Bay Area

Bay Area Wetlands

Bay Area Design Challenge Takes On Sea Level Rise

For the next several months, nine sites will be the focus of efforts to design for resilience as sea levels rise. Proposals involve "threading nature back into an urbanized terrain."

February 9, 2018 - San Francisco Chronicle

One Native American Family, Two Housing Crises

In Oakland, California and Torreon, New Mexico, Julian Brave NoiseCat reports that "[f]or Indigenous people, the crisis of the home is intergenerational."

February 8, 2018 - High Country News

Bay Bridge Boardwalk

Former Bay Bridge Piers Offer a New Approach to the Water

"Four piers from the old eastern span of the Bay Bridge will live on as a public boardwalk and vista point in Oakland and on Yerba Buena Island," reports Erin Baldassari.

January 26, 2018 - The Mercury News

Bay Bridge Toll

Ballot Measure to Hike Bay Area Bridge Tolls Headed for June Ballot

A modest toll increase, $3 over six years, took a major step forward with the approval of a key Bay Area Toll Authority committee. With the exception of the Bay Bridge, the round-trip toll on each of the region's seven state-owned bridges is $5.

January 14, 2018 - SF Gate

Only Bay Area Voters Support State's New 12-cent Gas Tax

According to a UC Berkeley poll released Dec. 22, 52% of likely voters statewide would support either of two initiatives that hope to be placed on the ballot next November to repeal the gas tax that took effect Nov. 1, while 43% would retain the tax.

December 27, 2017 - The Mercury News

Ferry Building San Francisco

Out-Migration from the San Francisco Bay Area Getting Wealthier and Wealthier

The effects of one of the most expensive housing markets in the country are in display in this data analysis of migration to and from the San Francisco Bay Area.

December 23, 2017 - Buildzoom

Dublin, California Freeway

Bay Area Express Lanes Turn a Profit

Not all of them, just the I-580 lanes. One of the reasons is that most users are actually paying, unlike the other two express lanes where a majority of users are clean-air vehicles or carpools, neither of which pay.

December 12, 2017 - San Francisco Chronicle

Sacramento

Bay Area Displacement Spreads to Sacramento

A new study finds evidence that the ripple effect from the San Francisco Bay Area's housing affordability crisis has reached all the way to Sacramento.

November 25, 2017 - The Mercury News

Lafayette BART

Op-Ed: BART Should Embrace Driverless Trains

Daniel Borenstein points out the irony that while the Bay Area may be the world's top tech hub, BART has no real plans to consider driverless trains.

November 6, 2017 - The Mercury News

San Francisco

Increased Tolls for Bay Area Bridges Headed for a Vote

It is now up to the Bay Area's transportation planning agency to determine when to ask voters to hike tolls on seven Bay Area bridges, by how much, and whether to phase the increase. A bill to allow voters to fund Caltrain was also signed.

October 17, 2017 - SF Gate

California from Space

Wine Country Wildfires Put Focus on Wildland-Urban Interface

The fires in Northern California have caused at least 21 deaths, with over 500 people missing in Sonoma County. Wired science editor, Adam Rogers, looks at the problems posed when urban development encroaches wildlands.

October 12, 2017 - Wired

Bay Area's Newest Express Lanes Opened Monday

Due to the high level of existing congestion, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission warns motorists that the new I-680 Contra Costa Express Lanes will offer relief just before and after the peak commute hour.

October 11, 2017 - SF Gate

Bay Area's First Climate Adaptation Project Could Be a North Bay Highway

State Route 37 is a vital highway connecting four North Bay counties plagued by two unrelated problems: chronic flooding during high tides and traffic congestion. Fixing the problem will set a precedent for Bay Area climate adaptation.

September 26, 2017 - San Francisco Chronicle

Nimitz Freeway

Bay Area Not Prepared for Next Big One

As the death toll from Mexico's 7.1 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 19 climbs above 300, the San Francisco Chronicle investigates how well prepared the Bay Area is for an earthquake of comparable magnitude. Not very well.

September 25, 2017 - San Francisco Chronicle

BART Train

Three Transportation Ballot Measures Could Be Headed to Bay Area Voters Next Year

The California Legislature approved bills to allow voters to decide on hiking sales taxes and tolls for regional transportation. Gov. Jerry Brown already signed a bill to allow San Mateo County voters to hike sales taxes for transportation.

September 19, 2017 - The Daily Journal

San Francisco Houses

Coming to Terms With the Bay Area's Housing 'Death Spiral'

Prospects for solving the Bay Area's severe housing shortage look far off. Action on the state level may be one way to approach this crippling collective action problem.

September 12, 2017 - SPUR

San Francisco Bay

White Communities in the Bay Area Don't Plan as Much Low-Income Housing as Their Neighbors Do

Goals for low-income housing were lower in majority white cities and communities than they were in their more diverse neighbors.

September 1, 2017 - Los Angeles Times

Sea Level

Sea Level Rise Will Displace Communities in Every Corner of the Bay Area

Sea level rise is already flooding communities with such regularity that many residents are deciding to leave. The sea level rise tipping point will expand its reach as the climate changes.

July 15, 2017 - San Francisco Chronicle

Blackalicious

Gift of Gab's 'The Gentrification Song' Grieves for Lost Communities

An MC worries that hipsters are displacing the poor, and cities are changing for the worse.

July 1, 2017 - NPR

Caltrain

Three Bay Area Counties May Decide Whether to Support Caltrain with Sales Tax Measure

The oldest commuter rail line west of the Mississippi is also unique in another way—it lacks a dedicated source of operating revenue. Legislation has been introduced to allow Peninsula counties to vote to increase sales taxes by 0.125 percent.

June 26, 2017 - The Daily Journal

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