Planning for the Future, not the Moment

Urban planning can go horribly wrong.? It often fails the test of time.? 1950s America brought a surge in suburban development and car transportation.? It also led to one of the single worst American urban design decisions (my opinion), the development of the Embarcadero Freeway, originally intended to connect the San Francisco Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge by extending along the northeastern edge of the city as it hugs the bay - - - effectively blocking the views along one of the most scenic corridors in any US city.?

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Thankfully, the double-decker freeway structure was never fully built.? It faced strong opposition from the beginning, opposition that ultimately stalled its progress.? But from the late 1950s all the way to the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, a large swath of the beautiful Embarcadero Waterfront was relegated to concrete, steel, and traffic.?

How could anyone make such a decision?? In a word, perspective.? To be sure, in the 1950s, the loop, or beltway was a very popular solution to the challenge of urban traffic congestion.? It had common sense on its side, directing traffic around the perimeter of the city to avoid congesting its interior streets.? But its application in a city like San Francisco, surrounded, as it is, by the ocean and the bay, was always a poor fit.

Many cities are now facing big changes in daytime population due to remote work.? City leaders are scrambling to formulate strategies that bring people back.? It’s just the type of moment in time when big decisions could be made, decision which will have a lasting impact.? Political leaders are especially vulnerable to latching onto anything that looks like a solution so they appear to have a plan at a time when residents are calling for answers.? We’re reminded of the many half-baked ideas that have been posited for the next life of the Westfield Shopping Center.? Good ideas, the ones that will stand the test of time, are not typically conceived in hasty reaction to immediate stress.? They require extensive consideration from subject matter experts, from people who have the capacity to look beyond the current crisis.

Interestingly, the topic of how to get to and move within a city like San Francisco continues to vex urban planners.? Unlike in 1950 San Francisco, today much about how we travel is in flux.? Look no further than the preponderance of robo taxis on our streets.? Soon, many of us will use these vehicles daily, ultimately reducing the auto traffic which now congests our city streets.? Looking a bit further into the future, we have the prospect of low flying, short-trip electric air taxi services.? These, too, could have profound impact on regional travel. ?At this moment in time, we need to make good choices that help define what’s next, not limit it. ?

?Ask TenantSee Weekly

This week’s question:? Since every building is shaped differently, and has a different floor area, how do we know which one best fits our office?? It’s important to understand how different floor plates work given the layout of your office.? The first step in acquiring this knowledge is to have a good space program.? A space program details all the elements of your office use, from private offices to conference rooms to open work areas, etc.? It allocates dimensions to these spaces and results in a rough estimate of the amount of space required.? Once you have a program, it can be used by an architect to conduct test fit exercises with each building under consideration.? These test fits will help illuminate which building is best suited to your occupancy from a design perspective.

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