Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Planning Department

SF’s New “Sustainability Fee” Set to Include a Big Incentive to Build Parking

By Aaron Bialick | | 31 Comments
The city’s proposed Transportation Sustainability Fee — which would be assessed on new development to speed up construction of walking, biking, and transit infrastructure — moved forward today with approval from the SF Planning Commission. The commission approved a maximum rate slightly higher than the city had initially proposed but far lower than what some livable streets advocates wanted. […]

TSP Rebooted: Bureaucratic Revamp Could Boost Transit and Livable Streets

By Aaron Bialick | | 2 Comments
San Francisco agencies have re-introduced the Transportation Sustainability Program, a bureaucratic overhaul that could dramatically expedite improvements for walking, biking, and transit, while discouraging car parking in new developments. In developing the program, SF planners are also nearing completion of the nation’s first major study showing that dedicated car parking encourages driving. The TSP is three-pronged: It would overhaul SF’s development fee […]

Planning Dept Releases Design Guide for “Living Alleys” Around Hayes Valley

By Aaron Bialick | | 4 Comments
The SF Planning Department released a design guide this week for “living alleys” [PDF], providing a template to transform SF’s narrow, low-traffic streets into places to gather and play. Inspired by the Dutch “woonerf” concept, the “Living Alleys Toolkit” lays out proven design measures that make smaller streets more inviting to stay and play on, giving street life […]

Gentrification Fears Threaten to Derail Mission Street Improvements

By Aaron Bialick | | 64 Comments
Mission District residents who equate streetscape improvements with rising rents dominated a community meeting discussion yesterday about public space upgrades along Mission Street. It was the Planning Department’s latest public meeting about its Mission Street Public Life Plan, an effort to envision Mission Street “as a vital transit corridor with art, commerce and new public spaces for people […]

Annie Alley Transformed Into a Downtown Gathering Space

By Aaron Bialick | | 6 Comments
San Francisco’s newest on-street plaza opened downtown this week on Annie Street, a one-block alley that runs near SPUR’s Urban Center between Market and Mission Streets, about halfway between Third and New Montgomery Streets. Temporary concrete and wood seats have transformed a large section of the alley into a car-free space for gatherings and events […]
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