RON HENGGELER

February 2, 2007
Boom-town San Francisco

Take a good long hard look at the San Francisco skyline. It's changing. Not
since the earthquake and Great Fire of 1906 has the city seen such an
enormous physical transformation of itself. In the next decade-plus, a two
mile long swath of land south of Market will become a new city of high-rises
that will dwarf, yes, dwarf, today's financial district. This emerging sub
metropolis will have the density of Manhattan, with 30,000 residents, and a
workday population of at least 36,000. The dozens of new tall buildings that
are being proposed, have been approved, or, are already being built, are for
the most part, tall, glass-encased, view-blockers that have little or
nothing to do with the San Francisco that everybody leaves their heart in.
As an example, if approved, the two towers being proposed for the site of
the old Transbay Terminal will be 35 stories taller than the Transamerica
Pyramid, thereby becoming the third and fourth tallest buildings in the
United States. From my windows upstairs where I live, I nowadays count 10
cranes on the San Francisco skyline. Little by little the wall is going up.
My mountains, bay waters, and East Bay views, are sadly disappearing. For
more information on this stunning transformation of our city, look for the
February issue of SAN FRANCISCO Magazine. The front cover alone is worth a
thousand words.

 

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