Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Planning Department

Preview the Upgrades Coming to the Castro’s Jane Warner Plaza

By Aaron Bialick | Apr 4, 2014 | 7 Comments

Jane Warner Plaza, the first plaza created using semi-permanent features as part of SF’s Pavement to Parks program, will get some repairs and upgrades as part of the Castro Street overhaul currently underway. The worn-out painted asphalt will be replaced with an easier-to-wash colored asphalt, and a pedestrian island will allow a more direct link between the […]

The More Space SF Uses to Store Cars, the Less We’ll Have to House People

By Aaron Bialick | Feb 14, 2014 | 51 Comments

What if San Francisco stopped adding car parking? The idea might sound a little odd to the average person, but when you look at where the city is heading, the really crazy scenario would be to keep on cramming more cars into our neighborhoods. Under current policies, SF is poised to build 92,000 spots for […]

This post is supported by GJEL Accident Attorneys

Planning Department Takes a Serious Look at Highway 280 Teardown

By Aaron Bialick | Feb 7, 2014 | 13 Comments

The idea of tearing down a section of highway 280, north of 16th Street, is taking a firm step forward with the launch of a new study by the Planning Department. Although the department has already released a study of the option in December 2012, the new initiative would take a deeper, more comprehensive look at the “spiderweb” […]

This post is supported by GJEL Accident Attorneys

With WalkFirst, SF Takes a Data-Driven Approach to Pedestrian Safety

By Aaron Bialick | Dec 19, 2013 | 2 Comments

The city recently launched the WalkFirst program to lay a data-driven, participatory foundation for the effort to attain the main goal of its Pedestrian Strategy — cutting pedestrian injuries in half by 2021. In the coming months, staff from the SFMTA, the Planning Department, the Controller’s Office, and the Department of Public Health will field public input […]

Potrero Ave. NIMBYs Lead Supes to Grapple With the Minimum Parking Myth

By Aaron Bialick | Oct 23, 2013 | 63 Comments

For NIMBYs fighting a residential building project in the northeast corner of the Mission on the basis of negative environmental impacts, you might think minimizing the number of new car parking spaces is a good thing. After all, the more parking that goes into a project, the more residents tend to own and drive cars. […]

Revamped Bike Parking Requirements Clear Final Hurdle at Board of Supes

By Aaron Bialick | Jul 25, 2013 | 3 Comments

A citywide overhaul of bicycle parking requirements for new development will be adopted after the Board of Supervisors approved the legislation unanimously on Tuesday. The ordinance will, by and large, increase bike parking requirements for new residential and commercial buildings, which have been put in place on a piecemeal basis since 1996. Planning Department staff […]

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