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.
King describes these so-called "parkmobiles" as "portable landscapes in red steel bins 6 feet wide and 16 feet long, intended as a shot of mobile nature offering passers-by visual relief from asphalt and concrete."
"The parkmobiles signal San Francisco's most ambitious effort yet to improve the large, urban landscape in small, fluid ways - an effort set, tellingly, in a district that symbolizes old-school urban renewal."
At $6,000 a piece, the mobile landscapes are an example of an innovative, low-cost initiative taken on local property owners and CMG Landscape Architecture in the Yerba Buena District.
"The hope is that the bucolic bins will draw people onto blocks that otherwise get little foot traffic – and that the design and vegetation will survive the moves and the crowds."
Read the full story: 'Parkmobiles' bring taste of nature to urban S.F.
San Francisco weighs patio smoking ban
Business owners say the ban could force patrons onto sidewalks and disrupt long-standing bar culture, while proponents of the ordinance say second-hand smoke is a threat to patrons and workers.
Predictions for San Francisco’s Public Spaces
In 2023, will the city’s public spaces be reclaimed by cars, or will pandemic-era interventions lead to permanent change?
San Francisco Supervisors Vote to Keep Parklets, Close Them at Night
The pandemic-era outdoor seating arrangements can stay, but a last-minute amendment lets business owners close them overnight.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Pittsburg launches 'EZ permits,' aims for one-day turnaround for low-risk permits
The pilot ‘fast lane’ for permits is part of a bundle of modernization efforts for Pittsburg’s permitting process.
Eating, littering on Singapore buses now a fineable offense
Passengers who put other riders in danger may be charged thousands of Singapore dollars.
This rural Oklahoma town doesn’t want a data center. It may not be able to stop the project
With the project outside city limits and little county oversight of unincorporated land, officials are considering measures to gain local control.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello