San Jose Mercury News

A report by the MetLife Mature Market Institute says that seniors are moving away from suburbs and to more walkable, urban areas.

The California Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that funding for bus and train service could not be taken for other uses.

The rise of sea levels is an inevitable fact. This week, designers, planners, and engineers from the Netherlands and U.S. met to strategize on how the Bay area should deal with it.

Major environmental groups hope this year's park closures, caused by the California budget crisis, will inspire support for parks at the ballot box next year.

An often cited reason for not using alternative transportation is the unpredictable: what if I need a car for something unexpected? A non-profit is now offering guaranteed rides to those who ride transit, bike, or walk, up to $100 per year.

Caltrain, the California passenger rail train, intends to electrify its rail system by the time high-speed rail comes online. This is at odds with freight railroads, however, and may lead to an increase in trucks on the road.

Utilities officials in the San Francisco Bay Area are hoping to secure their water resources in the face of another devastating earthquake by building a 5-mile long water tunnel beneath the Bay.

With great fanfare, the Bay Area's Greenbelt Alliance has released a new report, "Grow Smart Bay Area", the premise being that future population and job growth can be accommodated by infill and by doing so, will add to the region's sustainability.

Plans to build a 12,000 home waterfront development on the San Francisco Bay have some environmentalists up in arms. But the developers claim the project will exemplify "smart growth".

Due to the downturn in the housing market, plans for a new development that would essentially become a 20,000-person suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area have been abandoned.

The American Lung Association has failed 2/3rds of California's counties in a recent study of levels of smog and soot.

The city of San Jose decides against adding filters to public library computers to block websites with pornography.

It may come as little surprise to some that the tech-heavy city of San Jose has more males than females. But in other parts of the Silicon Valley, just the opposite is true.

The site of the Lexington Reservoir for the last 56 years, two ghost towns in Santa Clara County, California have re-emerged since the water level was temporarily lowered.

Peter Docter, director of the animated film 'Monsters Inc.', has submitted plans to build a series of artificial tree houses on his land in Lafayette, CA to be his family's home. The Planning Commission is currently considering the project.

After significant debate, the Pacheco pass route has been approved for the high-speed train between Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Next step: pass a $10 billion proposition on the November ballot.

Transit agencies around the U.S. offered free rides on a single day, and large crowds follow. But observers aren't sure they'll stick around when they have to pay again.

Cities like San José, CA are moving away from modern methods to keep grass down and going back to traditional methods like grazing sheep and goats.

The latest population and housing estimates for the San Fransisco Bay Area show that urban areas are equaling, if not exceeding, the growth of suburban communities -- with more multifamily homes being built in lieu of detached single-family homes.

Two ballot measures -- one sponsored by property owners, the other by local government groups and businesses -- seek to tighten the rules around eminent domain, and potentially end rent control in the state.