Learning from D.C.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Washington, D.C. was built as a celebration of democracy and civic pride. Today, planners are extending this legacy to reconnect D.C.'s "monumental core" with the rest of the city.

While urban planners across the U.S. talk about creating transit-oriented development, the D.C. region has built TODs in a way that's actually changing commuter behavior. What lessons can San Francisco learn from this success story?

The Bay Area Rapid Transit Authority and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority developed their respective regional transit systems around the same time, and toward similar aims. Both were conceived in the 1940s to complement new highways and underwent construction in the 1960s as opposition to those highways began to mount. BART began operation in 1972, and has grown to 104 track miles; Metrorail began…

The revitalization of downtown, greater downtown and Center City

Geography, population and how we get around

A function of any city is to provide safety and the defense of residents while they shop and trade, even while they sleep, It's a way of circling the wagons, from Leonardo's fortified town walls to Beijing's Imperial City walls to today's post-9/11 terrorist barricades.