Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Quality of Life

Planning and Public Life

By Chris Carlsson | Mar 25, 2010 | 6 Comments

On Linden Alley the "Union Project" held a public fair last year, just one of dozens of ways San Franciscans are taking public roads for uses beyond merely housing private cars. San Franciscans, like residents of most big cities, are in a continuous process of reshaping public spaces. There are pilot programs for new ways […]

Standing Up to Sit-Lie

By Chris Carlsson | Mar 17, 2010 | 64 Comments

Hippies and punks have been sitting on Haight Street for almost a half century. Will they soon be criminals? (Photo: Greg Gaar Collection, via http://foundsf.org) As San Francisco moves closer to a decision on a new sit-lie ordinance that proponents say would facilitate the SFPD’s clearing of unsavory elements off of sidewalks in neighborhoods like […]

D.C., VA, MD to Apply for Federal Aid as Snow Eats Into Transport Budgets

By Elana Schor | Feb 11, 2010 | No Comments

The scene in D.C. this week. (Photo: thisisbossi via Flickr) Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia are set to apply for federal disaster aid to offset the costs of cleanup from this month’s record-breaking mid-Atlantic blizzards, according to the Washington Post reports today. But the so-called Snowpocalypse could dent more than just worker productivity — already […]

White House Pitches $400M for Healthier Neighborhood Food Outlets

By Elana Schor | Feb 3, 2010 | 1 Comment

The connection between walkable development and grocery shopping may not seem immediately apparent — until you consider studies conducted in cities from Austin to Seattle that showed the share of trips taken by foot or by transit rises as local food outlets move closer to residential areas. The White House budget envisions a new investment […]

Has the Government Been Bailing Out Sprawl?

By Ryan Avent | Nov 2, 2009 | No Comments

One of the themes of the financial and economic crisis we’ve faced over the past two years is that government, pressed into responding to serious economic pain, has often found itself supporting the activities that got us into this mess in the first place. Sign of the times? Sde-by-side foreclosures in Massachusetts. (Photo: Yovani via […]

NoPa Neighborhood Fights to Calm its Residential Freeway

By Michael Rhodes | Sep 17, 2009 | 18 Comments

Cars regularly block the bike lane on Fell Street near the Arco Station. Photo: Bryan Goebel In a city where people and cars regularly jostle for space, it’s not uncommon to have speeding traffic just inches or feet from pedestrians, homes, and parks. This spatial conflict is especially pronounced on Fell and Oak Streets, which […]

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