Year: 2003

Preservation vs. Density

The old “density” versus “preservation of neighborhoods” argument is in the spotlight again here in Sodom-by-the-Bay. Proponents of the former state — correctly — that the only way to build new housing in San Francisco is to build it at a higher density than is currently utilized in most of the city. The neighborhood preservationists have a point as well, that current residents should have some say in how the city (and their part of it) develops…

Manhattan or Phoenix? My preference would be for something in between, but that’s not going to happen in San Francisco. On average, this city is home to about 15,000 people per square mile. There are no more square miles. Therefore, ANY population increase will mean more density. Only three outcomes are possible: (1) population must decrease, or (2) density must increase, or (3) housing costs in the city must grow even more unreasonable than they are now. That’s just the way it is; that’s how cities and real estate values work…

Ultimately, the low-density neighborhoods WILL change, no matter which path the city chooses. It’s inevitable; either there will be more high-density housing or the neighborhoods in question will begin — although it may take a few years — to house a far different and more affluent type of resident, because no one else will be able to afford the buy-in. That “special character” will probably be lost one way or another as it already has been in many areas…

I don’t want to live in a dense urban area where mass transit is the only option. It’s my own preference, and many good and intelligent people do not share it. San Francisco can be a city exclusively for the rich, or it can be a dense, transit-oriented urban core. It cannot, however, be a place of affordable single-family homes with yards. Neither urban planning nor whining about the “good old days” can change this fact. Those who want these things should face the inevitable and consider moving to a place where land is more plentiful and less expensive…

That’s my plan…

This Date in History

17 October 2001:
I was announcing that this guy named Mark in Fresno (who I wouldn’t actually meet for another nine days or so, but who was intriguing me in a major way) now had his own domain…

17 October 1998:
I was preparing for the second Planet SOMA Cross Country road trip…

17 October 1989:
San Francisco was quivering and trembling from its biggest earthquake since 1906, which my parents and I watched on TV from Greensboro (since I didn’t live here yet)…

17 October 1930:
My mom was born in a small house on the north side of Winston-Salem NC. Happy birthday, Mom. I love you, and I wish I were there today…

Updates

 

It’s been a brutal couple of weeks at work, and last night my defenses finally gave way, allowing me to succumb to the nasty cold which is allowing me to stay home and do nothing today (aside from blowing my nose a lot, but you don’t really want to hear that, huh?)…

But, by way of catch up, here’s what’s been going on for the past two weeks or so:

  • Mark and I celebrated Folsom Street Fair weekend in the traditional manner: by getting the fuck out of town until the assorted lukewarm leatherettes had gone home. We landed in Merced, by way of Yosemite (I’d never been there), and we managed to pass the entire two days without seeing one single paunchy, unattractive clone wearing way too little clothing under his chaps. Note to Shane: your instincts are correct. You’re not missing anything…
  • Anniversary trip to Disneyland coming in a couple of weeks…
  • There’s a new digital camera in the house, which should result in much nicer pictures on the site. It should also, due to its size, be very accommodating when I need to shoot surreptitious pictures in places like these…
  • I observed (“celebrated” is the wrong word) the eleventh anniversary of my move to San Francisco on Sunday…
  • A visit from Mark’s sister and her boyfriend this past weekend. We ate well. It was good…
  • Thanks to Becky for saying nice things about me, and an additional note: don’t underestimate either your own writing nor how much of yourself you put into it…
  • The voters of California opted this week to replace the sheet of unlined notepaper in the Governor’s Mansion with a cartoon character. My personal feeling is that neither of these incompetents pose nearly as much of a threat to the state as does the notion that we can discard Constitutionally-prescribed terms of office merely on the basis that “we just didn’t like him anymore”…
  • And yes, now that you ask, Tuesday night DID seem even more like an episode of The Simpsons than that election night I spent in Minnesota a few years back…