INTRODUCTION

These planning and design guidelines were completed for the first part of three phases in the Arch. 201 studio of fall 1997, led by Roddy Creedon at the College of Environmental Design at Berkeley. Mission Bay is currently dominated by Union Pacific's expanse of abandoned railroad yards, large warehouses, docks, and brownfields. However, the area's potential is undeniable. It's just south of PacBell Park in China Basin, and it's also adjacent to Potrero and South of Market districts. San Franscisco shortage of housing is legendary, and the lack of green, open spaces near downtown neighbourhoods is deplorable. For students in this studio, Mission Bay represented an unprecedented opportunity to mitigate these problems. In 1997, the Mission Bay area was San Francisco's largest undeveloped area, and Catellus (the development arm of Union Pacific which owned most of the land) had been given the right to turn the whole area into a mixed-use area that would also incorporate a new research campus for UCSF. The studio's aim was to explore and generate alternative proposals for Mission Bay. One can view these design guidelines as amendments to existing land use and building codes. Being my first timid stab at city planning, the guidelines were essentially an outline of a rather conventional New Urbanist strategy with emphasis on ecologically sensitive, visually coherent, built environments oriented by transit and pedestrian activities. The illustrations used here originally came from either Common Place: Toward Neighborhood and Regional Design by Douglas Kelbaugh (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997), or The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community, and the American Dream by Peter Calthorpe (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1993).

COMPONENT ONE: The Streets

Objective: Mission Bay will be designed primarily for pedestrians, bicyclists, and riders of public transit. Visitors will also be encouraged to use these forms of movement. Although vehicular traffic will be accommodated, they will not determine the form, the scale, or the character of the neighbourhood. All structures in the redevelopment area will be designed first and foremost with the pedestrian or slow-moving vehicular traffic in mind. The small standard blocks of 200 x 100 feet promotes the level of walkability.

01 Fast moving (i.e., above 30 miles per hour) through traffic (i.e., vehicles moving between downtown San Francisco and the Bayshore and Hunter's Point communities) will be prohibited. Even though through traffic will be accommodated, they will be considerably slowed down upon entering Mission Bay by the enforcement of new traffic regulations specifically applied to Mission Bay as well as by new street design (e.g., Third Street will become a transit mall which serves a light-rail line and northbound vehicular traffic). All streets in Mission Bay should serve primarily pedestrians, cyclists, and neighbourhood vehicular traffic.

02 A speed limit of 30 miles per hour on arterial streets (i.e., the realigned Third and Fourth streets, Sixteenth Street) should be strictly enforced.

03 On secondary streets, the widths and the number of traffic lanes (each 8-10 feet wide) would be minimized without compromising auto-safety, on-street parking, or bike access. Along with the implementation of speed bumps, a speed limit of 15 miles per hour on secondary streets should also be strictly enforced.

04 In addition to the provision of dedicated pedestrian and bike-path systems linking all community centers of activity, bicyclists and drivers will have equal rights to the use of streets in Mission Bay. In other words, bicyclists and drivers will share traffic lanes (as opposed to a designated system of bike lanes). However, bicyclists will not ride on sidewalks, which will be at least 12 feet on arterial streets to encourage browsing and street activities, and at least 6 feet on secondary streets. Dedicated bike path(s) will parallel Third Street, the primary arterial forming the spine of Mission Bay.

05 Taking minimal water consumption and potential damage to sidewalk into consideration, a single type of tree would be selected for planting along all streets in Mission Bay. Providing shade as well as a unifying motif for the Mission Bay community, the trees should be spaced no less than 30 feet on center between the curb and the sidewalk.

06 At intersections and selected sections of various streets, special paving surfaces such as gray bricks should be utilized, especially for the designation of crosswalks. These gestures also provide another motif which strengthens the sense of unifying visual coherence in the neighbourhood.

07 Mission Bay will adopt specially-designed uniform signage, lighting, information display, disposal, and traffic signal fixtures.

08 Skateboarding would be allowed everywhere in Mission Bay. All street fixtures should acknowledge this.

COMPONENT TWO: Parking

Objective: Limited parking will be provided, but they do not have to be eyesores.

01 Uncovered on-grade parking adjacent to a street will be prohibited or completely hidden from the street by vegetation. Parking lots can only exist in the middle of the block.

02 Parking structures should have articulated or modulated façades. Otherwise, they can be hidden behind active uses such as housing, retail units, residential entrance lobbies or foyers, common areas, or community facilities.

03 Any on-grade parking lots should be planted with enough trees so that within ten years, at least 70 percent of the surface area of the lot is shaded.

04 Wherever possible, large parking structures should support terraced student apartments, single-room occupancy units, shelters, or hospices (i.e., specialized housing which do not have stringent parking requirements) in addition to gardens.

05 Visitors from other parts of the Bay Area should be encouraged to use public transit when coming to Mission Bay. Bus services between 16th Street BART station and Mission Bay, as well as between Cal Train and downtown BART stations and Mission Bay, should be coordinated with the schedules of services provided by the afforementioned transit agencies. The Third Street light-rail line running through the Mission Bay community should be used whenever possible. Serving as a transit mall, Third Street would be the spine of the new development, and most commercial activities and major retailers would be located here.

COMPONENT THREE: Transit-oriented development

Objective: As a reaction against urban sprawl and environmental degradation often attributed to the former, Mission Bay should be planned as a transit-oriented development where the light-rail stations are the focal points of the community as well as the centers of business and activity. Buildings here should have the highest densities in the neighbourhood.

01 There will be at least two planned light-rail stops along the Third Street transit mall which will serve as the anchors of the community. Based on the principles of transit-oriented developments, each station will be the center of a viable neighbourhood which would provide most of the requisite community facilities and institutions. All of the following must be accommodated at either one or the other transit node: a community center serving both the youth and the elderly, daycare, an elementary school, a branch public library, a post office, a town square which can accommodate outdoor community activities, rallies, and gatherings such as a farmers' market and a recycling center, and a supermarket. One of the stops must be adjacent to the center of activity of the UCSF campus. The police and fire stations should also be near one of the transit stations.

02 The transit stations themselves should facilitate: shelters with telephones, space for vendors (providing transit passengers with activities while they wait), public toilets, and space for bicycles and mopeds. To encourage the use of public transportation, the stations need to be safe, easily-accessible, well-lighted, and comfortable. Transit stops can also provide design opportunities to create specific places and focal points which may contribute to the character of the Mission Bay neighbourhood. For instance, cement mixing towers, totem poles, or even flag poles can be employed here as landmarks to help define place.

03 Commercial activity should cluster around transit stops. Mixed-use buildings with retail spaces on the ground floor and housing above are strongly encouraged here since they will allow Mission Bay residents to live near the services they want to enjoy and utilise. In addition to their efficient use of limited space, they also make possible a higher density of residences that will support and justify the new transit infrastructure.

COMPONENT FOUR: Housing

Objective: Housing in Mission Bay will provide a sufficient number of homes to create a viable and urban community which reflects the diversity of San Francisco.

01 A variety of housing types and typologies (e.g., mixed-use developments, townhouses, SROs, student housing, co-housing, luxury apartments, condominiums, loft units, live-work units, small-lot single family units with ancillary units, etc.), densities, ownership patterns, and living arrangements should be encouraged in addition to the provision of subsidised housing for low-income residents.

02 In order to foster an urban, pedestrian-oriented atmosphere in Mission Bay, no residential structure may have a setback greater than 15 feet from the sidewalk. Furthermore, façades facing the street should be varied, articulated, or modulated. Designers will be encouraged to use porches, arcades, frequent residential entries, stoops, bays, bay windows, balconies, and terraces. Unarticulated blank wall facing the street that is larger than 50 sq. ft., or adjacent garage doors facing the street are conditions prohibited in Mission Bay.

COMPONENT FIVE: Coherence

Objective: Mission Bay will retain a semblance of distinctive visual coherence that would not be incompatible with its goal of creating a pedestrian-oriented, urban environment. The following elements together would aim to strengthen the sense of aesthetic coherence and compatibility in the neighbourhood:

01 All non-residential buildings, including UCSF campus structures, must respect the street edge if they are adjacent to a street. All setbacks greater than 5 feet are prohibited unless they are providing space for pedestrian-related activity (e.g., outdoor dining, exhibits, meditation, etc.) that can be accessed by everyone during business hours. All buildings in a street block are encouraged to create a continuous street wall with uniform setback.

02 A specifically chosen tree to be planted along all sidewalks throughout Mission Bay adds coherence to the neighbourhood.

03 At intersections and selected sections of various streets, special paving surfaces such as grey bricks should be utilized and used to designate crosswalks. This contributes to the motif that would strengthen the sense of visual coherence in the neighbourhood.

04 Mission Bay would utilize specifically-designed unform street signage, fixtures, lighting, and traffic signals. The UCSF campus would also have to be incorporated into this uniform system.

COMPONENT SIX: Ecology

Objective: Mission Bay will strive to become an ecologically responsible neighbourhood.

01 At least 50 percent of Mission Bay will be reserved for green spaces: parks, forests, wetlands, and gardens. All existing wetlands will be preserved and protected. Recreational facilities such as athletic fields, basketball and tennis courts, and skate ramps should be integrated into the green areas designated as "parks" (i.e., landscaped green areas with unrestricted access).

02 In recognition of Mission Bay's ecological history, most of the green areas will be allocated for the restoration of wetlands which would provide habitats for thousands of species. In addition to the bay itself, the wetlands will form a "moat" around the Mission Bay neighbourhood to ensure its unique physical character. Pedestrian access to the wetlands zone itself should only be limited to piers, bridges, and tours conducted by authorised personnel.

03 All aspects of landscaping throughout Mission Bay should utilize species indigenous to the Bay Area or proven adaptable to local climate and conditions. Wherever possible, drought-tolerant species should be used, and water-hungry lawns should be avoided.

04 Plots should be set aside for community cultivation of organic vegetables and for composting projects. These activities may even foster a sense of community as well as self-sufficiency. Community gardens can be placed on rooftops of public buildings and/ or parking garages (if they are not already supporting housing).

05 Energy conservation must be addressed in all buildings in Mission Bay. Wherever possible, techniques such as solar heating, natural ventilation, daylighting, the enhancement of micro-climate effects, and passive shading devices should be utilized.

06 A living, organic sound wall as well as trees will buffer the noise emanating from I-280. To protect Mission Bay's role as an ecological enclave, a forest of tall trees will stand between the sound wall and the wetlands.

07 The bay waterfront is currently outside the scope of the Mission Bay project. If the Port eventually decides to abandon it, the waterfront will be restored mostly as a wetlands area for the refuge and habitats of wildlife. However, Mission Rock will be converted to a "park" with recreational facilities for the community and access to the water.

01 October 1997