The San Francisco Chronicle

John King of The San Francisco Chronicle examines the installation of mobile planters around the Yerba Buena District in San Francisco; part of a 10-year revitalization initiative to bring new meaning and boundaries surrounding public space.

Will the California high-speed rail project move forward, or will politicians pull the plug? The fate of the program weighs in the balance as construction is about to begin.

John King gives readers the tools to critique plans for the new wing of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art before the designs are released next Weds.

This Thursday, San Francisco's Planning Commission is expected to approve one of the most anticipated developments in the city's history: the reconstruction of the former naval base on Treasure Island into living space for 19,000 residents.

It's urbanists vs. NIMBYs as San Francisco's Planning Commission prepares to vote on a new master plan that calls for more density and more affordable housing.

As urban sprawl continues to encroach on what was once expansive habitat for mountain lions, the large predators have been involved in more encounters with humans in urban settings.

Things looked grim for the Central Subway project last week, as SF officials were facing an impending deadline to come up with $137 million to match federal funds. This week, Mayor Newsom and MTC seem to have found a way.

Colloseo, a restaurant in San Francisco's North Beach, wants to feature Luca, their opera-singing waiter, as part of the ambience. The Telegraph Hill Dwellers, an influential neighborhood situation, says no.

Federal funds come with a price - in order to hold on to $972m awarded to the Central Subway project, San Francisco's MUNI needs to come up with at least $137m by February.

Street furniture and plantings transform a small strip of roadway within a bustling San Francisco neighborhood, much to the delight of the planners and designers who fought for the change for over five years.

San Francisco Chronicle architecture critic John King returns from a trip to New York with a look at several lessons that the City-by-the-Bay could (gasp!) learn from Manhattan.

Carl Nolte, the San Francisco Chronicle's historian, writes on the 150-year anniversary of the Market St. Railway that began operation as a 2-car steam train on July 4, 1860, and the evolution of rail on/under Market St including BART & Muni Metro.

Daniel Jacobson, an undergrad at Stanford, developed a thorough study recommending everything the City of Oakland would need to build, run and finance a streetcar through its downtown.

Plans for a re-envisioned Treasure Island are reaching the approval stage. John King takes a close look at the ambitious plan, which includes lots of protected open space and a 650 ft. tower.

A new study in the San Francisco Bay Area says no, that had there been no controls in place there would be only 6.5% more housing built over the past 50 years.

Architecture critic John King reads Sharon Zukin's new book "Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Spaces" and ruminates on the meaning of authenticity in his own hometown, San Francisco.

John King is surprised to find that a bold plan for a public space has somehow squeaked through the Berkeley, CA planning process in an area between BART and campus.

UC Berkeley urban design students have proposed new, far-fetched proposals for reusing the soon-to-be-obsolete span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. With space at a premium in the Bay Area, would a hotel, park or neighborhood actually work?

Forty years ago, an unusual proposal for a pyramid-shaped skyscraper caused outrage across San Francisco. Today, it is recognized as a worthy addition to the skyline. John King looks at the building's transformation from eyesore to icon.

Architecture critic John King laments the could-have-been: a beautiful Toyo Ito museum designed for UC Berkeley and killed for financial reasons. And yet the un-built project represents a new connection between town and gown, says King.