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April 22, 2011Weekly Snapshot: Reining in "Sprawleigh" North Carolina BY ANIKA JESIIn the past decade, the population of Raleigh, North Carolina, has grown faster than almost any major metropolitan area, earning it the less-than-desirable nickname "Sprawleigh." In response to its reputation for bad urban sprawl, city officials have begun extensive rezoning efforts for Raleigh's 2030 Comprehensive Plan. The plan would introduce new codes designed to increase density by appealing to younger populations who want to live close to where they work, as well as...
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April 19, 2011Good Government Awards: How Capital Planning Manages SF's Investment Priorities BY COLE ARMSTRONG 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 city’s Capital Planning Program team was honored for its ability to bring together a large group of city officials and reach a consensus on capital investment priorities. Created by city legislation in August 2005, the four-person team analyzes the city’s...
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April 19, 2011SPUR Tours: Discovering District 8 With Supervisor Scott Weiner BY MICAH HILT SF Supervisor Scott Wiener led a tour of District 8 on April 14.All too often what’s great about living in a city can become a blur: just shops and people and buses and sidewalks we quickly pass while rushing off to our next thing to do. Thursday's District 8 walking tour with San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener gave 20 SPUR and community members a welcome chance to slow down and look deeply at a small piece of our city.Supervisor Wiener talks about the success of merchants on 18th...
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April 18, 2011Park Circa: Can an iPhone App Facilitate More Compact Living? By Jordan SalingerAccording to the SFMTA, 30 percent of traffic in San Francisco is simply drivers looking for parking. That’s not just a huge waste of time — it’s also a carbon-emissions nightmare. But new digital tools are helping city dwellers engage with the automobile in smarter and more efficient ways. Last week San Francisco launched extended hours on some SFPark smart parking meters, which aim to use real-time data to reduce the difficulty of finding public parking spaces. And earlier...
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April 11, 2011Saltworks Debate: the Pros and Cons of Bayfront Development California’s continued population growth was not up for debate at the SPUR Urban Center on March 29, but the Saltworks development project in Redwood City certainly was. At the latest event in our Debates Worth Having series, co-sponsored by The Bay Citizen, architect and urban planner Peter Calthorpe, the chief designer of Saltworks, and David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay, presented their pointed arguments for and against the proposed project, which would occupy 1,400 acres...
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April 8, 2011Behind the Scenes at SFO's New Terminal 2 By Jordan SalingerAfter lying dormant for a decade, San Francisco International Airport's Terminal 2 will be re-opening this month. Last week, 45 SPUR members had the unique opportunity to tour the final stages of construction on the $383 million renovation project. The 640,000 square foot building has 14 gates and will serve 5.5 million visitors per year. American Airlines, a tenant of the original terminal when it opened in 1954, will be joined by Virgin Airlines in this revamped space. Here are a few...
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April 8, 2011Weekly Snapshot: Rethinking Minnesota's Zombie Skyways BY ANIKA JESI MinnPost.com photo by Steve BergSkyways -- enclosed, elevated sidewalks -- have protected pedestrians from the brutal weather in Minneapolis and St. Paul for decades. But these 1970s relics have also been accused of killing pedestrian activity on city streets. To start a public conversation about alternatives, Architecture Minnesota magazine held a video competition and screened the hilarious results at a lively public event. The six finalists included a rap comparing Twin Cities pedestrians to...
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April 6, 2011Caltrain Scores Short-Term Funding -- Now We Need a Long-Term Plan BY STEPHEN TUAfter threats to reduce service by nearly half, Caltrain officials last night agreed to scale back their drastic proposed cuts. The rail system’s governing agencies have brokered a deal to avoid the worst-case scenario, which would have run only 48 trains on weekdays, a dramatic drop from the current 86. Through a patchwork of solutions — including a 25-cent fare hike and eliminating some trains and stations — Caltrain will preserve most of its current level of service. In...
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April 4, 2011SPUR to SF Supervisors: Don't Let the Next Google Get Away BY GABRIEL METCALF AND JENNIFER WARBURG While the Bay Area is still climbing out of the great recession, we’re simultaneously experiencing the makings of a second dot-com boom. The Chronicle reports that tech jobs have climbed near to their year 2000 peak of 34,116. Silicon Valley is hiring again. And so is San Francisco. Between Twitter, Zynga, Yelp, Salesforce and others in social media, gaming and cloud computing, a growing sector of the economy is based right here in the city.We can’t predict in advance which...
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April 4, 2011Seattle Planning Director Marshall Foster at SPUR POSTED BY JENNIFER WARBURGKnown for its quality of life and access to nature, Seattle has long prided itself on refusing to be “world class.” But rapid growth and a diversifying population mean Seattle is changing — whether it wants to or not. Booming biotech, software and gaming sectors are transforming the economy, new light rail and streetcar lines are expanding, and the city is about to reclaim its downtown waterfront from the shadows of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.On Friday, April 8, SPUR will...
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