San Francisco

A surface parking lot, full of cars, is located between tall buildings and urban density.

Court Ruling a Setback for California’s ‘Builder’s Remedy’

A state court has ruled in favor of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ efforts to block a development project despite the state’s efforts to intervene.

November 6, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

Market Street

San Francisco Returns $15 Million Federal Grant for Market Street Improvements

San Francisco was awarded a federal grant in 2018 that it was forced to return in 2022 because it couldn't start construction by 2025.

November 1, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

Embarcadero

Port of San Francisco, Army Corps of Engineers Planning for Rising Bay Waters

A massive climate adaptation planning effort is underway for the docks (and seawalls and landfill) of the San Francisco Bay.

October 31, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

Blue "Public Restrooms" sign with arrow against a blue sky

Uproar Over San Francisco’s $1.7 Million Toilet

Critics question why a single-toilet public bathroom could cost the city close to $2 million and take two years to build.

October 24, 2022 - Los Angeles Times

San Francisco Skyline

How Office Conversions Could Benefit San Francisco

The city could emulate Calgary, New York, and other cities in supporting office conversions as a way to boost floundering downtown economies and provide much-needed additional housing.

October 21, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

Mission Bay and Potrero Hill

Caltrain Railyard Redevelopment Back on the Table in San Francisco

An incredibly complex development proposal for 20 acres of Caltrain railyard is back on the table, nearly a decade since it first made news in San Francisco.

October 17, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Skyline

San Francisco Rezoning Makes Room for 34,000 Housing Units

To meet state-mandated housing goals, San Francisco plans to accommodate thousands of new housing units focused in the city’s west side, which has seen little growth for decades.

October 11, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

Fare gates at underground BART station in San Francisco, California

Transit and the ‘Big One’

Bay Area transit agencies employ rigorous protocols to ensure they’re prepared for the next major earthquake.

October 11, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

Street in San Francisco's Tenderloin District with tents on sidewalk

Sacramento Voters to Decide on Using Lawsuits to Reclaim Sidewalks

Measure O may be one of the first ballot measures of its kind to empower residents to take legal action against a city for illegal encampments on city property. The Sacramento City Council voted 7-2 on August 9 to place the ordinance before voters.

September 29, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Apartments

A Who’s Who of Bay Area Real Estate

An analysis from the San Francisco Chronicle identifies twelve of the biggest and most influential owners of rental properties in the San Francisco Bay Area.

September 22, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

People boarding bus at LA Metro Bus Stop, Alvarado Street, Los Angeles

A Transit Ridership Role Reversal in California

Since the outset of the pandemic, the capital of car-oriented sprawl in California has become the king of public transit. Looking for lessons about the future of public transit in the United States? Look to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

September 14, 2022 - The Mercury News

Construction crane and equipment on 4th Street for Central Subway project in San Francisco, California

Opinion: San Francisco’s Central Subway Is a Bad Investment

Critics of the subway project argue that the line is too short and disconnected from other transit options to be useful. Meanwhile, projected costs continue to rise.

September 14, 2022 - Mission Local

The Ambassador Hotel in San Francisco, California

Evictions on the Rise Among San Francisco Supportive Housing Residents

With COVID-19 assistance programs expiring, tenants of the city’s single-room occupancy hotels face growing eviction rates. Many of them have nowhere to go but back on the street.

September 8, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

Public Toilet

San Francisco’s Tenderloin Makes a Compelling Case for Public Restroom Programs

San Francisco’s Pit Stop program, which provides public restroom facilities to vulnerable and unhoused residents, has helped contribute to a decline in feces-related service calls in the Tenderloin.

September 7, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco, California

San Francisco’s Big Redevelopment Plan Was Paused for Equity Analysis That Never Happened

Checking in with The Hub, a proposed rezoning that would enable a multi-parcel redevelopment at a conspicuous intersection, two years after the city paused the rezoning for additional analysis (spoiler alert: the analysis hasn’t even started).

September 1, 2022 - The San Francisco Chronicle

High-Speed Rail

California High-Speed Rail Recommits to Bakersfield-to-Merced Segment

The California High-Speed Rail Authority also certified the Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the San Francisco to San Jose section of the route in August.

August 31, 2022 - California Globe

California Shelter-in-Place

Analysis of Downtown Recoveries Reveals Post-Pandemic Winners and Losers

The recovery of U.S. downtowns is happening at widely different paces depending on which city you consider.

August 21, 2022 - Institute of Governmental Studies

View looking down on construction of multiple buildings in San Francisco's Transbay Transit Center District

San Francisco Housing Construction Far Slower Than Other Tech Hubs

Experts blame high land and construction costs and restrictive regulations for San Francisco’s dismal rate of housing construction, which lags behind other fast-growing cities like Austin and Seattle.

August 3, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

A row of Victorian homes in San Francisco, California

Whose History Is Being Preserved, Exactly?

As the housing crisis continues, advocates are increasingly wary of historic preservation efforts that serve to perpetuate historic inequities and keep housing costs high.

July 26, 2022 - San Francisco Examiner

Stay-at-Home Orders

A ‘Public Realm Action Plan’ Charts San Francisco’s Post-Covid Comeback

A nonprofit business group released a plan to trigger the post-pandemic revitalization of Downtown San Francisco by reclaiming public space for human scale activity. But is an improved public realm sufficient to meet the challenge?

July 25, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.