Issue 506
Solving San Francisco鈥檚 Parks Funding Crisis
Urban Field Notes: Five Local Skate Hubs Show Limits of Sanctioned Design
Almost every time I ride my skateboard through San Francisco鈥檚 financial district all Ican think about is Mike Davis鈥檚 take on downtown Los Angeles, which he describedas the 鈥淢ilitarization of Urban Space.鈥 Countless urban design techniques are implemented to prevent what urban designers call 鈥渦ndesirable urban behavior,鈥 such as homelessness, graffiti and the ultimate undesirable: skateboarding. It鈥檚 amazing to me that skateboarding has鈥
Seeking Green
Funding public parks in a challenging financial climate
Image courtesy Flickr user ShawnaScottPhoto San Francisco鈥檚 parks are among the city鈥檚 most treasured assets 鈥 but they鈥檙e also in serious financial trouble. The city鈥檚 Recreation and Parks Department (RPD) has lost more than 25 percent of its General Fund revenue in just five years. Meanwhile, labor costs have gone up 34 percent. This mix of factors has forced the department to make dramatic cuts鈥