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October 20, 2010Brian O'Neill's Legacy Ensures a Bright Future for the GGNRA BY HEATHER MACK [Photos: left: flickr user armstrks, right: via SF Chronicle] "Nothing big happens in less than a decade," the late Brian O'Neill was quoted as saying. Those words from the ambitious superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (and longtime SPUR board member) who worked to transform one of the largest urban park districts in the country, still serve as a reminder when tackling giant projects, putting into perspective all that was accomplished during his tenure....
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October 19, 2010Obama Talks Infrastructure BY JENNIFER WARBURG On Monday of last week, President Obama recommitted his administration to a "fundamental overhaul" of the nation's infrastructure, following up on a previous Labor Day announcement that had excited smart growth advocates and set off speculation about the form such a "second stimulus" or "infrastructure bank" would take. Obama's speech last week on infrastructure investment [Via whitehouse.gov]When Obama was elected, supporters of progressive...
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October 15, 2010Weekly Snapshot Anika BY ANIKA JESI The Visitacion Valley Greenway [Photo Credit: Colleen McHugh]Vancouver Council Approves Six-Month Trial for Hornby Bike Lanes: Vancouver approved a six-month trial to test out a new network of protected bike lanes in one of the city's busy arterials. The trial, which would replace 158 parking spots with bike lanes separated by concrete barriers, will continue despite worries that the lane could contribute to parking troubles and decreased patronage for the businesses along the street....
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October 13, 2010Personal Car Sharing Comes to California BY FABIANA MEACHAM Your neighbor's car could soon be available for hourly rental. Any takers? [Photo Credit: Fabiana Meacham]Would you rent out your car to offset the costs of owning it? Would you get rid of your car if you could rent one from your neighbor?Until recently, those weren't legal options in California. But new legislation could dramatically increase the practice in the state. Starting in 2011, car owners will be able to maintain their personal insurance policies (albeit at a higher price)...
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October 12, 2010Three Things You Should Know about the Central Subway BY ED PARILLON The Central Subway project is the second phase of Muni's T-line, the biggest transit project in San Francisco today. Once completed in 2018, the line will connect Visitacion Valley and Bayview with downtown, SOMA, and Chinatown. As with any project this large, the project has its fair share of detractors, and we thought it would be useful to remind everyone of some of the benefits. 1. It will add capacity to a corridor that sorely needs itThe Stockton corridor is one of Muni's busiest....
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October 11, 2010New Biography on Bay Area Environmental Champion BY AMIE LATTERMAN Dorothy Erskine: Graceful Crusader for the Environment doesn't exactly relay the magnitude of impact that one woman had on the entire Bay Area some 50 years ago. Janet Thiessen's brief biography delves into the life of a one-woman powerhouse whose influence is on par with other, more well-known civic leaders, like Dianne Feinstein, Willy Brown, Jr. and Harvey Milk. UC Berkeley geography professor Dick Walker recently reviewed Thiessen's story of "a pivotal figure in the history...
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October 8, 2010Weekly Snapshot BY ANIKA JESI Dublin's color-coordinated bike share and transit systems [Photo Credit: Colleen McHugh]Sinking ARC: On Thursday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie cancelled the ARC project, the nation's largest mass infrastructure plan to connect New Jersey and New York with a much needed second tunnel under the Hudson River. Rather than raising the state's relatively low gasoline taxes to cover the cost of the rail, the governor opted instead to funnel the money into local road projects and...
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October 7, 2010Datablog Roundup BY JORDAN SALINGER Operating with a much larger canvas than SF, and the ability to shape its surroundings, the planned Dubai City dwarfs SF and takes on the Bay AreaSprawl Crawl: A CEO's for Cities study shows sprawl as the true cause of traffic. As opposed to the Urban Mobility Report, which focuses specifically on travel times, this report takes into account such factors as land use and community design into its traffic calculations. GOOD magazine and Atley G. Kasky teamed up for this infographic.Journalism...
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October 6, 2010Notes from Abroad: Dublin's Bike-Share a Success BY COLLEEN MCHUGH All photos by Colleen McHughIn its first year, Paris' popular Vélib' bike share program — one of the first major programs of its kind and the largest system in the world — battled higher-than-expected rates of vandalism and theft. But in Dublin, where dublinbikes launched last September, the surprise has been just how smoothly and successfully the program ran in its first year. A modest system in comparison to Vélib' — with only 450 bikes compared to...
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October 5, 2010Banner Month for California Air Resources Board BY LAURA TAM, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIRECTOR CARB and MTC have adopted strong regional targets for reducing emissions through better planning and less driving.[Photo Credit: flickr user Jovi Girl J] In late September, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted unanimously to adopt a strong set of regional targets for passenger vehicle emissions reduction under SB 375, the state's anti-sprawl law. The historic vote was the culmination of a two-year effort which included the entire Regional Targets Advisory Committee process and...
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