Yesterday at A/D/O, a MINI-sponsored creative space in Brooklyn, New York, seven start-ups pitched their companies to an audience of investors and public sector agencies as part of URBAN-X’s Demo Day. URBAN-X is an accelerator for urban tech companies that was launched in 2016 by BMW-owned car brand MINI, one of its many forays into rethinking shelter, fashion, and design. The seven start-ups are members of URBAN-X’s fifth cohort, bringing the total number of companies that URBAN-X has fostered to 39. URBAN-X selects up to 10 start-ups twice a year for its program, which includes a $150,000 investment and five months of support in engineering, design, and business development.

Urban mobility and access to electric vehicles featured prominently in this cohort, not a surprising theme for an incubator with roots in the automotive sector. But other strong trends, like construction site productivity and emissions efficiency, pointed to a focus on the built environment and its relationship with ecological concerns.

If this cohort is any indication of the trends in urban mobility, then the two startups dedicated to transit hinted at a very electric future. Borrow offers short-term, flexible leasing of electric vehicles, making them more available to those who can’t purchase the pricey cars, while Circuit, formerly The Free Ride, offers free electric shuttle transportation in five-passenger vehicles for short distances. The latter is already rolled out in 17 cities around the United States, with more than 20 cars on the streets of San Diego. With funding from advertisers, private developers, and transit agencies, the free shuttle is specially designed for first- and last-mile conditions to supplement other forms of transit, and also offers hail and on-demand services. Brooklyn residents and visitors can experience Circuit for themselves, with the company extending its Williamsburg run this summer.

Buildstream cofounder David Polanski talks about his company, which digitizes heavy construction equipment and processes to make construction sites safer and more efficient. (Courtesy MINI)

Buildstream and Toggle both address construction site safety and other challenges. Buildstream (formerly GearBuddy) utilizes IoT-based software and machine learning to digitize data collection on heavy construction equipment like bulldozers and trucks to monitor and assess construction sites in real time, allowing someone at an office desk and not just the construction manager on site to monitor what is happening. The technology is currently in use in the U.K. on one of Europe’s largest infrastructure projects, according to David Polanski, co-founder and COO of the company. Toggle, on the other hand, combines software and industrial robotics to help automate the construction site and reduce costs in the building process.

Energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions are also a central concern of this year’s cohort. Treau develops technology to improve energy efficiency in cooling and heating systems, essentially bringing HVAC and refrigerants into the modern age with lighter, more inexpensive polymers and other material innovations. The overarching promise of Treau is to reduce energy consumption in the U.S. by 10 percent.

Another vital but less glamorous aspect of city life is waste management infrastructure. Israel-based GreenQ‘s technology attaches to existing truck-based garbage collection systems to collect data and offer analytics to help meet demand and cut costs where needed. For example, in its applications across Israel cities, towns, and villages, GreenQ has identified areas that need one less collection day a week, or data on what homes or users need larger trash receptacles. The data from the garbage also delivers demographic data for those companies it partners with. Consumption and waste were also addressed by Thrilling, the first e-commerce platform for second-hand and vintage stores, with a goal of reducing carbon, waste, and water footprints in garment production.

From transit to garbage, the technology-driven platforms of these start-ups hints an increasingly wired, mobile urban future to come.

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San Francisco lawmakers have reached an agreement to temporarily scale back the need for affordable housing for new housing construction in the city. This is the latest move aimed at boosting the economic recovery and boosting dozens of stalled projects.

Real estate developers have long blamed affordable housing demands for increasing the high costs and challenges of building in one of the country’s most expensive housing markets. The agreement reflects a local economic downturn that has garnered national attention after the market, which saw the fastest rise in office rents of any major US city before the pandemic, now has some of the highest office vacancy rates.

Under officials’ housing fee reform plan, quotas would be scaled back, reducing the number of affordable units developers must include for approved projects as well as projects proposed over the next three years. The measure also lowers some development effect fees that are charged when new residential buildings are built to cover all or part of the cost of providing public services for a project such as open space or transportation.

“We are fundamentally changing the way we approve and build housing in San Francisco,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement to CoStar News. “By reforming our fees and setting them based on data, we can ensure we create new housing, jobs and the economic benefits we all want our city to have.”

It is estimated that the measure will push through about 8,000 housing units across the city that have already been approved but have not yet started construction. Approximately 2,500 of these units are planned in and around downtown San Francisco, which has evolved from a vibrant hotspot to an area with significant office vacancy rates.

Even then, multifamily rates in the city remain among the highest in the United States, averaging more than $3,100 per month.

Across the country, leaders in major cities like San Francisco, New York and Washington, DC are scrambling to restore momentum lost by the pandemic by attempting to shift the focus to new housing construction to spur demand and activity. Some have suggested ways to facilitate the conversion of vacant office buildings into housing, while others are cutting red tape around development to streamline the permitting process.

However, the commercial real estate situation in San Francisco is relatively grim compared to other cities in the United States, with the office vacancy rate rising to over 17%, according to data from CoStar, compared to about 7% in 2019. In some parts of downtown, the Availability rate at nearly 30% and with rental activity largely subdued, there are no signs of a turnaround imminent.

The combination of remote work, record-breaking sublease availability and office vacancy rates, and deteriorating socioeconomic conditions has resulted in a budget deficit of nearly $800 million since the pandemic began. Additionally, office leasing and investment is now a small fraction of what it was before 2020, meaning this important source of tax revenue is unlikely to be available again any time soon.

The housing fee reform plan is expected to go into effect on November 1 after being approved by the Board of Directors and signed by Breed. The changes expire after a period of three years unless otherwise renewed.

If approved, the proportion of inclusive housing – or the number of affordable units required for each housing project – will be reduced to between 12% and 16%. Breed’s office said this would bring “special relief” to projects that have already been approved but have been halted due to rising construction and financing costs.

Market pricing developers in San Francisco, under current requirements, are required to allocate 22% of a project’s total number of housing units to affordable housing, which is limited to households earning 50% or less of the metro area’s median income.

And based on 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a household of four earning less than $72,050 per year is eligible for affordable housing in San Francisco.

The measure would also change the way the city calculates development impact fees, which the mayor’s office says is based on a structure that is “unpredictable and results in significant increases in costs over the life of a project.” The proposed changes would limit these charges to a 2% annual increase going forward.

According to the Breed Bureau, impact fees, which vary by project and square footage, have increased by more than 30% in just the last five years.

“Our inclusive housing laws have always been about maximizing the largest possible number of affordable housing units that the private market can handle,” Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who helped draft the measure, said in a statement.

He added, “This temporary reduction in affordable housing commitments is intended to spur housing construction at this critical time of San Francisco’s economic recovery.” which they have already received approval.

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Rain swept through San Diego early Thursday morning, threatening the most anticipated opening day in Padres history.

With more midday rain downtown in the forecast, the ball club proactively moved first place 5 1/2 hours — from 1:10 p.m. to 6:40 p.m. — to allow the rain clouds to clear and allow the water-soaked field to drain and dry.

If the game against the Colorado Rockies goes ahead as planned, the Padres’ 1975 home game will remain the only rain-soaked game in the franchise’s 55-year history.

In fact, the opening game of 1975 rained consecutive nights at San Diego Stadium.

It was mostly bad luck.

Rainfall was reported for six consecutive days from April 4 to 9, although records show rainfall was just two inches in April this year.

Almost half of the precipitation (0.93 inches) fell on the opening day and a significant amount (0.41 inches) the following day.

The San Diego Union reported that the pre-game celebrations were to include a softball game an hour before field one, pitting Eddie Feigner (The King) and his court against some “media celebrities.”

Padres owner Ray Kroc was scheduled to give a presentation, having saved baseball for the city a year earlier when he bought a franchise just before moving to Washington, DC

Mayor Pete Wilson should throw the first pitch.

Fireworks were to follow after the game.

After two rainstorms, the Padres decided to postpone the celebrations to the team’s home game against the Dodgers two weeks later.

The delays shattered the crowd.

The Padres originally expected up to 42,000 fans, and some at the ticket office thought a sell-out (47,634) was a possibility. The franchise’s single-game attendance record at the time was 44,504, set on May 25 last season against Cincinnati.

When the teams finally took the field two nights later, only 19,823 people walked through the turnstiles.

Those who showed up watched as Padre’s left-hander Randy Jones threw nine shutout innings.

They also saw San Francisco right-hander Jim Barr throw 10 shutout innings in the Giants’ 2-0 win.

Despite an extra inning, the game was over in 2 hours and 11 minutes.

With so few rain replays, members of the Padres Ground Crew — especially when the team was playing Mission Valley — have been known to struggle to cover the field.

In fact, the tarp pretty much came apart in their hands at one point when the crew tried to drag it across the field after years of rolling it up along the first base line in foul territory.

That wasn’t the most memorable incident, however.

In 1990, at what was then Jack Murphy Stadium, a family of skunks dispersed after ground crew interrupted them while unrolling the tarp, which seemed like a nice, dry place to settle.

The skunks were released along the San Diego River, although they always seemed to find their way back to the stadium.

No wonder they made themselves comfortable. The probability that the tarpaulin was touched was extremely small.

The Padres media guide lists 18 rains in franchise history, with up to 15 years between rains (1983 to 1998).

Only three regular season games have been rescheduled in the team’s 19-year history at Petco Park, the most recent being on May 7, 2017 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Two years earlier, an unprecedented summer storm forced the postponement of the July 19, 2015 game against the Rockies. This ended a nine-year stretch (770 games) without a rainout.

Before that, the Padres had just two rainouts from 1983 to 2006, covering a span of 1,802 games.

If it weren’t for Buzzie Bavasi, the Padres’ first president, the number of rains would be barely a dozen.

Bavasi believed doubleheaders drew more viewers, so he would announce a game in no time.

Six of the team’s rainouts came in the first four years of the franchise’s existence.

San Diego rains

According to the Padres media guide, there have been 18 rains in San Diego over the years:

April 27, 1970 – vs. Montreal Expos

April 14, 1971 – vs. Chicago Cubs

May 7, 1971 – vs. Cincinnati Reds

May 28, 1971 – vs. New York Mets

June 5, 1972 – vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

June 6, 1972 – against Pittsburgh Pirates

April 8, 1975 – vs. San Francisco Giants

April 9, 1975 – vs. San Francisco Giants

September 10, 1976 – vs. Houston Astros (DH)

May 8, 1977 – vs. Montreal Expos (DH)

April 15, 1978 – vs. San Francisco Giants

April 28, 1980 – vs. Atlanta Braves

April 29, 1980 – vs. Atlanta Braves

April 20, 1983 – vs. Atlanta Braves

May 12, 1998 – vs. New York Mets

April 4, 2006 – vs. San Francisco Giants

July 19, 2015 – vs. Colorado Rockies

May 7, 2017 – vs Los Angeles Dodgers

The post By transferring first pitch, Padres hope to keep away from repeat of ’75 rainout appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has launched a billboard and social media campaign to bring technicians out of their San Francisco offices by the COVID-19 pandemic into the sunshine State to pull, to lure.

Since last March, thousands of tech workers have moved from San Francisco to work from other parts of California and the country.

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In late November, a group of Hawaiian business leaders launched a campaign to promote the islands as an attractive location for a remote office with a view.

Texas had also been actively recruiting workers and tech companies. The software giant Oracle has announced that it will relocate its headquarters to Texas, as has Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Over the summer, Palantir, a tech company with ties to the military and intelligence agencies, moved from Palo Alto to Colorado.

Now Miami is joining the siren call for workers with a giant billboard above the 9th Street exit of westbound I-80, which leads to Twitter’s huge San Francisco headquarters. The tech giant has told its employees that they will be working remotely until at least the summer.

The billboard carries a simple message: “Are you thinking of moving to Maimi? DM me. ”- together with the Twitter address of Suarez.

Mayor @FrancisSuarez has taken # 305/954/561 Tech Relo + start-up recruitment to another level Well done my friend @GFRLAlliance @TechGateway @TechHubFL @refreshmiami @EndeavorMIA @FAUTechRunway @SFLinnovation pic.twitter.com/ IkC8rnt2bE

– Michael Udine (@Michaeludine) February 18, 2021

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Are you thinking of moving to Miami?

You can’t make this stuff up … @ FrancisSuarez is the GOAT pic.twitter.com/nyIlOryOLT

– David Zinn (@dvdzinn) February 18, 2021

While the San Francisco exodus COVID-19 has gained national notoriety, a recent study by the San Francisco Chronicle, using new data from the United States Postal Service, showed that while workers are leaving the city, most remain on-site.

Postal analysis of address change requests over an eight-month period between March and November showed that the number of households leaving the high-priced San Francisco housing market skyrocketed by more than 77%.

More than 80,300 households moved in 2020. However, the majority moved to other Bay Area counties, including Alameda, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and Sonoma.

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The postal service data showed that Los Angeles, San Diego, Napa and Riverside completed the top 10. The Lake Tahoe area has also become very popular with soaring property prices for those seeking mountain views from their home office.

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