Growth Factor - from 7x7 - Nov 2005

Unfortunately, there's no online component to this article, but I feel it's worth mentioning... The newest issue of 7x7 Magazine (Nov 2005) has a great article on urban planning and more specifically on Rincon/South Beach.

If you have a chance to pick this one up (or just stop by a bookstore and read it), the article is on page 128.

The article is a Q&A with a group of four guys who work in urban planning, non-profit architecture, the planning department, and the redevelopment agency.

I have a personal fascination with the idea of urban planning, and I really like how these guys have come together to attempt to create a more liveable city. The supervisors can fight all day long about whether stuff gets built or not, but once it gets approved, these guys have the right ideas about how it should look, from wide sidewalks (a la Duboce Triangle), to narrow buildings, small retail spaces, attractive street-level appearance, etc.

There will continue to be a debate about how much housing gets built, but if this vision gets adopted, I think San Francisco would be proud of the outcome ten years from now...