Department of Human Resources

1. San Francisco Citywide Cultural Resources Survey: Context and Theme Development (2 Positions)

The intern will use primary and secondary sources, including the Department’s existing documentation (historic context statements, surveys, and environmental evaluations) to create brief historic context statements on themes identified as part of the Citywide Survey. Examples of potential themes are: Social Halls; Panama-Pacific International Exposition; and Neighborhood development. The context statements will include identifying key people and/or events associated with the theme(s), determining relevant property types, and documenting common architectural styles associated with the theme(s). This information will aid staff in the evaluation of potentially significant sites related to these contexts and themes as a part of the Citywide Survey. Interns will work with staff to survey identified properties related to specific themes. The research and documentation included in these brief historic context statements will inform the development of a Citywide Historic Context Statement.

2. San Francisco Citywide Cultural Resources Survey: Context Statement Evaluative Framework Analysis

The intern will examine the Department’s existing Historic Context Statements and other documentation in order to create a database of building typologies associated with each theme and/or context, architectural style(s), and methods of evaluation. The intern will create a master document containing all existing evaluative frameworks with cross-references to existing context statements and will make recommendations regarding development of additional evaluative frameworks to assist the Department with the Citywide Historic Context Statement and Survey.

3. San Francisco Citywide Historic Resources Survey: Architectural Context Statement

The intern will use primary and secondary sources, including the Department’s previous documentation to create brief descriptions of the City’s predominate architectural styles and summarize their historical evolution, to identify architects associated with said styles, and to identify character-defining features for each style. Important components of the project include research about important/significant architects/developers working in predominant styles, an approximate era when these styles were popular, and neighborhoods where these styles are common. Working closely with staff, the intern will be responsible for cataloguing examples throughout the City of each style across various building typologies. This information will aid staff with the evaluation of potentially significant sites related to these styles and inform the work of the Citywide Historic Context Statement and Survey.

4. San Francisco Citywide Historic Resources Survey: Architectural Biographies

The intern will use primary and secondary sources and Department-produced documents to create a database of the City’s 19th and 20th-century architects, engineers, builders and developers. Working closely with staff, the intern will be responsible for cataloguing information about each architect, engineer, builder and/or developer, their significant projects, associated architectural styles and years active. In addition to providing information to develop individual biographies, the intern will develop a mechanism to map project sites across the City by architect, builder, and/or developer. All this information will aid staff with the evaluation of properties that are potentially significant for their association with master architects, builders, and developers and will inform the work of the Citywide Survey.

5. Cultural Resource Training Materials

The San Francisco Planning Department is developing training materials to promote archaeological awareness among project sponsors who have construction projects that could impact cultural resources. The intern will produce a short video to be hosted on the Department’s website that will inform viewers about the importance of archaeological resources in San Francisco, the legislation that protects these resources, how to identify common resources, and provide guidance on the actions to take following a discovery during excavation. In addition, the intern would design an easy-to navigate pamphlet to supplement the video. The intern would work closely with staff archaeologists and preservationists to develop a content script and learn about the various resources in the city. Intern tasks may include visiting active construction sites and archaeological excavations, coordinating with archaeological and/or preservation consultants, reviewing previous cultural resource reports, visiting curation facilities to capture artifact imagery, interviewing Native Americans, and as needed site visits for videography.

6. Transportation Review Modernization

The Planning Department’s Transportation Impact Analysis Guidelines identify how the department conducts transportation review. The intern will assist the Department in conducting transportation reviews that reflect recent trends and current topics of interest in transportation review: urban goods delivery and transportation network companies as it relates to vehicle miles traveled, among other topics. The intern will analyze existing data and research and collect additional research, as needed, including research on curb management (freight and passenger loading). This research will be used to inform updates to and background and guidance for the SF Travel Demand tool, a web-based tool referenced in the guidelines. The intern may also create templates to help streamline department staff’s review of transportation studies.

7.  Update to Environmental Planning’s Graphics and Development of SOP Process Diagrams

The intern would help standardize the Environmental Planning division’s internal and external materials and update commonly used graphics to create a more cohesive and clearer look, which would make the Department and consultant-prepared materials more visually uniform, legible, and ensure that public disclosure requirements are met. In collaboration with our graphics team, the intern will update existing document and PowerPoint templates, maps, and miscellaneous documents within the Environmental Planning division so that all of department materials share the same updated graphic identity. The intern will also create graphical versions of Standard Operating Procedures (complete with flow charts and diagrams) to supplement the existing text-based Standard Operating Procedures in the Environmental Planning Division. 

8.  Privately-Owned Public Open Space (POPOS) – Monitoring and Compliance

The intern will assist the Zoning & Compliance Division of the Planning Department on enforcement of Privately-Owned Public Open Space (POPOS). The three phases of this project for the Summer of 2020 will include Phase 1: collect data, perform analysis, and make determinations about existing non-compliant POPOS, Phase 2: research how other municipalities enforce and monitor public open space programs, and Phase 3: develop strategies for enforcement and monitoring.

9. Co-Sharing – Emerging Trend or Here to Stay?

The intern will conduct research and analysis on co-sharing of existing spaces and reveal how other cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and London are defining and regulating this type of activity. The Planning Department regulates land use based on zoning districts.  However, based upon recent complaints, people are offering up their spaces for incidental uses and activities other than for their original intended purposes or authorized uses.  Often times, the primary uses are still there, and the incidental uses are simply occurring during the time/hours when there are limited activities associated with the primary uses.   For example, a restaurant that primarily opens for dinner, may lease up their seating area for co-working office space during the day, or a warehouse may lease up their parking lot on the weekend for a wedding or an office party.  People are also offering up their dining rooms in their apartments as meeting spaces for conferences.  Without knowing why, where, when and how often this is happening, it is difficult for the enforcement team to ascertain the frequency and gravity of this likely Planning Code violation and how to properly enforce.

10. Update to Standards for Implementing Transportation Management Program

The intern will primarily work with the transportation planning staff to research best practices, conduct interviews with stakeholders, coordinate with other city agencies, and develop recommendations for updating standards of compliance with Section 163 of the Planning Code.  Section 163 was developed and adopted to minimize transportation impacts of office employment and residential development in the downtown and South of Market areas. It requires large developments in those areas to maintain a transportation management program and employ project site-specific transportation brokerage services to shift away from single occupancy commuting and move toward more sustainable travel behaviors, like ridesharing, taking transit, biking, or working from home. While most of the requirements within this section are still very useful, there is a desire to update the standards to encourage more aggressive results that are in line with current citywide mode shift, sustainability, and safety goals.

11. Climate Resilience Initiative

The intern will help develop publicly accessible mapping and resource tools that help inform people and projects about a variety of climate hazards, such as sea level rise (SLR), coastal flooding (FEMA), inland stormwater flood scenarios, extreme heat, and biodiversity, as well as vulnerability of local assets (City-owned and others), changes in population and jobs over time, and new shoreline project elevation (e.g. Mission Rock, Pier 70, Crane Cove Park, India Basin, etc.). Help compile relevant and publicly-accessible data from multiple City, State, and Federal sources, as well as the City’s SLR Vulnerability and Consequences Assessment, into an interactive interface that also includes strategies and resources to enhance climate resilience at multiple scales. Considerations of important co-benefits like equity, biodiversity, and general sustainability, and coordinating with existing online City tools, will also be important.

12. 2022 Housing Element

The intern would support the work of the Housing Policy Team of the Planning Department on the 2022 Housing Element.  The Housing Element is a policy document that aims to meet the current housing needs and the future. The primary responsibilities include: (1) compiling housing and socio-economic data for the draft Housing Element; (2) compiling socio-economic data from the Census by neighborhoods, and (3) creating material for community outreach and for the draft Housing element, such as handouts, presentation boards, and graphics. Other responsibilities may involve (1) writing sections of the draft Housing Element; (2) supporting community outreach and engagement events; (3) performing policy research and analysis, and other related work.

13. Management Strategy for Open Space Pilot(s) in the Central SoMa Freeway Corridor

San Francisco’s South of Market (SoMa) district is a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood bisected by the elevated I-80 Freeway. To meet the identified need for more open space in Central SoMa to support additional local housing and address long standing environmental justice issues, the City is currently formulating a comprehensive freeway corridor transformation strategy. This strategy will generate concepts for open space on state-owned land under and next to the freeway, including one or more early-implementation pilot projects.

The SoMa freeway corridor presents significant opportunities for open space, as well as locational complexities because of the adjacent freeway, which may require higher levels of programming and maintenance. To help fund maintenance needs, recent state legislation (AB 857) allows limited on-site commercial uses to be integrated into freeway open space projects. The intern will help draft a sustainable management strategy for one or more open space pilots, working with staff from multiple City agencies to flesh out concepts and identify funding needs and sources.

14. Planning for Freight & Deliveries - Identifying Best Practices and Policy Options for Goods Movement in San Francisco

Production, Distribution and Repair (PDR) businesses contribute to San Francisco’s vitality by diversifying the economy, providing quality employment for the city’s residents, delivering critical goods and services to local residents and businesses, and creating innovative, global exports. Goods movement is critical to the core functions of Production, Distribution and Repair (PDR) businesses and is an important part of ConnectSF’s goal related to economic vitality. Especially in recent years, goods movement to and through San Francisco has become a growing challenge for local PDR businesses.

This internship will identify best practices for goods movement planning in dense urban areas and identify policy priorities for serving the needs of SF-based production and distribution businesses. It will comprise a literature review, primary and secondary research, interviews, and production of a final summary document. The findings will create the foundation for goods movement policies in the Transportation Element of the General Plan and will inform freight-related strategies in ConnectSF’s Streets and Freeways Study.

15. Youth Engagement Strategy and Program

The intern will research other cities and practices to evaluate planning-related youth engagement work in those cities. The research will also include other youth-engagement tools that have been utilized and assessed for incorporation into the Planning Department’s work plan. Research tools could include interviews and phone calls with staff from other cities, internal department interviews, internet searches, and interviews with staff from other related programs that focus on youth engagement. The intern will develop a database of other cities’ programs and practices as well as an inventory of the Planning Department’s past youth engagement activities. The database of existing programs and practices will be evaluated for “fit” with the Planning Department’s goals and developed along with the Department’s existing inventory to guide the Department towards a final youth engagement strategy.