By Heather Knight
San Francisco Chronicle

As debate rages over how to solve San Francisco's seemingly intractable homeless problem, city leaders, academic researchers and even some formerly homeless people themselves say progress is being made every Thursday afternoon inside Department 15 at the city's gloomy Hall of Justice. For a couple of hours each week, the courtroom fills with dozens of defendants with serious mental illnesses who have been charged with or convicted of crimes ranging from misdemeanor theft to felony assault and robbery. Almost all were homeless or on the brink of living on the streets at the time of their arrests, and many of them struggle with drug or alcohol abuse.  It sounds like a scary scene, like many city residents' worst fears gathered together in one room. But it's surprisingly touching - and according to Superior Court Judge Mary Morgan, who presides over the court, it's "the most hopeful thing happening in the criminal justice system." Read more »

By Kevin Fagan
San Francisco Chronicle

The number of chronically homeless people across the United States has dropped by 11.5 percent thanks to an increased focus on providing counseling and housing rather than police crackdowns or emergency shelter beds, federal officials said Wednesday. There was no homeless count in San Francisco from 2002 to 2005, when Mayor Gavin Newsom revived the practice. City and federal officials pointed out that between 2002 and 2007, the number of chronically homeless people in San Francisco dropped 38 percent, from 4,535 to 2,771. Chronically homeless people are defined as the most troubled of the homeless population, suffering from mental or addiction troubles and living on the street for at least a solid year.

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By Michael Cabanatuan
San Francisco Chronicle

The Bay Area might need smaller houses, higher gas taxes and tolls on busy roads and congested business districts if it is to meet the state's goals for the reduction of greenhouse gases, transportation and land use officials said Friday. The good news, however, is that a new poll shows that many Bay Area residents are ready to take those steps if it means a better future for the state and world. Setting goals is significant, leaders with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Association of Bay Area Governments told a crowd of 800 at a conference at the Oakland Convention Center. But making the lifestyle changes to meet them is far more challenging. Read more »

By Rachel Gordon
San Francisco Chronicle

It's not too often that the Bush administration points to the San Francisco Bay Area as a role model for the rest of the nation. But the region's proposed efforts to combat traffic congestion were held up by the president's transportation chief Tuesday as an example to emulate. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters was in San Francisco to tout the Bay Area's congestion-relief plan, which includes a proposal to charge motorists an extra toll as they come off the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. It also includes the use of high-tech parking meters and traffic signals to combat congestion on city streets. "We believe that the solution to today's traffic problems do not have to be just about building new roads and infrastructure. It's about using technology. San Francisco's leaders understand that," said Peters, who held a brief sidewalk news conference near San Francisco's Civic Center. Read more »

Earlier in the year ActLocallySF.org hosted an article in support of Bus Rapid Transit on Geary Blvd. in San Francisco. Below is another view for the proposed BRT line for Geary.

By Planning Association for the Richmond

The image of unimpeded, predictable and comfortable transit from the Richmond District to downtown described for a BRT System is attractive, even seductive. However, the reality is that there are many unanswered questions, including what service levels will be provided and how BRT would work at key intersections and east of Van Ness Avenue. Read more »

By Rachel Gordon
San Francisco Chronicle

The number of injury collisions in San Francisco caused by red-light jumpers has dropped by more than half over the past decade, a dramatic decrease that officials attribute in part to cameras mounted at nearly two dozen treacherous intersections in the city.  In 1998 - the year after the first red-light cameras were mounted at a handful of intersections in San Francisco - the number of reported injury crashes involving red-light violations was 773. In 2006, the number was 374, according to data compiled by the city. Read more »

By Rosanne Haggerty
President, Common Ground Community

Maryann and Gerry were fixtures at the Times Square subway entrance, well known to local office workers, to the police and the courts.  With a dog as one prop, and Gerry’s drums as another, they had supported themselves and their heroin habits by panhandling, sometimes aggressively, to tourists and the regular business crowd.  Their belongings a makeshift tent, sleeping bags and clothes - were tucked into two carts, which sidewalk food vendors and the security staff at the office building above the station would watch for as they shifted to more lucrative posts over the course of the day or went to buy heroin or tend to their growing array of health problems.   By night, they bedded down at the subway entrance beneath the office plaza. Read more »

Jane Martin, Founding Director
Plant*SF

Ironically, the very imprecision of the term ‘greening’ may be its strength – for the concept is hollow if not holistically applied.  To some “green” connotes a cosmetic layer of beautification.  To others it is a degree of material sustainability.  For all, it is a reminder of our society’s prevailing mode of facilitation, money.  It is only through the mutual inclusion of these three aspects, however, that the application of greening to San Francisco’s streetscapes will be truly successful.  By way of example, traditional forms of public space plantings such as raised beds and hanging flower baskets may provide an immediate beautification lift, but because their soil is isolated and exposed to wind and sun, they require frequent watering even when climate adapted plants are selected.  This is neither environmentally supportive nor fiscally responsible.

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By Charles J. Hynes, Brooklyn District Attorney
San Francisco Sentinel

If the community justice center concept can work in Red Hook, Brooklyn, it can work anywhere.  Why am I so certain? Because as Brooklyn’s elected district attorney for the past 18 years, I have seen the neighborhood of Red Hook transformed. Ten years ago, Red Hook was a high-crime community that had lost much of its hope and energy. Today, the waterfront neighborhood—which includes both the largest public housing development in Brooklyn and blocks of quaint row houses—is revitalized, with safe streets, safe parks, new businesses, and supportive citizens who are working together on even greater improvements.  Who is responsible for this transformation? There are many who can take credit. But there is no question that the Red Hook Community Justice Center is among the vital players.

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By Elizabeth Ridlington, Policy Analyst, Frontier Group 
Rob Sargent, Energy Program Director, Environment California

Rising global temperatures, unpredictable weather and alarming scientific predictions have led to increasing public concern about the impacts of global warming on the environment, health and society. But while the Bush administration continues to resist efforts to reduce global warming pollution, many states are taking effective actions to address the threat—including the adoption of the “Clean Cars Program,” which sets limits on global warming pollution from cars, light trucks and SUVs. The global warming benefit will be significant. Read more »