Oakland

San Francisco Bay Bridge

Bay Area Planners Acknowledge the Need for Regional Housing Solutions

While most Bay Area communities are pursuing housing solutions "individually," local planners acknowledge the need for strategies that address the regional as a unified whole.

July 3, 2019 - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Los Angeles Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente to Construct Highrise Headquarters in Oakland

Following Salesforce's lead, the healthcare giant will relocate to a high-rise urban headquarters, transitioning out of seven locations it currently occupies in the East Bay.

July 1, 2019 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Downtown Oakland

Oakland Keeps its DOT, Moves Forward With Innovative Street Repaving Plan

The city of Oakland had a particularly tough budget approval process this year. The future of capital investments in the city's transportation system was at stake.

June 29, 2019 - The East Bay Times

Oakland, California

Department of Transportation Caught in Political Tug of War in Oakland

The political debate surrounding the future of Oakland's streets has recently turned up a notch.

June 5, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Oakland Architecture in Music Video

Does Oakland Have a Future as a Public City?

The city is experiencing significant growth and development, but it has a complicated history of booms and lags and its civic future is uncertain.

May 30, 2019 - Places Journal

Handcycle

Oakland's Adaptive Bike Share Program

The pilot program seeks to make bike share more inclusive by providing bikes designed to make biking easy and accessible for disabled riders.

May 20, 2019 - The Mercury News

Oakland Hills California

Potholes Don’t Discriminate, but a Plan to Fix Oakland Streets Reveals Stark Divides in the City

The city has a plan to tackle its pothole problem that it says is equitable. But, some residents say it isn’t fair.

April 8, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Oakland Coliseum

Oakland A's Propose 6,000 New Homes

On top of plans to build a new ballpark, the Oakland Athletics have proposed developing 6,000 units of housing. Half would be located at the new site near Jack London Square, and the other half at the current Oakland Coliseum site.

March 28, 2019 - The Los Angeles Times

Oakland skyline and San Francisco Bay

The Many Ongoing Public Transportation Projects of the Bay Area

The San Francisco Chronicle offers a round-up of 11 big transit projects, by Caltrans, BART, SFMTA, and others, making progress around the bay.

March 25, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Richmond Bridge

Proposed Law Would Prevent Downzonings in California

A proposed state law, SB 330, would make it remove some local control of land use regulations by making it very difficult to downzone.

March 4, 2019 - Urbanize LA

Pedestrian Bridge

If You Build (a Gondola), They Will Come

The Oakland A's want to build a gondola from one of the city's premier destinations to the proposed location of a new ballpark.

February 9, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Bay Area Multi-Modal Infrastructure

Planning Underway for New Bay Bridge Bike Path, and a Second Transbay BART Tube

In a distant and expensive future, there are two new ways to get across the San Francisco Bay without a car. One will have a much better view.

November 19, 2018 - The Mercury News

Port Authority Bus in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh to Oakland Bus Rapid Transit Taking Shape, Seeking Funding

The city of Pittsburgh and the Port Authority of Allegheny County are working together on a proposal to build dedicated bus lanes between Downtown Pittsburgh and the suburb of Oakland. A federal partner is still necessary.

September 16, 2018 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Vacant Land Languishes in the High-Priced Market of Oakland, California

Oakland property prices have gone way up, but vacant land can be found all over the city. Hayley Raetz argues getting development on this land should be a policy priority.

August 6, 2018 - Terner Center for Housing Innovation

San Francisco City Hall

San Francisco Voters to Decide on Employer Tax to House the Homeless

It started in Seattle with the Amazon Tax to pay for transportation and housing needs exacerbated by the city's largest employers. Last month, a Google Tax was placed on the November ballot in Silicon Valley. A landlord tax in Oakland could be next.

July 18, 2018 - Bloomberg News

Seattle Beats San Francisco to Plastic Straw and Utensil Ban

Seattle's ban took effect Sunday, while San Franciso's proposed legislation, if successful, would begin July 1, 2019. Other cities have plastic straw restrictions, but Seattle's is the first outright ban. Compostable alternatives are permitted.

July 6, 2018 - Huffington Post

pallets of green oil barrels stacked

Big Oil Wins Climate Change Lawsuits

The courts are no place to be deciding on the contribution of fossil fuels to climate change, ruled a Northern California federal district court judge in a "stinging defeat" to San Francisco and Oakland that wanted Big Oil to pay mitigation costs.

June 28, 2018 - The New York Times

Port of Oakland

Federal Judge Strikes Down Oakland's Ban on Coal Exports

Shipping coal from Utah to export to Asia through a new cargo facility in Oakland, California took a significant step forward on May 15 with a strongly worded ruling condemning the adequacy of the city of Oakland's environmental analysis.

May 18, 2018 - KQED: California Report

Payday Loans

Report Details Racial Inequality in Four Cities

Five decades after the Fair Housing Act, racial inequality is still rampant in American cities. Trulia and the National Fair Housing Alliance collaborated on this report on four of them.

May 3, 2018 - Curbed Atlanta

Oakland Slow in Keeping Its Promise to Help Small Businesses Deal With Transit Changes

Oakland created a fund of $4 million dollars to aid small businesses affected by the construction of a new BRT line on International Blvd. So far, none of that money has been spent, though some of the funding was supposed to be spent by 2017.

April 24, 2018 - KALW

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.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.