The Library Tower (AKA the U.S. Bank Tower) in Los Angeles could soon be the second tallest building west of the Mississippi thanks to San Francisco's proposed Transbay Terminal. While the Library Tower, located in downtown Los Angeles, stands at an alluring 1,018-feet tall, the Transbay Terminal is primed to win the measuring contest at 1,200-feet. You know, we're just saying. Not to brag or anything. Anyway, our tallest skyscrapers so far are as......

Pelli Clarke Pelli's Transbay Terminal vision "Although there's no guarantee that any of the towers will be built," John King and Jonathan Curiel at the Chronicle report that three crazy-tall and skyline-altering designs have been nominated to be our new Transbay Terminal. Or not. And it should be finished sometime by 2014. Again, or not. Pointless, informal poll time! Which is your favorite? Since it'll be hung bigger than the Transamerica Pyramid, commoners should......

Green Wombat was at the Bank of America / Redwood Forest Foundation announcement yesterday, which took place at the "urban redwoods" next to the Transamerica Pyramid. As part of the bank's $20 billion "green lending initiative," it's providing 100 percent financing to the non-profit for the acquisition of 50,635 acres of redwood timberlands in Northern California....

Subbing in for SFist Jon this weekend! --No problems with Critical Mass yesterday -- but let's see what Matier and Ross come up with over the next few weeks, though. --Golden State wins again! NO WAY. GSW lead the series 2-1. --There's a new GavinWatch video: Virtual Question Time. We like the magic fairy dust sound effects! --Beth Spotswood gives Gavin a hug! OOO. --Adventures in Urban Living reports in from the T-Third trenches.......

Ah, the Aliotos -- they run this town! Patriarch Joseph Alioto was the mayor of San Francisco from 1968-1976, in office not only during the building of the Transamerica Pyramid but also through the Zodiac murders -- while daughter Angela Alioto is a former Board of Supervisors president (and chicken-suit renter), while granddaughter Michela Alioto-Pier is a current Board of Supes member (and Hottest Supervisor emerita -- hm, maybe it's time for us to do......

Some organization we've never heard of and could probably care the less about, the American Institute of Architects, put together a list of the Top 25 Bestest Buildings in San Francisco. Look for attendant show on VH-1 featuring snarky comments from Hal Sparks, Ian Michael Black, and Rachel Harris. ...

It's a crime wave in the Los Altos Hills! After that bizarre break-in incident in May where the Slavic-sounding robber called the Merc News the next day to say he just wanted to see how the police worked in the town, the town's now up in arms about the theft of wooden cows from people's lawns. The police have surveillance footage of "two young men and a young woman" stuffing a cow into the back......

Childless curmudgeons, gnash your teeth in anger over another way in which society prefers folks with kids over you! Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Dept. of Children, Youth, and Families are sponsoring Family Appreciation Day this Sunday, January 8. Various museums and other local attractions are flinging open the door and child-proofing all their power outlets at places like the Asian Art Museum, SBC Park (which will be sponsoring free tours), Coit Tower (who's going to let you take the elevator for free), the zoo, the Exploratorium, and about a bazillion other places too. Those of you who live for First Tuesdays, you may want to borrow your friends' kids for the afternoon -- and those of you who hate those ankle-biters, you might want to check the list too, to figure out where you won't be this weekend. Kids must be between 0 and 18, and adult supervisors must bring proof of San Francisco residency. The rules also state that grown-ups must accompany children at all times. We now have a vision of wailing abandoned toddlers in the front foyer of the Asian Art Museum as the adults dash off into the Chinese painting galleries! ...