Nathan Kensinger took a fantastic photo essay of one of the Bay Area's ghost towns: Drawbridge, Santa Clara County.
Density doesn't have to be bad. Here in Washington, DC, there have been a few particularly beautiful examples of rowhouses hitting the local blogosphere. (DCMud, DCMetrocentric)
Well, my Washington ties finally pay off. The debt debate is all the town can talk about, and at least one outlet asks, What happens to transportation if we can't borrow? It turns out, not much. In the mean time, the FAA still isn't reauthorized. (Transportation Issues, Washington Post)
It looks like the Marin County Planning Commission is going to look at some zoning changes. On the table: density and mixed use, among other things. (MCPC)
Some neighbors are filing suit against a planned expansion of Edna Maguire Elementary in Mill Valley over slightly more traffic and slightly more height. (IJ)
Fairfax could get some more night life, although a bit off the beaten track. South downtown's abandoned gas station might become a music venue. Rockin'. (Patch)
For once, the IJ was full of constructive examination of SMART this week. A veteran transportation planner takes a look at the SMART train and asks naysayers, "Can't we now get on with this project?" while Dick Spotswood thinks it will be too successful for its rolling stock, which have a maximum capacity of 498 seats. Personally I think his analysis is oversimplistic, as SMART's corridor is hardly similar to CalTrain's.
Just when you thought it was over, ABAG's affordable housing saga rolls on, this time to Sausalito. They're just getting started, but so far the debate sounds rather more civil than Novato's contentious debate.
Speaking of Novato, opinion on the new affordable housing plan keeps rolling in. SUNN panned the site selections for being insufficient, the IJ editorial board congratulated the city for how far it has come since the start of the debate, Brad Breithaupt decryed the whole process, and the city itself, in an uncharacteristic bout of practicality, started to look at how to make better use of the market to meet its affordable housing needs through second units. (Pacific Sun, IJ, Patch)
Late Edition: It's been a long time coming, but the San Francisco bike share project marches forward by announcing next year's pilot plans. Other cities along the CalTrain corridor will also be part of the system which, in the Bay Area's Balkanized transit system, is most welcome. (San Francycle, HuffPo)