soma leadership council

Last week Zelda Bronstein published the first part of what promises to be an extensive analysis of the Planning Department’s ambitions for our neighborhood in an essay titled, “The attack on SoMa: city wants to create a new downtown, wiping out culture and thousands of blue-collar jobs.” The piece in its entirety can be found on Tim Redmond’s new blog, 48hills: the secrets of san francisco.

As a former Planning Commissioner (and two-term chair of the Berkeley Planning Commission), Bronstein’s acknowledged interests include land use, manufacturing, public finance, feminism, theater, film, and the political economy of Berkeley and the Bay Area but are perhaps best captured by a favorite quote from Jane Jacobs (“The Death and Life of Great American Cities”) who wrote, “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

Bronstein writes:

While the displacement of residential tenants has become big news in this city, local blue-collar jobs and businesses are getting forced out of San Francisco, too – and if history is any precedent, the city is asking for a fight.  Continue reading →

by JIM MEKO

In a press release issued this morning, organizers of the “No Wall on the Waterfront” office alerted supporters that the deadline for turning in petitions is fast approaching. Their citywide campaign to turn down the 8 Washington development was a roaring success. The same organizers hope to carry that enthusiasm forward to put more restrictions on the Planning Department’s blatant disregard of existing zoning controls.  Continue reading →

from http://sf.curbed.com

Plans are in the works for a 6-story group home at 1532 Harrison Street in Western SoMa. Three separate buildings connected by sky bridges will house up to 235 “suites” ranging from 227 to 409 square feet. The rooms, intended for single- or double-occupancy, would be equipped with bathrooms and kitchenettes. Each building would feature 9 common kitchens, dining and living rooms for residents of the adjacent rooms to access. Continue reading “Modern Communal Living Could be Headed for Western SoMa”