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July 11, 2011Summer of Smart: Using Technology to Transform our Government BY MICHAEL BARKERSince President Obama launched his Open Government Directive in December 2009, tech-savvy urban thinkers have been asking, "How can technology improve government and empower communities?" Although the Open Government Initiative suffered a hit when its funding was cut from $35 million to $8 million, nonprofits around the country such as Code For America have continued bringing open government to the forefront of public discussion.This summer, the Gray Area Foundation of the Arts is...
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July 7, 2011Weekly Snapshot: Newark is Building for Business BY JUSTIN BAKER RHETTAfter suffering from the crippling effects of urban decay for decades, Newark, New Jersey city officials, lead by Mayor Cory A. Booker, are facilitating the development of 700 million dollars worth of construction projects in Newark this year. Mayor Booker has used state subsidies to help lure major companies such as Panasonic and Manischewitz to establish headquarters in Newark. While some critics believe these developments will fail to solve many of the cities most pressing issues, including...
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July 7, 2011Could Mid-Market Become SF's Next Hot Neighborhood? By Sarah Karlinsky, Deputy DirectorThere's been a lot of hullabaloo about San Francisco's Mid-Market area lately, mostly focused on the new payroll tax exemption for businesses that locate in the neighborhood and the planned CityPlace Project, a major retail development, both approved by the city last September. But a gaggle of planners and economic development experts are already working hard to transform this area into an arts district anchored by a redesigned Market Street.The Office of Economic and Workforce...
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July 5, 2011Does the Bay Area Have the Best Quality of Life -- Or the Worst? BY WILL HEYWOODWhen you live in San Francisco, it can be easy to forget that your standard of living is not the norm for all Californians. Not everyone in our state has such easy access to the Pacific Ocean, cascading mountains, iconic skylines and Bluebottle Coffee. A new report has attempted to quantify California's quality of life by ranking groupings of neighborhoods on education, health and living standards. On May 17, The American Human Development Project released A Portrait of California. Of all...
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July 5, 2011Measuring San Francisco's Ecological Footprint By Laura Tam, Sustainable Development Policy DirectorIn the 1970s, we crossed a global threshold when the rate of human demand for ecological resources began to outpace the rate at which nature could provide them. Today, we consume the equivalent of 1.5 earths in terms of the resources we use and the natural systems we rely on to absorb our waste. And if everyone on earth lived the lifestyle of the average American, we would need five planets.How do we know this? By measuring our “ecological footprint,” a measure of natural resource...
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June 30, 2011Weekly Snapshot: In Europe, Irking Drivers is Urban Policy BY JUSTIN BAKER RHETTWhile many American cities continue to make accommodations for cars in the evolution of their respective urban landscapes, major cities in Europe have taken the opposite approach, implementing urban development strategies that discourage car ownership and driving. Employing methods such as closing streets to car traffic, desynchronizing streetlights and limiting the number of parking spaces, cities throughout Europe have done their best to make driving an inconvenient and impractical...
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June 27, 2011Urbanition: SF and Sydney Artists Re-think Our Use of Public Space BY COLLEEN MCHUGHWhat would make a morning commute on BART a more enjoyable, engaging and productive experience? Bike repairs? Coffee and snacks? Book clubs? Short films? Spinning classes? Speed dating? These are a few of the playful ideas local art collective REBAR explores as redesigns for BART car interiors in their project you are bART.The piece is part of the inaugural Sister City Biennial exhibition Urbanition, co-produced by the San Francisco Arts Commission and Sydney-based CarriageWorks and on view at...
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June 23, 2011Should We Plan for Sprawl? By Egon Terplan, Regional Planning DirectorThe implementation of Senate Bill 375, California's anti-sprawl legislation, continued with a joint meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) on June 22. The question at hand: Should the MTC commissioners and ABAG directors approve a set of five alternative growth scenarios for their staffs to further analyze? Each scenario includes a set of land-use assumptions (i.e. where growth will go), transportation assumptions (i.e....
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June 22, 2011Good Government Awards: How Susan Fernyak Prevented an H1N1 Disaster SPUR’s 31st annual Good Government Awards, held earlier this year, honored five City of San Francisco employees and teams who have performed exceptionally, becoming models for other agencies and cities around the country. In recognition of her vital role in the City, her leadership in developing the City's Infectious Disease Response Plan and for her exemplary response to the 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 Influenza, Dr. Susan Fernyak has been selected for a 2011 MFAC Public Managerial...
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June 20, 2011Traffic Safety in the Age of the Bicycle BY COLE ARMSTRONG After observing aggressive and dangerous behavior by drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians on New York City streets, designer Ron Gabriel decided to focus his master’s thesis at the School of Visual Arts on the danger posed by a single NYC intersection. He shot hours of video footage of Park Avenue and 28th Street, edited together clips of accidents and near-accidents, and used video-game-like graphics to highlight the motorists, cyclists and pedestrians involved. The resulting video...
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