Transformative Transbay
The Transbay Transit Center project, along with Caltrain’s planned modernization, promises to be one of the most transformative infrastructure projects for San Francisco and the region in both the near term and for years to come. Phase One of the Transbay Transit Center project is scheduled to open in 2017. It includes an elevated regional bus terminal, connected…
Rethinking Downtown: San Francisco’s Downtown Plan at 30
San Francisco’s Downtown Plan turned 30 this year. The plan came about in the midst of the 1980s “Planning Wars,” when battles over density, building height, and office uses were fought in City Hall and the ballot box. The Downtown Plan attempted two reconcile two contending visions of the city – that of postwar Modernism, which had transformed…
Planning for a Better City
For many decades, transportation planning in San Francisco was focused almost entirely on the automobile, and walking, cycling, and public transit were marginalized. We need to put sustainable modes at the center of our transportation plans, and replace “predict and provide” models of traffic and parking planning with ones that take into account the potential…
Livable Downtown Initiative
Livable City’s Livable Downtown Initiative seeks to make Downtown San Francisco a more vital, sustainable, and livable place. It has been over twenty years since the city’s landmark Downtown Plan was adopted. The Downtown plan set out to create a vital downtown office and shopping district oriented to walking and public transit. The vision of…
Creating Sustainable Door-to-Door Transportation
Although sprawling, the overwhelming majority of Bay Area residents have convenient access to sustainable modes of transit. A major hurdle for many potential users is the short distance between home and transit, and again between work and transit. These first and last mile challenges keep many people who either live or work in transit poor…
“Unaccepted” Townsend Street is Unacceptable
San Francisco has about 850 miles of streets, in 12,500 street segments, covering about a quarter of San Francisco’s land area. 2,224 of those street segments are “unaccepted streets” – streets that are not maintained by SF’s Department of Public Works. Over half of those streets are paved, but often one or more features – sidewalks,…
Transit Victories of 2014
In 2014, San Francisco and Alameda County voters strongly affirmed their support for transit, walking, and cycling. In San Francisco, Prop L, a policy measure which sought to undermine the City’s transit-first policy, traffic calming, and innovative parking management programs, was resoundingly defeated in the November election. Proposition A, a $500 million bond for transit priority projects and…
Livable City Challenges Sunday Meter Rollback
Livable City and the San Francisco Transit Riders Union have appealed SFMTA’s decision to roll back San Francisco’s successful Sunday parking meter program. In January 2013, San Francisco finally started enforcing parking meters from 12-6 pm on Sundays on the City’s commercial streets. An evaluation [PDF] completed in December found the program to be successful – it increased…
Excelsior-Outer Mission is the Latest San Francisco Neighborhood to Embrace Car-Free Living
On November 27, Mayor Lee signed an ordinance creating San Francisco’s newest Neighborhood Commercial zoning district – and the latest to drop minimum parking requirements. The Outer Mission – Excelsior Neighborhood Commercial District includes the commercial area along Mission Street from Silver Avenue to the Daly City line. The district was previously zoned NC-2 and…
Climate Change
Protecting the Earth’s climate from catastrophic climate change depends in large part on rethinking the way we build and operate our cities. San Francisco’s Climate Action Plan found that 51% of San Francisco’s emissions were from transportation – 48% from cars and trucks, and 3% from public transport. The remaining 49% are from buildings. San Francisco’s plan…
