Some Say San Francisco Motorists are Under Siege

Going back in time, many areas in San Francisco were built before the advent of the car and certainly well before the concept that every home would have a garage with a car parked inside. In fact, they were built so San Franciscans would have access on foot to public transportation and neighborhood shops. Cars were not part of the plan. By the 1960s, San Francisco city planning policy had evolved to the point where there were residential parking requirements for at least one parking space for every new dwelling.

Fast forward to today. In an effort to be objective, I reviewed the Planning Department's Citywide Action Plan (CAP). The CAP program is based on the idea that alternatives to driving are so abundant on core transit streets that dedicated off-street parking for housing is hardly necessary. The city's current goal is for the proximity of transit and services to make it possible to live with fewer cars. In some neighborhoods, the CAP program is proposing revisions to density and parking. The goal is to take advantage of transit corridors and neighborhood commercial districts. Planners have gone back to the roots of San Francisco's city planning in an effort to make the city more livable. No doubt reading this some of you are thinking, "This is absolutely crazy," while others are thinking, "It's about time."

More @ The Marina Times: http://www.marinatimes.com/2014/10/its-only-going-to-get-tougher-to-own-a-car-in-san-francisco/