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NEWSWIRE
Articles 1 - 25 of 524
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10/1/2008 -
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3-in-1 bike parking
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New York City's MTA unveiled a prototype of a 3-in-1 system to provide bike parking, prevent subway flooding and give pedestrians a place to sit. The innovative design is a response to heavy flooding last summer that ended up crippling the subway system.
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9/21/2008 -
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What do Beijing and New Orleans have in common?
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Not much, when it comes to the scale and speed of its urban planning efforts. The New York Times' architecture critic, Nicolai Ouroussoff, contrasts the massive planning efforts of the Chinese government -- debuted to the world during this summer's Olympic games -- with the lack of any cohesive vision, or coordinated plan, to rebuild New Orleans.
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9/21/2008 -
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In Ithaca, NY, public transit meets George Jetson
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Ithaca, New York is considering testing pod cars, a personal rapid transit system designed and manufactured in Sweden. Experts claim the system is significantly less expensive to build than lightrail or subway systems, and more energy efficient because its computer-driven electric vehicles don't make unnecessary stops. According to this article, California may be chosen as one of the next testing grounds!
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9/15/2008 -
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Growing cooler
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A new report released by the ClimatePlan coalition shows that California can reduce greenhouse gases from land use even more than previously thought. By reducing driving and saving energy through compact housing, the report finds we can save 14-17 million tons of CO2 per year through 2020. This is at least seven times the estimate that the State's Air Resources Board had proposed earlier this year in its draft scoping plan for AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act.
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9/3/2008 -
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Greening alleys in L.A.
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Thousands of acres are devoted to alleys in Los Angeles, and an interesting partnership of USC departments has been researching how they could be greener and better utilized. The USC Center for Sustainable Cities issued a few reports this summer identifying opportunities to transform these nuisance sites into green infrastructure and community benefits.
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8/21/2008 -
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The Affordable City
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Interesting exchange on worldchanging about the expensiveness of nice cities. The author asks, "Has any city figured this out?" while pointing out that expensive and desirable city centers are still better than abandoned zones of concentrated poverty. Judging from the comments, the only cities that have "figured it out" are those with declining populations as in much of Western Europe.
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8/19/2008 -
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SPUR on Toronto in Toronto
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SPUR Policy Director Sarah Karlinsky's recent musings on Toronto were recently republished in the National Post, a national daily newspaper in Canada. The cross-fertilization between SPUR and Toronto continues!
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8/15/2008 -
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Policy Director Sarah Karlinsky on the Eastern Neighborhoods
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SPUR's policy director, Sarah Karlinsky, chimes in on the Eastern Neighborhoods neighborhood plan, a massive rezoning effort just approved by the City's Planning Commission last week. “It’s extremely aggressive and pushes the boundaries of what some developers consider financially feasible,” said Sarah. Yet, as Sarah also points out, it's a crucial first step toward increasing the plan area's stock of middle-income and affordable housing.
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8/15/2008 -
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Why we should all suppport the Transit Effectiveness Project
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SPUR's intrepid transportation policy director, Dave Snyder, offers his two cents on why all city residents and policymakers should express their support for the SFMTA's Transit Effectiveness Project -- even if it means cutting some routes.
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8/7/2008 -
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Railvolution scholarship applications due by August 22!
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Rail~Volution traditionally provides a Local Scholarship Program that we strongly encourage community activists to apply for. If you are awarded the scholarship, you will only pay $40 to attend the entire conference which covers sessions and meals. If you are a community activist that needs financial assistance with the cost of registration, visit www.railvolution.com/scholarship for instructions on how to apply to the Local Scholarship program. To be eligible for the Local program you need to live within one of the nine Bay Area counties.
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8/7/2008 -
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State of the Mint Address on August 21
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The "State of the Mint Address" will provide a behind-the-scenes tour of the landmark Old U.S. Mint, constructed in 1874 and now being rehabilitated. You'll see the vaults, courtyard, grand receiving rooms, and more. Architectural
and preservation challenges and plans will be described by project architect Patri Merker, historic preservation architect Page & Turnbull, and exterior conservation
consultant ARG. Aiming for LEED Gold, the new Old Mint will house the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society.
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8/6/2008 -
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Christopher Hawthorne's excellent series on Beijing
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Today's LA Times features the third installment of Christopher Hawthorne's week-long series on new development and architecture in Beijing. Today's piece is on China's young architects, who will undoubtedly play a huge role in shaping the course of urbanism in China's biggest cities, and in establishing China's place on an increasingly vast and competitive international stage.
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7/30/2008 -
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An Interview with Neal Peirce
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Planetizen interviewed journalist and syndicated columnist Neal Peirce about the trends he's seen over the course of his career and the future of America's metropolitan regions.
Neal Peirce has reported on cities and urban issues for more than 30 years. He is a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers group and is also a member of Citistates Group. He recently launched the website Citiwire.net that will feature his weekly column.
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7/30/2008 -
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Omaha Streetscapes Project Offers Civic Model
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Omaha by Design, part of the Omaha Community Foundation, created the Omaha Streetscapes Handbook that shows the city of Omaha how to best create high quality, environmentally responsible streetscapes in Omaha. This handbook has recently been approved as an amendment to the Urban Design Element (UDE) of the city’s master plan. The Omaha Streetscapes Handbook addresses many city issues including how to use cohesive design elements and protect and enhance the historic character of the city. A handbook similar to this could be beneficial to San Francisco. The entire handbook (84 pages) is available here .
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7/23/2008 -
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Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling
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The NYC MOMA exhibit, Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling, displays five full scale models of prefabricated houses creating a unique juxtaposition of a small suburban utopia surrounded by Midtown’s looming skyscrapers.
The Exhibit runs July 20 through August 20, 2008
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7/23/2008 -
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Lost in the New Beijing: The Old Neighborhood
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The construction and development that has turned Beijing into a world metropolis recently is also destroying some of the City's most historic neighborhoods. Preservationists and city officials alike are debating what the course of action should be to create the right balance between preserving the areas without making them too elite.
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7/23/2008 -
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Toronto from a San Francisco perspective
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SPUR's very own administrative director Lawrence Li shares with us some of his thoughts and observations from his time on the SPUR 2008 Study trip to Toronto. Li's amusing insights are taken from his personal interactions with Torontonians and from architectural and public policy observations around the city that was once known as "San Francisco Upside Down" by Toronto Writer Robert Fulford.
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7/21/2008 -
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Megapolitan growth in the intermountain West
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The new Brookings study profiles the front range, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, northern New Mexico, and the merging of Phoenix and Tucson. These "megapolitan" regions, home to 80% of the region's population, are projected to DOUBLE in population and jobs between 2005 and 2040.
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7/18/2008 -
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Decline of Suburbs not just about oil
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Richard Florida, author of the Creative Class, asserts that cities are more popular not just because gas prices make commuting less attractive, but because fundamental economic changes make urban proximity more attractive than it's been in centuries.
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7/11/2008 -
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The wage gap and the gas gap
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Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich blogs on how the price of gas is exacerbating our wealth distribution problem. Poorer Americans who live far-flung from urban centers find themselves even poorer as their commute costs more and more. But the solution for both people and the environment (contrary to some people's views, they go together) - improving public transit - is being cut as budgets tighten. 20% of public transit agencies surveyed last month reported cuts.
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7/8/2008 -
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Land use targets too low in AB 32 scoping plan
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At the end of June, the California Air Resources Board released a draft scoping plan to implement AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. This plan sets the state's strategy for getting to 1990 emissions levels by 2020, and helps move towards the target of 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. However, the plan does not include enough meaningful measures to promote smart growth and efficient transportation. In fact, it does not have a target or pathway to improve public transit at all. Public comments are being accepted through Aug. 1. For talking points, visit ClimatePlan's website here.
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7/8/2008 -
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As gas prices rise, Blueprint planning seen as model
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The Wall Street Journal reports on how Sacramento's regional Blueprint planning process, which promotes urban density and smart growth, has gained the support of residents and developers as gas prices have continued to climb. The Blueprint process has been proposed as a model for how to implement some of the land use measures under AB 32.
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7/2/2008 -
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Variably priced parking imminent in NYC
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That's the impression we get from the easy approval it received in the first phase. New York's "Peak Rate Pricing" proposal would increase meter prices during peak hours, boosting turnover and reducing traffic by people cruising for spot. San Francisco's own plan is much better because it has a nifty name -- SFpark! Learn about it at a SPUR forum July 15.
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