The creative juices are flowing over at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), fueled in part by the long-delayed approval of the bicycle plan after years of litigation and by the determined efforts of influential bicycle advocates who cast a jealous eye at some of the unusual traffic experiments happening in Europe. Prepare yourself for some weird bike lane configurations coming to your neighborhood soon. Continue reading
Filed under planning, public safety, transportation
Interesting New York Times piece on “hacker hostels,” informal housing establishments that put a new twist on the long tradition of communal housing for tech types by turning it into a commercial enterprise. Coming in the midst of the student housing, smaller minimum unit size and reduction in open space legislation, it makes you wonder if this isn’t what Supervisor Scott Wiener and Mayor Ed Lee have in mind … visit the New York Times to read more.
Filed under planning, politics, quality of life
My remarks to the Planning Commission during public comment on June 28, 2012:
Let’s talk a little more about the Central Corridor Plan. The Planning Department would have you believe that this is all about accommodating the high tech industry. This incursion into the Western SoMa plan area has very little to do with high tech and everything to do with political pressure from the Chronicle, the Flower Mart and other large property owners in that area, the Academy of Art University being the largest of them all. Continue reading
From the San Francisco Business Times:
Sweet music to real estate investors TMG Partners and DivcoWest. Finance officials at the State Compensation Insurance Fund, however, must be feeling pretty short-sighted right now. TMG and Divco, both San Francisco-based real estate investment firms, more than doubled their money on the deal in less than a year, buying the property for $44 million in October of 2011 and agreeing to sell it this week for $109.8 million. Continue reading
Filed under economics
The Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Western SoMa Community Plan concludes:
“In general, it is anticipated that future development under revised zoning controls would result in more cohesive neighborhoods throughout the Project Area. New development within the Draft Plan Area, specifically, would exhibit greater consistency in land use and building types, and would include more clearly defined residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and high-tech/light industrial/PDR areas.” Continue reading
Filed under planning
Although I’ve always supported the Central Subway project, which isn’t really a very popular position among progressives in this town, it does occasionally try my patience.
When we carved out the area known as Western SoMa for our community-based planning process, we avoided the 4th Street corridor where the new rail line will run. The street is already developing all by itself as a neighborhood-serving commercial corridor and the addition of enhanced public transit seemed like a logical extension of reality-based planning.
Then the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development intervened, arguing that “we’re not gonna spend a billon dollars for this boondoggle without getting more bang for our buck.” Thus was born the Central Corridor planning process. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Salesforce.com recently backed away from its plans for a 2 million-square-foot campus in the Mission Bay neighborhood, another highly anticipated development in the same area as the Warriors arena and entertainment complex.
Mayor Ed Lee was understandably in an hurry to trumpet the news that he had persuaded the Golden State Warriors to relocate to a brand new arena along the Embarcadero, in the wake of a series of less than stellar developments in recent months.
The once heralded Americas Cup continues to scale back their once grandiose plans; Salesforce.com has abandoned its ambitious proposal to build a 2 million-square-foot campus in the Mission Bay neighborhood; even as Twitter moves into their new taxpayer-subsidized Market Street digs, Facebook’s stock tanks and the glow is coming off other high tech office projects; and the pending loss of the San Francisco 49ers remains a constant embarrassment. Continue reading
By ADAM DAVIDSON
The New York Times
When I was about 6, my dad and I were sitting near Wall Street when I asked him why so many men were wearing suits and ties. It was the 1970s, and we lived in Greenwich Village, a place where you could see men wearing almost anything except a suit and tie. My dad, a theater actor, told me that the people on Wall Street cared about money, and as a result, they had to dress formally. I even remember feeling bad for these poor chumps. Read more
Filed under community services, planning, quality of life
The SoMa StrEat Food Park opens later this week, with a grand opening celebration scheduled on Wednesday, June 6.
For those of you who have been living off the $1.50 hot dogs from Costco, relief is in sight.
The SoMa StrEat Food Park is set to open near the corner of 11th and Harrison Streets, with its “soft opening” beginning this week on Thursday, May 31 and continuing through Tuesday, June 5 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The “grand opening,” featuring both lunch and dinner service, is set for Wednesday, June 6. Continue reading
Filed under community services, entertainment, open space, planning
Renderings of the Warriors stadium at piers 30-32. Concept by Future Cities.
Matier and Ross printed the unofficial confirmation in this morning’s San Francisco Chronicle that the Golden State Warriors will build a new, privately financed arena along the southern Embarcadero at the foot of the Bay Bridge. The 17,000-19,000 square foot facility will also host conventions and concerts. Read more
Filed under entertainment, events
soma leadership council 