By Ann Bartz
Program Manager, BALLE
San Francisco should be more like Philadelphia or Bellingham, WA.  Why? Because by supporting strong networks of locally owned independent businesses working in various "building blocks" of the green economy – sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, local capital, zero-waste manufacturing, green building, independent media, and downtown retail – both cities are building healthy, diversified local economies. And a lot of greening is happening as a result. Read more »

By Robert Puentes
Fellow, Brookings Institution

San Francisco should take a hard look at how it accommodates parking in the city. While dense, the car culture is still promoted by providing acres of parking lots at odds with its transit-oriented approach. Increasing the charges for street parking would go a long way to promoting – and paying for – better alternatives.  

Certainly change will not happen overnight, but change on the local level is essential and is the only way to find workable solutions to addressing the climate change crisis. Read more »

By Anni Chung
President & CEO, Self-Help for the Elderly

On March 20, 2007, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will either approve or reject the Google-Earthlink WiFi contract which, when implemented (target completion date is end of 2007), will provide universal Internet access to all San Franciscans. The Board of Supervisors’ action to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a feasibility study – and another $10-$20 million to build the network if the Supervisors should vote for the municipally-owned version in March – is not based on sound judgment and does not reflect the sentiments of the people who have spoken at the public hearings to date. Read more »

By Matt Tuchow

Since Mayor Newsom took office in January 2004, the City has housed more than 2,430 homeless individuals in permanent housing with wrap-around services to address mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction and lack of job skills, and 95 percent of them are still housed. That is a great achievement, but to contain the problem of homelessness we need to hit at all of its root causes – including the prevention of homelessness among kids graduating out of foster care. Read more »

By Gabriel Metcalf
Executive Director, SPUR

It's counterintuitive, but maybe the best way for Muni to save money is to stop collecting it.

It's one big idea in a list of big ideas that the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA), the quasi-independent department that controls our transportation system, should consider.

If we were to make Muni free, there would be a great deal of questions to address. How do you keep the buses from becoming roving homeless shelters or teenage hangouts? How can we make sure people value what they don't pay for? Can Muni handle the extra passengers free Muni would attract? Where will Muni store the extra buses they may need to handle the added passenger load. If we consider Muni a public utility, what is the best way to fund it? Read more »

By Matthew E. Kahn
UCLA Institute of the Environment

As Billy Graham once said, “The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to preach about heaven while I'm here.”

Achieving urban sustainable “green growth” is now a hot research and policy topic. A city that can attract the footloose-skilled to live and work will continue to be a hotbed of intellectual innovation and growth. But Urban “greenness” is not a free lunch. The pursuit of urban greenness (through growth controls and housing regulations) does have unintended consequences that introduce important equity issues. Read more »

By The Transportation and Land Use Coalition

Imagine all the benefits of a subway system, the smooth ride and reliable schedule, in an above-ground bus system for a fraction of the cost. From the passenger’s point of view, BRT is like a train: fast, comfortable, and reliable. From the taxpayer’s point of view, BRT is like a low-cost bus. A BRT busway costs a fraction to build compared to a light rail system, and the vehicles themselves are more affordable as well. BRT is the solution for Geary Blvd., Van Ness Ave. and many other streets in San Francisco. Once it is in place on those two major corridors, current and potential transit users throughout the city will demand BRT on their main streets. Read more »

By Esme Vos
Founder, Muniwireless.com

The ink is barely dry on the contract between EarthLink and San Francisco, but the factions have already lined up on either side of the debate. In other cities it’s been the pro-muni broadband activists against the anti-muni broadband crowd (the telco and cable incumbents). In San Francisco, the opposition to the EarthLink plan comes from those who want the city to: (a) deploy a fiber network and (b) own the underlying infrastructure. I can see their point – having a fiber network guarantees high-speed Internet access and a city-owned infrastructure will prevent another cable-like monopoly from developing in San Francisco. But I will make the case for deploying the citywide Wi-Fi network now. Read more »

(By Sara Miles) San Francisco's reputation as a food mecca is well-earned: farmers' markets spill over with the bounty of the region: dazzling arrays of fresh fruits, sparkling seafood, exotic vegetables. The 2005 Census shows that more than 150,000 people in San Francisco live with the threat of hunger. Most of the people at risk are the “working poor” and their children, who often have to choose between paying the rent and buying enough food. Read more »

[1] Glaeser, Edward L, Jed Kolko, and Albert Saiz. 2001. “Consumer City.” Journal of Economic Geography 1, no. 1: 27–50.

[2] Jacobs, Jane.  The Death and Life of Great American Cities, 1969. Random House.

[3] Glaeser, Edward L., and others. 1995. “Growth in a Cross-Section of Cities.” Journal of Monetary Economics.

[4] Shapiro, Jesse 2006.  Smart cities: Quality of life, productivity, and Read more »