There’s something incongruous about stepping off of a packed BART train into a vast parking lot. The fact that the very same stations that allow so many people to get around without a car are themselves surrounded by cars does not make for great symbolism. Nor does it make much environmental, financial, or spatial sense, according to BART policy. Since 2005, the agency has been trying to transform its many surface parking lots into bustling mixed-use neighborhoods, with new homes, offices, and stores. Progress has been slow going. Many of the cities in which BART stations are located are...…There’s something incongruous about stepping off of a packed BART train into a vast parking lot. The fact that the very same stations that allow so many people to get around without a car are themselves surrounded by cars does not make for great symbolism. Nor does it make much environmental, financial, or spatial sense, according to BART policy. Since 2005, the agency has been trying to transform its many surface parking lots into bustling mixed-use neighborhoods, with new homes, offices, and stores. Progress has been slow going. Many of the cities in which BART stations are located are...WW…

For Chinatown restaurants, hope is in the open air. Community leaders are optimistic that the Chinatown Walkway Weekends program, which debuted this past Saturday and Sunday on Grant Avenue, could bring business, and revenue, back to struggling eateries and shops. The full closure of three city blocks to give restaurants and stores more space for outdoor service makes Grant San Francisco’s first “shared street,” and perhaps a portent of things to come as the pandemic rages on. “The main goal of this is to help the restaurants. The restaurants are really hurting,” says Harlan Wong, director...…For Chinatown restaurants, hope is in the open air. Community leaders are optimistic that the Chinatown Walkway Weekends program, which debuted this past Saturday and Sunday on Grant Avenue, could bring business, and revenue, back to struggling eateries and shops. The full closure of three city blocks to give restaurants and stores more space for outdoor service makes Grant San Francisco’s first “shared street,” and perhaps a portent of things to come as the pandemic rages on. “The main goal of this is to help the restaurants. The restaurants are really hurting,” says Harlan Wong, director...WW…

“I’m hella proud of Oakland today,” Michael Tubbs said during a recent press event announcing one of the nation’s largest ever guaranteed income programs. Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton who has become a national champion of guaranteed income, is starting to see his advocacy bear fruit downriver. Oakland is just one of several Bay Area cities or counties to announce a guaranteed income program in recent weeks, joining Marin, Santa Clara, and San Francisco. For years, the Bay Area has served as the intellectual and financial epicenter of the movement for a universal basic income...…“I’m hella proud of Oakland today,” Michael Tubbs said during a recent press event announcing one of the nation’s largest ever guaranteed income programs. Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton who has become a national champion of guaranteed income, is starting to see his advocacy bear fruit downriver. Oakland is just one of several Bay Area cities or counties to announce a guaranteed income program in recent weeks, joining Marin, Santa Clara, and San Francisco. For years, the Bay Area has served as the intellectual and financial epicenter of the movement for a universal basic income...WW…

If you walk into Surfside Liquors for a bottle of water and some chips, be prepared to walk out with a life lesson. “Uncle” Bob Pinkard, who has owned and staffed the Hunter’s Point institution for 46 years, provides one of San Francisco’s most unique shopping experiences. Pinkard’s adages range from the hard-boiled: “The reason people kick you when you’re down is that they don’t have so high to kick. If they had to kick over their head then they wouldn’t kick you.” To the upbeat: “It takes about 13 muscles to smile and about 72 to frown. It’s so hard to frown.” To the philosophical: “If...…If you walk into Surfside Liquors for a bottle of water and some chips, be prepared to walk out with a life lesson. “Uncle” Bob Pinkard, who has owned and staffed the Hunter’s Point institution for 46 years, provides one of San Francisco’s most unique shopping experiences. Pinkard’s adages range from the hard-boiled: “The reason people kick you when you’re down is that they don’t have so high to kick. If they had to kick over their head then they wouldn’t kick you.” To the upbeat: “It takes about 13 muscles to smile and about 72 to frown. It’s so hard to frown.” To the philosophical: “If...WW…

Another day, another housing battle in San Francisco.Unsurprisingly, the can got kicked down the road, providing little solace for supporters or opponents of a small development in Corona Heights. But while nothing happened at the Nov. 19 Planning Commission meeting, much was revealed about San Francisco’s municipal bloodsport of housing policy. The subject of the latest bout? A proposal from the owner and resident of a two-unit building on 17th Street to transform his street-facing backyard into a three-unit building, and construct an additional unit in the existing building, for a...…Another day, another housing battle in San Francisco.Unsurprisingly, the can got kicked down the road, providing little solace for supporters or opponents of a small development in Corona Heights. But while nothing happened at the Nov. 19 Planning Commission meeting, much was revealed about San Francisco’s municipal bloodsport of housing policy. The subject of the latest bout? A proposal from the owner and resident of a two-unit building on 17th Street to transform his street-facing backyard into a three-unit building, and construct an additional unit in the existing building, for a...WW…

Muni is facing one of the most difficult moments in its 108-year history. San Francisco’s transit agency is mourning the death of a bus driver from COVID-19, dealing with the fallout of faulty construction in both its brand new and old subway tunnels, and facing a massive budget deficit that could lead to as many as . Still, Muni keeps rolling. At an SFMTA Board meeting Tuesday, agency staff announced plans to resume more bus lines, increase service on busy corridors, and gradually re-start metro rail. It’s a classic case of hoping for the best and planning for the worst. At the...…Muni is facing one of the most difficult moments in its 108-year history. San Francisco’s transit agency is mourning the death of a bus driver from COVID-19, dealing with the fallout of faulty construction in both its brand new and old subway tunnels, and facing a massive budget deficit that could lead to as many as . Still, Muni keeps rolling. At an SFMTA Board meeting Tuesday, agency staff announced plans to resume more bus lines, increase service on busy corridors, and gradually re-start metro rail. It’s a classic case of hoping for the best and planning for the worst. At the...WW…

There’s something incongruous about stepping off of a packed BART train into a vast parking lot. The fact that the very same stations that allow so many people to get around without a car are themselves surrounded by cars does not make for great symbolism. Nor does it make much environmental, financial, or spatial sense, according to BART policy. Since 2005, the agency has been trying to transform its many surface parking lots into bustling mixed-use neighborhoods, with new homes, offices, and stores. Progress has been slow going. Many of the cities in which BART stations are located...…There’s something incongruous about stepping off of a packed BART train into a vast parking lot. The fact that the very same stations that allow so many people to get around without a car are themselves surrounded by cars does not make for great symbolism. Nor does it make much environmental, financial, or spatial sense, according to BART policy. Since 2005, the agency has been trying to transform its many surface parking lots into bustling mixed-use neighborhoods, with new homes, offices, and stores. Progress has been slow going. Many of the cities in which BART stations are located...WW…

HousingThe new book Golden Gates details how California set itself up for its current affordability crunch—and how it can now help build a nationwide housing movement.ByFor most of American history, cities grew along a familiar pattern. Once a suburban community grew large enough, the neighboring big city would loosen its borders and swallow it up through annexation. Then in the 1950s, the developers of Lakewood, California—sometimes described as the “Levittown of the West Coast”—invented a new “municipal technology” to avoid this fate.By contracting out vital municipal services like...…HousingThe new book Golden Gates details how California set itself up for its current affordability crunch—and how it can now help build a nationwide housing movement.ByFor most of American history, cities grew along a familiar pattern. Once a suburban community grew large enough, the neighboring big city would loosen its borders and swallow it up through annexation. Then in the 1950s, the developers of Lakewood, California—sometimes described as the “Levittown of the West Coast”—invented a new “municipal technology” to avoid this fate.By contracting out vital municipal services like...WW…