SF Building Boom and Beyond- Millennials Are So Smart

I recently attended a panel discussion San Francisco 
Building Boom and Beyond. I actually came away inspired. 
As much bad news as there is regarding changes in affordability 
and diversity in our fair city, the good news is that new development
is focused, (as many of us idealistic greenies visualized 30 years ago
when downtown's were dying) around transit and walkable 
communities. I commend the perseverance of planners (including 
SF's heavily burdened Planning Department) and placemakers, in 
the face of multiple very complex issues. 

sfstreetsblog

One part of this that I found so inspiring is that the buildings with .5
or less parking spaces per unit sold out quickly. and continue to do
so. I know part of this is that people just need any place to live in 
San Francisco these days, but peak US driving was in 2006, and 
Americans have been driving less since then, even in this booming 
economy. This next generation is less car centric and is flocking to 
places where "your apartment is your bedroom and your community 
is your living room".  Small spaces are hip and design creativity is 
making more them pleasant to live in.  Life with a smaller carbon 
footprint can be fun!

As a Realtor I drive a lot, so I know I am a little hypocritical 
advocating transit, cycling and walking.  My bicycle commute 
was one of the best aspects of my previous work. Driving here 
can feel like a stressful and complex video game these days, 
and I'm sure I'm growing new neural pathways as more and 
more bicycles and pedestrians are on the roads, but these 
trends are here to stay. Hallelujah I say!

sfstreetsblog transbay terminal

Off work I get out of the car as often as possible, and always feel 
better for it. Transportation here is reaching peak usage. Walkers 
and cyclists take a lot of pressure off of existing transportation 
systems. Transportation infrastructure is phenomenally expensive, 
so this is one of the bigger challenges facing us as a city, but policy
is in place and we are moving the right direction on a number of
fronts. 

walksf.org

Call me a foolish optimist (I'm not the only one).  I know the 
problems we face are legion, and walk-ability, cycling and transit 
are not panaceas, but I feel more confident about the future as I 
watch the priorities of "kids these days" play out.


Happy Friday!

Walk Appeal

This terrific blog post from Better Cities and Towns, illustrates so well the truth that distance is less important than high levels of "walk appeal", such as we have in so many San Francisco and Marin neighborhoods. Streetsblog also addresses this. We know this intuitively, and walk appeal is fueling higher real estate values in walkable neighborhoods. People who live in places they are drawn to walk are generally healthier.  If you are new to San Francisco, or even if you're not, check out City Guides, they do free and awesome walking tours.

CityGuides

We will walk for miles if the experience is interesting, dynamic, and human scaled.  Also, we will walk for miles on lovely trails, which SF and Marin have in abundance. OK, time to get away from the computer and go for a walk!

Tom Killion

"New Urbanism" Awesomeness in the City

CurbedSF

So much of what makes San Francisco (and Marin) wonderful can be filed under "New Urbanism,"  which is quite often the resurrection of old urbanism, before cars took over the universe. Now of course, as a realtor, I have and use a car, but I'm also a pedestrian and cyclist and plant lover, and a big fan of making cities more livable. Cities around the world are revitalizing using these principles, and San Francisco is definitely on the vanguard.

Cycle Chic

Today's San Francisco examples: here and here. Copenhagen has been at this for decades.  Marin, while not quite urban, does have concentrated town centers, often surrounded by protected wildlands, more on Marin in another post.

StreetsBlog