Blog
Search the SPUR Blog
-
June 6, 2011Weekly Snapshot: Adaptive Reuse in the Netherlands BY ANIKA JESIBorneo-Sporenburg Bridge, Photo by flickr user silent stereoAs the Netherlands have no suburbs, planners in the area face the unique challenge of accommodating a growing population within the confines of dense cities, without expanding into the neighboring countryside. The PBS series Design E2 reports on one such "shining example of urban redevelopment," in which the Borneo-Sporenburg district of Amsterdam, a former dockland, was converted into 17,000 waterside homes. The plan, which...
-
June 2, 2011The Numbers: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont Has 91.7% Transit Coverage BY MICAH HILTBART station in the East Bay, photo by flickr user travesty01We definitely have work to do--that was the take home point of a recent Brookings Institute study, examining the top 100 metropolitan areas in the nation for transit access to jobs. While the study found that our area ranked fifth in the nation for access of transit to resident, only 35% of jobs are reachable within 90 minutes using public transportation. Overall though, California cities faired well nationally having four of the top...
-
June 2, 2011Hidden Histories: The Oakland Museum of California BY GRETCHEN HILYARD Image courtesy Mark Cavagnero AssociatesThe recent renovation of the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) by Mark Cavagnero Associates has brought much-deserved attention to this important Modernist design. Our Young Urbanist tour of the museum on Friday, June 3, A Night at the Oakland Museum of California, will give a behind-the-scenes look at the renovation project. But the original design of this Modern masterpiece deserves a closer look.Designed in 1963 by architect Kevin Roche and landscape...
-
June 1, 2011Good Government Awards: How JobsNow Put San Franciscans Back to Work 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. The JobsNow Program was arguably the most innovative and effective subsidized employment program in the United States. During a time of high unemployment, the JobsNow team quickly built a local structure that put thousands to work in San Francisco. By acting fast and...
-
June 1, 2011Ocean Beach Master Plan - Public Workshop #2 BENJAMIN GRANT, PUBLIC REALM AND URBAN DESIGN PROGRAM MANAGERPlease join us at the Golden Gate Park Senior Center on Saturday, June 4th for the Ocean Beach Master Plan Public Workshop #2.The project team has been hard at work analyzing the impacts of different courses of action at Ocean Beach. You will have a chance to review several "test scenarios" and compare their outcomes in categories like ecology, infrastructure, and public access over a 100-year period. You can then work with us to assemble an approach that best...
-
May 31, 2011The Numbers: 96% of U.S. Transportation Energy Comes from Oil BY COLE ARMSTRONGA recent editorial by the Regional Plan Association cites this sobering stat (from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) to make the argument for a higher tax on gasoline as a way to both reduce carbon emissions and raise revenues in a time of huge fiscal shortfalls. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy recently included a three-cent-per-gallon increase in the gasoline tax in his proposed budget, but the legislature cut the measure. Attempts to raise the national gasoline...
-
May 27, 2011Weekly Snapshot: Good News for Seattle Bikers and Walkers? Kinda. BY ANIKA JESISeattle is consistently ranked one of the nation's most bikeable and walkable cities, with low pedestrian fatality rates, bicycle-friendly legislation and a high percentage of commuters who bike or walk to work. However, some worry that these high scores have made Seattle "too cocky," and that the city still has a ways to go in providing acceptable bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Residents hope Seattle's relative success does not defer the city from investing in...
-
May 24, 2011The Numbers: SF's Compost Program Offsets 2 years of Bay Bridge Traffic BY COLE ARMSTRONGSan Franciscans have been throwing compostable waste into the “third bin” for 15 years now, since we began a composting pilot program in 1996. But anyone who thinks the third bin has only tertiary importance should know that since its beginning, San Francisco’s composting program has offset 354,600 metric tons of greenhouse gasses, equivalent to the emissions of all vehicles crossing the Bay Bridge for over two years. San Francisco has collected over 907,000 tons of...
-
May 23, 20117 Phone Apps That Can Make Cities Better BY COLLEEN MCHUGH One of the greatest allures of a smart phone is the time it saves at the bus stop. Having real-time transit info and nearby stop locations at your fingertips makes city living just a little easier. But popular transit apps are just the beginning. Increasingly, smart phone technology is fundamentally changing the way we physically experience our cities.We have written before about SFMTA’s SFpark program, whose new iPhone application displays real-time parking availability and pricing data...
-
May 20, 2011Weekly Snapshot: Imagining Detroit BY ANIKA JESIMark Bittman of the New York Times calls Detroit a model of "self-reliance and growth," citing the residents ability to look within the city for solutions to challenges posed by a shrinking population. The key to Detroit's recent successes, Bittman argues, is food. The city's food system is integrated with a sense of justice, community, and a commitment to smart land use that unifies residents across race and socioeconomic boundaries. "If the journey is as important as...
Blog RSS Feed