The eventuality predicted since San Francisco's Prop. B qualified for the ballot has come to pass, with more than 59 percent of San Francisco voters approving the ordinance that will require votes on developments exceeding existing height limits.
"Residents overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure Tuesday to give voters a say in development along a 7 1/2-mile stretch of San Francisco's waterfront," according to a report by John Wildermuth and John Coté.
"The measure will require voter approval for any new building on Port of San Francisco property to exceed existing height limits, which typically range from 40 to 80 feet but can be as low as zero and as high as 105 feet."
In the article, Wildermuth and Coté quote a "disappointed" Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of the urban think tank SPUR: "Today, San Francisco took another step toward becoming the most expensive city in the country. ... We fell for a simplistic slogan and effectively shut off thousands of future housing units."
Matthew Yglesias agrees with Metcalf in a post for Vox, citing a tweet by Mother Jones Editor Clara Jeffrey as the voice of "discerning Bay Area progressives." Writes Yglesias: "But in San Francisco there is a basic underlying reality. The city's physical dimensions are constrained, and a lot of people would like to live and work there. Thanks to the miraculous technology of the elevator, it is perfectly possible for lots of people to live and work in a small geographical area via the mechanism of tall buildings."
Read the full story: S.F. voters OK Prop. B on waterfront development
Trial Over San Francisco Waterfront Development Height Limits Begins
The State Lands Commission filed suit shortly after San Francisco voters approved Prop. B in June 2014, requiring waterfront developments exceeding height limits to obtain voter approval rather than go through the Planning Commission process.
With Ballot Box Zoning Likely to Pass—What Next for San Francisco?
C.W. Nevius examines the consequences of Proposition B—on the ballot in San Francisco in June.
San Francisco Voters Increase Height Limits for Waterfront Development
Voters gave Forest City Enterprises' Pier 70 development the go-ahead on Tuesday by increasing height limits from 40 to 90 feet. The 65-acre property will be developed into mixed use, with 2,000 housing units, 30 percent affordable, and open space.
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.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
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.
This road in NYC is infamously dangerous — and Mamdani can't fix it
New York City's Ocean Parkway is known for reckless driving, but the power to implement safety measures lies with the state rather than the city.
One of Denver’s busiest corridors to gain BRT
The project will span 18 miles and contain 74 bus rapid transit stations.
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
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority