San Francisco's development has lofty goal: Maturity

An editorial in today's SF Business Times discusses the new 1,000 foot tall tower that's being proposed for downtown San Francisco and praises the direction the city and the planning department have taken towards higher-density construction and design,

...San Francisco's planners have taken a radically different approach recently, abolishing some height limits, advocating tall buildings in carefully selected locations and nurturing those who want to build them. Last week's proposal, that San Francisco entertain offers to build the tallest building west of Chicago, is simply a logical extension of that.

That's a bit of boldness and forward thinking from a department not always known for either. Indeed, planners have justifiably been criticized for seeming at times more interested in cherishing San Francisco's gone-for-good industrial past than in its present and future as primarily a location for offices and homes.

In any case, it's a welcome change. [more...]

Proposed SoMa tower could be tallest building on West Coast [SFHomeBlog]