By Bernadette Del Chiaro
Clean Energy Advocate, Environment California

This past Wednesday the California General Assembly approved a measure to create the nation’s largest solar water heating program, promising to again expand the state’s market for clean, renewable energy.  The bill, The Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007 (AB 1470), authored by Assembly member Jared Huffman, sponsored by Environment California, and supported by hundreds of organizations and businesses, would create a $250 million ten-year program to provide consumer rebates for solar water heating systems, a form of solar power that is currently underutilized in the United States but is thriving in European and Asian countries. Read more »

By Prof. Richard Bender, UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design
John Parman, UC Berkeley’s Urban Construction Laboratory

Can we “slow” the growth of San Francisco’s metropolitan region without stopping it? By “slow,” we make reference to the Slow Food movement and its CittaSlow offshoot, especially in their emphasis on the value and pleasures of regional difference. “Without stopping it” is to acknowledge the projected growth of the region, which we accept. Our title’s “smart” refers to “smart growth”—“livable” is another favored adjective, both endorsing density without always asking what it means in practice. Like the Buddha, we see a middle way between “slow” and “smart” that emphasizes enjoyment and livability. Like the Californians we have both become, we want to have our cake and eat it, too. Read more »

By Lawrence Sylou-Creutz Ojermark

I’d like to put forth an old idea that has been tried and tested the world over: Pedestrian only street closures.  It is not a brash or bold idea as far as San Francisco is concerned, being a world-class, transit first, services-based city.  It is not an expensive, highly engineered project that would take years to implement. And the benefits are numerous.  There are many narrow streets, plied heavily by foot traffic and not overly used or needed during the daytime hours that could be converted to pedestrian only use.  Three such examples could be Powell St. from Market St. to Union Square, Grant Ave. running through Chinatown and the last is Jefferson St. through Fisherman’s Wharf.  Imagine covering these streets with appropriate landscaping.  Red bricks continuing from the cable car turnaround for Powell St., with benches, trees and sidewalk cafes spilling out onto the flow of people walking freely and without fear of the traffic.

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By Rob Black

Currently, San Francisco has a stated goal of 5.5 acres of park or open space for every 1,000 residents.  This goal represents about half the 10 acres per 1,000 residents recommended by the National Recreation and Park Association.  In neighborhoods like the South of Market and the Inner Mission, areas receiving thousands of new housing units, there are only 1.8 acres of parks per 1,000 residents.  As new units are built, the proportion of residents to park space continues to decline.  If we want these new and existing neighborhoods to thrive, we must plan for and invest in more parks and open space now.  If we wait, the costs will be too prohibitive, the neighborhoods too dense, and the opportunity for a greener, healthier community will be lost. Read more »