John King provides his thoughts, as always, talks about shadows
I will say, he tries to be fair to all sides in this one.
Transbay plan - is new skyline worth more shadows?
San Francisco has never seen a neighborhood plan as ambitious as the one that goes to the Planning Commission on Thursday, or one that so audaciously seeks to fit 21st century urban values into a 20th century frame.
Height limits within the 145-acre Transit Center District would be raised to create a new southern skyline of office and residential towers amid new public spaces and transit services of every sort. There'd be widened sidewalks, new pedestrian crossings and bicycle lanes, perhaps even a district-wide geothermal energy plant.
That's why it is critical that the first building proposed under the plan's framework, a tower that would be the city's tallest, embody the values of an area intended by the city to be "an enjoyable and humane place to spend time."
Planners also need to be candid about the disruptive aspects of the plan that, whatever its other merits, would clear the way for towers casting new shadows across parks as far as Chinatown.
Those far-reaching shadows are the most troubling aspect of a proposal that in many ways deserves to be embraced.
The planning effort that began in 2007 in many ways is a response to what now is a 20-foot-deep hole in the ground: a transit terminal set to open in 2017 off Mission Street that would be cloaked in futuristic curves of glass. Buses from throughout the Bay Area will pull in on opening day. A second phase would include underground train tracks to make the station the final stop for commuter trains from the Peninsula and high-speed rail from Southern California...
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAIH1OJRRJ.DTL