Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Planning Department

Demand for Trial Plazas Increases as Lower Potrero Design is Revealed

By Matthew Roth | Aug 4, 2009 | 3 Comments

Conceptual rendering of Lower Potrero trial plaza at 16th Street and 8th Street. View from 16th Street, Axis Cafe on right, Wolfe Cafe on left, under billboard. Image: Rebar Art Collective. When the 17th Street and Castro Street trial Pavement to Parks plaza was implemented in San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom said at the press […]

San Jose and Guerrero Plaza Could Mark Triumph Over Deadly Traffic

By Matthew Roth | Jul 17, 2009 | 61 Comments

Intersection of Guerrero St and San Jose Ave, site of a new 9,000 sf plaza. Photo: Matthew Roth When Mayor Gavin Newsom dedicated the first of three Pavement to Parks plazas at 17th and Market streets, he promised to push forward with the next two trial plazas in short order, including one at the intersection […]

Eyes on the Street: The Mean Sidewalks of San Francisco

By Michael Rhodes | Jul 17, 2009 | 10 Comments

This home’s beauty, like most in the city, is not on display for pedestrians, those most likely to look at it. San Francisco is renowned for the beauty of its its Victorian homes almost as much as its rugged seaside setting. But with most buildings in the city, the architectural grace starts at the second […]

SF Approves Trial Closure of Mason Street In North Beach

By Matthew Roth | Jul 13, 2009 | 11 Comments

Mason Street triangle will be future home of North Beach Branch Public Library. Photo from corner of Lombard St and Columbus Ave. Courtesy: Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects. San Francisco’s traffic managers last week approved a trial closure of one block of Mason Street in North Beach from August 1st to September 27th to test what […]

17th Street Plaza Trial Extended Four Months

By Matthew Roth | Jul 10, 2009 | 29 Comments

Photo: geekstinkbreath At yesterday’s Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and Transportation (ISCOTT) meeting, where decisions about temporary street closures are decided by all the agencies that have anything to do with streets and events on streets, the trial pedestrian plaza at 17th Street and Market Street received easy approval for a four month extension. Heads […]

Streetfilms: SF Carves a Park from the Midst of Its Pavement

By Matthew Roth | Jun 29, 2009 | 9 Comments

The entire family of San Francisco city agencies responsible for maintaining its streets made an unconventional decision to close a portion of a street to cars and convert the new space into a simple, yet elegant, public plaza. The project combines all the important elements of plaza creation that have been successful in New York […]

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