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SPUR Publications

SPUR articles, research, policy recommendations, and our magazine, The Urbanist

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Why Market-Rate Housing Construction Matters for Low-Income Households

News /
Few low-income Californians will ever have the opportunity to live in a subsidized affordable housing unit. How do we help everyone else? A new paper from the California Legislative Analyst’s Office provides evidence that market-rate housing construction plays an important role for low-income households. The LAO’s data shows that urban counties nationwide with more housing construction had slower rent growth than California coastal cities.

Designing the Bay Area's Second Transbay Rail Crossing

Policy Brief
Since the BART Transbay Tube opened in 1974, the Bay Area has grown from 4.3 million to 7.6 million people, yet we have added no new capacity for crossing the Bay. Our overburdened system threatens the region’s quality of life and its ability to grow. It's time to start planning a second transbay rail crossing. We offer seven recommendations for how to get started now.

SPUR Oakland Opens to the Public

News /
Thank you to everyone who joined us on January 27 to mark the official opening of SPUR Oakland at 1544 Broadway. More than 500 people came by throughout the day to welcome SPUR to Oakland. We were proud to introduce our community-oriented space, one where Oakland residents can learn from one another and share ideas about the future of their city.

Shoreline Redesign: the India Basin Design Competition

News /
Located on San Francisco’s eastern edge, India Basin Shoreline Park is full of promise and begging for attention. The parks department and the Trust for Public Land have launched a design competition to help realize the park’s potential. The five finalists recently presented their design proposals at SPUR.

(A Little) More Housing for Everyone

News /
Listening to some San Francisco advocates, it’s easy to get the impression that the proposed Affordable Housing Bonus Program will dramatically alter the city overnight. But this ignores two key factors. First, the program has been very thoughtfully crafted to add housing without displacing anyone. Second, the length of the building cycle means these changes will happen gradually, over two decades or more.

Merge Regional Agencies to Address Common Problems

News /
The Bay Area is on the cusp of the biggest change in regional planning in decades. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments have just begun a study into how they might merge. Our editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle explains why this is the right move for the region.

Updating San Jose’s 2040 Plan: What We Need to Get Right

News /
When San Jose adopted its general plan, Envision 2040, it signaled a major pivot toward an urban future. This year will see the first review of the plan since its adoption in 2011. G etting the plan right is key to the city’s future, and this review is a chance to do just that. Here are the big issues we need to address.

SPUR Opens on Broadway: A Home for Urbanism in Oakland

News /
For more than 100 years, SPUR has helped develop solutions to the most important issues facing the Bay Area. Now we are expanding our community and our work in Oakland — and we need your help. With our beautiful new space at 1544 Broadway, SPUR will create a community-oriented place where Oakland residents can come together to envision the future of their city.

The Next Big Moves for Transportation on the Bay Area Peninsula

News /
Both Caltrain and highways on the Bay Area Peninsula are more crowded than ever. Will we solve the area’s transportation challenges in the future — or will things only get worse? SPUR is working with a group of partners to shape a vision for the Peninsula travel corridor. We believe passenger rail and other transit can be the backbone of the solution.

Strengthening the Budget of the Bay Area’s Largest City

News /
Over the last decade and a half, San Jose’s budget has been on an economic rollercoaster. Two recessions, budget deficits, lay-offs and service cuts have all plagued the largest city in the Bay Area. SPUR has been exploring some of the factors that have affected San Jose’s fiscal position, as well as analyzing it's performance compared to other cities in Santa Clara County and California.

Un-doing the Grand Bargain That Created the Housing Trust Fund

News /
In 2012, the voters of San Francisco passed Proposition C, a consensus measure that created a $1.2 billion set-aside for affordable housing while also reducing the on-site inclusionary housing requirement, which obliges developers of market-rate housing to build some affordable units on the same site. Now some city leaders are revisiting whether the measure asked enough from developers.

Celebrating 2015: A Special Message From SPUR

News /
2015 has been a significant year for SPUR. We officially became a regional organization, with offices in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. By helping to coordinate policy and planning work across the region, we can make much greater progress on our goals. But we can't do it without your help. We hope you'll consider making a contribution to SPUR at this year end.

What It Will Take to Connect BART to the South Bay

News /
The BART Silicon Valley extension is the largest transportation investment the South Bay will make for decades. Phase I of the extension is under construction and scheduled to start service in the fall of 2017. Now the Santa Clara VTA and many others must answer the question: Where will the money for Phase II come from?

​2015 Silver SPUR Awards: How Jim Lazarus Puts the Public's Needs First

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2015 Silver SPUR honoree Jim Lazarus is the senior vice president of public policy for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. A former deputy mayor and deputy city attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, he has played a key role in good government reforms in San Francisco.

2015 Silver SPUR Awards: How Carol Galante Changes Lives by Housing People

News /
Silver SPUR honoree Carol J. Galante ran BRIDGE Housing for 13 years, leading one of California’s largest affordable housing development organizations. Galante served President Obama from 2009-2014 as the Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She is now a distinguished professor in Affordable Housing and Urban Policy at UC Berkeley.

2015 Silver SPUR Awards: How Harlan Kelly Jr. Builds a More Sustainable City

News /
Silver SPUR honoree Harlan Kelly Jr.,the general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, directs a 2,300-person team to revitalize the city’s water and sewer infrastructure. His leadership in San Francisco government has spanned many departments, where he played a managerial and key civic engineering roles as San Francisco’s City Engineer.