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May 23, 2013Restoring San Francisco’s Urban Watersheds By Laura Tam, Sustainable Development Policy DirectorBefore we paved the streets of San Francisco, little creeks and wetlands were abundant. Today, as in most cities, these natural water features have been replaced by a sewer network that effectively throws away rainwater instead of finding ways to reuse it. But a new 20-year, $6 billion capital program could be the start of a new approach to stormwater management. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is launching this effort with a handful of small demonstration projects — and the...
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May 20, 2013Central Corridor: A Good Plan, But It Needs More Height By Sarah Karlinsky, Deputy DirectorLast month the San Francisco Planning Department released a draft of the Central Corridor Plan, the result of several years of planning efforts. The plan represents an enormous opportunity to build on the substantial transit investment in the area, including the $1.6 billion Central Subway project, as well as existing transit in the form of the 4th and Caltrain station and the N-Judah Muni line, as well as many frequent local buses. While the plan is a great step in the right direction, it...
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May 16, 2013Why We Love Alleys By Benjamin Grant, Public Realm and Urban Design Program ManagerStarting May 20, SPUR embarks on a week-long experiment in public placemaking in San Francisco. Working with the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District, we will close Annie Alley to car traffic in order to host a series of outdoor public events, including a picnic, a film screening, a concert and a discussion of the role Zuccotti Park played in Occupy Wall Street.What is it about an alley that inspires urban invention? As we kick off our week of investigation, we pause to reflect on the humble...
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May 7, 2013Fixing Transit in SF's Northeast Neighborhoods By Lenka Belkova and Ratna AminHow would you improve the transit system for neighborhoods in the northeast part of San Francisco? This was the key question SPUR asked at a transit planning workshop for the city’s northeast neighborhoods last month. The workshop brought together representatives from key public agencies, North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf businesses, the tourism industry and neighborhood advocacy groups, as well as transportation professionals.Neighborhoods in Chinatown, North Beach and other...
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May 6, 2013San Francisco Gets Its First Eco-District By Laura Tam, Sustainable Development Policy DirectorOver the last year, there’s been palpable buzz in San Francisco around eco-districts — essentially, sustainability plans that operate at the neighborhood scale. We’ve learned about different eco-district models and how eco-districts are working in Portland, Seattle, Brooklyn and Denver. The San Francisco Planning Department has been especially proactive in this learning process, putting together numerous presentations on district-scale infrastructure and sustainability...
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April 29, 2013What You Need to Know About Plan Bay Area By Egon Terplan and Ethan Lavine SPUR has written several times about the development of Plan Bay Area since the planning process was kicked off a few years ago. Last month, the draft of the plan was finally released. What are the highlights in this 158-page plan and the accompanying 1,300-page environmental impact report? This post provides a summary of the Plan Bay Area draft and some of its key points. Keep an eye on the news feed at spur.org in the coming weeks for our official comment letter on the plan and what we think...
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April 25, 2013Can SF’s Transportation Task Force Point the Way Forward? By Ratna Amin, Transportation Policy DirectorSan Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has selected SPUR Executive Director Gabriel Metcalf and Monique Zmuda of the SF Office of the Controller to co-chair his 2030 Transportation Task Force. While the mayor has made it clear that fixing Muni one of his top priorities, the group will look broadly at both local and regional transportation needs. Like other task forces the mayor has convened, this one will tackle a seemingly intractable problem: transportation funding.The group’s goal is to “...
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April 24, 2013San Francisco Passes Landmark Earthquake Retrofit Law By Sarah Karlinsky, Deputy DirectorLast Thursday, on the 107th anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake, SF Mayor Ed Lee signed the mandatory soft-story retrofit program into law. SPUR has long advocated for this legislation, which will help make San Francisco more resilient in a major earthquake.Soft-story buildings are those with large openings for storefront windows or garages, which cause the ground floor to be weak, leaving it vulnerable to damage or even collapse in an earthquake. The legislation focuses on wood-frame apartment...
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April 2, 2013Three State Bills Worth Watching: Urban Ag, Farm Protection and a Soda Tax by Eli Zigas, Food Systems and Urban Agriculture Program ManagerOf the many food and agriculture bills California legislators have introduced this year, three stand out for their potential impact on the Bay Area’s food system: a tax incentive to promote the use of private land for urban agriculture; a change to CEQA to require agricultural land preservation for certain projects; and a statewide sugary-beverage tax. Here’s a closer look at these bills, which we will be tracking this year. Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone Act (AB 551)...
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March 25, 2013Bay Area Bike Sharing Moves Closer to Reality By Molly SchremmerAfter a number of delays, the wheels are finally turning on a bike-sharing program for the Bay Area. Earlier this month, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) signed a contract with Alta Bike Share, which runs successful programs in Washington, D.C., and Boston. A Bay Area pilot program will launch this summer for two years of testing with 700 bikes at 70 locations from San Jose to San Francisco.Bike sharing allows anyone to rent a bicycle from a self-serve kiosk and drop it off...
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