In 2016, one of the world’s premier architecture awards, the Pritzker Prize, was given to an architect known primarily for social housing projects. The award illustrates that not only for designers, but around the world, housing has become a top priority for urban planners and government officials. In California, 170 cities adopted affordable housing policies which were upheld by the California Supreme Court this year. According to an editorial this past February in The Architect’s Newspaper, America’s West Coast needs much more housing. And on the West Coast, the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most challenging markets in the world. Bay Area Housing – The Shape of Things to Come
Oakland
Desirable Walkable Neighborhoods: How we lost them, why we don’t create new ones, and what we need to do to start.
Real walkable neighborhoods[i] are in such demand today that they are creating a real estate frenzy[ii] in older walkable cities like San Francisco, Boston and New York. The reason for the frenzy is simple economics of supply and demand. The demand for Walkable Urbanism[iii] is increasingly outstripping the supply and this situation seems to be getting worse. Desirable Walkable Neighborhoods: How we lost them, why we don’t create new ones, and what we need to do to start.
Taking Back the Right Tract
The Occupy Movement is alive and well in the Bay Area. Since April 20 (Earth Day), Occupy Oakland, Occupy Cal, and Occupy SF have had a new neighbor – Occupy the Farm.
These students, professors, neighbors, and activists-turned farmers have set up a small and growing working farm. These 14 acres of University-owned agricultural land sit in the middle of the quiet suburban City of Albany. The UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources uses the land for research, but intends to redevelop the property in 2013. The current proposal includes a Whole Foods and market-rate senior housing. Taking Back the Right Tract