california posts, articles, and infographics | Sustainable Cities Collective

Places Develop People

March 4, 2012 by Jim Russell
with 192 views

Photo by paukrus via Flickr

For talent migration, tolerance doesn't matter. The idea that London is a winner in the vote-with-feet competition because of its cosmopolitan disposition is amusing. No city is immune to parochial attitudes:But London in 2012, like most other global cities, is in significant flux, much less beholden to sepia-tinged notions of what it... [read more]

Complete Streets Success Stories Focus of New Report

February 29, 2012 by Stefanie Seskin
with 137 views

Representative Matsui speaks in support of Complete Streets last week.Representative Doris Matsui (CA-5), one of the Congressional sponsors of a federal Complete Streets policy, gathered with local leaders in Sacramento last week to celebrate the findings of the National Complete Streets Coalition’s new report, It’s a Safe Decision... [read more]

California’s Population Problem?

January 31, 2012 by Patrick Lydon
with 196 views

Is reducing the population really the solution to solving the California's multiple crises? Patrick Lydon takes a look. [read more]

End Comes for Many California Redevelopment Agencies

January 24, 2012 by Next American City
with 60 views

How many jobs will be lost following the Alhambra agency’s dissolution? Credit: Wikipedia user Jey0hThis piece originally ran in the Alhambra Source. It concerns an example of how a recent California state law dissolving redevelopment agencies affects local communities. The Alhambra Redevelopment Agency will cease to exist as of February... [read more]

Why California Must Focus on Rail & Transit

January 9, 2012 by Kaid Benfield
with 162 views

Imagine a scenario by which our country’s most populous state, notorious for freeways, traffic nightmares and smog, could reduce driving by 3.7 trillion miles by 2050 (compared to trends forecast under business as usual), the equivalent of taking all cars off the state’s roads for 12 years. Imagine saving 140 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050, reducing oil consumption by an amount roughly equivalent to seven years’ worth of all US offshore oil production. Imagine saving some 3,700 square miles of California farmland, forests, recreation areas, and other currently open space that would otherwise be lost to sprawl. Imagine eliminating 140 premature deaths and 105,000 asthma attacks and respiratory symptoms each year. [read more]

Silicon Valley, Facing a Housing Crunch & Commuting Nightmare, Decides to Change

December 15, 2011 by Kaid Benfield
with 127 views

California’s Silicon Valley is notoriously jobs-rich and housing-poor. There has been a particularly severe shortage of affordable housing, forcing workers employed in communities such as Mountain View, Los Altos, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara to live far from their workplaces, driving long distances through severe... [read more]

Picturing San Francisco's Complex Urban Landscape

December 5, 2011 by Geoff Manaugh
with 196 views

The Streets series by photographer Leigh Merrill perfectly captures the often unexpectedly suburban architecture of San Francisco, a city—away from its famed Victorian houses and its picturesque skyline—can be relentlessly dull and ugly. The featureless white skies of that peninsular metropolis and the anemic pastels of its painted... [read more]

Race & Foreclosure in the Bay Area

December 2, 2011 by polis blog
with 115 views

The New York Times recently published a haunting piece about the black middle class in America. It isn't discussed enough that the sub-prime crisis not only brought the economy to its knees but also destroyed the public-sector job market upon which so many black middle-class lives have been built for half a century. Black households have... [read more]

Do We Hear $100 Billion?

November 3, 2011 by David Levinson
with 81 views

LA Times: California HSR is now more expensive: Bullet train cost estimates to rise: "Bullet train cost estimates rise to $98.5 billion. In a key change, the state has decided to stretch the construction schedule by 13 years, completing the Southern California-to-Bay Area high speed rail in 2033 rather than 2020." And now my estimate... [read more]

Occupy Oakland’s Local Legacy

October 29, 2011 by Next American City
with 53 views

It’s a funny thing seeing your city engulfed in protestors and tear gas, again. But it’s also encouraging to see a peaceful response emerge over the following days. There’s hope for Oakland and democracy, yet. I live in Downtown Oakland. Moving to any part of Oakland automatically makes you an ambassador for the city. “Yes, I like Oakland more than Berkeley or San Francisco.” “Sure, I’m careful, but generally I feel very safe.” “There are a lot of great restaurants, galleries, and festivals - it’s a very exciting place to be.” Not only do we have the best bars and restaurants, but Downtown Oakland is especially exciting right now. [read more]

Three Years Later: California Academy of Sciences’ Living Roof Also Educates the Design Community

October 14, 2011 by The Dirt ASLA
with 253 views

Three years ago the California Academy of Sciences museum re-opened in San Francisco. The original projections of annual visitors were for 1.6 million, a head count that has been far exceeded in the past three years. Some of the building’s popularity is undoubtedly due to its iconic 2.5 acre-“living roof”, celebrated in the early... [read more]

California High-speed Rail Price Tag Now $60 billion

August 12, 2011 by David Levinson
with 67 views

San Jose Mercury News High-speed rail price tag soars again, this time on pace to surpass $60 billion : "The California High-Speed Rail Authority's new cost estimates released Tuesday show the initial stretch of construction between Merced and Bakersfield will cost $10 billion to $13.9 billion depending on how it's built. Project... [read more]