San Francisco

Downtown San Francisco is Beyond Redemption

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The recent announcement that Ian Jacobs, a scion of the famous Toronto-based Reichmann real estate clan, was coming to buy upwards of $900 million of San Francisco real estate, has offered the beleaguered California city a rare moment of hope.  read more »

Transportation Policy and the Ukrainians

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The dominant philosophy that guides North American land use and transportation policy is advocacy of car ownership. The logic is simple. If you have a car you have automatic access to a wide variety of geographic employment options at any time of the day or night regardless of weather.  read more »

The Kitchens of Distinction

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I was a scholarship student in the UK thirty odd years ago and there was a semi-well known band at the time called The Kitchens of Distinction. I have no memory of what their music even sounded like, but the name stayed with me.  read more »

Xi Jinping Emerges As the Winner from San Francisco

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Xi Jinping should have entered San Francisco’s Apec conference with his tail between his legs, but instead has emerged as something closer to the king of the world.  read more »

Top Zip Codes for New Apartments: 2018 - 2022

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Rentcafe.com has just published a list of the 51 ZIP Codes in the United States that have had the most apartment construction over the last five years (2018-2022).  read more »

"New" Cities? An Old Idea

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As a kid I used to draw imaginary cities all the time. I was inspired by a trip to Disney World when I was 11 years old and I saw the Magic Kingdom’s Main Street USA and EPCOT. Without even knowing the truth I realized they were designed environments, meant to evoke certain feelings from visitors.  read more »

America's Sanctuary Cities Are Falling Apart

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If it were not so tragic, it would be funny. For years the progressive Left — in the US as well as across the West — has boasted about its willingness to accept people even if they have arrived in America illegally.  read more »

Whatever Happened to the Great West Coast Cities?

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As recently as the early Nineties, when the great cities of the Midwest and East Coast were careening toward what seemed like an inevitable downturn, the urban agglomerations along the Pacific coast offered a demonstrably brighter urban future. From San Diego to the Puget Sound, urban centers along America’s western edge continued to thrive  read more »

Comparing Canadian and U.S. Metropolitan Areas

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Canada and the United States are among a minority of national governments that formally designate metropolitan areas. Metropolitan areas are labor and housing markets which include a core urban area (built up or developed area) as well as rural territory  read more »

California: No Growth to 2060 per State Projections

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The state of California Department of Finance (DOF) has issued interim population projections indicating that in 2060, there will be 39,508,000 residents in the state.  read more »