It might be possible for San Francisco residents to feel like the challenges of homelessness, gentrification, and a tech boom, all colliding at once, are unique to their city. Other cities—Denver for example—are facing the same challenges.
San Francisco Chronicle Architecture Critic John King describes lessons gained from a recent trip to the city of Denver, "where homeless camps are a major issue and the mayor’s State of the City speech last week emphasized the perils of gentrification. At the same time, hip districts sprout residential compounds that are designed to make a splash rather than be a good neighbor."
That description will sound familiar to many residents of San Francisco, writes King, and they would do well to examine Denver for lessons on their own experience. Following observations about the new development and soaring housing prices in both cities, as well as the planning and political processes driving them, King produces a concluding statement that could serve as a call to action in cities beyond San Francisco and Denver as well:
For generations, the challenge in our cities was to stave off decay. Now the peril is prosperity. The sooner we accept the need to make tomorrow’s city better while still diverse — rather than wishing that the old days would return — the better off we’ll all be.
FULL STORY: Wake up, San Francisco: Other cities have problems, too
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Denver provides a case study of a city's politics reckoning with the pace of development in a post-recession real estate market.
Opening of Denver’s New Freeway Cap Park Triggers Gentrification Fears
Local residents fear rising housing costs and displacement with the opening of a new four-acre park built on a deck bridge over the newly reconstructed and widened I-70 interstate.
Austin Scores Highest on Pandemic Recovery; Bay Area and Baltimore Lowest
The Bay Area Council and CBRE created an economic tracker to measure how well the nation's 25 largest metropolitan areas have recovered from the public health restrictions imposed on their regions at the onset of the pandemic.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Maine Approves Rent Relief Program
Legislators hope the assistance program will help struggling low-income households avoid eviction.
How Transit Architecture Impacts Real and Perceived Safety
More than a third of Americans believe major transit systems are too unsafe to ride. The built environment can change that.
New York Passes Housing Package Focused on New Development and Adaptive Reuse
The FY 2025 budget includes a new tax incentive, funding for affordable housing on state land, and support for adaptive reuse and ADUs.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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