticket booth with bleachers that, day and night, have a view to some of the most dynamic people-watching in the world. Tompkins also discussed when, as a stopgap measure before more permanent seating was installed, he decided to put 376 lawn chairs in a newly expanded pedestrian space. The surreal results raised eyebrows and garnered national media attention; when, at the end of the summer, replacements finally arrived, the lawn chairs were converted into an art installation, a microcosm of the dynamic balance between pragmatism and playfulness the TSA has struck in keeping Times Square an intriguing spot that’s still very genuinely New York.
Thanks to the Great Streets Project for organizing this great event!
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