Mid-Week Links: Progress

Marin County

• Contract negotiations between Marin Transit and GGT are starting to pay off, though a timeline for finishing the new contract is still elusive. The MT board delayed a decision on Monday, deciding to let the negotiations play out. (IJ)
• Structures built in the SMART right-of-way, i.e., stations, will not be required to go through the local design review process thanks to legislation introduced by Assemblyman Michael Allen and passed by the state legislature. They will, however, still be subject to local zoning ordinances. (Pacific Sun)
• The new federal transportation bill, recently signed into law, will likely cost Marin some $500,000 in Safe Routes to School funding. Local sources of funding means the program will stay alive in the county, but with rather less robust finances. There is, of course, much more to the bill. (IJ, Streetsblog)
• The Marin County election season is heating up again, with Sausalito's hand-slapping Mike Kelly retiring after eight years on the council being the biggest news so far. In all, 28 positions around the county will be on the ballot come November. (IJ)
• The venerable anchor-out community of Sausalito holds some of the most colorful, despondent, independent, thoroughly old-school Marinites in the county. With the America's Cup around the corner, some of the anchor-outs wonder if their time is up. (Bohemian)
• Novato's new city office building broke ground on Tuesday, signalling an end to one of the major controversies swirling around the community, though don't count on hearing the end of it at council meetings. (IJ)
• Since the Pacifics began playing at Albert Park, there have been few problems, despite the vociferous arguments made during the process to approve the team's use of the field. (IJ)
• And...: GGT apparently runs unscheduled ferries between Sausalito and San Francisco to pick up bikers. Why not put them on the books? (IJ) ... San Rafael touts the recent HOV freeway widening as consistent with its Climate Change Action Plan. (News Pointer) ... Give your ideas for the Larkspur's SMART Station Area Plan this Monday at 6:30pm. You already know my idea. (IJ)

The Greater Marin

• Plan Bay Area has been criticized as too oppressive and too dictatorial to communities that believe all development is character-destroying development. In trying to ameliorate these concerns, PBA may have become too weak to actually achieve its goals. (Underground Science via Google Cache)
• The legal hurdles for California High Speed Rail got a little bit shorter this week. Five lawsuits are in settlement, and other opponents have been cowed by the project's recent victory in the state legislature. (Mercury News)
• Downtown Phoenix, Arizona, really isn't that great, but it doesn't have to be. Shade, density, non-car connections, and a grocery store would all make the core of that desert metropolis more livable. (TDG)
• Demand for walkable neighborhoods is at an all-time high. Riding high on the trend are new urban cores like Bellevue, Washington or Silver Spring, Maryland, which have retrofitted their suburban downtowns into something much more traditionally urban. (Fiscal Times)

The Toll

• A 60-year-old bicyclist was sent to the hospital last night after a crash involving a car driver in downtown San Rafael. The driver stayed on the scene. (IJ)
• Jessie Garcia died Saturday while driving in Santa Rosa. A vengeful driver struck his car instead of her boyfriend's motorcycle, which she had been aiming for, causing his vehicle to flip and burst into flames. That driver, Heather Holmes, has been charged with second-degree murder. (Press Democrat)

Have a tip? Want to contribute? Email me at theGreaterMarin [at] gmail.com.

High-Speed Rail Whiplash

Given the evolving and pressing nature of the California High-Speed Rail story, Mid-Week Links will have to wait until tomorrow.

High-speed rail dominated the news and blogosphere this week, and for good reason. The California Legislature authorized - barely - releasing $8 billion in bond money so the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) could begin construction in the Central Valley. Federal Secretary of Tranportation Ray LaHood applauded the vote, as did transportation advocates, as a step in the right direction for the state and country, though acknowledging there was still another $60 billion to find.

Project opponents pointed to a lawsuit filed the day of the vote by one-time HSR booster Quentin Kopp, who argued the current business plan, which blends high-speed trains with lower-speed commuter rail, is illegal and "mangled", but it didn't do much to dampen advocate's spirits.

The real bomb was let off the day after the vote.  The Los Angeles Times reported that French high-speed rail operator SNCF had approached CHSRA with a plan to privately finance and build the state's rail line for a fraction of the cost, though along the I-5 corridor rather than the 99 as currently planned. SNCF, the report claimed, had been declined.  Though Yonah Freemark at The Transport Politic had leaked an earlier memo from 2009 on the subject that seems to vindicate CHSRA, the Times piece dealt with a later proposal from 2010.

Steven Smith at Market Urbanism goes into more detail, quoting pro-HSR, anti-CHSRA activist David Schonbrunn that SNCF already actually had private backing in hand, and an anonymous source said the backing was from "major, major US banks", though wouldn't go into specifics. Rather than listen to the SNCF report, Smith's source and Schonbrunn claim it was dismissed out of hand. Construction firm Parsons Brinckerhoff remained at the helm of CHSRA's planning.

Smith speculates CHSRA stuck with the 99 plan for political reasons. For one thing, there are a number of employees working for both CHSRA and Parsons, and it would have been in Parsons' interest to quash the SNCF plan. Another reason is the strong political clout of the eastern Central Valley. Though SNCF had planned spur lines and urban edge stations, located like airports, backers had pushed strongly for including the Central Valley's population centers, and an I-5 alignment, while cheaper, wouldn't have achieved the desired political result.

Alon Levy of Pedestrian Observations approached from a different angle. Not much is known about the SNCF plan, but we do know the cost - $38 billion - and the alignment change - from 99 to existing rights-of-way along I-5.  The alignment change alone, he writes, cannot possibly make up the difference between today's $68 billion and the proposal's $38 billion.  Rather, most of the cost savings would have to have come from better cost control, thanks to management of the project by an experienced European firm.

Levy's takeaway, like Smith's, is political:

The other lesson we can learn from this episode is political, regarding cost escalations and strategic misrepresentation. Too many political transit supporters downplay the issue. LightRailNow claims that a cost escalation that occurs before construction starts is not a cost escalation, but just a more accurate cost estimate; Robert Cruickshank did not quite say the same when the 2010 business plan for CAHSR revealed costs had doubled, but came close to it by describing the plan as more careful and thorough. In reality, large bombshell reports shortly after money has been obligated are a hallmark of secretive, untrustworthy planning, precisely the kind likeliest to lie about costs.

It's likely the story will continue to unfold as the weeks wear on.

The story from Smith and Levy often spills onto Twitter, so if you're into that kind of thing be sure to follow them @MarketUrbanism and @alonlevy @alon_levy. You can also follow me @theGreaterMarin, though I mostly leave the HSR story to them.

Mid-Week Links: Decisions

Marin County

• SMART will consolidate its offices in a transit-unfriendly Petaluma office park, far from downtown and far from the city's planned rail station. A finalist property was downtown but even transit agencies can fall victim to the siren song of sprawl. The lease is up in six years. (Press Democrat, NBBJ)
• Norm Solomon has conceded the race for Congress to Republican Daniel Roberts, all but ensuring a smooth election for Assemblymember Jared Huffman to Lynn Woolsey's seat. (Patch)
• Golden Gate Transit, along with a host of other regional agencies, is hiking fares on buses and ferries on July 1. Drivers, alas, will keep paying the same tolls. (IJ, GGT)
• People are excited about closing the Novato Narrows by adding carpool lanes, the least bad kind of freeway expansion. On the downside, it'll suck ridership away from the other big transit project on that corridor, SMART. (IJ)
• The San Rafael Street Painting Festival is may not return again this year, or any other year. The wildly popular festival closes down Fourth Street for a day but has proven to be a money-losing enterprise for Youth in Arts, the sponsoring nonprofit, and they've called it quits. (IJ)
• Nobody likes waiting in line to exit the parking lot after the Marin County Fair, so why not take the bus instead? You could even park at your local Park & Ride. (GGT)
• And...: GGT's bus stops are now on Google Maps as the agency continues its new-found affinity for customer service. (Google) ... A Marin City housing activist will not be evicted for hosting her dying mother after all. (IJ) ... On the opposite end, a Belvedere couple bought and demolished a $4.2 million home to expand their views and, presumably, their yard. (SFist)

The Greater Marin

• Healdsburg is getting serious about bike infrastructure now that its petition to be an official Bicycle Friendly Community has been rejected by the League of American Bicyclists. (Press Democrat)
• Housing growth projections are notoriously difficult to get right, and the numbers ABAG is using for Plan Bay Area is complicated by internal and external politics to boot. (SF Public Press)
• SFMTA has its proposed alternatives for the Geary Bus Rapid Transit line available to browse and comment. Though the current plan is to give only the 38-Limited access to the route, GGT's Route 92 runs as a limited-stop service along Geary, so Marin City commuters stand to benefit from the process as well.  As well, Van Ness BRT has been approved has a preferred alternative, meaning one more step to better service for Muni, as well as GGT's Routes 10, 70, 80, 93, 101, and 101X. (Streetsblog) [edited per Viktoriya Wise's correction.]
• California High Speed Rail faces a major funding hurdle in Sacramento today. The Legislature needs to release $2.7 billion in bond money so construction can begin on the central part of the line in the Central Valley. But lawmakers have also released a Plan B that would focus the funds on LA and San Francisco improvements instead, and there's always the chance that no rail will pass at all. (Streetsblog)

Mid-Week Links: Cheers!

The Second The Greater Marin Happy Hour

Good news everyone!  The second The Greater Marin Happy Hour will be held next Thursday at San Rafael Joe's - no more 29 bus madness (sadness?) and the ferry like last time. With GGT on Google Maps, you shouldn't have any trouble finding your way, even if you work in Belvedere.  I'll have some signs out around the bar like last time, but if you can't find us just email me at theGreaterMarin [at] gmail.com and I'll try to wave you down.  I hope to see you all there!

Who: You, me, and anyone else you happen to invite (and please do invite people!) When: Thursday, May 10, 6pm, though you're absolutely welcome to come late Where: San Rafael Joe's, 931 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA

In another bit of blog news, you'll notice over on the sidebar that I'm open for business as a communications and planning consultant. If you want my brain working for you, get in touch with me at the email address on the right.  I'll be in the Bay Area from May 10-15 and am perfectly willing to travel as needed.

Right, now that that's all done with, on to the news of the week.

Marin County

• Golden Gate Ferry workers went on strike yesterday to protest the slow pace of talks between their union and the transit district. They may call another strike on May 10 if progress remains unacceptably slow. (Chronicle)
• San Francisco is moving towards a true BRT line on Van Ness, with center-running lanes compatible with existing buses. The line would serve Muni routes 47 and 49, as well as GGT routes 10, 70, 80, 93, and 101. It will be a boon to all riders along the corridor, though if GGT could pick up intra-San Francisco trips it would be even better. (Transbay Blog)
• The Doyle Drive closure went off without a hitch, and the resulting roadway looks pretty nifty.  I do wonder about the eventual 12-lane configuration - neither the bridge nor the approach can handle so much traffic. (Chronicle, SFist)
• Larkspur mulls what to do with 2.5 acres of land on the Niven Nursery site. The frontrunner idea is a new library. (IJ)
• Marin's population grew 0.7% this past year, rather faster than Plan Bay Area's 0.2% housing growth prediction. And here I thought we were slow-growth (no I didn't). (IJ)
• The West Sidewalk of the Golden Gate Bridge is finally open again. (GGBHTD)
• This Friday at 7pm, stop by the Mill Valley Library for a talk by noted urbanist Peter Calthorpe on Mill Valley, urbanism, and the Bay Area's future. Let me know how it goes. (MVPL)

The Greater Marin

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/40686130 w=620&h=348]

Just across the bridge, San Francisco is doing some truly amazing things to promote a more walkable, livable city.  What lessons can we learn from San Francisco, and how can we apply them to Marin?  Personally, I'd love to see a San Rafael Park(ing) Day. (Streetfilms)

• While BART is finally coming to San Jose, transportation planners are cutting their own feet out from under themselves by significantly widening two major freeways in Santa Clara, one to 8 lanes and the other to a whopping 12. (Mercury News)
• Operating costs for High Speed Rail won't be nearly as high as opponents claim. (Systemic Failure)
• With more cars came more people dying on the roads, and Europe and the United States took dramatically different paths.  While Europeans got mad at the cars and pushed back in favor of more pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, the United States pushed people out of the way of the cars, razing its city centers for parking and wider roads. (Atlantic Cities)
• Ever wondered what the view is like from atop Sutro Tower? Now you know. (SFist)

Mid-Week Links: The Subdivisions

Marin County

• LucasFilm has pulled its Grady Ranch proposal and will sell the land as affordable housing thanks to NIMBY opposition, stating, "Marin is a bedroom community and is committed to building subdivisions, not businesses." Ouch. (Pacific Sun)
• The Town of Fairfax has a new General Plan.  Among other things, the plan gives downtown businesses the opportunity to build second-story apartment units by right, rather than seeking special approval. (Town Manager)
• Supervisor Arnold wants to know why growth projections for Marin have fluctuated so wildly in the Plan Bay Area draft SCS, and also why they are so out of line with historic norms. If the assumptions for Marin are flawed, she writes, then the whole process for the Bay Area is flawed. (IJ)
• The March 28 MCCMC meeting offered opponents of housing quotas and ABAG to vent their frustrations against the regional agency. In the end, they also got leftover cookies. (Twin Cities Times)
• Staying within ABAG is not just good for Marin - it's good for the region, because what worries us ought to worry the rest of the Bay Area. (IJ)
• Marin's Local Coastal Program has gone through a four year epic journey of Coastal Commission and West Marin politics, public comments, criticism that it does too much (or too little), and even a splash of dominion theology as the county has worked to update the decades-old document. If you need some catching up, you may want to start here. (Pacific Sun)
• And...: The AT&T Park ferry ride is getting too complicated, and too expensive, what with online reservations and a new convenience fee. (IJ) ... A sidewalkless street in Homestead Valley is getting some sidewalks. (IJ) ... What sort of light should a bicycle have? (Mercury News)

The Greater Marin

• The finances and projections of California High Speed Rail are under scrutiny by noted rail opponent Representative Darryl Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee. (Politico)
• San Francisco's Transit Effectiveness Project SFMTA will give Muni buses signal priority by next year. I'm hoping GGT gets in on that. (Streetsblog) [edit - contrary to Streetsblog's summary, signal priority is a related but separate program from TEP.]
• Someone in San Francisco wants to park a tiny, 130 square foot house in a driveway. The plans are actually quite nice and would make a lovely second unit, though I thought the minimum dwelling size under California state law was 160 square feet. (SFist)
• Little City Gardens will be San Francisco's first real urban farm now that the city has approved a zoning change for the market. It will sell and grow its produce on the same property. (SPUR)
• Cotati's downtown revitalization plan will move forward, but because it uses redevelopment funds the vote is up for state approval. (Press-Democrat)
• The Southern California Association of Governments - ABAG and MTC's Los Angelino cousin - approved its version of Plan Bay Area.  The sustainable communities strategy will spend half its transportation funding on mass transit rather than cars over the next 25 years, though a number of communities said it didn't go far enough. Streetsblog has details. (SF Chronicle, Streetsblog)

Mid-Week Links: Colombian Roast

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/39704761 w=620&h=349] Medellín has a transit system unlike any other.  For the steep mountainsides there are gondolas and escalators; for the center city, there are metro trains and BRT, and for everywhere else there's a burgeoning bikeshare system. Whenever I see movies like this, I imagine what kind of place Marin might have been if the trains had never stopped running, if BART had made it across the bridge, if we didn't value mall parking above people and the planet.  What kind of a country would we be if, rather than putting cars before people, we put people before cars?

Marin County

• The Ritter Center will expand into a temporary medical space, thanks to approval by the San Rafael council Monday night, but will be limited to only 60 clients per day rather than the 65 requested. (Pacific Sun)
• Opponents of the Albert Park minor league plan have filed suit, arguing that professional baseball violates the park's deed restriction against commercial activity. (Patch)
• If you want to influence your town, show up to public meetings, if only to counterbalance the protestors that tend to show up instead. (Herald)
• The Board of Supervisors delayed a vote on Lucas Valley's Grady Ranch, pending review of environmental concerns raised by the Corps of Engineers and others. (IJ)
• And...: Corte Madera started work on a new public plaza and cafe at its town-owned shopping center. (IJ) ... San Anselmo approved a new parking lot across from downtown. (IJ) ... Novato will install six electric car charging stations. (IJ) ... San Anselmo is considering major improvements to Greenfield Avenue. (IJ)

The Greater Marin

• Congress approved a 90 day extension of federal transportation legislation, ensuring the gas tax and road construction funds did not end last weekend. The House never took up the Senate transportation bill, and the result is all kinds of bad. (The Hill)
• Cost estimates for California High Speed Rail plummeted $30 billion under a new business plan released this week. (SFist)
• Golden Gate/Marin Transit may not be the best transit system in the world, but at least it's typically on time - something Muni can't really boast. (SFist)
• In the City often?  Need a break from the bustle?  You may want to investigate the privately owned public spaces that dot the landscape. (SFist)

Mid-Week Links: Plans from On High

Plan Bay Area

• Pacific Sun has a wonderful rundown, as they so often do, of the issues surrounding One Bay Area and Plan Bay Area - from the workshops disrupted by tea party agitators to historical context to just what the plan actually hopes to achieve.
• One Bay Area has cut job and housing growth projections for Marin, with significant housing cuts in some towns and dramatic increases in others.  Town planners will be consulted for the next draft figures, to be released in May. (IJ)
• However, Supervisor Judy Arnold, Marin's alternate representative to ABAG,  called Plan Bay Area's projected job increase in Marin unrealistic, citing a shrinking, rather than growing, job pool in the county. County staff will examine the numbers, and a decision will then be made whether to proceed with an appeal. (IJ)

Marin County

• The Downtown San Rafael BID will get a $250,000 cash infusion for advertising and events after Keep It Local San Rafael settled their lawsuit against Target and Cal-Pox. (IJ)
• San Anselmo is still tied in knots as it tries to tighten design review ordinances.  Neighbors are still upset over the addition to Councilmember Kroot's home. (Ross Valley Reporter)
• Joe Casalnuevo, who successfully challenged county ordinances over whether split lots needed to pay in-lieu affordable housing fees, has taken Marin to court over the fight, alleging $60,000 in damages and time lost fighting the fee. (IJ)
• MCBC is taking volunteers for its annual Bike Locally Challenge, though at six months it may be a bit long for a promotion.  Arlington County, VA, does a month-long Car Free Diet that involves bikes and transit - perhaps Marin Transit could cross-promote? (Pacific Sun, County of Arlington)
• Copyright law overrode local preference in Tiburon, where the council approved CVS's red sign, overturning the Design Review Board's ruling that it should be a gray and white sign. (IJ)
• And...: Fairfax will at last install cameras for town council meetings. (IJ) ... Ross Valley School District residents will vote on a $149 parcel tax in June to help stave off a budget crisis in the district. (Patch) ... Marin Transit tweaks Novato and Terra Linda bus routes. (IJ) ... Joseph Eichler designed more than just tract homes. (Bay Citizen)

The Greater Marin

• While the focus of California High Speed Rail has been on just about everything but its utility, Central Valley cities are clamoring for the infrastructure. (LA Times, Fresno Bee)
• Midcoast San Mateo is struggling with Plan Bay Area, which is including a county-designated Priority Development Area in the rural region.  Regional officials insist the rural development area is about improving infrastructure, not housing development. (San Mateo County Times)
• Transit signage in the Bay Area are poor, and that's actually no surprise at all.  Though MTC is on it, it's unlikely Marin will see much of the fruit of their labor given our county's current transit state of affairs. (Transportation Nation)
• More people took public transit in 2011 than in 2010, the most since 1957, and that bodes well for the future of transportation and our cities. (New York Times)

Monday Links: Go Abroad

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o]
We often imagine that the Dutch were always cyclists.  While that's correct in some sense, the Netherlands faced sprawl and auto-centric development in the 1950s and 1960s, just as the United States did.  Unlike Americans, though, the Netherlands fought back, and the result is the Netherlands we see today.

Marin County

• Corte Madera's abandoned Madera Vista apartment complex will be renovated. They have sat vacant since a 2008 fire. (Twin Cities Times)
• Infill development near freeways should take into account auto pollution and take steps to mitigate it.  This is especially important in Marin, as the SMART corridor runs parallel to 101 for much if its route, and to the One Bay Area process. (California Watch)
• San Anselmo wants to buy Bald Hill, currently in Ross, but nobody knows how to get in touch with the owners.  The hill is owned by Asian Alliance LLC, and the founder and last contact the town had died years ago. (IJ)
• Downtown San Anselmo is undergoing a bit of a shake-up, with a number of storefronts vacant and a Goodwill moving in.  A group wants to convince George Lucas to open a theater in town, but making that happen could be difficult (IJ)
• Sausalito's Housing Element is nearly complete and will be submitted officially to the City Council on January 31.  If approved, it goes to the state on February 2.  (Marinscope)
• Mill Valley wants to update their General Plan, refocusing on transit and traffic-calming.  With sometimes half-hourly buses it stands a better chance than some areas, but hopefully it will work with Marin Transit and GGT to enhance transit options. (Mill Valley Herald)
• Larkspur Landing might get $2 parking after all, given a tepid Board response to a premium-space idea. This will help manage demand a bit at the terminal, which tends to fill up early. (IJ)
• West Marin's open space portfolio will soon increase by 22 acres after a successful fundraising drive. (IJ)
• San Rafael's red light program will be studied to assess its impacts on driver behavior, including rolling right turns, which can be unsafe to pedestrians. (IJ)
• A 90-year-old driver struck and killed a pedestrian at Second and G in San Rafael.  The exact circumstances are unknown. (IJ)

The Greater Marin

• Looks like downtown living really is good for you.  Residents of areas with a high density of businesses walk three times as much as others, but the areas need to draw in non-residents to succeed. (Atlantic Cities)
  
• San Francisco's SFPark project is dramatically increasing hourly revenue on its meters.  The project gives drivers the option of paying by credit card, phone, or cash, which is useful for the large hourly charges in popular locations. (SF Examiner)
• California's ability to establish cycletracks, bikeways, and other proven bike facilities is stymied by too-conservative design guidebooks that call these "experimental" facilities.  Sadly, AB 819, which would change that, is slowly being gutted. (Streetsblog)
• The American Public Transit Association (APTA) has published a rundown of how to talk to opponents of high-speed rail projects with a new report of common criticisms and appropriate responses. (Streetsblog)
• Head of the California High Speed Rail Authority has stepped down, as has the chairman of its board, citing personal reasons. (Sacramento Bee)
• Caracas has a gigantic, abandoned office tower in its center, and some entrepreneurial folk have set up their own town inside. The best part, they say, is having so much transit access in the middle of the city. (Foreign Policy)
• It's estimated we've paved about 3,590 square miles for parking, about 2 spaces for every man, woman, and child in the United States, and it's time to take them seriously not just as blight, but as public space. (NY Times)

Mid-Week Links: Onward and Upward

It has been an extremely busy weekend apparently, with retrospectives, bond sales, HSR criticisms, new laws, and more.

Marin County

• Mill Valley's alleys and stairs, pedestrian shortcuts up and down the hills that cars can't manage, are one of the signatures of the town. Photographer Skip Sandberg has taken it upon himself to document them all. (IJ)
• Golden Gate Transit is now 40 years old.  Born out of a transit victory in 1969 that stopped a second deck on the Golden Gate Bridge, GGT - despite its many faults - has proven itself invaluable to the North Bay time and again. (IJ)
• SMART has jurisdiction over the Measure Q repeal effort, according to the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters. This bodes ill for RepealSMART, as they have called the signature threshold SMART wants unobtainable. (IJ)
• The monthly federal tax exemption for transit decreased on January 1 from $230 to $125 - roughly half the cost of a Marin-SF commute - thanks to Republican obfuscation in Congress. The exemption for parking increases from $230 to $240.  (SF Examiner)
• Sausalito wants to redesign Alexander Avenue to be more bike-friendly, widening shoulders and potentially adding a tunnel.  Public comment on the plans are open until January 27. (IJ)
• Mill Valley wants to update their 1989 General Plan in just 18 months. They met last night and will meet again on January 17 to discuss the scope of work. (Patch)
• A driver struck a teenager in Petaluma just after New Year's.  The boy suffered major injuries but is in stable condition. (Patch)
• Richardson Bay's Aramburu Island will be transformed into a nature preserve 50 years after the development that spawned it fizzled in the early 1960s. (SF Chronicle)
• Marin's plastic bag ban and paper bag fee are now in effect.  If changes from Washington, DC's similar bag fee are any indication, Marin's fee will work wonders on peoples' habits. (IJ)

The Bay Area

• The Sustainable Communities Strategy, branded as One Bay Area, will mean major changes for the region as regional agencies try to limit greenhouse gas emissions. ABAG and MTC are planning a tour to explain the state-mandated plan as its development gets under way. They'll be at the Marin Civic Center on January 17. (Mercury News)
• San Francisco now allows storefronts facing the street to build "parklets", extensions of the sidewalk that use up at least two parking spaces, and they're popping up everywhere. (SF Chronicle)

State of California

• Most of California's redevelopment agencies will likely be shut down after losing their court fight against Governor Jerry Brown's austerity budget, although cities promise there will be more litigation. The agencies captured property taxes to fund themselves, which the Governor said was a drain on local and state budgets. (LA Times, Pacific Sun)
• LA will soon follow San Francisco's example and install a downtown performance parking system. While performance parking seems to be the future, it may be wise to understand parking's past. (Los Angeles Magazine)
• California communities can now round down their streets' calculated speed limits, rather than being forced to round up. (Land Line)
• CAHSR should not be funded just yet, according to a review group with heavy clout in the state Legislature.  Governor Brown may push forward anyway. (LA Times, SF Chronicle)

The Greater Marin

• Ottawa, Ontario, is planning out the areas around its light-rail stations stations.  The city - as big and diverse as a county - specifically wants to upzone in choice areas, and doing so is just as complicated as one might think. (Ottawa Citizen)
• Vancouver, BC, is building new micro-apartments in a trendy neighborhood and renting them for $850 a month, showing the folly of the unit-per-acre density limits ubiquitous in Marin. (Grist)
• Don't abandon the public process so easily - project outcomes are positively correlated with participation.  I'm looking at you, SMART. (Next American City)
• A whole mess of new transit projects start construction starts up this year across North America.  It's a good thing. (Transport Politic)

Mid-Week Links: Problem/Solution

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dNMGDVBtQc] As any company can tell you, the product is only as successful as the marketing, and Los Angeles took it to heart.  Not only was designing a good transit "product" important, but selling it to the public was immediately useful.  Other agencies would do well to do the same.

Marin

• A sprawling development of 12 homes in Santa Venetia has been rejected by the Marin County Planning Commission.  The issue goes to the Board of Supervisors next. (IJ)
• Druid Heights, an alternative community "whose members were dedicated to radical artistic, philosophical, spiritual, political and sexual experimentation," is profiled by the IJ on news that it qualifies as an official historical site.  The irony is lost on the writer. (IJ)
• Novato joins Corte Madera in considering a pot club ban. (IJ)
• Downtown Novato's Business Improvement District is doing good work to make the street a commercial destination. (Advance)
• In what seems to be a weekly occurrence, all northbound lanes were closed on Highway 101 due to a crash.  Two people were injured. (Patch)
• George Lucas wants to turn Lucas Valley's Grady Ranch into anoffice complex for 340 employees in a manner similar to Skywalker Ranch. (IJ, Patch)
• Marin's $50 million renovation of its new Marin Commons space is slated to begin next year.  A government anchor tenant is a savior for the location. (BizJournal)
• Marin local businesses felt the touch of this year's surging shopping season, posting a fabulous Shop Local Saturday. (IJ)
• The Marin City Transit Center got a $500,000 facelift and finally opened for business.  Bike parking and an information kiosk were apparently less important than trees, and will go in in the next couple of weeks. (IJ)
• This year might be the last that Marinites will be able to sled in downtown San Rafael thanks to budget cuts (IJ)
• Like the library?  Love infrastructure?  San Anselmo is seeking applicants for its Capital Program Committee and Library Board. (Town of San Anselmo)
• A driver struck and injured a cyclist in San Anselmo. (IJ)
• More inconclusive reports on the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. affects on wildlife. (IJ)
• SMART may be controversial, but two of the most beloved bits of Marin infrastructure - the Ferries and Bridge - were controversial in their day, too. (IJ)
• Polling suggests that SMART still enjoys strong support, but there are questions about its methodology. (IJ)
• Tam Valley is home to a dangerous and well-traveled intersection, but one of the few that lacks sidewalks or good pedestrian and bicycling amenities.  Kathy McLeod wants to change that. (Patch)
• Café Gratitude is closing or selling all its NorCal locations, including the one in San Rafael, but it still totally wants you to buy its stuff.  The closures are a result of multiple employee lawsuits. (SFist)
• The Sausalito Chamber of Commerce is moving into its recently-purchased mixed-use building on Bridgeway.  I wonder if an employee will get the top-floor apartment... (Marinscope)
• Are you prepared for the Big One? (SFist)

The Greater Marin

• Vancouver is pursuing urban planning that makes people healthier and fights obesity.  How?  By getting people out of cars and onto sidewalks, bikes, buses and trains. (Globe and Mail)
• Although California High-Speed Rail is undergoing some tough times, the short-sightedness of governors elsewhere means the project gets their funding. (SFist, New York Times)
• Readers should know that zoning is important for the future and form of any city.  How important?  Edward McMahon celebrates 85 years of zoning regulations by looking at its philosophical basis, while Stephen Smith looks at the origins of zoning: New York progressivism.  (Urban Land Institute, Market Urbanism)
• The exurb, of which the Bay Area has blessedly little, is not coming back. For Sonoma and other outer counties, the future rests in their own economic vibrancy. (New York Times)
• Lastly, there is a pie cake, and it's called a Cherumple.  This "dessert version of the turducken" weighs around 21 pounds.  Bring friends. (Boing Boing)

End-Week Links: Traffic Zen

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/21990650 w=620&h=349] Traffic calming is a wonderful concept.  Given the recent deaths and injuries around Marin caused by drivers hitting pedestrian, it may be time for cities up and down 101 to take a look at calming traffic.

Marin

Crazy times at SMART this week.  While supporters rallied last Thursday in Santa Rosa, something odd was underfoot at the agency.  Finance director David Heath was dismissed by the Board "without cause", but is on paid leave until December 23.  That this occurred just as the Board completed authorization of $191 million in bonds and about $8 million in construction contracts is incredibly suspicious.  Typically political scandals involve the offending official to resign rather than get fired, although blatant dismissal without cause is typically illegal.  Let's hope more details will come to light as time goes on. (Rally at IJ, Press Democrat)

• The Commuter Times has been sold.  The weekly tabloid will begin publishing again this week. (IJ)
• The public comment period has been extended for the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. special use permit. (IJ)
• Conflict has erupted in one San Anselmo neighborhood over privacy, FAR, and home expansion. (San Anselmo-Fairfax Patch)
• With the recent passage of desegregation/affordable housing measures by the Marin County Board of Supervisors, the combustable topic of race has entered the affordable housing debate.  Perhaps it should be left out entirely. (Novato Patch)
• Despite repeal efforts, controversy and scandal, San Rafael is moving forward with a much-needed look at its Civic Center SMART station. (Mill Valley Herald)
• Sharrows have been completed on South Eliseo Drive, a popular commuting route. (MCBC)

The Greater Marin

• The City of Napa continues its efforts to centralize and improve its downtown experience.  The first thing it will do is traffic calming, changing its one-way streets to two-way as part of a 400-page draft Downtown Specific Plan. (Napa Valley Register)
• Market Urbanism's Emily Washington reviews The Gated City, a fascinating book about how rising housing costs prices out the poor from the most productive our society has: the city.  She concludes that the book makes some excellent points in describing the problem but that its solutions, but is left feeling pessimistic.  "none of [the presented solutions] seem politically viable" to her. (Market Urbanism)
• Congress is about to kill the federal high speed rail program, which will pose yet another problem for California's HSR plan. (NPR)
• How many parking spaces are there in a city?  One intrepid doctoral candidate found out.

Mid-Week Links: Crashworthy

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVpcfZeokUI] One of the reasons for SMART's higher-than-expected cost is Federal crashworthiness standards that forced the agency to look for custom-built heavy DMUs.  Yet, as explained by Market Urbanism, the regulations were made for a time before intelligent, lightweight materials were available and force the US to forego the engineering standards used everywhere else in the world.  As shown above, the new materials are perfectly capable of keeping vehicles safe.  It's too late for SMART to change their order, but this regulatory regime can and should be changed for all the other transit agencies looking to hold down costs.

Marin County

In case you missed it, there were off-year elections this past Tuesday.  Urbanism won the day for the most part, fending off avowed anti-city challengers in Novato and San Anselmo.  Many disagreed with San Rafael's new mayor, Gary Phillips, on Target but he has a firmly pro-business stance and will serve downtown San Rafael well.  Across the country, Greater Greater Washington looks at what makes a candidate electable, the Center for Transportation Excellence has posted the status of transit measures nationwide and Half-Mile Circles looks at a few of the big-ticket items.

• The County is considering regulations on smoking within multi-unit dwellings, I guess because a home is only private space when it's got a half-acre of land around it.
• There will be no Terrapin Crossroads, says Phil Lesh.  Fairfaxians are heartbroken.
• A driver struck a teen in Novato last week along pedestrian-unfriendly Novato Boulevard.  He's doing okay, although he's also lucky to be alive.
• SMART plans to spend up to $200,000 to polish its image and push back against opponents.
• Novato's Hanna Ranch development would be built without affordable housing while creating low-income jobs.  This is suspiciously inconsistent.  Deciding on final approval, meanwhile, has been punted by the Council to November 29.
• California may have  a massive infrastructure maintenance deficit, but at least Mill Valley is behaving responsibly.
• Mill Valley's Chamber of Commerce plots a comeback.
• A proposal has surfaced to create dedicated, separated bus lanes on Van Ness Avenue, speeding buses along the corridor with significantly more efficiency than currently allowed.  Since Golden Gate Transit uses Van Ness for a number of its lines, this change would benefit Marinites as well as San Franciscans.
• Want to save a state park otherwise slated for closure? Stop by the Parks Coalition brainstorming session on November 15.
• If there's one thing Marin does well, it's loving local businesses.

The Greater Marin

• Cotati is considering revamping a short stretch of Old Redwood Highway near their hexagonal downtown to make it more pedestrian-friendly and less of the car thoroughfare it currently is.  Local businesses want to entrench the 40 MPH status quo.
• The City of Napa is considering something similar: a $38 million redesign of their downtown.
• San Francisco apparently boasts three of the best bars in the world, and there's no better way to enjoy a bar than to take transit.  Don't stay out too late, of course: your last bus to Marin leaves at 12:30am.
• Oakland residents are dedicated to historic preservation, going so far as to wield shotguns to defend their heritage.
• Shockwaves from the $98 billion (nominal) price tag for California High-Speed Rail continue to ripple through the blogosphere.  On one side are engineers, who say it is far, far too overbuilt, and on the other are those who look at the big picture to argue it's still a good deal.  I say, if you can save money by foregoing massive viaducts through San Jose, forego the viaducts.
• Sacramento might not get its rail line for a while yet, but where to locate a station is still troublesome for officials.
• We love our green initiatives.  Unfortunately one of the most popular, Cash for Clunkers, was a bust.
• Congress did something bipartisan today and unanimously passed out of committee a two year extension of the federal transportation bill, MAP-21.
• Bad traffic designs that create gridlock create exhaust which seems to hurt our neurological health.
• Lastly, in a testament to how budget cuts can even cut efficient programs, the General Services Administration no longer will have the money to make their headquarters an example of solid office design and will instead remain in the big, bureaucratic office building that looks just like you expect.

Mid-Week Links: And He Separated Water from Water

[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.