In terms of land area, San Francisco’s a small city. Yet if current policies persist, the city will build 92,000 parking spots for residents by 2040, on just 49 square miles of land.
That’s led some observers to suggest that now is the time to get real about changing San Francisco’s transportation habits. It’s not just a question of ideology, as Aaron Bialick points out. Beyond environmental concerns is a simple question of space: how many more cars can the city realistically hold?
Even the the Market-Octavia Plan, which has a strict maximum parking ratio, fails to set an upward limit on parking expansion. “Unless plans and the priorities of our leaders change . . . , San Francisco is destined to have worse congestion, less effective transit, and unlivable streets,” writes Bialick.
Read the full story: The More Space SF Uses to Store Cars, the Less We'll Have to House People
San Francisco's Performance Parking Pilot Less Successful Than Hoped
In San Francisco, a performance parking pilot program has not had as big an impact as many thought it would. According to Michael Perkins, "Even with high rates, popular blocks still fill up, and other blocks remain under-filled even at low prices."
San Francisco Aims To Give Parking A Technological Makeover
Variable parking rates and online parking availability are features of a pilot program meant to increase convenience and cut congestion on the road.
Luxury condo owners fight robotaxis in the most San Francisco conflict ever
Waymos parking in a condo building's garage are causing headaches as they get stuck and block other cars from exiting.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority