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June 17, 2009A better, or at least higher, use of open space - posted by Laura We spend much of our days with a roof over our heads, but rarely think of how roof exteriors could be so much more than just a weather shield. The growing urban rooftop farming movement just may change that. An article in today's New York Times describes how the green roof movement and the healthy food movement are converging. City policies can play a role in acclerating plantings - Chicago and New York provide tax incentives - though the urban farmers surveyed in the article admit rooftop...
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June 16, 2009One Way to Manage Shrinking Cities BY LAURA TAM, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIRECTOR The UK Guardian recently reported from beleaguered Flint, Mich., on a new plan to shrink the city by actually bulldozing unused buildings and neighborhoods. The idea is to concentrate the dwindling population and city services into a smaller area, or as Detroit has envisioned, many smaller urban centers separated by "forests and meadows". This proposal is apparently attracting the attention of the Obama administration. Is this is a budget-wise coping strategy, a plan...
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June 2, 2009Former USDOT Chief Norm Mineta (Bay Area's Own) in a Revealing Interview BY DAVE In an interview with DC Velocity, Norm Mineta, President Bush's Secretary of Transportation and a Democrat from San Jose, provides some fantastic insight into the challenge facing our new DOT chief.Mineta stresses the increasing inadequacy of the federal gas tax. Set at 18 cents per gallon since 1993, total receipts have decreased with inflation and improved fuel economy. The federal transportation account is deeply in the red. He reveals that Bush personally vetoed his propsal to index the...
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May 29, 2009Without a Hitch BY JULIE KIM YESTERDAY (live): TODAY (in the Examiner):
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May 28, 2009Agents of Change: A Sneak Peak BY JULIE KIM We're nearly done installing SPUR's first exhibition, Agents of Change: Civic Idealism and the Making of San Francisco. Here's a sneak peak of how it's shaping up—thanks to an amazing cadre of volunteers who have been working around the clock to get the show installed before it opens this Friday.I have learned so much from working on this show with our brilliant and tireless curator, Benjamin Grant. His approach to grouping the successes (and failures) of urban planners...
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May 28, 2009Agents of Change: A Sneak Peak BY JULIE KIM We're nearly done installing SPUR's first exhibition, Agents of Change: Civic Idealism and the Making of San Francisco. Here's a sneak peak of how it's shaping up—thanks to an amazing cadre of volunteers who have been working around the clock to get the show installed before it opens this Friday.I have learned so much from working on this show with our brilliant and tireless curator, Benjamin Grant. His approach to grouping the successes (and failures) of urban planners...
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May 27, 2009Board Fails to Reject SFMTA Budget BY DAVE SNYDER Only five members of the Board of Supervisors today voted to reject the SFMTA budget, two short of the supermajority of seven needed to reject it.The supermajority requirement was put in the City Charter by Proposition A and Proposition E (both in part crafted by SPUR) to create a balance between the need to defend the SFMTA from political influence and give the city's elected leaders a chance to reject the budget if it seriously misrepresents their values. In the current budget...
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May 22, 2009Channeling Christo BY JULIE KIM Yesterday we staged a dress rehearsal for our big day next Thursday—when we'll unveil the Urban Center to over 1,000 people at our grand opening celebration. The scene caused quite a stir on this once-sleepy 600-block of Mission. Cars slowed; sidewalks filled; the Peet's patron paused. Sudden gusts of wind caused only minor complications, and leant a certain drama to the occasional glimpse of our bright orange beacon (designed, along with most of the other building graphics, by...
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May 21, 2009The Alliance for Biking & Walking Works the Bike Caucus BY DAVE SNYDER The Alliance for Biking & Walking, a national coalition of advocacy organizations, is working the Congressional Bike Caucus. The Caucus represents a majority of members who support an increased federal role in promoting bicycling as a solution to our nation's transportation crisis, not to mention our health and environmental crises.In the attached letter from the Bike Caucus Chair, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Portland, OR), you'll see what the national bike movement is up to. The...
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May 20, 2009How Will Shoreline Cities Respond to Sea Level Rise? BY JULIE KIM Just wanted to point your attention to the Bay Conservation Development Commission's upcoming design competition. The jury is seeking ideas inspired by "the common characteristics of estuaries" to prepare and adapt shoreline cities to the challenges of sea level rise. Entries will be displayed in the Ferry Building on July 14-19. Designers: still time to enter your proposal! Here's an excerpt from the competition brief:Some techniques for dealing with sea level rise are fairly...
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