Saturday, April 14, 2007

Future San Francisco: higher, denser...or not?

The future San Francisco: what would you like to see? Would you like to see a taller, denser San Francisco? In essence, when you look at the downtown area from Soma to Market Street, the financial district and on to Union Square (and perhaps westward to the Civic Center or even northward up Nob Hill), would you like it to have the appearance of Manhattan or downtown Chicago

Let's keep a couple things in mind here:

• Both San Francisco and Los Angeles are capable of generating far more space downtown in commercial and residential high rises. The cities seem to share a role that New York has in the east and Chicago in the nation's center.

• SF is far smaller than New York or Chicago....and far more fragile. It is a city of hills and views based on openness, a place of denseness, but not always height that respects views and allows the city to work with nature to create something spectacular, something unique.

Does San Francisco need to be protected from an overpowering skyline or could the city be just as (or even more spectacular) with a skyline on steriods?

CAN S.F.'S UNIQUE AND MARVELOUS MIX OF MAN AND NATURE SURVIVE A REAL HIGH RISE CONCENTRATION>

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