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July 9, 2012Silicon Valley Lands One of Four New U.S. Patent Offices By Leah Toeniskoetter, SPUR San Jose Director Word of a big win for Silicon Valley came July 2 from the U.S. Commerce Department. For the first time in its history, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will open four offices outside of Virginia, and the western region office will be located in Silicon Valley. California produces one quarter of the approximately 500,000 patents filed annually in the United States. The volume of filings has created a year-long backlog, which encouraged President Obama to direct that four new offices...
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July 9, 2012Reinvesting in the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market by Eli Zigas, Food Systems and Urban Agriculture Program ManagerUpdate: On July 17, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the expansion proposal and new lease for the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market.The San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, the city’s hub for fresh produce, is looking to modernize and expand. And, this month, the SF Board of Supervisors will be considering a proposal to allow it to do just that.The market is a critical piece of the region’s food system infrastructure. Its loading docks, warehouses and offices...
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July 5, 2012Changes to Great Highway Will Improve Ocean Beach Access By Benjamin Grant, Public Realm and Urban Design Program ManagerSome important improvements that SPUR recommended in the Ocean Beach Master Plan will happen right away, thanks to quick work by the San Francisco Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Recreation and Park Commission. This winter DPW will construct a planted median in the center of the Great Highway from Lincoln Way to Balboa Street as part of a previously scheduled project to repave the roadway. DPW acting director Mohammed Nuru, who sits on the Ocean Beach Master Plan Steering Committee,...
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June 26, 2012San Jose Passes New Incentives for More Active Streets Downtown By Leah Toeniskoetter, SPUR San Jose DirectorMany downtown areas have policies in place that restrict ground-floor storefronts for walk-in businesses such as retail, restaurants and entertainment. The idea is to encourage people to continue exploring (and hopefully shopping) on foot. But in an economic downturn, when retail stores may remain vacant for years, dark storefronts can create dead spaces of their own, further challenging the success of surviving retail tenants. With ground-floor retail vacancy rates hovering between 15 and 20...
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June 20, 2012The Sunol AgPark: Farming City-Owned Land Outside SF by Eli Zigas, Food Systems and Urban Agriculture Program ManagerThirty miles east of San Francisco, four farm businesses are growing food for market amidst the hills of Sunol. Though the rows of tomatoes, strawberries, kale, and other crops are typical of the region the land use arrangement at the site, known as the Sunol AgPark, is anything but typical. That’s because the park is on public land owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) directly adjacent to the Sunol Water Temple. In 2006, the PUC began an innovative land...
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June 19, 2012June Election Results: SF Votes to Save Murals — and Recology By Corey Marshall, Good Government Policy Director The shortest primary ballot in 16 years and the lowest turnout ever (30.83 percent) for a presidential primary. San Francisco’s ballot is experiencing a lot of interesting firsts in recent elections, but while the number of measures appears to be dwindling, their content is consistent: expensive implications.This election, San Franciscans considered two proposals to change city services. Proposition A, a proposal to require the city...
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June 14, 2012SF Takes Steps Toward New Urban Ag Program by Eli Zigas, Food Systems and Urban Agriculture Program ManagerSan Francisco may soon have a new urban agriculture program. On June 11, the Land Use and Economic Development Committee of the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed legislation introduced earlier by Supervisor David Chiu that seeks to increase the coordination, efficacy and breadth of city support for urban agriculture. Based on recommendations from SPUR's report Public Harvest as well as calls for change from community organizations including the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance...
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June 5, 2012Plan for New Transit Center District Moves Toward Adoption By Tomiquia Moss, Community Planning Policy DirectorUpdate: Mayor Ed Lee signed the Transit Center District Plan into passage on August 8, after unanimous approval by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.Things are heating up again for San Francisco's Transit Center District Plan. On May 24, the SF Planning Commission voted 5-1 to certify the final draft of the environment impact report that will move the plan forward to the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Economic Development Committee. In addition, the commission voted to...
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May 29, 2012Reforming City Support for Urban Agriculture in San Francisco by Eli Zigas, Food Systems and Urban Agriculture Program ManagerSeven city agencies spent nearly a million dollars supporting urban agriculture projects in San Francisco in 2010-2011. Yet there is no single staff person responsible for coordinating that funding, nor any overarching goals for how the money is used. Urban agriculture legislation introduced on April 24 by Supervisor David Chiu, however, would change that.The proposed ordinance, which implements a number of the recommendations in SPUR’s recent report Public Harvest, would:Set goals, with...
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May 21, 2012Business Tax Reform Heads to November Ballot By Corey Marshall, Good Government Policy Director As the deadline rapidly approaches to submit measures for the November ballot, the City and County of San Francisco is moving ahead aggressively with its effort to reform the city’s business tax. While the city has made significant progress in recent weeks, there are some signs that the complexity and commitment to reform are being further complicated by increasing calls for a tax that would not just replace revenue from the existing payroll tax but bring the city additional funds.City...
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