Mission housing development stopped by city
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors ruled unanimously Nov. 15 in favor of an appeal to delay a 157-unit housing project at 1515 South Van Ness Avenue near 26th Street, granting housing advocates a surprise victory. The appeal—which argued that the project’s impact on gentrification needed to be studied before it went further—was very similar to several other recently rejected appeals to halt projects at Bryant Street and on Potrero Hill. “We think it’s the right decision,” said Peter Papadopoulos, a lead activist against market-rate development. “The impacts are clear.”
Dakota Access Pipeline put on hold again
The U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers halted construction “pending further review” of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) on Nov. 14, citing environmental uncertainties as well as historical injustices and other factors. The news came as a relief to many Indigenous groups that have been fighting the pipeline’s construction across ancestral tribal territories. But many are worried that a Donald Trump presidency would all but assure the completion of the pipeline. Mother Jones has reported that Trump invested heavily in Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline’s construction.