Michael Rhodes

It’s a short week but a full one. Here are the highlights, but be sure to check out the full events calendar for even more. Tuesday: SPUR Lunchtime Forum: Growing Urban Habitats. William Morrish speaks about a new how-to guide describing opportunities for housing design that are both respectful of current residents and sustainable for … Continued

"BIKE LOVE FESTIVAL, Custom Framebuilders Show, Swap Meet, Raffle, FREE donuts and Coffee. Come check out the latest custom frames by Steve Rex, Mikkelsen, 4130 Inc, RRVelo, Cleaver, and more. Eat FREE donuts and drink FREE coffee in the morning hours. Enter the raffle and win prizes. Sell your bike, or parts at the swap without flaky Craigslisters or Ebay fees. Small spaces are FREE, larger vendors spots are only $20. Please RSVP for larger spots. All proceeds from the swap will be donated to WOBO or www.walkoaklandbikeoakland.org Help get another bike lane put down in Oakland by participating in the event."

The streets of SoMa were eerily silent today, in the words of one resident, who took a break from working at home to enjoy walking his dog down a pleasantly calm Harrison Street. Gone was the persistent hum of Bay Bridge traffic, both overhead and on feeder streets. The first Bay Bridge workday closure since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake seemed to bring an unusual tranquility to SoMa's worst traffic sewers.

Transit advocates and community groups have filed a complaint (PDF) with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), charging that BART has not complied with federal civil rights obligations in its planning of the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC). The move by Public Advocates Inc. on behalf of TransForm, Urban Habitat and Genesis, comes after concerns over the controversial project fell on deaf ears at both BART and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. 

If the recent parking battle in Oakland had you thinking of UCLA Professor Donald Shoup, you're not alone.

The Bay Bridge closure this weekend will be the third in four years, and drivers are starting to figure out alternatives, including taking BART, carpooling on other bridges, and simply avoiding unnecessary trips. But this year's closure is different from those in 2006 and 2007: for the first time, the Bay Bridge will have a planned closure on a regular workday. No one knows what that will entail for certain, but BART will likely be packed, and the streets around Rincon Hill and much of South of Market may be strangely calm.

It may be the most dramatic Pavement to Parks implementation yet: at the intersection of San Jose Avenue and Guerrero Street, enormous logs have arrived that will form the backbones of planter beds. The Planning Department's Andres Power provides an update:

"FoundSF invites history buffs, community leaders, and San Franciscans of all kinds to share their unique stories, images, and videos from past and present. With over 1,800 articles of primary sources, essays, and images, the new FoundSF, co-sponsored by the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, is poised to become the Living Archive of the city, an interactive digital space in which history is actively shaped by the many voices and perspectives. With Chris Carlsson."

"San Francisco is one of only two cities to be awarded a grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation to implement the New Day for Learning report, which calls for a dramatic transformation of America’s education system. The goals include a seamless learning day and year, an emphasis on experiential learning and the use of the city as the classroom. The local Initiative is a collaboration between the Mayor’s Office, San Francisco Unified School District and the San Francisco School Alliance. With Margaret Brodkin of New Day for Learning and Milton Chen of the George Lucas Educational Foundation."

"This new how-to guide and source book reveals opportunities for housing design that are both respectful of current residents and sustainable for generations to come. Its focus is on using design to improve affordable housing and neighborhoods across the U.S. Featuring co-author William Morrish, recently-appointed dean for Parson's School of Constructed Environments."