Architecture for Humanity - SF

DESIGNING FOR A COUNTER-HOMELESS INSURGENCY

2005-10-31T23:53:00.000-08:00

This is a great collection of photos taken documenting the 'war on the sit,' the ANTI-SIT, assembled by Transfer. This is one niche of a whole vast landscape of 'anti-homeless design' that I have been documenting myself (see future article), but it is amazing the length people will go to prevent even the slightest allowance of homeless tolerance, even for a second. It's the mere thought, or really the mere sight of it that offends some people at this point, that they must attach a protective barrier to everything, a space that cannot be defined in the absence of a barrier, a ubiquitous urban barrier-context now orders every perceivable sphere of territorial real estate afforded in public space, down to the last park bench, the last block of sidewalk. Tiny fire-hydrants have their own personal castle-armor that will do them no good in the war on peeing. Young shrubs and trees look like soon-to-be baby victims of giant snapping bear traps, planter boxes that look and function now just like giant venus fly traps, and for all the homeless know they may even be giant snapping traps of some kind pretending to defend the dirt against errant cigarette butts or something. Imagine urban designers using biomimicry to hunt the homeless. Just look how these cellular telephone towers have been disguised. How have we come to microfit our sidewalks with such pathetic displays of a mini street-punk 'fortress architecture'? It is all confused now in a war on skating, a war on drugs, a war on the pigeons, a war on the homeless, a war on car stereos, a war on the activists, the cyclists, a war on trash, a war on anything not subject to total barrier control. These pictures glimpse the subliminal encroach of everyday eminent domain bursting at the seams of total absurdity and obscenity. These inanimate devices are the state's new heroic props for an emerging front on the 'war on terror,' the urbanization of homeless insurgency, homeless man as terrorist, mapping the nomadic migration patterns of man confined inside a massive city-wide anti-settling urban crawl space; constantly surveillanced, these poor flocks secretly feed the meter of a cartography of pre-emptive 'displacement by design'. A new meaning to the phrase "made-homeless" is gained, because here he is for every second of his wandering day an unbeknownst test-dummy for Homeland Security's anti-terrorist street upgrades. A free-to-roam wherever-he-pleases prisoner of perpetual eviction, where he has not even the freedom to take a rest anymore. No, rather he is only urged on by a meticulous army of situated barriers that prods him at every angle on his fall to the spiked asphalt. Such medieval architectural mounts are the literal bars of a postmodern carceral urbanism, a "street-side apartheid" where entire floating populations of "subversive and anti-patriotic" homeless networks struggle to carve out bunkers behind dumpsters now, where they can plot their maniacal strategies for finding food and a shelter each night in secret. "Fear the homeless man, 'cause he's no accidental terrorist!"

French authors Jean Rivière and Olivier Thomas describe it as "defensive space" or "Nuisible", the design aspects that define, or are defined by, a given mode of defensive space,a design rationale for absurd preventionism. Oh the irresistable design challenge of having to defend against something. A designer rash. Eventually we'll just have barriers for other barriers, an infinite run-away streetscape of micro-barriers, an entire landscape of insidious faux-fortress facade, landscape architetcure becomes barrier-scape architecture, instead of trees and grass we get iron cladding, bollards, concrete studs and spiked railings, the city covered in a retro-feudal wallpaper. Soon we'll all be part of an entire culture of barrier-challenged people, forever stuck behind our oh--so-clever barriers, forever making futher barriers there, just burrying ourselves in our brands and brands of new and improved hyper-barriers, we'll all be left stuck stagnant stupid staring at 'the spectacle of the barrier.' If not, then this is the greatest art project of all times.

Though these beautific barriers are hideous,

like tacky tourist lapels, our obsession with security becomes a totally grotesque iconic commodity, a kitschy way of tattooing the complexion of our public space with signs of authoritarian control. In which case that is the worst art project of all times. (via)

ALSO: The Design Philosophy Papers (DPP) Journal has a really good issue right now on homelessness and design, inspired by Maria Cecilia Loschiavo dos Santos’s work with and about homeless people’s communities in Sao Paulo. Check it out, lots of good reads.

2005-10-31T20:41:00.000-08:00

Getting caught up on some SF Homeless News

Surplus Property, slowly but surely...

S.F. school district looks to surplus real estate for revenue
Three Years, 15 Sites, Not One Home
Big Victory for Homeless at Surplus Property Committee
Empty building spurs lively debate

State gets plan to house the homeless
S.F. group helping the poor to build their assets
Supe aims to find jobs for disabled, homeless Alioto-Pier fights for tax credits, similarly, Tax credits urged for "clean-tech" city firms
Mission condo project sparks debate
Mayor: Homeless plan having an impact, Advocates ‘Housing-First’ Policy for Homeless Families
Rally Against Homelessness: Family Time
More Newsom PR, and that's the extent of it.
Regional Plans to keep track of homeless people across the Bay, can government surveillance respect the privacy rights of the homeless without trouncing and evicting or jailing them all over the place? just take a look what's happening in LA.

Redevelopment in L.A. Affects Homeless Population
Dumping of Homeless Suspected Downtown : Sheriff's report tries to explain why homeless man dumped in downtown LA : LA TIMES Series: Life on the Streets SKID ROW

* BONUS News: Tokyo homeless get cleaner teeth thanks to one-woman campaign

2005-09-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

Juan snuck one of me the other night at the Prison Design Boycott Poster Competition discussion. (via)

2005-09-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

new STAND: 'Architecture For Humanity' Chicago competition

Healthy streetscapes are a critical element of the Chicago urban fabric. The daily ritual for many includes the human interface between reader and news vendor. While media evolves with the pace of technology, the tangible object we interact with continues to deteriorate. The utilitarian nature of the newsstand does little to realize its full potential as a design installation.

Entrants for this competition are called upon to submit newsstand designs that address:
a) making a small-scale architectural impact on the streetscape
b) the positive effects of community business on residents
c) the decline of demand for print media

The registration deadline is October 1, 2005, and the submission deadline is November 1, 2005. Finalists will be announced on February 1, 2006. The fee to enter is $35 for professionals; $15 for students. The jury is yet to be determined.

AFH Chicago is the Chicago chapter of Architecture for Humanity, an organization that promotes architectural and design solutions to global, social and humanitarian crises. AFH Chicago is community-based and works on a specifically local level. Their mission is to promote social responsibility and awareness through volunteerism that directly aids in community growth and sustainability.

For more information and a full competition brief, please e-mail afhchicago@gmail.com

2005-09-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Check out this forthcoming book, and the exhibit in NYC:

Safe: Design Takes on Risk

Edited and with Introduction by Paola Antonelli.~Essays by Phil Patton, Marie O'Mahony and Cameron Sinclair.

"Safety is an instinctive need that has guided human choices throughout history. Now more than ever, it has become not only a focus, but almost an obsession. Designers are trained to mediate between disruptive change and normalcy and can soothe people’s anxiety. When scientific revolutions happen, they translate them into objects that people can understand and use. Good design provides protection and security without sacrificing the need to innovate and invent. ~This book and the exhibition that it accompanies document the unique objects that designers have created to answer people’s needs, both physical and psychological. Physical objects include shelters for victims of disasters and homeless people, hideaway furniture, and personal armor and protective gear, while psychological objects include those that thwart identity theft, offer self-defense, and provide comforting reassurance.

The objects presented here reflect how good design goes hand-in-hand with personal needs. ~This book includes an introductory essay by Paola Antonelli, Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art in New York; an essay by Phil Patton on cars; another by Marie O’Mahony on materials and technologies; and a third by Cameron Sinclair on design for refugees and third-world facilities. The issues addressed by each of these authors will find resonance in people’s minds and souls." From Artbook.com

2005-09-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

Prison Design Boycott: Poster Competition Announcement & Press Conference

09.15.05 6:00 pm

San Francisco, CA— Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) will present the winning entries in its Poster Design Competition for the Prison Design Boycott campaign Sept 15. The open competition, which has already attracted entries from across the country, is for a poster that describes why architects and others should refuse to design prisons. The winning entries will be both emotionally and graphically powerful. ADPSR will also present the first book from its publishing arm, New Village Press, A Beginner’s Guide to Community-Based Art. Among its profiles the book documents community art projects that challenge the prison system. A reception with light refreshments will begin at 6 PM, and a discussion with the selection panel will being at 6:30. The public is invited to attend.

Time: Thursday, September 15, 6-8 PM Location: Main Nave rear, California College of the Arts (CCA), 1111 Eighth Street, on the corner of Eighth and Irwin, San Francisco. http://www.cca.edu/about/directions.php The selection panel for the competition includes:

• Ray Beldner, Artist & Teacher • Rose Braz, Director, Critical Resistance
• Lisa Findley, Professor of Architecture, CCA
• Michael Marcum, Deputy Sheriff (retired), San Francisco Sheriff’s Department
• Raphael Sperry, Architect, President of ADPSR
• Jennifer Sterling, Professor of Graphic Design, CCA
• Donna Willmott, Family Advocacy Coordinator, Legal Services for
Prisoners with Children

To learn about the Prison Design Boycott, visit: www.adpsr.org/prisons and sign our pledge online.
Poster competition information: www.adpsr.org/prisons/poster
More information about ADPSR:

Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility is a national non-profit founded in 1983 dedicated to the involvement of achitects, designers, and plannes in issues of peace and social justice. www.adpsr.org

http://www.adpsr.org/prisons/ADPSR_prison_PosterAnnoun.pdf

2005-09-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Green Party Housing and Land Use Working Group Presents:

Isn't It About Time For Green Design?

Monday, September 12th, 7 - 9 pm
First Baptist Church
7 Octavia Blvd, at Market St.
(accessible entrance on Waller St.)

The green in green design is a debatable term. Green design could describe the use of recycled building materials, natural lighting and ventilation, or the incorporation of advanced technology. Often it is criticized as prohibitively expensive.

At this seminar our panelists will discuss the meaning of green design, its affordability, and existing certifications/standards, while considering what other cities are doing, what San Francisco's recent projects are and it's plans to build greener buildings.

With:

Raphael Sperry is an architect at 450 Architects in San Francisco and current President of Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility. He designs residential and school projects, and leads ADPSR's Prison Design Boycott campaign. In 2005 he was appointed as the public member of the City of San Francisco's municipal Green Building Task Force. In 2004 He was the lead author of the San Mateo County Guide to Sustainable Buildings. As the Project Manager for Berkeley's Best Builders, the City of Berkeley's first green building program, Raphael developed a network of expert consultants in fields including energy efficiency, green materials, solar power, etc. While earning his masters degree from the Yale School of Architecture he assisted with the creation and teaching of green building classes.

Erin Carson is Senior Project Manager of the Public Initiatives Development Corporation, a non-profit public benefit housing development corporation and a subsidiary of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. Erin has nearly 15 years of experience in housing development both in affordable and market rate housing and has a particular interest in green and sustainable design and development. Erin is currently working on a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) registered multi-family affordable housing development in San Francisco. Erin is a LEED Accredited Professional and member of the United States Green Building Council and its Northern California Chapter.

Mark Palmer is San Francisco's Municipal Green Building Coordinator. During his thirty years in the construction industry, he has directed environmental design for a major homebuilder, initiated a renewable energy portfolio for utilities, and founded an innovative green building consultancy. Mark develops city policy for sustainable design and construction--LEED Silver is now the standard for all municipal construction projects in San Francisco. Mark also administers a training program for city design professionals, and oversees a growing number of municipal construction projects including the new California Academy of Sciences slated for a LEED Platinum certification and the redevelopment of Treasure Island, a mixed-use pedestrian and transit-oriented community.

About the Housing and Land Use Seminar Series:

This is the tenth seminar in an ongoing series on housing and land use issues hosted by the San Francisco Green Party, currently being held on the second Monday of the month at First Baptist Church, organized by the Green Party Housing and Land Use working group. These workshops are a great opportunity to educate yourself, share your thoughts and get involved with local advocacy groups trying to create a better San Francisco.

For more information about the Green Party Housing and Land Use working group, go to the SF Green Party website (www.sfgreenparty.org) and choose the Working Groups link.

Contact: HLU Co-chairs Jennifer Donlon at junipers_hill(at)yahoo.com or David Wilbur at drwsf(at)yahoo.com for additional seminar details.

The seminars are free and open to the public.

2005-08-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some reads and comments on SF Homlessness. I am reading some reports from the SF COH nd will report on those findings soon.

SF HOMELESS BUDGET 2005 - 2006 $136 million: 60% svcs & 40% housing
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/id385.htm

Daly bog.. Speak up for Good Homeless Policy
http://www.chrisdaly.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=31312

Daly blog... Progressives Should Re-Double Opposition to Care Not
Cash http://www.chrisdaly.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=31665

Bush's Chronic Homeless Plan Imperils the Safety Net - Paul Boden Op
ed http://www.thestreetspirit.org/June%202005/chronic.htm

City Vision Radio Program: Homelessness in San Francisco: Is there a
solution? (2 parts, scroll down)
http://cityvisionsradio.com/archive.html

- Paul Boden and Rachel Brahinsky make a great point about Project Connect (http://projecthomelessconnect.org/) : first Daly claims the program was never outlined in the 10 year plan or Continuum of Care, but A Alioto claims it was unde another name. Rachel makes the case that it is all media stunt, time and place for Newsom to wash feet and get credit for bringing in new volunteers and provide
services. Boden says outright we don't need 2000 outreach volunteers in this small city for this task, their real energy would be better applied towards mobilizing against the federal cut backs and voicing or taking action there instead.

- Rachel claims it actually takes about 2 people's cuts in GA to use to afford housing 1 person, that since the funding was never there to really sustain CNC on its own, ultimately the poor are paying double the price for Newsom's selective success.

- people are waiting in shelters on CNC for 8 months, without any tracking system or feedback to let these people know where they are in line or what progress if any is being made.

- people on CNC can reserve space in shelters and not show up, making shelter space scarce, contested, and in the end go unused. this is creating a huge shelter management problem.

- people who are willing to sign up for CNC and go for housing through Newsom's outreach and project connect are getting a huge cut in line over others waiting for months via the normal channels. what message is the Mayor sending to the homeless community at large when he gives a set of new housing keys to someone he just approached on the streets and convinced to sign up for CNC? how is the system being fair at that point?

- major service money (McKinney -
http://www.chrisdaly.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=31250) is being cut to focus on the visibly chronically homeless, that kind of lopsided hyper focus on one sector is causing a worse burden on the other sectors, and is easily argued by critics a program designed only to produce the most visible results possible, disregarding effects on other homeless and long term impact.

- CNC works with the larger federal cuts in city budgets and HUD monies, rather than helping to hold the feds accountable for these cuts. The problem can never be solved until fed money is engaging local municipalities to fight homelessness, otherwise it just becomes a divisive war of competing local programs, fighting for scraps with each new administration ... you coudl say CNC is working with what we've got and is crafty that way. But critics argue this new system in jsut moving deck chairs on the titanic.

- look at the short term and trying to fairly predict the long term causes of new homeless numbers as a result of CNC, families and seniors and children are fastest growing sector of homeless in our city, immigrants are also increasing at alarming rate (partly b/c of new border issues and Gov's stance), and new Iraq war veterans are seen as being the next immediate boom in our national homeless population. Report, City's Hidden Homeless
http://www.sfcall.com/issues%202004/11.15.04/11.16.04%20coh.htm

- how do we work towards creating a more integrated and comprehensive homeless policy with limited federal funds, and without eating ourselves up? The feds are well aware of the impacts on cities by cutting these funds, let's not let the conservative agenda at Washington pit the left coast alliance of liberals and
progressives against one another in these types of battles. The real focus should be a unified front of criticism at the State level too about holding the feds accountable.

- what if the city declared a state of emergency in terms of housing crisis, might that be a creative backdoor into going after some federal funding? probably not, but i think we need to be creative in battling the fed cutbacks, and demanding more.

http://www.sfbayview.com/042705/newbill042705.shtml New bill would kill Section 8 housing program

- how do we get the federal Dept of Labor, Social Security Admin, and HUD to engage more directly in local fights against homelessness? We have lost their commitment to fighting poverty & creating affordable housing. That is the core of our ability to effect the problem/solution? Is Newsom taking the right stand against these fed cut backs, or is his political knack only making it easier for him to work with them and in a sense let them off the hook?

- How to pursue "housing first" without sacrificing the services needed all around? It is a tricky housing and social problem, but neither side can claim credit for solving homelessness, nor pass the problem to the other sector. there has to be cooperation, and CNC has not really created that bridge with the strong progressive roots of homeless advocacy that was scene as a model for the nation 15 or 20 years ago.

- if taxpayers aren't willing to pay more taxes, or support a new bond, what other funding is left to tap? maybe prop 63?
(http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/htProp63MentalHealthServicesExpa
nsion.htm)

- can we face the reality that even in a shelter $59 is not enough for some homeless populations, small families to survive? doesn't that just ratchet up the need to panhandle, doesnt that then just serve the city in criminalizing that behavior?

- how can we urge MOH and the BOS to develop housing per the Surplus Property Ordinance and identify new parcels? How can we direct a stream of funding for this automatically, knowing no help will come from MOH or REDEV?

- ultimately, it is the struggle to hold federal spending responsible for helping cities to combat the roots of poverty as well as provide them with adequate housing and services, so why can't the tribes unite around that? Newsom's pragmatism may have placed 805 people in housing, but there is great concern about the longer term effects of CNC, and how many people may be made homeless as a result of CNC, backfilling or backlash whatever you want to call it.

- also, there has been no evidence to support the Newsom claim that the 1000 GA enrollees who dropped off as a result of CNC were just out of district freeloaders, a number critics say has ambiguously been used to spin more success. there is now an investigation into determining how many indeed were just freeloaders versus how many have simply chosen not sign up for only $59 of GA now, especially given the hassle CNC may also cause.

- as easy as it is for some CNC registers to get housing immediately, the reality is many are deep and stuck in the trenches of shelter life, and the run around in application and placement process delays, there are a lot of jams caused by CNC.

- this recent hearing really gets at the war that has been set up between the long time services community here and the new CNC gang over funding, http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=8 APRIL 18 2005

Beyondchron article on that same hearing
(http://beyondchron.org/default.asp?
sourceid=&smenu=110&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=1790&wpage=1&skeyword=&sida
te=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=
&rebed=&rebath=&subname=)

The National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness (Paul Boden
head of Wester Regional Advocacy Program is on the board. Good
stuff here) http://www.npach.org/

And this guy,Dennis P. Culhane from UPENN (
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/cmhpsr/directory/Dennis_homepage.htm), is being credited with a lot of the research that the the Newsom homeless administration and guys like Dariush Kayhan, director, Housing and Homeless Programs, San Francisco Department of Human Services are crediting for the strategy of their homeless policy.

2005-05-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

Busy working on comp entry, but here are a few links...

SF HLU news

Action Near on New Affordable Housing Law :: How Elites Are Reshaping San Francisco Politics :: Progressives Should Re-Double Opposition to Care Not Cash :: New bill would kill Section 8 housing program :: Chance Martin's Blog :: SF, an Ephemeral City? :: Paula Levine: Baghdad - SF

Design

Over the Rhine :: best Hassan Fathy site :: Of Base and Buildings... :: Designing Palestine :: Disguising the Fortress :: Engaging Urbanization in Africa :: Giving a Damn and Getting Credit for It

The Prison Issue

Here is an interview I did with Raphael Sperry (ADPSR) about the Prison Design Boycott. De:constructing Recidivism : the chron, Archrecord, Archvoices, and responses... :: Spying on the government :: my prison links

2005-05-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

Read this article in Beyon Chron as well: Section 8 Cuts could displace thousands.

2005-04-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

Tommi Mecca & Sara Shortt Update on the Threats to Section 8

"Friends,
Here's an urgent message from my co-worker, Sara Shortt, who is working to save Section 8. What's happening right now is that the feds have lowered the payment standard so that for example, with a $1600 one-bedroom, HUD will only pay $1300 for it now. The tenant HAS TO MAKE UP THE $300 DIFFERENCE. Every tenant with a voucher in SF (over 7,300 vouchers!) will get a rent increase this year, anywhere from about $100-400/mo. People on Section 8 canNOT afford these increases. If landlords do not agree to lower the rent down to the new standard or the tenant does not find another place to live, they will end up on the streets or displaced from the city. At this point, thanks to Sara's efforts, Park Merced has agreed to lower the rents for its 160 or so tenants on vouchers. The Board of Supes is holding a hearing to look into this matter...below is info from Sara...
tommi

Help save SF's Section 8 Housing!

*We need testimony from tenants and advocates at Monday's Board ofsupervisors Section 8 hearing at 1pm at City Hall. Please attend if you canand encourage others as well. Talking points are below. If you can notattend, please email, write or call your supervisors to let them hear yourthoughts on the issue.
*Listen to KPFA story on Section 8 in SF at :http://www.kpfa.org/archives/archives.php?id=24 (See April 26th and click on"listen")
*See chron article athttp://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/04/18/BAG7KCAJHS1.DTL
*Get more info on the status of the Federal Budget at www.cbpp.org

SF Section 8 Cuts -
Talking Points

- We can no longer rely on federal housing funds. Housing for the poor mustbe a priority of local government.
-Any planning or implementation of efforts to end homelessness shouldincorporate solutions to the loss of Section 8 housing. Otherwise, peoplewith homes become homeless, as the city puts others from the streets intohousing.
-Housing development planning and funding should include housing options forthe poorest: $15,000 annual income (average Section 8 tenant income).
-Board should work with Congressional Delegation to fight for full fundingof Section 8 program.
- Do not allow further "ghettoization" of SF. S8 rent increases mean thattenants (who are 72% people of color) will be forced to areas where povertyis already concentrated and which have high crime, less services andsubstandard housing.
- City must expand services to soften the blow on impacted tenants:relocation assistance, housing placement, etc.
-Program cuts mean exodus of families from SF. 2BR units and higher areextremely scarce within the city limits. Families will be forced to leavethe city.

Key Facts about Section 8 Cuts

*50% voucher holders are seniors or disabled. 72% are people of color.
*5,000 famliies will be impacted by rent increases this year. Increasesaverage between $100-$400.
*Housing Authority assistance went down by 13%-16% this year for eachtenant. 2 bedroom was $1775 last year. This year is $1539.
*The Housing Authority has been cut by $5.7 million dollars in 2005. The2006 budget will result in a loss of 300 vouchers.
*25,000 families are currently on the S8 waiting list in SF.
*Average 2 bedroom market-rate rent is $2,323.

Sara Shortt
Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco
427 South Van Ness
San Francisco, CA 94103415-703-8634

2005-04-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

HOMELESSNESS

The Coalition is planning a rally for Thursday may 3rd, the 1st anniversary of Care Not Cash. While Newsom has microfocused on the issue of homeless and brought some supportive housing online, many homeless people feel more negatively affected by CNC now than before it was instituted. Read Dalys latest blog entries. If you know anyone who has been more excluded from care as a result of CNC, send them down on Thursday at 3pm 468 Turk to help plan.

UoW architecture students are working with the administration to formerly accommodate Tent City 3 on to their campus. Check out this school blog on archinect by Yamani Hernandez. Im trying to get more details, but I think it is awesome to see the students be the impetus for this, and they are building structures to help draw more attention to the issue. Regardless of how sustainable you make Tent City, how sustainable is it , really?

There is a CAC meeting for the Surplus Property Initiative on Monday I will be attending with the Land & Liberty Coalition. If interested in building low income housing they will be giving a small presentation and overview.

Sam Davis will be at SPUR on 04.20 12:30 to talk about his book Designing for the Homeless.

SFGP Transportation WG screening of The End of SUBURBIA 04.27 7pm

RECENT NEWS :

The city just shut down a contentious TIC condo conversion proposal that would have specially grandfathered in a long clog in the pipes dictated by a 200 per year lottery. TIC are a pressure point for a failed system of generating affordable housing for middle income first time homeowners. Feeding that pipe only surges the seeds of that problem deeper into the system, and eats off the only viable affordability gauge in this city: rent control. Efforts should be put into forcing new housing to be built, rather than feeding the needle again.

The city is thinking about doubling the amount developers would be require to build affordable housing via the Inclusionary Housing Act, and before they forget, or lose steam , or dont get it done, they should do it asaps. But is doubling it even enough? Recent projects point to higher percentages negotiated. Some say 50% would be appropriate. And Lenos Ellis Eviction Act amendment is whirling overhead. The city needs to be aggressive in protecting the lower class, and also allowing viable avenues for the middle glass to grow that dont fiend off those resources left at all to insure a door of affordability here. We are being pimped out for foreign investment and enrtreprenurial vacancy. Instead were building a new Death Row for San Quentin, giving away land to developers at Hunters Point, missing out on affordability in the new Mid Market Redev Plan, potentially forfeiting our SROs to market rate exploit.but hey, look what locals can do now to monitor their parks. The irony may be that once private developers have consumed most of the land, the rest of us may all end up in some strange renter space like this one, where homes are not affordable at all anymore, and we are forced to rent out space through whatever means the market constitutes. Maybe the definition of squatter will be re examined, those without land we will be made into homeless renters of contested urban space, institutionally evicted from one left over shelter option to another lesser kind shelter option, our salaries will be turned into subsidies forced down our throats, only be to collected again from us for having no other option but to occupy our little cardboard boxes. This city is becoming an even finer grade machine for dissecting displacement. But it is not enough to vote down the TIC conversion condo bill, they must address these pressure points that keep the voodoo trickle down housing benefits squashed out from the top, the developers only use the starving middle class as a buffer to just de-house the poor.

Where have the homeless gone? The city, it turns out, has absolutely no idea
CHANCE ON THE HOMELESS COUNT Chance Profile
Just clean up the streets and pinch the poor harder than they can afford to raise money
HOPE VI GONE?
Bay Area rocket to new highs
California wants new houses, bubble or not

In Other News.Check this batch of recent postings I made to Archinect you should find interesting.

Refugee Urbanism
Homelessness increasing all over the world
The Growing Urbanization of the World
Ban Accepts the 40th Annual Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture

The Midnight Mission
Launching The 1% Solution

National AIDS Memorial Winner Announced
Bush to Cities
At the Border...
stroll Along the Border...
Beyond the Trailer Park

2005-03-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

Don't forget tonight:

Lecture: Designing for the Homeless: Architecture That Works
2005/03/17
05:30 pm

PMAIA San Francisco, 130 Sutter Street, Suite 600, San Francisco

Sam Davis, author of Designing for the Homeless: Architecture That Works (University of California Press), talks about how to create well-designed places for the homeless and reviews innovative and successful building designs that now serve diverse communities across the United States.

Davis is an architect who has been designing and building affordable housing for thirty years. His book Designing for the Homeless: Architecture That Works argues for safe and functional architectural designs and programs that symbolically reintegrate the homeless into society in buildings that offer beauty, security, and hope to those most in need.

If you didnt RSVP, it might be too late.

2005-03-15T01:26:00.000-08:00

Some Events Not To Be Missed . . .

An Office Party to Benefit ADPSR's Prison Design Boycott
2005/03/23 06:00 pm Wednesday, March 23, 2005, 6-7:30 PM. Presentation starts at 6:30. *(Please RSVP: mailto: raphael@450architects.com)
Offices of 450 Architects: 450 Clementina St., San Francisco between Howard & Folsom and 5th and 6th Sts., Powell BART.

Please join 450 architects for a social evening where we will also learn about and support the Prison Design Boycott being led by ADPSR (Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility) -- a campaign that asks architects and others to pledge not to design prisons. This is a unique chance to discuss ethical issues at the forefront of the design professions and consider how architects can take leadership on a political issue of national significance. There will be a brief slide presentation by ADPSR President Raphael Sperry (who we are proud to have working at 450) followed by a stimulating discussion in which you will be encouraged to participate.http://archinect.com/events/detail.php?id=E1863

---

SoMa Housing Summit: Filling the Ladder of Affordability

SoMa Leadership CouncilWednesday, March 16, 20056:00 PM at The Arc of San Francisco1500 Howard Street (at 11th)

1. Announcements
2. Introductions
3. SoMa Housing Summit: Filling the Ladder of Affordability

Introduction by John Elberling, chairman of the Yerba Buena Consortium and Executive Vice President of the Tenants and Owners Development Corp. (TODCO)

Perspectives on housing and affordability: Juan Blanco Prada, Interim Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness Market-rate's role in affordability: Charles Breidinger, Residential Builders' Association

Preservation of SoMa traditions and character: Anthony Faber, Mid-Market Project Area Committee and an SRO resident

Building decent housing and vibrant communities: Kate White, Executive Director, Housing Action Coalition

Thanks,
Jim Meko, chairSoMa Leadership Council
jim.meko@comcast.net

--

April Fool's Day Celebration to honor our friend Pat Murphy

04.01.05 April Fool's Day Celebration set to honor Pat Murphy

Publisher of the San Francisco Sentinel

Political insiders in San Francisco will be in heavy attendance at the April tribute and celebration of the San Francisco Sentinel's publisher, Pat Murphy.

The event will be held at Terrance Alan's hot new nightspot, Polo's Blue Cube, located at 34 Mason just off Market Street, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.

Host Committee

State Senator Carole Migden
State Assemblyman Mark Leno
President of the Board of Supervisors Aaron Peskin
Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier
Supervisor Tom Ammiano
Supervisor Bevan Dufty
Supervisor Sean Elsbernd
Supervisor Jake McGoldrick
Supervisor Fiona Ma
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi
Supervisor Geraldo Sandoval
City Attorney Dennis Herrera
District Attorney Kamala Harris
Public Defender Jeff Adachi
Treasurer Jose Cisneros
San Francisco Democratic Party
Asian American Political Coalition
Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club
Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
SF Neighborhood Network

Pat Murphy is a lively presence on the San Francisco political scene, covering events and moods at City Hall too often ignored by the regular print media. With his ever-present bow tie and stately demeanor, he has been hailed as indispensable to the San Franciscans who really run the city. Two floors of celebrities, politicians, journalists and newsmakers will enjoy appetizers courtesy of the the Blue Cube's Terrance Alan and a no-host bar. Suggested donation is $20 (minimum) at the door. If you are unable to attend the event, checks may be mailed to Gerry Crowley at 7 Fielding, San Francisco, CA 94133 and should be made payable to the San Francisco Sentinel.

Organizers of the tribute include Terrance Alan, Gerry Crowley, Robert Haaland, David Heller, Susan King, Daniela Kirshenbaum, Jim Meko, Debbie Mesloh, Michael O'Connor and Nicholas Rosenberg.

For additional information, contact Michael O'Connor at divisadero628@earthlink.net.

2004-12-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, it’s been awhile, a lot has happened, and a lot has not. Too much to try and fill you in on everything if you haven't been paying attention. But, while Prop A (Affordable Housing Bond) failed recently with the voters here in SF, just barely missing the 2/3rd’s needed, and there is much to lament, the ship still sails on.

I have some news to update you on 'Architecture for Humanity', both from the East Coast and here in SF.

1. SIYATHEMBA: Tackling AIDS and Building Goals in South Africa Design Comp. Finalists Announced.
2. AFH.SF Community Design Event being planned for February ‘05
3. Prison Design Boycott Campaign - ADPSR

1. SIYATHEMBA: Tackling AIDS and Building Goals in South Africa Design Comp. Finalists Announced.

Over the summer Architecture for Humanity hosted an open international design competition to challenge designers to develop a community sports and healthcare facility in Somkhele in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, an area with one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world. Participants were challenged to design a facility for less than $5000 that includes a youth-sized field, sideline benches, and a small clubhouse and changing room, employing sustainable and/or local building material using local labor to realize their design. Two hundred and seventy teams from thirty seven countries answered the call.

Well, nine finalists have been selected and honorable mentions will be announced Friday.

2. AFH.SF Community Design Event being planned for February

In February, the SF Chapter of 'Architecture for Humanity', SFOP (SF Organizing Project), and the SF Coalition on Homelessness ('Right to a Roof'), will be hosting an afternoon community design event as part of the development of 155/165 Grove St, SF near City Hall. This parcel is being considered for a joint low-income housing and arts space project building on the existing Public Arts Commission Space, and will be developed under the city's 'Surplus Land Initiative' passed by the Board of Supervisors earlier this year. Read this article for history of the campaign. Also, if you are a local SF Arts Organization please sign our online petition site to encourage the Board of Supervisors to develop a mixed use housing art space here, as opposed to one or the other.

The event will invite activists, non-profit housing developers, architects, and homeless people to engage in a dialogue to encourage the community's vision for this space. If you have interest in getting involved please contact me.

3. Prison Design Boycott Campaign - ADPSR

It is time to stop building prisons.
Our prison system is both a devastating moral blight on our society and an overwhelming economic burden on our tax dollars, taking away much needed resources from schools, health care and affordable housing. The prison system is corrupting our society and making us more threatened, rather than protecting us as its proponents claim. It is a system built on fear, racism, and the exploitation of poverty. Our current prison system has no place in a society that aspires to liberty, justice, and equality for all.

As architects, we are responsible for one of the most expensive parts of the prison system, the construction of new prison buildings. Almost all of us would rather be using our professional skills to design positive social institutions such as universities or playgrounds, but these institutions lack funding because of spending on prisons. If we would rather design schools and community centers, we must stop building prisons.

Please join members of Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) in pledging to not participate in the design, construction, or renovation of prisons. We also invite you to learn more about the prison system, to join us in envisioning more just and productive alternatives to incarceration, and to work towards a society that treats all its members with dignity, equality, and justice. Go here: Prison Design Boycott Campaign And read more here: Campaign in the News

* For additional information about this campaign please email us at prisons@adpsr.org

2004-07-10T18:18:00.001-07:00

and the NEWS on HOMELESSNESS goes on.....

THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
July 7 - July 13 2004 € Vol. 38, No. 41

Opinion
by chance martin

The war at home

FOURTEEN MILLION AMERICAN households spend more than half their income onhousing. Five million households are precariously housed, meaning they lack employment stability or income to pay for both their housing and other basic necessities such as food and clothing, do not have access to affordable housing near work, or have experienced housing discrimination.

As many as 3.5 million Americans, more than 1 million of whom are children,lack housing altogether.

The Section 8 program of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development is the largest source of housing subsidies for Americans living in poverty. And last year, the Bush administration proposed a 2004 budget that would have forced more than 100,000 extremely low-income families out of their homes by cutting funding for their Section 8 vouchers. When Congress voted that plan down, the administration undertook a stealth plan to drain funding from Section 8 by revising housing regulations.

The Bush administration's true agenda is now coming to light as states and housing authorities begin to receive their 2004 funding, finding allocations shockingly short. If these restrictive rules are not repealed, thousands of households will lose their vouchers and face the very real possibility of homelessness. In San Francisco these federal policies place 871 households at immediate risk of losing their subsidies, with 2,071 more in jeopardy by 2009.

Cynically, the Bush administration has declared a goal of ending "chronic" homelessness while actively opposing the creation of a national housing trust fund that could help close America's housing gap in a decade.

And now the feds propose cutting Section 8 funding by another $1.6 billion, putting 250,000 American households at risk of homelessness.

Widespread homelessness during the Great Depression was, in large measure, solved through housing and works programs created by popular mobilization, but for the past 25 years, national agenda has been set by three Republican administrations and one New Democrat. And the last quarter-century of American housing policy reveals one constant: an ongoing failure to reconcile federal cuts to low-income housing with a concurrent rise in
homelessness.

Sadly, it appears the Bush administration is now ready to blame the "liberals," the "doubters," the well-meaning providers, and the people on the front lines for "accommodating" homelessness. Such charges conveniently ignore the 64 percent cut to HUD's housing budget since 1978, as well as the annual loss of some 90,000 affordable housing units, instead fixing the blame for a seemingly intractable homelessness crisis on the very people struggling to address the problem.

The Bush administration should support its admirable call to "abolish" homelessness in America by putting its money where its mouth is: it should restore full funding for HUD's Section 8 program and support the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act.

Together we can move toward ending homelessness in America.

Chance Martin is the editor of Street Sheet.
(linked version)
--
chance martin
STREET SHEET
A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco
468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax
streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org
http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org

Chron staff writer Kevin Fagan's take | New homeless plan could be neutralized Proposed cuts in HUD housing subsidies criticized

MANY LOW-INCOME FAMILIES WOULD LOSE FEDERAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE UNDER PROPOSED FUNDING CUTS
New Projections Show Potential Effects in Each Community | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Rethinking Public Housing

This is very similar to the kiosk project I have proposed, essentially an alternative to the hand out donation interaction, citizens are encouraged to contribute change to old parking meters which in turn translate to food vouchers for the homeless. A nice idea.

2 articles on Spokane Mayor who ordered homeless encampment to disband.
Chron1 | Chron2

DESIGN merging homelessness & architecture....

Catch an interview with Cameron Sinclair and the BBC

Helmut Jahn's Chicago homeless shelter | pic
Global Peace Containers International
Bring design to public housing projects in Norwalk

Michael Pyatok goes to ASU to head up new think tank on affordable housing.

A good article about Tent City 4 in the Seattle Times
NYC warehouse an environmentalist conversion
KU Studio 804 Modular 1 House Wins International Wood Design Award
Hunters Point Park Survives

2004-07-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

HOMELESS NEWS |

SF's 10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness has been unveiled, in all its prodigal glory, with Washington's 'homeless abolitionist' grand wizard Mangano himself, who flew over to annoint our dear sophisticated city with the fed's pride and slick tongued stamp of approval. While Alioto has worked hard and is sincere and compassionate about the issue, one cannot refuse the bigger picture Mangano has done such a good job to distract our local municipalities from calling foul.

Ironically this big plan unfolds as our local heroes in the trenches at the 'Coalition on Homelesness' face a sad round of layoffs.

Beyondchron's take on the 10 Year Plan
the Roundabout filtration of dollars for services
NYC Homeless Programs VS. SF? | Beyonchron says wrong again
Reagan & Homelessness
SFWeekly | Street Shuffle
Less Cash, More Care?
Hidden benefit of Care Not Cash -- homeless rolls drop
Our new Anti-loitering law
Federal official touts 10-year plan to reduce homeless in Nevada
Contra Costa County approves 10 year plan
Alameda set to put people on the street
Third Worldly Matthew Spitzer brings lessons from China and Sierra Leone into a Tenderloin medical clinic
Philly Style help for Homeless

DESIGN NEWS |

MOBilSTAtion (MOBSTA) wins International Award for Homeless Proposal | Kevin Hayes Architects

Thinking about the box | The shipping news | Are Mobile Homes the future of affordable housing? | Is Jim Reid's ShelterOne really a solution for SF Homeless?

Teddy Cruz wins an award

A-matter profiles this project for drug addicts in Utrecht.
New Women's Shelter
A Palo Alto Homeless Shelter
Homeless Shelter in Austin
A Mobile Assist Vehicle Student Project Charette
Laguna Honda Design and Compassion
For pioneering affordable-housing advocate Rosanne Haggerty, good design is hardly an extravagance. In fact, it pays for itself.

High Concept Design in Shelter
New Futuristic Prefab Apartments for Microliving
The Anti-Burb (arcosanti) | Recycling Arcosanti
Berkeley 2004 Essay Winners
Competition Public Space 2004
Walter Hood’s Profile
HomeAid Builders for Shelters

Morphosis' Green Tower

In less than two years, the deep hole at the corner of 7th and Mission Streets in San Francisco will be the site of greenest federal building in the United States. The 605,000 sq. ft., 18-story San Francisco Federal Building will set precedents with its focus on community space and its intelligent use of natural light and heat, as well as such eco-friendly products as wood sustainably harvested from local forests and carpets containing recycled content. The tower will even be built with “green” cement.

“There isn’t anything quite like it,” said Tim Christ, Project Manager at the design architect firm Morphosis. The “green” cement, Christ explains, contains a 50% mix of granulated blast furnace slag — a steelmaking by-product that usually winds up in a landfill. In addition to making the new cement stronger, the mix cuts the need for cement in half. “The manufacture of Portland cement worldwide contributes approximately 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions,” Christ notes. A ton of Portland cement produces a ton of CO2.

The new building will be heated and cooled with natural systems, eliminating the waste and expense of artificial light and heat. Most workstations will have direct access to sunlight, cutting the use of energy for lighting by 26%. Computer-operated windows and a sophisticated automatic vent system will provide cooling to 70% of the building, reducing annual air-conditioning costs by 86%. The improved ventilation is expected to drastically reduce the “sick building syndrome” that plagues traditional office buildings. Breaking down traditional office hierarchies, corner offices will be eliminated to provide city views for 90% of the workers. Subsidized public transportation for employees will reduce traffic on busy city streets. In fact, despite its 1,800 employees, the tower’s garage will offer only 47 parking spaces. In an effort to reach out to the community, the new building will include a fitness center, conference center, daycare center, sky gardens, and a large open-air cafeteria — all open to the public.

This project promises to draw San Francisco into the growing sustainable buildings movement that has already taken root in Europe. San Francisco architect Craig Henritzy calls it “a major coup for the green movement in office buildings.” — Jennifer Liss

2004-06-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

---| SOME UPCOMING EVENTS FOR JUNE |---

'Mission Movie'

"It started with a $35,000 grant awarded to Swenson, 44, a longtime Mission media artist and activist, for a community project. She convened a group of seven activists and artists to forge a plan to portray the creativity, culture clashes and housing crunches in the 2-square-mile neighborhood. Then they took their plan to the community." SFGate Review

Community celebration starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday June 4th at Mission Village, 2949 18th St. between Alabama and Florida streets, San Francisco. The event includes music, speeches by Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Matt Gonzalez and a free screening of the movie. For information, call (415) 364-3082.

333: Architecture Summer Studio - 3 critics for 3 projects in 3 weeks
6/7/04 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM | more info.

Instructors: Lisa Iwamoto, Craig Scott, Enrique Norten, Nader Tehrani

Bike Plan 2004 Policy Framework Review -- Special Meeting
Tue., Jun. 8 | 5:30pm Park Branch Library, downstairs meeting room 1833 Page Street (at Shrader)

The SF Bicycle Advisory Committee is hosting a special public forum for SF residents to review and comment on the Draft Policy Framework of the SF Bicycle Plan 2004, including issues of enforcement, parking, education, planning policies, design guidelines, transit and bridge access, and bicycle promotion. Copies of the Draft Policy Framework will be available at the two libraries, as well as downloadable files (in Acrobat PDF format) at http://sfgov.org/bac by Friday afternoon.

Surplus Property Community Party
Wednesday June 9 | 5:00 – 7:00 PM at the St. Boniface Church, 175 Golden Gate Ave. (between Leav. & Jones)

To discuss how to set up a Citezen’s Advisory Committee and how to begin developing properties that have been set aside. For more info: SFOP 415.452.3700 or Right2Aroof 415.346.3740

Bike Tour of SOMA Affordable Housing Developments
Fri., Jun. 11 | 11am, Meet at Justin Herman Plaza fountain*

As part of Affordable Housing Week, architect David Baker, SFBC and the Council of Community Housing Organizations will lead a tour of South of Market affordable housing developments. The tour will include a full tour of the Baker designed 8th + Howard Apartments (1066 Howard Street). For more information, please contact Jerry Jai - (415) 358-3956.

Matt Gonzalez and the Green Party Housing and Land Use Working Group Party
Saturday, June 12th at 848 Community Space, 848 Divisadero, near Fulton St., from 8:00 to 11:30 pm.
Read Full Invitation here.

Exhibit: SF3: Architecture for High-Density Living
6/17/04 5:30 PM - AIA SF Gallery - 130 Sutter Street, Suite 600

Please join us for the book launch and exhibit of SF3: Architecture for High-Density Living explores the potential benefits of high-density development through eight innovative projects, using San Francisco as a testing ground. The work stems from a unique collaboration between the architecture program at California College of the Arts (CCA) and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in an experimental design studio. It builds on SOM’s commissioned study of the Transbay Redevelopment Project Area to propose provocative alternatives to current building practice.

DESIGN NEWS:

Jonathan Glancey visits Holland's floating homes

"It makes you think of the flood in the book of Genesis, of Noah and his ark. Should that flood ever return, Maasbommel's citizens are prepared. Or at least, a few dozen of them are. In this riverside village, some 60 miles from Amsterdam, 37 amphibious houses have been built, or are under construction, on the wrong side of the dyke. Should the waters rise, these cheerful clapboard houses will rise too, up to 12 ft, to keep their occupants and their possessions dry. When the floods abate, they will sink slowly back to their original position." More Reading with images:

worldchanging.com is an interesting blog with this section on shelter.
This is a good Introduction To Community Design Centers
The Lo-Tek Container
The Modular Glidehouse Crew
The Polycarbonate House of Japan
PARASITE MANIFESTO - For Temporary Architecture and Flexible Urbanism

HOMELESSNESS:

On the Front Line – A Case Manager’s Perspective, Michael Gause 25.MAY.04(Ed.

Note: This is the first of a regular series on the inner workings of “supportive housing,” the chief strategy used by San Francisco and other cities to reduce homelessness)

Public Homeless Council meeting | Review

"And therein lay the whole point of Alioto's meeting, which was the first of two sessions to give the public an opportunity to give comments to the 10- Year Planning Council that she is leading at the direction of Mayor Gavin Newsom. The homeless may not always immediately want what is being offered to them, she said, but if you keep talking, you can figure out what they need.

"We know what works -- it's giving people a real place to live right away, and once they're inside, you deal with whatever other problems they have, " she told The Chronicle. "It's that simple."

That seemed to also be the thrust of those who came to address the meeting, which lasted all afternoon and continues today at noon. Social workers and doctors told the council they would like to see more services aimed at helping the homeless move indoors, but that task may be made more difficult with city's budgetary problems. "

Anti-Panhandling took effect on 05.25
This is the site for the Mayor’s Office on Homelessness if you have questions.

And Chance Martin tells a crazy story recently in the Sentinel:
Misadventures of an Accidental Psychiatric Tourist just as we are making Cuts to Our Med Health Providers.

A SHELTER IS NOT A HOME ... OR IS IT?: | Lessons in Family Homelessness in New York City
-- New Book Provides Pioneering Approach in Solving Homelessness --

Check out Slum Dwellers International for progress and empowerment on a global scale. Or even these ROUNDHOUSES in Brittain, which at least drew the attention to peoples' ability to provide for themselves. Though Toronto stays committed to the notion of providing Sound Architecture over Shelters as real solutions for the homeless.

SF HOUSING ISSUES:

S.F. Housing Battles May See a Truce
Failed ballot measure and woeful lack of homes nudge foes closer
By Herbert A. Sample -- Bee San Francisco Bureau

Why the Public Favors Affordable Housing
Affordable Project through University Collaboration
REGIONAL FOOTPRINT 33 TIMES TOO LARGE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Secondary Units / Funding Affordability
The Sacto Bill on secondary units

2004-05-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Monday 05.24 - Cameron Sinclair announces 'Siyathemba' (AFH 2004 Design Competition)
AIDS Walk SF _ Global Pandemic Forum - Foreign Cinema 6PM

Tuesday 05.25 - AFH Party 'for no reason'!
Marriott Hotel on 4th St. 8PM

Thursday 05.27 - The Green Party Housing and Land Use Seminar Series Presents:
Landlords, Tenants and Rent Control: Is Consensus Ever Possible?
Presentations by:

Janan New, Executive Director, San Francisco Apartment Association
Ted Gullicksen, Office Manager, San Francisco Tenants Union

New College of California 777 Valencia St. 7 - 9 PM

Wednesday/Thursday 05.26 - 05.27 Hearings next week on Homelessness

A two-day series of public hearings to air comments and ideas about the city's homelessness policies will be held Wednesday and Thursday in City Hall before the 10-Year Plan Council. The 33-member council, headed by former Supervisor Angela Alioto, was created to draft a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness in San Francisco.

The hearings will be held in the Board of Supervisors Legislative Chamber, Room 250, from noon to 7 p.m. both days. For more information, call council facilitator Reg Smith at (415) 554-4339.

DESIGN:

Discarded yarn, beaver sticks, hay bales become building blocks
- Sam Mockbee exhibit in Washington, later to come to SF

Washington Post reviews FUTURESHACK
A house divided: Architect's pre-fab plan to take the sting out of housing market
Big Dig and New Housing
New Village is the national journal of ADPSR.
Architecture as Ministry - Detroit Community Design Center | Terrence Curry
Resources for Community Designers, Architects and Planners | John Cary Jr.
Anti-War vacation house
Sam Davis in CC Times
Preserving Rehab Incentive
The Shipyard - Art Space in Container Ghetto, Oakland

HOMELESS NEWS:

Vancouver Proposes a Tent City
Recent Article on Jim Reid
Newsom's Attempt at Outreach
Homeless like new 24-hour shelter, Bed shortage seems to be the only glitch
15 properties surplus deal

SF NEWS:

Much reading on the Housing Bond Measure. Ex, beyondchron, beyondchron
Housing Element Passes Ex, Ex
Section 8 getting hacked CSM, Ex
Initiative turns seniors into landlords
10 by 10 living in the Mission
Greenest building in Berk
Bike Hotel at Embarcadero
Supervisors try to hammer out a new policy for peddlers.
Urban garden?

2004-05-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

H O M E L E S S N E S S :

Supervisor Daly's Surplus Land Proposal passed nearly unanimously at the board today, save Tony Hall's petty and spiteful critiques. This is something Daly has been pushing for over the last couple of years in close quarters with the Coalition on Homelessness, to get the city to identify available parcels of unused/underutilized land and to turn them over to the mayor's office of housing for review and implmentation into supportive housing for the homeless or affordable housing for low income citizens. I attended a rally last night with James Tracy (Right to a Roof) and Daly as we marched to a couple of the future sites, one of which has already been green-lighted on Grove St in that empty lot next to the art space across from city hall. There I met Randall Kalal, an activist for the coalition and a former homeless artist himself, who has been asked to design a supportive housing facility there. I will keep you posted as I catch up with him more and try to see if AFH.SF can't get more involved.

More articles on Daly's Surplus:
Supervisors OK land transfer for homeless housing
SAN FRANCISCO Idea to use land for homeless Supervisors push plan to develop surplus property
Supes consider new bill designed to offer shelter for homeless.

Beyonchron.com posted this editorial in response to this recent chron article.

“For the past six months, the San Francisco Chronicle has lied to its readers about the Bush Administration's commitment to ending chronic homelessness. In story after story, and in a succession of editorials, the Chronicle has bought hook, line and sinker the phony claims of Bush homeless czar Phillip Mangano that the federal government was providing "new" resources to combat chronic homelessness. Meanwhile, the paper has ignored Bush's assault on Section 8 housing, described in the above Times editorial as the only program that could end the problem.”

A Barbeque in resistance! Several hundred poor folks resist the lies of Care Not Cash

“Displacement is a big part of Care not Cash – they are talking about outreach teams. Every mayor for the last twenty years has talked about outreach teams., why should those displace all the people who have followed the rules, worked through the system and are now in line for their housing, which is what this will do, just to make this mayors outreach team idea look good,” LS Wilson from the Coalition on Homelessness detailed the specifics of the implementation."

SHAME OF THE CITY Doctor's tough love helps plan succeed
Giving Thanks to Indian Hotel Owners

D E S I G N :

Review of Sean Godsell’s Future Shack with AFH
Sean Godsell's Website
CIVIC DUTIES SF’s Public Architecture forges a model for fitting pro bono services into a firm’s regular practice.
PUBLIC CITIZENS a new nonprofit provides a model for pro bono work.
CORPS VALUES in the peace corps, architects learn to think globally and design locally.
Tent structures often go up for good
The Fab New World of Prefab Houses SF architect brings eco-friendly, modernist design to the average home buyer

SF BAY AREA NEWS :

WEST BERKELEY Are they historic, or just history? Old buildings get too much city protection, owners say
Newsom appoints new housing director
Housing secretary says cuts will not affect most public housing agencies

2004-05-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

TIME TO PARTY !

Cameron Sinclair, founder of AFH, is making a West Coast swing for a couple of events the end of this month, one of which will result in the official announcement of the organization’s next design competition at an event hosted at Foreign Cinema. Here is a recent newsletter detailing those engagements and some of AFH’s other current events. Check it out.

Better though is that Cameron is going to be hosting an AFH.SF Meetup Party! at his hotel. Thanks to Sarah Manning for inspiring this. It will be a great opportunity for everyone to meet Cameron and other scattered members of our local chapter, as well as introduce new people who may want to get more involved here in the Bay Area. I am sure Cameron will have lots to tell about the org's development, and help us to strategize about our goals and efforts, as well as learn about the NY chapter's recent progress and approach. Please RSVP with Cameron if you plan to attend (director@architectureforhumanity.org). Any other questions contact me (bfunk2000@yahoo.com).

AFH.SF Meetup Party with Cameron Sinclair
Tuesday May 25th at 8:00 PM
the Marriott Hotel on 4th street.
(more details to follow)

- - -

As I have been super busy, I cannot abbreviate these news items for you but these articles are all esssential reading.

D E S I G N

Taking on big issues, not just buildings - An architect strives to put roofs over refugees (Matthew Jelacic)
Designing spaces, connecting lives - Architect honored for his impact on urban landscape (Walter Hood)
Green Tent Design competition

The challenge: Design an environmentally sustainable camping shelter for use in the Mojave Desert in and around Joshua Tree National Park. We are looking for innovative ideas inspired by Southern California's 'green' lifestyle. Please explore nature, culture and experience.

H O M E L E S S N E S S

San Francisco top priority for federal homeless czar
Supportive housing -- 1st U.S. fund in works
State appellate judges OK SF's Care Not Cash initiative
It takes a village, with housing
Newsom starts plan to house the homeless
Mayor lends support for Bush homeless plan
Homeless service providers weight in on Ten Year Chronic Homelessness Planning (Chance Martin)
Editorial: Winners, Losers in Care not Cash Ruling
All about housing

S F N E W S

Quake damage study coming off the shelf
November ballot measure would include aid for city's poorest and help with down payments
Public Housing Gets A New, Improved Look
Affordable Housing Gets A Boost From New Fund

2004-04-28T00:24:00.000-07:00

D E S I G N :

Sneak Preview Link on AFH’s next competition released this week on archinect forums. OUTREACH intends to build a new network of unique structures around Sub-Saharan Africa, using the crisis of AIDS to spoke off into local community projects such as this one that build greater sustainability while serving as transit hubs for the mobile clinic along the way.

‘Building Goals’
”In many parts of Africa sporting activities, in particular soccer/football, are being incorporated into a variety of programs geared towards helping youth to address a broad range of issues affecting their lives. The "team" approach is especially important if countries are to successfully meet and overcome their current challenges, from poverty to HIV/AIDS, and from malnutrition to educational access.

This summer we are challenging the creative world to design a football facility in Somkhele, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. This facility will serve as a gathering place for youth between the ages of 9 and 14 including home to the first ever girls football league in the area. the pitch will also act as a tool to disseminate information on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment; and as a potential service point for a mobile health care clinic.

This facility would be inexpensive and can be built through local labor and/or sustainable materials. This project must include demountable goals, sideline benches and a small changing room. The entire facility should be built for less than $2500.”

This is a nice short history of Tent Cities around the nation, and a growing trend leading into Denver right now with a first round positive City Council Response.

Gimme Shelter
Going camping across the country.
BY AMY HAIMERL

If you are in NYC there is Brooklyn Designs 2004

Additionally, the Chamber is pleased to announce that world-renowned architect Enrique Norten will be headlining the seminar/lecture series as the keynote speaker the evening of Friday, April 30. Norten is the founder and principal of the firm TEN Arquitectos, which has offices in both Mexico City and New York. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including The Architecture Prize of the National Fund for the Arts, the Gold medal from the Society of American Registered Architects and currently holds the Miller Chair at the University of Pennsylvania. “We are honored to be hosting Enrique Norten as our keynote speaker this year. His participation is truly a testament to the important role Brooklyn plays within the design community,” said Kenneth Adams, President of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

FRIDAY, April 30th 6:30 to 7:30 pm
Enrique Norten in Brooklyn
Enrique Norten, Principal, TEN Arquitectos, will speak about his recent work and his firm’s winning entry in the Brooklyn Public Library’s Visual and Performing Arts Library Competition

Profiling past AFH winners: Gans and Jelacic (check this bio and Resume)

H O M E L E S S :

Real Housing, Real Care, a game of loopholes and extracting money from the homeless’ only cash benefit. What will be guaranteed in return? The city is pinching the homeless now for use of utilities in whatever shelter they will receive as a compromised result of the amended Care not Cash.

Newsom has just cut the total plan for an affordable housing bond significantly, while much concern is how to combine public subsidies for the homeless, low income citizens, and even homeownership subsidies at 100% AMI all in one bond. Traditionally these types of combined bonds have failed, every group scrapping for their parts. This time around we wonder shoudl we even be considering public subidies for new homeowners. While it mimics Prop J how must we examine a more phase inclusionary approach in this type of allocating? Shaw and activist Jim Tracy have shared some op-ed’s on beyondchron.com.

Meanwhile Daly is taking the Housing Preservation Ordinance to the ballot in November. It is seen as an attempt to close the door on a developer loophole that allows them to flip rent controlled units back into market rate at the death of current lessees in so called areas of blight. As much as rent control is the lynchpin for affordability today in SF, we need to think aggressively how to create and transfer that dependency onto other permanently affordable models, while in the meantime do everything we can to preserve every rent controlled unit on the market. The Tenant Congress was this weekend, where a hundred tenants met with Shaw and Daly to discuss rent reform. A vote in the end opted to place more tenant presence on the rent board, making them better majority.

The Bay Area Housing Market right now:

2004-04-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

HOMELESS ACTION:

Supervisors Gonzalez and Dufty teamed up recently to push Jim Reid’s Little House into consideration by Alioto’ Homeless Council to be used in any capacity towards solving the crisis here. Alioto says she loves this house, but acknowledges that they would be primarily for people on a short term basis and who needed a helping hand getting back on their feet. Undoubtedly these super compact but accommodating houses would require a level of pre-existing self-sufficiency on the part of the beneificiary but certainly would address a percantage of the large and diverse homeless population that is not chronic or desperately in need of greater support mechanisms. While Dufty had this statement. "At one point, we were thinking of having vehicular housing parks for people who live in their cars," Dufty said. "This looks more humane and appropriate than that did. I think we should give it consideration.", Randy Shaw cried the consideration ridiculous, "It's not a model for anything," he said. "I couldn't believe (Gonzalez and Dufty) were going to ask the city to spend a minute of time investigating this."

A full Length Chron Interview with Angela Alioto about ‘her passion for the homeless’ and the Council’s Strategy.

The chron also printed this profile on Trent Rhorer, Newsom’s point man on homelessess in the DHS.

‘A young policy wonk on a quick rise through city government, Rhorer played an instrumental role in how this mayor and his predecessor, Willie Brown, began rethinking how to deliver homeless services. For at least two years, he's been plotting a shift away from cash welfare to spending that money instead on housing and treatment services.”

And while Las Vegas prepared another homeless count with hundreds of volunteers hitting the streets, they jockeyed for position in the competition for federal funds. These are the types of efforts happening all around the nation and which have no doubt spurred on the Mayor’s new approach to Outreach. But arch-activist Tommi Mecca had this to conclude.

“This time, instead of more punitive measures to punish the poor (such as Care Not Cash or Prop M) or more committees to study homelessness (such as the recent one he assigned the task of a 10-year plan), Newsom is pushing for something that might actually make a difference: the placement of additional outreach workers on the streets of San Francisco to help the homeless with mental-health and drug problems get into beds and services.” . . .

“What's not clear is how Newsom plans to pay for these additional workers at a time when cuts are expected to devastate the budgets of the two agencies responsible for homeless services: the Department of Human Services (DPH) and the Health Department. Just as importantly, how does Newsom expect these workers to make any difference if there are no beds and no services for people to go to? For a while now, DPH outreach workers have been offering the homeless blankets in lieu of referrals to unavailable services.”

Newsom's Bet, certainly the Mayor has brought people together at least in a start to push past the controversy of how to manage the homeless, and will be the first to admit his career is on the line.

- - -

This article talks about the rise in Corporate Social Responsibility amongst new business student grads, which to seems like it would be inevitable in this current global climate. Nevertheless it is a confirming read that a shift is occurring even within its own chief perpetuator the business community. Partially by pure competitive need businesses are moving into the non-prof sector, and “social responsibility” seems all the more like just a hip trend.

Homeownership Through Education: a model
California Pioneering “Granny Flats”
Local Study on the Failures of Inclusionary Zoning

DESIGN:

The AIA AWARDS The Best of the Bay 2004's American Institute of Architects' San Francisco Design Awards /
Winners & Recap: Chron AIA

Special Achievement Award
Phil Angelides, California State Treasurer

California State Treasurer Phil Angelides has single-handedly improved the quality of the built environment in California through his commitment to affordable housing and innovative urban planning. During his tenure, he has rejuvenated California's schools and universities, transit systems, parks, and health care facilities. Laguna West, the pioneering town he developed in Sacramento County, sparked a national dialogue on how to build better livable communities in America. Modeled on the principles of New Urbanism, Laguna West exemplifies a community planned in relationship to an urban center, jobs and civic amenities. We honor Phil Angelides for his extraordinary vision and commitment to the people of California and to the architecture profession.

Krzysztof Wodiczko / Art Piece banned in St. Louis
Agglutinations Interview with KW

Leftover Space: A Profile
UN Habitats Books: How to Fund Low Income Housing.

2004-04-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

Metropolis Magazine Reviews Pasadena’s first biannual Art Center Design Conference with a paragraph on Cameron’s presentation.

"It is easy for design to be provocative, and it is easy for it to challenge our perception of ordinary objects. But can design do more than that? Can it go outside the safety of the studio, of the comfort of the home, and address the world and its 21st century challenges, like bio-terrorism, the AIDS epidemic, and refugee crises?"

---

Randy Shaw has unleashed a new website beyondchron.com to unmask the bias of the SF Chronicle and call them on their lack of objective journalism. The site is contributed by some leading activists and writers, not to mention Shaw himself staying busier on the reporting front as ever. He has already written some compelling arguments and responses to the Chron’s recent brigade on affordability and homeless issues.

Newsom’s Housing Working Group Won’t Work
Chronicle’s Homelessness Hoax Exposed
Housing for Poor May be Sacrificed to Benefit $100,000 Earners

“Retired homeowners in the Sunset are not going to vote to pay higher property taxes to subsidize home ownership for people whose incomes outpace their own. Nor will tenants vote to pay more rent (through bond passthroughs) so that those earning $100,000 a year can buy a below-market condominium.

A bond measure that combines the wish lists of organized groups fails to account for the fact that the vast majority of voters do not belong to such groups. To get the support of tenants and retired homeowners, the bond must represent an act of virtue and good will. That's why the Laguna Honda bond passed with 72% of the vote, and that's why a housing bond primarily benefiting homeless persons with mental disabilities and the working poor will also prevail.

Creating home ownership opportunities for the affluent by raising taxes and rents has never been, and should not be, a city priority. Yet if the Chamber and its allies have their way, their unpopular proposal will lead to the defeat of the otherwise winning$150 million measure. An historic opportunity to meaningfully reduce homelessness in San Francisco will be lost, all because those who backed Prop J refused to accept the voters will and now want a Mulligan (a golf term for hitting a second ball after a poor first shot).”

Chris Daly writes about the Affordable Housing Crisis on this site: Our-City.org

EVENT:

Matt Gonzalez and Chris Daly
Will speak about Housing, Poverty, Progressive Issues and the future of SF Politics.
Wednesday 04.14 6:00 PM
UC Hastings ‘Dining Commons’
200 Mcallister St

* A great book to read on the dense and mythical academic history of SF is Imperial San Francsico.

"Imperial San Francisco provides a myth-shattering interpretation of the hidden costs that the growth of San Francisco has exacted on its surrounding regions, presenting along the way a revolutionary new theory of urban development. Written in a lively, accessible style, the narrative is filled with vivid characters, engrossing stories and a rich variety of illustrations. Brechin advances a new way of understanding urban history as he traces the links among environment, economy, and technology that led ultimately to the atom bomb and the nuclear arms race."--Don Denevi, Palo Alto Daily News

"Part theory, part history, but with a whole lot of graft, sex and murder thrown in, Brechin has pioneered a genre: potboiler urban history." -- Oregonian

Newsom and Alioto appeared for this (press video) to discuss their new approach to Homeless Outreach on the Streets. Exam Chron

Care not Cash is getting ready to kick in

Jim Reid had mentioned to me trying to purchase the Armory building on Mission & 14th, and when I went by there the other day cranes were busy tending to the rooftop. Looks like someone else has had other plans, unless Jim has some agreement with the developer, I have not been informed.

Larkin Youth Center mentoring the future of homeless kids…

REDDING, Calif. (AP) -- About 4,500 Shasta County residents were homeless at least once during the 2003, and another 5,500 faced an "imminent" risk of losing their homes, a report says.

All together, nearly 6 percent of the county's population faced homelessness or the threat of homelessness in 2003, according to a survey by the Continuum of Care Council, a collaborative group that works to provide homeless services to the community.

The group presented its findings to the Redding City Council this week.
Homelessness was up sharply in 2003 over 2002, the group's figures show. Just over 3,000 people were homeless at some point in 2002.

Most of the county's homeless are not transient -- about 44 percent have lived in Shasta county three years or more or have relatives there. Nearly a quarter of those identified as homeless are employed.
"Our community is really walking a thin line," said Melinda Brown, who heads People of Progress, which directed the homeless survey. "There are people here that are in the schools, or in the supermarket, that are very unstable in terms of housing. They are one small paycheck away from the street."

2004-04-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

Archvoices has posted their review of the recent 'Structures For Inclusion' conference which was held in Atlanta this year, in conjunction with Association For Community Design (ACD). Unfortunately, there are no recorded transcripts being made available, but the archvoices editors have done a nice job recapping the speakers with some provocative quotes. The 04.02.04 review is entitled 'Choosing Relevancy'.

An expert on nonprofit organizations and management, architect Protip Biswas, Director of Community Building & Leadership Development for United Way in Metro Atlanta, warned "In a fiercely competitive resource environment, it's critical for local nonprofits to explore alternative models of operation. Community-based organizations are being asked to become more efficient at the very same time that resources are shrinking."

Additionally, Mr. Biswas recommended forming joint ventures between nonprofits, consulting with one another rather than repeatedly paying for the same studies to be conducted, and sharing staff members for more efficient allocation of resources. This practice leverages existing talent and allows for more growth with limited means. Mr. Biswas also suggested something he calls "contingency consulting," a way in which groups can perform consulting work within related nonprofits to generate income and promote knowledge-sharing. Mr. Biswas asserted that to stay in business, whether nonprofit or for-profit, groups need to recognize the "double bottom line"; there must be a financial return on the investment somewhere and there must be social benefit.

Here are a couple of articles in recent isues of Metropolis featuring Bryan Bell and Design Corps's Migrant Worker House.

And sort of the equivelent of Matt Gonzalez announcing he will not return to the SF Board of Supe's next year in any capacity, in January architect Maurice Cox has announced he will not be returning as Mayor of Charlottesville after his term is up. Maurice Cox is a big commuinty deisgn advocate, and is interested in getting back into his architectural career with RGBC. Charlottesville was voted the best city to live in our country in 2004. This article discusses a mixed-use zoning ordinance which is allowing a remake of Charlottesville's complexion, a legislation Cox seems quite enthused about.

Simon Conder's rubber-clad cottage shows the best way out of our housing crisis, says Jonathan Glancey in a recent UK Guardian article. This is a timber porch tacked onto the front of Ola Mae's run-down trailer in a remote setting in rural Alabama. Here the changes of scale are as surreal as those of Dungeness: the vast Confederate landscape, the tiny trailer homes for the state's poor. The porch's creators, Lucy Begg and Robie Gay, are an Anglo-American student partnership working with the innovative Rural Studio as part of its "outreach programme".

And HERE is some shipping container elegance. And some more.

Others worth checking out:
Architecture of Affordable Housing
Shelter-Kit
Building and Social Housing Foundation
04.08.04 Event: 2004 AIA San Francisco Design Awards Gala

SF NEWS:

Contra Costa and SF County were top 5 of 13 to win HUD money out of 64 communities that applied. SF is getting $900,000 in homeless aid benefits.

The NLCHP National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty has posted a good report: Solutions Through Alternative Remedies: Practical Models to Help End Homelessness

And this Letter to the Editor makes a good and simple point about the type sof alliances we should be focussing on in reaction to the Examiner article.

Regional alliances

Editor -- Regarding "Building alliances on homelessness'' (Editorial, April 1): The Chronicle editorial missed the big idea. The critical alliances that need to be built to address homelessness are not local, but regional -- with our Bay Area sister cities and counties. Homelessness is not a local issue, it is a regional issue.

As San Francisco crafts a comprehensive, responsible, progressive policy on the homeless, and other Bay Area cities and counties do not, the number of San Francisco's homeless will only increase with homeless from those locales. It's a no-brainer. It's time for responsible collaborative regional policy on this critical issue.

JOHN A. LOOMIS

Other Links:
Why were the homeless attacked in Fresno last month?
Squatting for Peace

2004-04-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

HOMELESSNESS:

While it is important to ‘build alliances’ in order to draft a research-driven and aptly modeled 10 year plan for assisting the city’s homelessness to legitimately compete for Mangano’s federal funds, it is estimated that “If the City takes up the task of building new supportive housing for the 3,000 chronically homeless individuals who live here, the cost, the Corporation for Supportive Housing estimates, would run about $450 million -- about $150,000 per unit. On top of that would be $39 million in yearly maintenance costs.” Sounds like a lot but 10 year plans have proven successful in other cities and given the right plan and the right funding, SF could make a dramatic difference. Though critics are already raising a warranted concern, that too much focus and emphasis on the chronically homeless will only divert attention away from the 90% of the average homeless people who are the most visible. Chronic homeless are said to be only 10% of the homeless population in SF, but use around 50% of all the city’s resources. While these articles are informative, I am always blown away that our government is some how just now realizing, or admitting, to the real systemic causes of homelessness, which is not just a business problem that has been poorly mismanaged, or some resistance on the part of the poor to help themselves. It cracks me up to hear everyone blurting “Supportive Housing” “Supportive Housing!”. It’s like some buzzword the politicians are just now catching on to, and it’s hard to believe that our city has put off this type of research for this long. For anyone who needs a contact for the Homeless Council Reg Smith can be emailed at regsmith@ix.netcom.com.

Meanwhile the rebirth of Care not Cash has stirred a flurry of lawsuits against the city, homeless people claiming their cash benefits will be taken away without ample trade for responsible housing that Supervisor Daly has amended the legislation to require. And as usual, in the trenches to report on how these programs and CNC changes to them are really affecting our service providers, is the intrepid Chance Martin. He wrote this article for the Sentinel about Conard House and how they are being reduced to “human ATM machines” …at a loss ofr services now due to the money management revisions that have taken hold of the sector. Are our policy changes having the right effect in the field on the clients themselves?

And in case you haven’t been following, Jim Reid was evicted and ShelterOne has been moved to 13th and Mission. From what I have been told he is trying to assemble a coalition of clean and sober homeless people to pool their GA and other cash funds in order to purchase the old armory building at 14th and Mission. And Gonzalez is supposedly in the process of drafting a resolution for the board that would allow certain zoning restrictions to be lifted for ShelterOne to possibly be implemented around the city.

Key West is apparently exploring a Tent City, like Dignity Village in Portland which is being referred to as a model for Denver’s proposal as well. Tent City has a history in this country, and the popularity is rising around the nation with a demand for them. Proponents claim that while Tent Cities institutionalize the homeless to some degree, the organization of a greater visibility is what urges local governments into more action to actually resolve homelessness. Denver’s proposal is a great read.

Other links:
SF Housing Element Ever Delayed
Homeless Architecture in Japan
Anonymous Collective - Taking Over Buildings Direct Action
Affordability in Pittsburgh? What has happened to our cities is now happening in our poorest suburbs.

DESIGN:

"There's an old saying, 'You only have one chance to make a first impression,' " Davis notes. "If homeless people come to a facility that's impersonal, institutional and threatening, they may just turn around and leave. " This comes from a recent article about Sam Davis, his new book, and turning Nightclubs into Shelters for homeless youth. Sam Davis is lecturing later this month.

More news on local landscape architect pioneer Walter Hood.

``I'm interested in how the everyday mundane practices of life get played out in cities, the unheralded patterns that take place without celebration,'' he said. ``There's a structure to cities, a 4/4 beat. Designing is like improvisation, finding a sound for each place.''

Gregory Burgess won the gold medal of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.

"I don't think your hand becomes invisible because you're doing collaborative work," he said. "That's something I've come to realize – I have to be there strongly, to kind of lead the dance, or to encourage other people to join the dance, and listen to people and find the right step, the right rhythm. The cult of the egomaniac hero architect died some time ago."

And here is an interesting story about a man who turned a South African dump into an urban garden which has now enculturated the entire area with a new positive environmental emblem.

Some Experimental Stuff to check out:

Container City
Pod Village (beautiful displays at Black Rock)
SHELTERPOD - Emergency Portable Housing
Tadashi Kawamata
HABITAFLEX (this one is utterly generic, but simple)

2004-03-31T00:52:00.000-08:00

Mar 31 Redefining Community, Recreating Space

Diversity Lecture Series 6 PM, Nahl Hall, CCA

Oakland campus Artists and educators Keith Thomas and Julio Morales, both CCA faculty members, will explore creative collaborations bringing together artists, youth, community agencies, schools, and public institutions to successfully re-create public space.

4/1/04 Livable Berkeley Presents Affordable Housing Architect David Baker

6:30 PM - 8:30 PM Berkeley Central Library Community Room (third floor)

David Baker is a strong advocate of affordable housing that takes into consideration environmental factors such as parking, transportation, and the need for walkable urban neighborhoods. Refreshments will be served. For more information, visit www.livableberkeley.org.

About Livable Berkeley: Livable Berkeley is a broad-based organization that advocates smart growth and sustainable development in Berkeley, California. The mission of Livable Berkeley is to harness the forces of change to improve our city and quality of life, preserve the environment, and offer increased housing, employment and transportation opportunities for current and future generations.

2004-03-23T23:38:00.001-08:00

And here are the details in case you have not already gotten them on the next Housing/Land Use Seminar I am helping to organize.
---
San Francisco legends Calvin Welch and Joe O'Donoghue present an overview of San Francisco land use issues, in a talk entitled, "San Francisco Housing and Land Use battles: A historical review from the 1970's to the present."
This monthly seminar series is sponsored by the San Francisco Green Party and the Center for Education and Social Action at New College of California. See the Housing and Land Use working group page for more information about the seminar series.

This is the second workshop in a monthly series that will be a great opportunity to educate yourself, share your thoughts, and get involved with local advocacy groups trying to create a better San Francisco. The series will take place on the last Thursday of each month at New College, located at 777 Valencia Street.

The seminar series includes a diverse range of topics and speakers--Supervisors, activists, attorneys, developers, nonprofit builders and city planners-- policymakers and advocates from all sides of our housing and development battles. Here’s a chance for you to consider diverse, frequently contradictory opinions, and make up your own mind on important issues facing the city. The seminars should prove informative, lively and entertaining.

What: Green Party Housing and Land Use Seminar Series, co-sponsored with the New College Center for Education and Social Action
Who: Joe O'Donoghue and Calvin Welch, and you with your thoughtful and probing questions.
When: 7:00 p.m., Thursday, March 25
Where: New College, 777 Valencia Street, near 19th Street

--
And last night I attended Supervisor Daly's showing of 'The Fall of the I-Hotel' at City hall, in vigilance of his anti-demolition ordinance and the Trinity Plaza Tenants who are facing a very similar profit-over-people predicament. If you haven't seen the documentary it is amazing, extremely powerful, and is one of the most important Land Use battles this city has faced in the last 30 years. Another movie worth seeing relating to displacement and housing battles here in SF is Boom! The Sound of an Eviction. I am trying to purchase copies, Boom I think you can view on line, and will host another showing if people are interested.

HOMELESSNESS / DESIGN NEWS:

Here is a review of the Coalition for Homeless Benefit last week at Slim's, and an old but good article by one of the Coalition's brightest advocates, Jim Tracy.

And if you are interested in a full list of the new Homeless Council Members assembled by Alioto and responsible for this city's 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness, here it is.

And here is a Radio Interview with Bruce Mau, Brenda Laurel, and Cameron Sinclair regarding Design and Social Change, with a little nod to the AFH Meetup Crews! Scroll down to the bottom.

Archvoices has written a bit on AFH here, in context of Architecture being recognized from outside the industry for its work in helping to push Design into larger notions of societal effect, and the value of outisde-the-field acknowledgement.

Sam Davis, Prof at UC Berkeley will be releasing a new book this Novemeber 'Designing for the Homeless: Architecture that Works'. should be a great read and I am trying ot hustle a review of this book for a future magazine. He also designed the Larkin Street Youth Center, and will be lecturing next month.

Some great bits in these articles.

2004-03-20T22:53:00.000-08:00

Another profile of estudio in San Diego and Teddy Cruz’s posse:

“The work emerges out of a constant investigation and speculation about relationships between architecture and different aspects of contemporary life and the socio-cultural and political implications of constructing space.

Community engagement originates and shapes projects as a matter of social relations and their co-existence with the landscape they inhabit : Ideas and forms are drawn from existing physical and urban conditions and from patterns of spatial occupation and social interaction that can redefine the limits imposed by rigid zoning and planning laws.”

In PERSPECTA 34 there are some great articles by Gans & Jelacic, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Shigeru Ban / Kartikeya Shodhan, Roy Kozlovsky, and many others. The entire issue is dedicated to Temporary Architecture. It opens with an extract from Kobo Abe’s ‘The Box man’ which is a great crazy novel about a man who decides to live in a box in urban Japan, and the subsequent perceptions of him and their effect on the public, his own sense of body and place as an object of a sniper, a romantic possession, and a doctor's strange self-idealism to beocme a boxman himself. On of my favorite fictions from one of Japan’s greatest writers. You should check both of these reads out.

In light of these organizations, UN HABITAT, UN Refugee Agency, World Studio Foundation, Design for the World, there is TechnoCraft's HEMP HOUSE. A ½ scale model is built at the BAC for Shelter and Beyond , a conference on the East Coast.

And here is a great article on Community Development in Australia putting aside politics for a new inclusionary effort into helping the underserved.

“The leading candidates vying to become Australia's next prime minister, Peter Costello and Mark Latham, both want to champion the cause of building "social capital", so here is the challenge: instead of a "league-table" of disadvantage that stigmatizes communities and infuriates the vast majority of their hard-working families, let's have a Social Capital Index, to measure the progress made by partnerships between the three tiers of government, business big and small, and community groups to find solutions to local problems in these disadvantaged postcodes.

It's time to pursue creative, non-partisan solutions rather than continually describing the problems to families who already feel the political process has abandoned them.

The City of Hume, which stretches from Broad meadows' old housing commission estates to the grape-growing estates of Sunbury, is a case study of a community's determination to replace the symbols of the neglect of the past with landmarks of opportunity for the future.”

In the NY TIMES, there is a great article about landscape urbanist Walter Hood, who teaches at UC Berkeley, and talks about the role of the landscape architect in reshaping cities, noticing all the things most people would never pay attention to. "One thing I value about public work is that you can allow people to understand their predicament by making connections between the physical world and how they live. Then they can move forward. You don't get stuck in one place."

And here is some nice San Francisco work pushing scale and aesthetic in their Modular Dwellings.

SF HOUSING:

Making the cover of the Examiner last week was our friend Jim Reid, who is nearing closer to eviction from his home and launching a homeless movement ever more in response. When we toured ‘the smallest house in America” it was amazing the level of organization and the amount of furnishing Jim was able to compact into the unit. But since his effort to get zoning approval from the city to build his little houses around town has failed, he ‘now plans to camp out across from City Hall after his eviction and is recruiting homeless people for a "Justice Army" of political activism.” Last he told me was he was intending an accumulative gather of homeless people across the nation towards an exodus camp on the White House lawn. That would be amazing.

“San Francisco has to do better than the status quo and any ideas that emanate from that quarter. Holding homeless people hostage to self-aggrandizement and self-righteous cupidity is a fine opening target for the first salvoes of a 10-year process that has an abolitionist intention." ... That's the quote Angela Alioto likes as a motto for her effort to pull together a 10-year plan for homelessness. With Mayor Newsom ultimately leading homeless policy, civil rights attorney Alioto is hard at work to wrangle some kind of unity out of homeless activists, businesspeople, service providers and bureaucrats, trying to make her 10-year plan more than just a federal funding document to shelve next to all the other homelessness studies. "I pray a lot. I do," she said.

Meanwhile homeless benefits cuts are prompting a law suit and a challenge to the city to make good on its revised Care Not Cash initiative, Real Housing, Real Care. “Attorney Oren Sellstrom, who helped file the suit in Superior Court, said the Real Housing, Real Care law passed by the city Board of Supervisors last summer as an alternative to Care Not Cash specifically forbids cutting general assistance checks in exchange for a shelter bed. The suit asks the court to permanently block any cuts pertaining to emergency shelters.”

And just down the road in Fresno, an encampment of 100 people is demolished and people are moved out of town, without the legal protection of retaining any of their property. Homeless persons' rights to retain personal property was a law SF lawmakers failed to pas not too long ago.

These are all worthwhile articles regarding the SF Housing Crisis:

Beyond Gentrification: Strategies For Managing Community Change, by Jill Slater (SF Planning dept)
Elberling on the Legacy of Brown era Affordable Housing
Redevelopment back in the Supes hands?
Affordability in Nob Hill?
Tenderloin Park Revival
More Feng Shui?
Gonzlaez Wants Say in Newsom’s Probe of Dept of Building Inspections
De-regulating condo-conversion in Oakland
The Bay Area Housing Market

2004-03-12T20:33:00.001-08:00

SF HOUSING NEWS

With all eyes on Newsom, he is talking about setting a housing policy coalition to bridge the diversity of political groups and come back to the debate of low income housing now that Prop J has lost. Or perhaps to re-assert measures like Prop J, M, Care Not Cash, but in slightly less sneaky and devisive terms. The activists want to see him make good on his candidacy rhetoric of building real affordable hosuing for the city’s poor. The debate though gets at the heart of the political divide in this city: what type of housing needs to be built, where, what is the inventory of city-wide available parcels, what are the plans for them and how do they include the lowest wage earners, how do we protect housing for the middle class without losing it to an abundance of loft and luxury condo space? There are those who want to let the free market decide our land values and definition of affordability, Willie Brown himself said no one making under fifty thousand should have the right to live here, against those who want to force developers to build the necessary affordable hosuing neglected for the past 30 years because in Critical SF it should be the only investment available right now. And that is what the Trinity Battle gets at, who shall decide how, when, and where to protect our affordable housing stock?

Supervisor McGoldrick wrote this article about his recent ordinance proposal Public Benefits Incentive Zoning (PBIZ), a mechanism and framework for allowing developers to exceed existing height/density limits by providing varieties of any Public Benefits. Not only housing is needed to save our crisis, but new relationships between community stakeholders and developers must be steered by our policy to reverse the trend of speculative land values.

Matt Smith : On Prop J
Home Prices Not Fully at Fault: Report examines reasons for state's housing shortage.
Red Tape Tangles Hotel Renovation
Whatever Happened to Bryant Park? : City planning lessons lurk in the open pit where a family housing complex is finally set to rise.
Oakland & Housing Grants

HOMELESS NEWS

"Mayor Newsom's fifth day on the job included a meeting with Philip Mangano, who heads the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness, which the Bush administration brought back to life to better coordinate federal outlays for the various pieces of the homeless puzzle: substance abuse, job training and mental health services. Mangano is a visionary. He wants to attack homelessness through a series of 10-year regional programs that focuses on results-driven techniques. It's a different approach, one that outside-the-box mayors might be willing to try.

Something more about the president's point man on homelessness: He doesn't come from Republican central casting.

Mangano is a former director of services for homeless people in Cambridge, Mass. He calls himself a "homeless abolitionist," which explains why he likes to quote William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. He says the French philosopher Simone Weil and St. Francis of Assisi are his "patron saints." After seeing Franco Zeffirelli's "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" -- a movie about St. Francis -- he gave up his career as a music agent and manager for bands such as Buffalo Springfield and Peter, Paul and Mary.
Where did he go after leaving the music industry? To Boston, to work on a bread line." (SFGATE, Sun. 03.07)

SAN FRANCISCO Mayor Picks Panel to Tackle Homelessness: Broad council of 33 members has until July to craft new plan.
Alioto Seeks Unity For the Homeless
Kroc Money in the Tenderloin
Containerization of Housing

2004-03-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

SF HOUSING POLICY

Well, after a long hard opposition campaign Prop J has been successfully vetoed by the voters , and a new message is sent to Mayor Newsom. Even amidst his gay marriage heroism and national upstart glory-days for his role in the future of the Democratic party, the public saw Prop J as yet another giveaway to profiteering developers, an insult to community process, and a pure scam on affordability. So, the same old question stares this city in the face, what’s the housing plan from here? San Francisco is the only city in the nation that has no depreciation in land value within its 49 square miles of landlocked peninsula. However, right now prices have stabilized some compared to Fresno ) and other surrounding California Real Estate. Yet the affordability wars still wage on in the Mission. And while Supervisor McGoldrick proposes his strict legislation on Public Benefits to incentivize developers, some critics claim they only back up SF’s reputation for being anti-development. And Newsom finally responds to Supervisor Daly’s anti-demolition ordinance. After Chris sent this letter to Newsom’s office, and a vigil was held by the Trinity Plaza tenants on the step of City Hall pleading with the mayor to not allow the demolition of their homes and the loss of further rent-controlled housing stock in this city, Mayor Newsom , to no surprise, vetoed the legislation claiming it was too broad, and would "stifle our ability to build new affordable housing.'' READ FULL MAYOR CORRESPONDENCE WITH TENANTS AND GONZALEZ HERE.

HOMELESNESS

This time Randy Shaw writes a great piece for the Guardian debunking the Chronicle’s Lies, Newsom’s reputation and claims regarding the homeless.

“IT'S BAD ENOUGH when the media parrot the Bush administration's ongoing mistruths about homelessness. It's even worse when the San Francisco Chronicle aggressively promotes such lies, first to elect Mayor Gavin Newsom and now to portray him as an unparalleled leader on the issue.”

And CHANCE Martin returns with this article, 'Rambling through the CHANGES' and articulates clearly the invasion of privacy, and the inventorizing of homeless people.

“Call it the commodification of people - another "free market solution" for social control. Human beings are the inventory - at least, those humans who for whatever reason can¹t actually participate in our economy as active consumers. Under today's global economic prerogatives, if you're deemed unlikely to represent potential value as a consumer of products (read: poor), you are frequently assigned a role as a "consumer" of government-funded and regulated "services." These can range from welfare-to-work, a subsidized room, a shelter bed, case management, a prison cell, etc.

These consumers' value to the economy, and by extension their identity, is governed by the potential reimbursement they represent to providers and regulating agencies of these government-funded services. Thus people in custody and economic wards of the state in turn become the state's inventory. As a result, our increasingly privatized social institutions have become increasingly alienating and dehumanizing for the people they are supposed to serve.”

This federal report offers 7 lessons from the most innovative strategies around the nation proving successful at solving homelessness. SF pays close attention.

"Moving people into permanent housing -- with "wraparound counseling services" on site -- is exactly the direction San Francisco is headed. In fact, the city already hosts innovative programs of its own. The city-run Direct Access to Housing project, for instance, has persuaded hundreds of indigents with acute substance abuse and mental problems to live inside, and the Brinton Homeless Project sends counselors all over the city to find the most mentally ill people sleeping on the sidewalks and steer them toward services."

"San Francisco has components that work very well, and the challenge is to stitch the components together into a comprehensive system that will show that the whole is greater than the parts," said Larry Bush, spokesman for HUD's San Francisco office. "

· Coalition on Homelessness Benefit. March 17. Slim's. (On sale now.) (415) 255-0333.

DESIGN / PROFILE / ORGANIZATIONS

Check out the portfolio of Archeworks, some interesting approaches and definitely pushing the social relevance factor in their work.

Another proposal I am exploring now with the SF Bicycle Coalition is possible plan for various Bicycle garages , a la Europe.

And check out this man, Jesse Salcedo, who is a carpenter/developer by trade, but has dedicated a huge portion of his energy to placing the structures of his Apache heritage, the tepeeall around California. The ideal summer home?

And this man, Krystof Wodicszo is who got me interested in architecture to begin with. Some of his work : Homeless Cart , QT on his book Critical Vehicles

In the same vein, the Orta Intervention.

2004-02-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

Portland today has gone as far as to give homeless encampments campground status, where they can elect their own councils, and self-govern Tent City.

“The 60 residents of the area, called Dignity Village, have battled for four years to gain legal recognition for their encampment of tents, scavenged planks and cardboard boxes, all of which violate the city's zoning codes if defined as housing."

Examine that on a global scale, where refugees gain new status, a legal protection from the displacement of civil war, ethnic cleansing, and the limbomania of dual and non-citizenship. Imagine even Mexicans on the border as well as Kosovians in Europe. From Tent City to a City from Scratch.

“Deborah Gans and Matthew Jelacic began analyzing refugee settlements and experiences in 1999, when they entered an Architecture for Humanity competition that called for low-cost quick-assembly alternatives to the white tent in response to the crises in Kosovo and Bosnia. The request for proposals specified that the structures be capable of withstanding two years of weather and use; in other words, the design was to be a temporary solution to what the organization saw as a temporary problem.”

And I just came across this, The Berkeley Prize 2004. Precisely the type of dialogue we need to be having, shared by an array of different voices. Read these essays, really, I think they articulate sort of where we are in our own endeavor, but also outline the committment to activism that is fundamentally rooted in design, extending architecture to a degree of pure human response to crisis and new notions of liveability and dignity.

“As future architects we want to know if those with our professional skills as designers and planners could be of use to local governments, institutions and private groups in meeting the needs posed by these disenfranchised populations. To find out, we are obliged 1) to understand the issues first hand and 2) to understand that solutions to these problems must be interdisciplinary.”

2004-02-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

LOCAL News:

S.F. city attorneys still fighting for Care Not Cash: Appeal asks state court to toss supervisors' alternative plan. And the negotiations at City Hall continue with a battered Prop J lurking on the horizon. Newsom has disbanded the Mayor’s Office on Homelessness to Free $400,000 for Direct Funding of Services, which is better than pinching the poor directly. Now we watch the developers sweeten The Tenant Buy Out offer at Trinity Plaza, Dufty is predictably swayed in reverse of his previous vote and now against Dal'y anti-demolition ordinance. Newsom, no comment yet, could veto legislation. Even though, “Representatives of the city attorney's office at the supervisors' meeting questioned whether that offer was legal under state law and said that, regardless, Sangiacomo's promise would not be enforceable by the city.”

While this Church Bus Provides Shelter the homeless in Contra Costa County are kept Under the Radar . So Oakland becomes the first city in Northern California to adopt a law allowing the city to force private landlords to evict tenants arrested for drugs, weapons or other crimes. Some obviously fear people will be targeted, innocent displaced, and homelessness to increase.

More Attacks on Potential Wal-Martization of the Bay Area. Rep. George Miller "released a 22-page report by the Democratic staff of his House committee detailing how nonunionized Wal-Mart, the largest employer in both the United States and Mexico, allegedly imposes financial burdens on local governments. A certain percentage of its workers must turn to subsidized medical care, free school lunches, housing subsidies and other taxpayer- supported welfare services, Miller said. "

This article on Rincon Hill, ArchNewsNow talks about the 'Vancouver' in the project, or the lack of it.

And here's a link to SF GOV’s ‘Better Neighborhoods’ Program

“The Planning Department is taking a fresh approach to neighborhood planning.established in 2002, The program is two-tiered. Citywide, it aims to encourage housing where it makes sense and to strengthen neighborhoods. Locally, the program uses intensive community-based planning to refine citywide goals to the needs of the neighborhood. Above all, the program builds on the positive aspects of San Francisco's quality as an urban place.”

NATIONAL HOMELESS:

New York City launches a City Wide Homeless Count with thousands of volunteers fan the streets over night. When on the other coast Worthless Housing Vouchers are issued to poor In LA. Under watch, and seemingly with compassion, Key West plans careful eviction of homeless camps .

DESIGN FOR THE DISPOSESSED / RESOURCES:

Louisa Stark, executive director of the Community Housing Partnership, a non-profit organization that provides housing for the poor and disabled, is the 2004 recipient of the Joan and David Lincoln Award for Public Virtue.

Shigeru Ban, winner of previous AFH Competition, takes Paris Like a Rock Star.

Helmut Jahn Designs Homeless Shelter in Chicago

"In the last decade, the Near North Side neighborhood around Clybourn Avenue and Division Street has become a laboratory for rebuilding urban landscapes by putting the rich and poor side by side. Now, pending financing and final city approval, a new element will be thrown into the experiment with Jahn's housing project, a sleek five-story, rectangular structure that is a far cry from the dilapidated SROs and shelters where the homeless usually find a roof.

'I think this is a very spirited time,' Jahn said. 'They're trying to push the edge and they're trying to go as far as you can go with very few means. I actually like the challenge of being kind of forced to do something of equal quality--not the same quality--a different quality with those means and of a high standard.' "

While AFH is doing all it can to help those leftover from the refuge of Bam, the UN admits it Cannot Cope With Rise in Homeless Due to Israeli Demolitions. And for those now in Morocco, ‘Many survivors were heading into another blustery night in makeshift tents fashioned from plastic sheeting. Military officers, helped by local residents, put up hundreds of tents in and around Al Hoceima. The interior minister said that 1,300 tents had been distributed and two camps for survivors were in place and three more were being set up.“

2004-02-22T22:02:00.001-08:00

Join Supervisors Matt Gonzalez and Jake McGoldrick as they host the first community workshop of the Housing and Land Use Seminar Series sponsored by the San Francisco Green Party and the Center for Education and Social Action at New College of California.

This is the first workshop in a monthly series that will be a great opportunity to educate yourself, share your thoughts, and get involved with local advocacy groups trying to create a better San Francisco. The series will take place on the last Thursday of each month at New College, located at 777 Valencia Street. The first workshop features Matt Gonzalez, President of the Board of Supervisors, and Jake McGoldrick, chair of the Board of Supervisor's Land Use Committee, in a panel discussion entitled, “Does Anybody Have a Housing and Land Use Plan for San Francisco?” Audience questions and involvement will be encouraged.

The seminar series will include a diverse range of topics and speakers--Supervisors, activists, attorneys, developers, nonprofit builders and city planners-- policymakers and advocates from all sides of our housing and development battles. Here’s a chance for you to consider diverse, frequently contradictory opinions, and make up your own mind on important issues facing the city. The seminars should prove informative, lively and entertaining.

What: Green Party Housing and Land Use Seminar Series, co-sponsored with the New College Center for Education and Social Action
Who: Supervisors Matt Gonzalez and Jake McGoldrick, and you with your difficult and probing questions.
When: 7pm, Thursday, February 26
Where: New College, 777 Valencia Street, near 19th Street

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This came to me from a dedicated soul in Williamsburg, VA, who has been challenigng James City County for too long now to recognize her efforts to build and manage a state-sponsored homeless shelter. In talking with Patti, I want to help her beat James City County and force them to deal with their homeless problem. I will fill you in more as this develops.

"In theState of the Union speech, as many recall, President Bush stated "In the past, we've worked together to bring mentors to children of prisoners, and provide treatment for the addicted, and help for the homeless. Tonight I ask you to consider another group of Americans in need of help. This year, some 600,000 inmates will be released from prison back into society. We know from long experience that if they can't find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit crime and return to prison. So tonight, I propose a four-year, $300 million prisoner re-entry initiative to expand job training and placement services, to provide transitional housing, and to help newly released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-based groups. America is the land of second chance, and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life." But, in todays society, people like me are forced to become a criminal to help those that God and our President say to help, as a Christian and Citizen.

My name is Patti McKenzie and I live in Williamsburg, VA. My husband and I have lived here shortly over a year. Prior to moving here, we lived in Greenville, SC. For several years in SC, I worked on my own with the homeless to help assist them to better their life. This is a calling that I have had in my heart for many years and God brought us to Williamsburg, for that same reason. Although I understand the love people have for historical areas, I have become frustrated with the local County Officials in this town. Sadly enough, this town was built on one another helping their fellow man to be able to break free from the control of Britain's rule. Yet, today people prefer to ride on the coat-tails of our fore-fathers, as if they did their good deed to another, instead of helping a man up.

When we moved here last year, I again wanted to continue my work with the homeless. I was shocked when I found out there was no homeless shelter in Williamsburg. There is a shelter for battered women and children, but not for men or families. Typically in our area when a man who is homeless needs shelter, they are shipped 40 minutes away to another town to be their problem. If it is a family, the woman and children are placed in the shelter for battered women here and the man is shipped away from his family to the shelter 40 minutes away. Because of my love for the homeless and God, I started assisting them with shelter in my home, making sure they have 3 meals a day, clothing, transportation, friendship, jobs, and devotions. I lost my home we were renting because the neighbors, although they claim they are Christians, had us removed by our landlords. Throughout this time, God gave me a mission to establish a shelter. Each place I found, the County fought me and denied a permit.

We relocated to another rental house where we are on 3 acres of land, have a 2500 sq. ft. home and another 1200 sq. ft. building. This time, our new landlords didn't have a problem with us wanting the homeless to live with us (and several are prisoners who were just released with nowhere to go.) We tried again to get permits and the County told us we could not have the homeless at our home for any services and we could also not have Bible Study with them. Yes, this is against my Religious Freedom.

Although we are considered a faith-based ministry, we get requests to help people who are homeless from United Way, Salvation Army, Social Services, the local police agencies and concerned citizens in the community. Currently, we have 14 people living with us: we have a single mother and her 3 daughters, a singla man and his son, and 8 single men. We provide 3 meals a day for each person prepared by my husband or myself, sit down for meals as a family on a daily basis, and we do all the funding out of our pocket. We do get some small help through churches for food, people in the community donate old clothing and bedding. We assist them in medical needs, transportation, laundry facilities (at no cost), ID's, social skills, home-placement and continued friendship. Financially, we are on our own and God's Grace (monthly for rent, power, supplies and meat to care for our guests it averages $3500 a month.) We do have a donation button through PayPal, yet, to this day, nobody has used it. Since March of last year we have paid out of our pocket almost $22 K for the homeless and a total of $800 donated.

Even this past week, the Commonwealth of Virginia called and requested for me to take a gentleman into our home. He is here on a Green-Card from Albania. He has worked here for 14 years, paid taxes to the IRS and loves our Country. Unfortunately, in Dec., a man had a heart attack and died at the wheel of his car and crushed this gentleman in his vehicle. He has extensive medical bills, just came out of a body cast, no memory of the accident, no family locally and with no money left, he was put on the street with much medical needs. The Commonwealth can't offer assistance because he does not fall under any programs. Now with a $300,000 medical bill, long-term treatment and no chance for work in his future, he lives with us. But, of course, their was no funding sent for room and board.

My whole point to this letter is that it has become sad that even when a person loves the homeless and wants to help, people fight against them. People try to blame the government, yet forget it is a Christians' responsibility to help the homeless (thus our motto "Remember, Jesus Was Homeless.) I am not asking for government funding because I know God will provide. I am asking for a shelter. I am asking to do what God has called me to do. Also, even my President has asked for me to do it and people still want to fight against me. Thus, people are wanting me to go against God and the President of United States. Please help me to be able to help others. You can help us by posting and letting others know what we do. It is hard for me to post that we take people into our home because people in our area read our website and fight against us. I do not like risking people being put onto the street. Thanks for your help, support and concern for the homeless."

Sincerely In His Name,
Patti McKenzie

www.thehomelessinwilliamsburg.blogspot.com

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HOMELESSNESS / AFFORDABILITY NEWS

I will be getting more involved with this group if anyone else is interested, RIGHT TO A ROOF! HOUSING WORKGROUP OF THE COALITION ON HOMELESSNESS with James Tracy: “RTAR advocates for the creation and preservation of affordable housing, open to very low-income people in San Francisco. We advocate including cooperative housing in the City's overall housing strategy. We organize around federal housing programs, and budget cuts and their effects on the housing crisis in San Francisco.”

I sat in last Wednesday Night on this meeting SOMA Leadership Council, led by Jim Meko. Daly and Planner Commisioner Lisa Feldstein were guests, Elberling was there, and lots of other lead activists and developers, a mixed group dedicated to SOMA development. But most interesting comment of the evening was Feldstein who told me that the city could be sued by the people if it can't meet the housing growth needs of any bracket as set by the housing element each year. I had asked her why is there no penalty drawn into non-accumulative failures over years to meet the needs, limiting market rate growth until low in come is satisfactorily met with equal development. Spawned a good conversation about the lack of tools and methods for accountability. Granny flats were talked about in Santa Cruz, innovative approaches to building codes. Great night, I will go next month.

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Realities for homeless in L.A., POOR Magazine reports on an encampment demolished.

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Kenneth Caldwell talks about Affordable Housing Development in the Bay Area: “But with few sites, high land costs, historic preservation issues, reduced federal welfare and housing subsidies, and frequent community resistance, architects are struggling to find new paths to address old problems. The overarching trend toward locally-based solutions includes innovations in financing, mixed-use development, community participation, the use of small infill sites, and sustainable design. However
Home sales are sizzling, January transactions hit 15-year high; prices up 12% in Bay Area.

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“One of today's toughest problems is housing that is both livable and affordable. Donald MacDonald Architects have consistently explored the options and found ground-breaking, workable solutions-for projects from three units to hundreds.” The Sleeper.

And this book written by MacDonald sounds worth a read: Democratic Architecture

"MacDonald challenges our traditional notions of how to house the people who live on the streets and can't seem to find a place in conventional homes, apartments and shelters. His book lays out a challenge for everyone involved in housing including architects, builders and city officials. He confronts those who say that ignoring the homeless is the only solution, but he also challenges those who say we can build enough conventional housing for all of the homeless. MacDonald also confronts homeowner and community groups who oppose housing projects.”

- San Francisco Examiner, November 17, 1996

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Another good HOMELESS research resource.

2004-02-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

HOMELESSNESS / AFFORDABILITY NEWS

'Real Housing, Real Care’ is Supervisor Daly’s compromise re-draft of ‘Care not Cash’, and is moving forward this April with more supportive housing stock in exchange for welfare cash reductions. Daly wants a guarantee of more than just a shelter-shuffle, Newsom approves, but some still warn that for San Francisco it is really a social experiment at this stage and must be continually monitored for its effectiveness.

“It appears that the Bush Administration’s policy on affordable housing is to make the affordability crisis worse for those who can afford housing the least,” NLIHC President Sheila Crowley said after reviewing the budget released today. “The President has taken the country into an ever deepening deficit with reckless tax cuts, and now he wants to start digging his way out by making life harder for those who have the least. Outrage is the only rational response.”

The Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty, a project of the Weingart Center, is a non-profit, non-partisan, research and policy organization serving the research and networking needs of academics, government, community based direct service agencies, policy-advocacy organizations, the media, philanthropic organizations, policymakers and other members of the community involved with the issues of homelessness and poverty.

Marcia has pointed out this street publication to help emply homeless people, The Big Issue, which is one of many in this International Network of Street Papers (INSP) , which unites street papers sold by homeless people from all over the world. INSP is an umbrella organization, which provides a consultancy service for its partner papers and advises on the setting up of new street papers and support initiatives for marginalized people.

This Gov Report / Homelessness in San Francisco, released May 2002, provides essential background material for public education.

Keep checking this site, Interagency Council on Homelessness (periodically under construction -) is the source for municipal collaborative findings, research regarding other state 10-year plans which have been successful, and critical advocacy/policy discussion bringing a lot of different groups to the table.

* Some more reference sites: Spare Some Change (Great Homeless Search Engine) / KnowledgePlex® offers best practices, discussions, research and more for professionals working on affordable housing and community development.

URBAN ACTION / DESIGN / COMPETITION

Oregon finally OK’s Granny Flats, and hopefully SF is soon to follow. Read about Supervisor Peskin’s Secondary Unit Legislation Proposal .

I haven’t heard any update recently from these guys, but Public Architecture is developing an ADU prototype, along with some other socially provocative projects merging design and activism, check them out.

Architect Greg Cowan writes an interesting paper on the historic symbolism of “tent architecture”, NOMADIC RESISTANCE: TENT EMBASSIES AND COLLAPSIBLE ARCHITECTURE - Illegal architecture and protest

Here is an interesting thread on Design Solutions for the Homeless.

This article in the Chron talks about an eccentric cafe project and community approach on 'how to make a street corner come alive'.

These grad students have started an Urban Bamboo Farm in the city to help de-contaminate industrial lots while producing strong sustainable building materials at the same time.

Two Competitions worth looking at recently, Pittsburgh Land Use Competition which examines creative developments for parking lots, and the New Housing New York Competition just announced their winners which aimed to provoke innovative designs for different affordable housing projects needs.

2004-02-12T22:12:00.000-08:00

SUNDAY AFTERNOON I am going to visit JIM REID, former 4 time SF Mayoral Candidate, at his house where he will show and discuss his project ShelterOne. I bumped into Jim at a high noon rally for Daly’s anti-demolition last Monday, where he told me he is in the process of being evicted. Habitat for the Homeless has been Jim’s battering ram at City Hall for years now trying to promote solutions that empower homeless people directly, through building. He will have much to tell of his life in the trenches and his grassroots attempts to mobilize a shift in City Hall’s thinking.

Speaking of Homelessness, Alioto is getting to work on assembling her own committee, of which I am still trying to hustle an interview for myself. She is preaching diversity, and I would like to think I might be able to help here fulfill that obligation.

REMINDER, next WEDNESDAY 02.18 / couple more events I have scheduled for us. At 4PM we will meet the architects for another TNDC WALKING TOUR, the 8th/Howard St Project . They will show us one of the nicest mixed use affordable housing project s recently built in the city and answer all our crazy questions. The work of our own Factory1 is displayed in the building as well.

and FOLLOWING the Walking Tour, I will hop BART out to the East Bay for this Lecture Event: UC BERKELEY SPRING 2004 ARCHITECTURE LECTURE SERIES - Teddy Cruz () 7:00 PM 112 Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley Campus.

DOWN TO THE DEBATE

I spent my mini-vacation attending meetings and focusing on the Trinity Plaza debate.

Board of Supervisors’ approve Anti-Demolition Ordinanace. Some say this is Chris Daly speaking at his all time best. And whether you agree with him or not this is the type of legislation that is stirring the debate in this city that has been overshadowed by much profiteering between developers and the government for the last decade.

Land Use Committee hearing on Trinity, great public testimony from Randy Shaw & Ted Gullicksen, and about 75 others.

John Elberling puts his bargain on the table.

2004-02-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

AFH makes some NEWS:

Oregon Live catches up with Cameron in a cafe with his laptop, architecting his network for Humanity. Kate Stohr (AFH's other co-founder), wrote this article for the NY Times about the ironic shrinking of the world's cities 3 to 2 while others continue to grow. See the Shrinking Cities Project Here.

And this is the latest on the 'OUTREACH' DESIGN DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP in South Africa.

HOMELESSNESS:

Angela Alioto is readying herself to be the Chair of the Task Force to End Homelessness and "Head of Special Projects". This is a good interview with her and the city's 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness here in SF.

Darren Noy is a PhD student at UC Berkeley in the Dept of Sociology, and has prepared this website report: Homelessness in San Francisco - Understanding a common vision that will build a homeless policy that works.

ARCHITECTURE & 'AFFORDABILITY':

SF Architect David Baker has written on zoning studies, architectural strategies, and community design. Scroll down to his WRITINGS section.

There is an interesting discussion on the Dwell Discussion Boards: "What is Affordable?”

SF BAY AREA POLICY DEBATE:

California Assemblyman Leyland Yee wants to legislate an influence of Feng Shui into California urban planning. But some critics think it is a sign of California's laziness to practice good design already.

Urban Action is a publication put together by students in the Urban Studies Dept. at SFSU, combining research papers, interviews, photo-essays, and other quality related material.

While Supervisors Ammiano and Duffy are trying to heavily restrict and ban Wal-Mart supercenters in SF, Contra Costa County next month will vote on Measure L and to ban Wal-Mart Supercenters.

"Local government should have a right to plan where and how big-box stores come into their communities and not leave it totally up to the developer,'' said Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond. "This is a battle in a larger war over who controls development in a local community.''

And here is more on Daly’s Anti-Demolition Ordinance, McGoldrick wants to make it buildings of 6 or more sound units.

2004-02-05T18:44:00.001-08:00

BACK TO ARCHITECTURE!

This is an article from 2002, but a good one, with Sam Davis (former Chair of Berkeley's Arch Dept.) who talks about recent policy in the Bay Area and his work researching and designing for homeless shelters.

"First, I think that part of the responsibility of teaching at a university, particularly at a public one, is that you have to deal with social issues. One could say that every kind of architecture has social implications, and that's probably true. But I've always felt that housing, among all the kinds of buildings, has the most social context and requires the greater sense of social responsibility."

Found this link on Archinect not long ago: UC Professor Gary Black proposes a lightweight durable straw bale, steel bar and concrete solution for housing reconstruction in the Mid East. And another local firm specializing in straw bale is Dan Smith & Associates who have been pushing this material for years now and have developed some notable prototypes.

And looking at shelter as a part of us a-matter offers Body Architecture : Lucy Orta now makes bodysuits that can be transformed into tent-like rooms or sleeping bags and then coupled to each other in order to create an ad-hoc community, i.e. fast small housing for mobile elements of society such as refugees, asylum seekers or the homeless.

And this friday night 02.06.04 at The Castro: My Architect is playing. This ‘Best Documentary’ nominee explores the life of Louis I. Kahn, who died in 1974, one of the most important architects of the twentieth century. His dramatic death—alone and bankrupt in the men’s room of New York’s Penn Station—revealed a triple life: in addition to his wife and daughter, Kahn left behind two illegitimate children, by different women with whom he had long-term relationships. MY ARCHITECT follows the five-year odyssey of Kahn’s only son, Nathaniel Kahn, as he travels the world to discover who his celebrated father really was.

2004-02-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

Gavin Newsom yesterday convened the first of many promised meetings of his new "Homelessness Cabinet," made up of representatives from roughly 10 city agencies wrestling with the problem. And just down the road Santa Cruz rebuffs their regional homeless efforts by exploring a new Intelligence Program: the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).

While HUD is proposing changes to the continuum of care planning process in a Homeless Consolidation Concept, shouldn't we be paying more attention to The Bringing Home America Act which is co-sponsored by 38 congress people, and represents the most comprehensive data inquiry and legislative proposal to ending modern homelessness in the US?

This week Matt Smith tells us A Tale Worth Telling about an elderly german man worth millions who left money to the city to help the poor. Now that City Hall has moved forward with a supportive housing project for the elderly in the western addition the NIMBYism again points out the ideological paradox of neighborhood anti-development activism.

2004-02-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

This study, which compares the cost of housing mentally ill homeless persons and expenditures managing them on the streets, has helped Columbus to frontier new efforts to house the chronic homeless for just a $1000 more annually per person.

Meanwhile Berkeley Mayor proposes United Front for Problem of Homelessness, hoping to help secure federal funds for a solid 10 year plan to fight homelessness. Can Mayor Newsom rally a broad base of support and a plan for a 'supportive housing boom'? Though some say there are still plenty of resources available if we focus on existing renovation projects.

Here are some more EXCELLENT LINKS TO HOMELESS DISCUSSION:

Homeless & Disabled in Alabama (blog)
Vermont Homeless Journal – Essays
Williamsburg's Homeless & Indigent Blog
Norsehorse's Home Turf (blog)

2004-01-29T12:57:00.001-08:00

Jay Shaft & Chance Martin DELIVER THE FACTS in The Real State of the Union.

"Since the year 2000, the homeless population in America has increased by approximately 50%. In 2003 the homeless population increased by approximately 15% on a national average. Every year since 1999 the homeless population has increased by 10-15%. While it is hard to track the total number of homeless, each year at least 5.5 million people experience homelessness at some point.

Since 2000 every major US city has reported an increase in homelessness of between 35-50%. Most cities are not able to keep up with the increased demand for services from the increases in the homeless and hungry. Due to budget shortfalls many cities have had to cut back on necessary services such as homeless shelters and housing programs for low-income families, and emergency food centers.

The average wait to get in to public assisted housing was 22-26 months in 2003. Most low-income families have been on the waiting lists for an average of 14 months and are still waiting for adequate housing to become available. It is estimated that an additional 2.3 million people applied for public housing in 2003.

60% of all new cases of homelessness are single women with children. 15% of all new homeless cases are families with children. Homeless families comprise 40% of the total homeless population. 41% of the homeless population are single men, 14% are single women, and 5% are unaccompanied minors."

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This article makes a good case for what is needed to address the mentally ill contingent of homeless cringing in our SF streets. And as The California Budget Project, an advocacy organization for low- and middle-income residents, found that the state's affordable housing crisis has reached emergency status, the Trinity Plaza battle is heating up with more protests until the Board hears Supervisor Daly’s anti-demolition ordinance coming up that aims to disallow demolition of low-income rent-controlled properties of 20 units or more.

2004-01-28T14:38:00.001-08:00

The NAEH (National Alliance to End Homelessness) has a great page dedicated to: Best Practices & Profiles, which highlights program models, state and local policies, and advocacy efforts that are taking positive steps toward ending homelessness.

Santa Cruz eyes homeless collaborative as officials are looking to participate in a regional effort that directs cities to help neighboring cities get a handle on the burgeoning number of homeless people.

Local activist Marc Solomon has written a short informative article on not only why to oppose Prop J, but what he sees as the Achilles Heel of the progressive movement right now.

Imagine ! ! -- A North Beach and Telegraph Hill dotted with high-rises, surrounded by a freeway, hardly green at all, its historic dwellings gone or diminished, and North Beach an extension of downtown. Efforts to avoid these consequences have been worthwhile and even essential. Telegraph Hill Dwellers was formed in 1954 and now has more than 850 members. During its 5 decades, it has led or participated in many efforts without which Telegraph Hill and North Beach would be greatly different from what they are today.

2004-01-26T19:55:00.006-08:00

Good news, Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez has agreed to kick off the first seminar for the SFGP Housing/ Land Use Public Seminar Series I am helping to organize next month Feb. the 26th, so mark your calendars. Our working group is preparing speakers and topics to discuss in the coming months the many issues surrounding the complex and convoluted nature of housing and policy in SF today, with some of the city's most relevant voices: Supervisor Chris Daly, Calvin Welch, Joe O'Donoghue, Randy Shaw, Ted Gullicksen & (tentatively, Brad Paul, Larry Bush, Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, Paul Boden, and a bunch more).

* Here are some recent articles Randy Shaw & Paul Boden have published regarding Prop J, Supportive Housing, and the Chronicle's misreporting of the news.

Design Corps has announced Structures For Inclusion 4 - Choosing Relevancy, their next installment of conferences, which aims to confront the consciousness designers must face when choosing their clients, between the few or the many. This time the speakers will include our own David Baker and Walter Hood, along with Maurice Cox, Teddy Cruz and Andrew Wagner from Dwell. I am considering attending March 26-28th in Atlanta, if others want to join and form a group together let me know.

And a friend has pointed out this international organization OXFAM which is doing a lot of work directly related to AFH's effort in Bam, Iran right now. While coordinating relief efforts to combat world poverty directly, they also heavily campaign for policy change all over the world.

2004-01-25T21:45:00.000-08:00

Here are some HOMELESS NEWS LINKS I found recently.

In Downtown Memphis, Tenn. the city has mandated panhandlers must pay 10 bucks for Permits to Panhandle, can you believe that?

Chance Martin, editor of Street Sheet, updates us on some recent Homeless Policy news.

Students are engaging different skews on homelessness and Container Arch, while architect Mike Strauss continues to prepare containers for global use.

And while an affluent suburb like Orinda ditches an effort to provide shelter outreach , Portland allows a sanction for a Homeless Village.

Avalon Chrystie Place in NY is being praised as the result of an unusual collaboration of state and city officials, nonprofit organizations, grass roots groups and private companies, brings to a close what has been called the longest-running dispute over an urban renewal site in the city.

2004-01-15T23:11:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the AFH.SF Blog site.

Mission Statement Draft:

Architecture for Humanity in San Francisco is committed to engaging projects which merge design and social activism together. We are seeking to bridge a new coalition of architectural activism comprised of local developers, non-profit & community service organizations, political action advocates, legislative analysts, academic partnerships, and an interdisciplinary collective of design experts, so that AFH.SF can serve as a regional locus for socially conscious design practice.

Our mission is currently to understand the manifold issues that have made the crisis of homelessness in the Bay Area the most critical in the nation. In educating ourselves, our aim is to explore projects which can relay our findings to the public in the form of a ‘direct design action'.

In order to strengthen the visibility of SF’s unique political landscape, we are hoping to raise the relevancy of design to a new awareness through developing progressive solutions for the homeless.

Here is a list of some of our agenda items.

Current Projects:

1 - AFH Bookmarks: We are finishing up the design and printing of a custom bookmark which advertises AFH and is aimed to be placed in local Arch & Design bookstores around the city. Not only are we placing them by the register but are hoping to have these inserted with purchases and mail orders too.

2 – “Meeting Our Community” : We are in an intensive stage of establishing our local network and meeting as many people possible who are interested or are pursuing contexts related to AFH. In order to interface the types of progressive homeless projects we aim to engage we are busy educating ourselves, meeting local developers, activists, policy makers, AIA reps, etc., and generally trying to pitch AFH.SF to the SF Community as a local architectural activist collective. This has resulted in walking tours of supportive housing units (TNDC), participation in local Housing & Land Use Working Groups (SFGP), etc.

3 – A Survey for Developers: Putting together a survey to hand out to DEVELOPERS so we can gather info from them on how they go about utilizing architects and go about "developing" low income affordable housing or homeless projects, specifically how architects and community members are sought and incorporated into the process.

4 - A Comprehensive Web Project: to associate all of the coalitions, developers, non-profs, organizations, architect/design firms, local policies, news and projects relevant to a regional chapter of Architecture for Humanity. It will focus on bridging an infrastructure currently lacking between the design community and social activists, and establish a new network to help centralize the fragmented factions of the local architectural activism movement here. To include profiles of all Bay area “socially conscious” architects, community designers, etc, and a searchable database which can help activists locate these types of projects and those who have developed them. End goal: to create a hub site for future progressive homeless projects.

5 – Homeless Donation & Info Kiosks: In lieu of Prop M which just passed here outlawing “aggressive panhandling” I am exploring a possible project for a homeless kiosk initiative. The hope being that while Prop M will be a divisive tool to eliminate panhandlers from the streets the city needs to give something back to acknowledge the needs of panhandlers. These kiosks would opt for a new organization which would employ homeless people to man these kiosks, to provide Homeless News sheets, advocacy group info and contacts, and allow in a dignified manner panhandlers to collect donations. The project explores the perceptions and negative stigmas that are attached to the interface of typical hand outs and would invite people to give money on the premise that their handouts would go to an organization which would redistribute the collections to homeless people in the form of food & service vouchers. The kiosks are also an attempt to invite homeless people into a working program who are more skeptical of civic programs in their current degraded state.

6 – Homeless Seminar & Workshop: I am currently part of a Housing & Land Use Working Group for the SF Green Party and we are organizing a series of Housing Seminar Workshops for the following months this year. I am in charge of one dedicated to homelessness. My goal is to coordinate activists and speakers Paul Boden, Randy Shaw (and others), along with a media installation of panels, slides, detailing some of the most effective and progressive solutions to homelessness being practiced in cities around the country. The AFH.SF Chapter is intensely trying to become educated about this issue, and hope to affect policy as much as shelter.

* Contact Info: Bryan Finoki or ‘Bfunk’ – bfunk2000@yahoo.com, phone # 415.846.9422