The Transformation of the San Francisc's Transbay Terminal

"The first plan to redevelop the Transbay Terminal into the "Grand Central Terminal of the West" was released in 1967 and many plans since have collected dust. But the formation of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority in 2001 to push the project has begun to produce some notable

results. "

"The Transbay Terminal - expected to be complete by 2013, three years sooner than previous projections - will serve nine Northern California counties and various transit agencies both public and private, including trains, subways, buses and ultimately, it is hoped, high-speed

rail to Los Angeles. The surrounding 40-acre area, much of it opened up after highways damaged in the 1989 earthquake were demolished, is to become San Francisco's most densely populated neighborhood, based on a planning model known as Vancouverism.

Named after the city in British Columbia, Vancouverism is characterized by tall, but widely separated, slender towers interspersed with low-rise buildings, public spaces, small parks and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes and facades to minimize the impact of a high-density population. The Transbay neighborhood would have an estimated 350 people an acre, whereas the typical residential neighborhood with four-story flats has about 60 people an acre."

Thanks to John Holtzclaw