We all know the big one is coming. But are we ready? It's a question we must confront now, with boldness and with honesty: what will it take to make San Francisco a resilient city?

We all know the big one is coming. But are we ready? It's a question we must confront now, with boldness and with honesty: what will it take to make San Francisco a resilient city?

We all know the big one is coming. But are we ready? It's a question we must confront now, with boldness and with honesty: what will it take to make San Francisco a resilient city?

How do we decide when a structure is "safe enough”? Engineering standards define how many deaths, how many building demolitions and how long a recovery time we will have. Currently, the City of San Francisco has no adopted performance objectives for these factors. SPUR provides a new framework for improving San Francisco's seismic mitigation policies.

They're small and individual in character — dare I say lovable? — like single-family houses. And yet they shelter several families under one roof: maybe two, three, six or some other small number. Lots of cities have single-family houses that have been split up into apartments, but San Francisco's wooden multifamily houses were designed to have multiple units from the start.

Dozens of office buildings in San Francisco include privately owned public open spaces -- or "POPOS." Some are merely provisional, while others are hidden gems.

Proposition R is an initiative ordinance to change the name of the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant, located on the Great Highway in the Outer Sunset in San Francisco, to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition V is a policy statement to give voters the opportunity to make the statement that San Francisco schools should continue to maintain a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program. The measure states, "It is hereby the policy of the City & County of San Francisco that students in San…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition U is a non-binding Declaration of Policy which will put San Francisco on record as urging "its elected representatives in the United States Senate and House of Representatives [to] vote against any further funding for the deployment of United States Armed Forces in Iraq, with the exception of funds specifically…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition T is an ordinance measure that would make two changes to the level of funding and services provided for substance abuse programs in San Francisco. First, it would require the Department of Public Health to prepare a report to the Board of Supervisors by February 1 of each year that…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition S is an ordinance that would establish a policy that any new budget set-asides proposed at the ballot in the future should conform to certain guidelines. Budget set-asides are rules that require the City to set aside — for a particular purpose — part of the City budget that otherwise…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Many firms with one or more employees within the City and County of San Francisco are required to pay a payroll tax of 1.5 percent of their taxable payroll. Businesses with payroll of less $167,000 in a year are exempt from the tax.Prop. Q would make two changes to the…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition P is an ordinance that would mandate a change in the size and composition of the Transportation Authority Board. Through this proposition, the voters also would urge (but not mandate) the TA to assign some of its current functions to other City departments and adopt the budget review, ethics and…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition O is an ordinance that would repeal a telephone fee for 911 services and replace it with a general tax on all telephone users. The new tax would have the same rate as the 911 fee, but revenue from it would not be dedicated to any specific service. The measure…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition N would increase the amount of transfer tax paid for sales of high-value properties by increasing the transfer-tax rate to 1.5 percent of each $500 in value — or $7.50for each $500 — for transactions of $5 million or more. This higher rate would apply to the entire value of…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition M would make four changes to the City's Residential Rent Stabilization Code, which covers the approximately 154,000 housing units in San Francisco governed by rent-control laws. These units would be subject to the provisions in Prop. M.1. It would add to the definition of "housing service"Prop. M would…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition L would amend the San Francisco Administrative Code to create an alternative to incarceration for defendants found guilty of committing crimes such as drug possession, prostitution and vandalism in the Tenderloin, South of Market, Civic Center and Union Square neighborhoods. If passed, the proposition would create the Community Justice Center…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition K is an initiative ordinance that would decriminalize prostitution by preventing the San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney's Office from enforcing the state's prostitution laws. This measure would also prevent the San Francisco Police Department from engaging in targeted investigations of undocumented sex workers employed in massage parlors.If…

This measure appeared on the November 2010 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition J is a proposed amendment to the San Francisco City Charter with four main goals: Replace the current Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board with a newly established Historic Preservation Commission. Modify the powers of the Planning Commission regarding historic buildings. Transfer those powers to the new Historic Preservation Commission. Provide additional…

This measure appeared on the November 2008 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition I would create an independent ratepayer advocate, appointed by the City Administrator, to evaluate and make recommendations on utility rates proposed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The appointee would be required to have at least ten years of experience in utility rates analysis and at least ten years…