In November 2012, San Francisco voters passed Proposition C, establishing a city-wide affordable housing fund on the enormous margin of 31%. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. In February 2012, Governor Brown of California, in an effort to slash the state budget, ordered the dissolution of all California Redevelopment Agencies. From an [...]
After nearly 40 years of discussion and planning, the connection between BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and the Oakland Airport is finally nearing completion. Like most transportation infrastructure projects (especially those in the Bay Area) this 3.2-mile, $484.1 million connector faced numerous obstacles, delays, and controversy even after construction broke ground in October 2011. Those [...]
In 1989, the Loma Prieta Earthquake shook the Bay Area at a 6.9 magnitude, breaking a segment of the East Bay Span of the Bay Bridge. Further analysis revealed extensive damage along the 75-year old bridge, and a recommendation was made to build a new East Bay Span. However, East Bay residents didn’t want just [...]
For San Franciscans, the imminent departure of the 49ers (a National Football League team founded in San Francisco in 1946) to Santa Clara, California this year is an enormous disappointment. In addition to enjoying a storied and successful history in San Francisco, the 49ers advanced to the Superbowl (the NFL championship game) in the 2012-2013 [...]
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has been the subject of much debate among developers, architects, engineers, public agencies, and activist groups since it was passed back in 1970. CEQA does not set environmental sustainability standards; rather, it requires that developers undergo specific analytic procedures to identify the environmental impact of their projects and adopt [...]
Anyone who has ever been to an Apple, Inc. store knows that the company’s branding and marketing go beyond its products – it spills into the company’s architecture. The glass façade and minimalist furniture prominently featuring glowing electronics are an unmistakable stamp of Apple’s spatial branding. So what, if you could imagine, would the headquarters [...]
Everyday, urban residents around the world use energy without giving much thought as to where it comes from, how it is produced, and how safe it is to produce it. But on January 31, 2013, a series of explosions at the Richmond Chevron Refinery in Richmond, California raised important urban planning questions regarding the location [...]
If you were a tiny, web-based start up in need of physical space and a support structure to nurture your business, what sort of things would you look for? Last year, for 6 months of 2012, I interned at the award-winning international charity website UniversalGivingTM, which operated from a business incubation site named HUB SoMa [...]
After decades of disinvestment and decline, Mid-Market Street in downtown San Francisco seems to be finally headed toward revitalization. Plywood has come off vacant storefronts, sidewalks are filled with pedestrians headed to work, and loud sounds of construction serve as an unfamiliar soundtrack for the historically troubled neighborhood. How did this happen? It’s fairly clear [...]
