San Jose Mercury News

Ambitious $1 billion plan for a Bay Area ferry system faces enormous hurdles.

San Jose is about to launch a massive residential renewal effort by establishing neighborhoodadvisory groups to identify needs and set priorities.

Mayor to unveil a proposal intended to balance needs of the high-tech industry with residents' concern for their neighborhooods.

Efforts to restore Lake Tahoe are finally starting to gain speed.

Santa Clara County Supervisors offers a 25-year sales tax plan to pay for BART and other transportation improvements.

As housing rents soar in Silicon Valley experts debate whether housing costs will harm the Silicon Valley economy.

San Francisco school officials still intend to build a teacher housing project but will proceed without a controversial partnership with HUD.

Contra Costa County banned development on 22 square miles of prime open space.

Researchers identify fungus responsible for killing tens of thousands of graceful oak trees along California's coast.

Coalition of Santa Clara community organizations criticized a proposes BART tax plan for meeting transit needs of minorities and low-income families.

$200 million project to reduce Napa river flooding by working with the river rather than trying to tame it may usher in a new era in water planning.

California maps an ambitious 15-year strategy to reduce polluted runoff that causes widespread beach closings and water pollution.

The tug-of-war over the rebuilding of San Francisco's Bay Bridge continues.

Standford University, the largest single landowner in the Bay Area, has drawn up a landuse map for the future that is facing unprecedented community scrutiny.

Planned conversion of a historic structure into multimedia offices attracts protests in San Francisco.

Developers in San Francisco are converting oldindustrial buildings into high-priced and controversial living spaces.

East Palo Alto, CA, residents worked for six months to craft a proposal that was awarded a $4.5 million Hewlett Foundation Grant to help bring affordable housing, jobs, and technology training to the city's residents.

Communities face cultural differences, economic resentment, and competition for services in a fast-changing economy and shifting demographics.

New ordinance bans new stores greater than 4,000 square feet effectively discouraging large chain stores in San Francisco's Castro district.

San Jose's one-way streets are convenient for motorists but residents complain speeding motorists have made their neighborhoods unsafe.