"These startups are accelerating growth with big hiring plans in 2020"

San Francisco Business Times | December 31, 2019

“…Bay Area startups received almost half of the venture capital invested in 2019, some $46 billion flowing into the coffers of Bay Area companies…”

...More

"Steel Modules Speed Construction"

Proactive Solution File | December 31, 2019

A San Francisco developer imports Chinese steel modules to install 22 graduate student housing units in only four days.

 

...More

"How the French are fixing a housing crisis comparable to California’s"

SF Chronicle | December 26, 2019

California has a housing crisis — that much we all know — but we should not grow paralyzed by the idea that it’s politically or substantively insurmountable. Paris has turned around a comparable situation with remarkable speed.

...More

"Cities, cars, and climate change: 8 issues that will define the 2020s"

Curbed, San Francisco | December 19, 2019

Cars, climate change, and cameras are just some of the tough issues city leaders need to grapple with in the coming decade

By their nature, cities are dynamic and ever-changing, shaking off the past and constantly reinventing themselves to face the future.

...More

"Bernal Heights housing project approved after 41 years"

Curbed, San Francisco | December 18, 2019

“Somebody crazy not giving up” finally wins new homes

Developer Patrick Quinlan is bringing new housing to Bernal Heights, and it only took four decades to get the job done.

...More

"This decade, San Francisco saw the end of renting as we know it"

Curbed, San Francisco | December 12, 2019

Rarely cheap or easy, the rental game went from an ordeal to a war zone this past decade

“…Median market rents—representing mostly newer homes that can charge double or nearly treble the census average these days—are where the real fireworks began: In 2010, a two-bedroom SF apartment on Craigslist averaged $2,893 (per historic data compiled in 2016 by Eric Fischer), or $3,396 after inflation. At the end of 2019, similar units on the same site sit at a median of $4,300, up 26.6 percent.”

...More

"SF is the most expensive place in the world to build"

Curbed, San Francisco | December 9, 2019

San Francisco edged out New York City in 2019 for a queasy honorarium

San Francisco might be the most expensive place in the entire world to build new housing—intimidating news for anyone holding out for the possibility of increased supply to relieve the housing crisis.

...More

"SF is one of the most expensive places in the world to build housing. Here’s why"

SF Chronicle | December 8, 2019

Adrian Caratowsa was lucky.

After six years of trying and failing to score an affordable apartment in San Francisco, he won the lottery for a city-subsidized apartment in the Transbay district.

...More

"Why downtown Oakland is booming"

SF Chronicle | November 29, 2019

“…For the first time in more than a decade, Oakland’s skyline has a new office tower — and many more to come.”

“…A wave of migration from San Francisco, along with local business growth, has made Oakland one of the hottest local economies in the country. Additional office projects totaling more than 4 million square feet, or room for 20,000 more employees, are under construction or planned downtown, which currently has around 80,000 jobs…”

...More

"Vancouver approves new rental housing policy"

Brandon Donnelly | November 28, 2019

New rental housing measures were approved by Vancouver City Council this week. I haven’t gone through the policies in the detail (you can do that here), but they aim to increase rental housing supply by doing things such as “pre-zoning” for 6-storeys on main streets and by allowing rental apartments to be built on some side streets (up to 150m away from arterial roads).

...More