[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/27744328 w=601&h=338] A beautiful video from Marin photographer Gary Yost shows everything I love and miss about my home: the nature, the towns, the Bay, the culture... I miss it all. On to the nitty-gritty of running all that.

Marin

SMART, once again, features prominently in local transit news this week. Farhad Mansourian, interim General Manager of SMART, has been hired by the agency on a permanent basis. Critics have addressed his pay - over $300,000 per year in compensation, comparable to other agency heads - and his credentials, although they've also stopped saying he duped the board prior to the MTC and TAM bailout hearings, as few boards would hire a man they felt had misled them.

The board also approved the new financial report, balancing the budget at about $360 million for the construction of the line which, at $9.7 million per mile, is by far the least expensive rail transit project in the country. Local writer Steve Stein agrees, characterizing opponents as "nostalgic for a Marin County composed of mid-century ranch houses, suburban lawns and cul-de-sacs." In other news:

Cyclists and pedestrians got a major boost when the County allocated $8.8 million for pedestrian and bicycling improvements across Marin. Among the projects: studying reopening the Alto Tunnel between Corte Madera and Mill Valley, improving sidewalk connections between the Canal and downtown San Rafael, and, in a major victory, constructing the Central Marin Ferry Connection.
In affordable housing news, Assemblyman and Congressional contender Jared Huffman's bill to allow foreclosed housing to count against affordable housing mandates is on the Governor's desk for signature. The bill once allowed cities to appeal their density requirements, but it's been pared down to just the foreclosed housing portion. Meanwhile, Novato, which pushed most strenuously for reform, is following through on a 2008 development loan to expand Eden Housing, an affordable senior center home. Critics contended that old folks will cause crime and join gangs.
Terrapin Crossroads, the Phil Lesh-led music venue, was discussed at length at a Fairfax Town Council meeting. Critics were concerned about traffic and noise at the site, while supporters saw it as a fabulous opportunity for the town to improve nightlife and remove an abandoned, but prominently placed, gas station. Lesh had put it on hold after signs opposing the project were placed along his walking route in Ross, spooking him and his wife. Plans are available here (PDF).
The Marin Agricultural Land Trust purchased a large ranch outside Tomales recently, completing the greenbelt around the town and further ensuring that West Marin is off-limits to sprawl.
Speaking of sprawl, the proposed Hanna Ranch development in Novato passed the city's Design Review Board, the first step towards project approval.
Some anti-sprawl might come to San Rafael, as local developer Monahan Parker is looking to build a four-story, 41-unit mixed-use building at 2nd & B Streets. Two Victorian-era homes that have seen much better days would be demolished. The project would also include a 57-space parking garage, which is one space above the minimum for a project of its size and totally out of whack with the overall setting. It is currently before the Design Review Board, and you can watch preliminary comments here.

The Greater Marin

The debate over California High-Speed Rail is still a thing, and it's making national news. Ezra Klein of the Washington Post provides a good rundown of current thought on the subject, while CAHSR Blog looks to BART battles in Livermore for signs of things to come.
BART is still fighting protestors over police brutality and cell phone censorship. It boiled over recently with multiple stations being shut down during rush-hour.
In case you hadn't heard, there's a battle brewing over transportation funding in Congress thanks to the soon-to-expire gas tax. Mercury News wonders what it would do the Bay Area.
SMART isn't the only transit agency facing problems: Vancouver's TransLink has funding issues, Atlanta's MARTA system is under fire from the car-dependent, and Washington, DC isn't sure how it should align one end of its planned streetcar line.
Looking to the Old World for how to structure urban spaces.
Someone read the entire Seattle land use code and came away with some observations. A braver man than I.