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SPUR 2007 ANNUAL REPORT
PROGRAM UPDATES:
SPUR's Top Policy Goals for 2008
This article appears in the April 2008 issue of Urbanist
Regional Planning
Between now and 2030, the Bay Area is expected to grow by 1.5 million people and roughly the same number of jobs.
The question of where all these people will live and work is one that we need to take very seriously. San Francisco offers some important opportunities to help address regional job sprawl and housing sprawl and, in doing so, to combat a crisis — global climate change — that will particularly affect those of us who want to continue living in coastal cities well into the 21st century. Over the past year, SPUR has continued a push to broaden public perception of San Francisco planning issues – from a purely local view to one that encompasses the regional context in policy decisions. We learned more and more about the regional and megaregional challenges facing San Francisco, making our work to fight sprawl and climate change even more urgent.
The Northern California megaregion
For several years, SPUR has been leading the effort to define the Northern California megaregion. In November 2007, SPUR produced a major report on the megaregion, extending from Carmel to Reno and from Fresno to Mendocino. We believe that the megaregion frame can help us think in new ways about economic development, social equity and ecological stewardship across a big part of California. This paper already has been discussed in nearly a dozen newspaper articles and in academic literature about megaregions. The project exemplifies the key role that “thought leadership” can play in solving long-standing problems. SPUR is very grateful to the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation for its support of our work in planning for the Northern California megaregion. In 2008, we will work closely with the Great Valley Center, Bay Area Council and others to build relationships across Northern California.
Read our policy paper on the Northern California megaregion at www.spur.org/documents/110107_article_01.shtm.
Bay Area industrial lands
Often forgotten in our discussions around local planning challenges is the fate of the firms that remain on land dedicated for industrial uses. While San Francisco has been moving forward with a zoning plan to more effectively manage changes in zoning and its real-world impact on land use, other cities in the Bay Area continue to rezone land in ways that do not take a sufficiently long view of their effects. SPUR is a member of a group of cities and organizations that seek a more rational approach to decisions about zoning, rezoning and preservation decisions for industrial land. We participated in a University of California, Berkeley conference on the issue and will continue pushing for greater collaboration among jurisdictions throughout the region.
Find out more about UC Berkeley Center for Community Innovation’s conference on industrial land use at communityinnovation.berkeley.edu/04BA2007-11-30-Industrial-Land.html.
Transportation 2035
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is revising the long-range plan that establishes its regional transportation investment program for the next 25 years. Thanks to the cooperation of the MTC staff and commissioners, we succeeded in emphasizing the idea that transportation investments should reward communities that facilitate good land use — that is, housing and jobs close to transit, and walkable and bikable communities. This plan, dubbed Transportation 2035, is the first that includes a deep collaboration with the Association of Bay Area Governments. It could become a model for the nation because of the way it links transportation investments to land use, and its funding of transit, walking and bicycling.
Learn more about the MTC’s 2035 plan at www.mtc.ca.gov/T2035.
High-Speed Rail
The failure of the State Legislature to put a bond measure funding high-speed rail on the ballot last year was a disappointment for advocates of the swift trains that could change the game for transportation in California. But behind-the-scenes work by legislators and a growing public demand for fast train service built support in 2007 for another try at the ballot in November 2008. That try was successful; all signs are “go” for a $9.9 billion bond measure that will begin building a high-speed rail system that will get travelers from downtown San Francisco to San Jose in just 30 minutes or to Los Angeles in a little more than two and a half hours.
Visit the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Web site at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov.
Transportation and Land Use Coalition
SPUR continues to be very active in the Transportation and Land Use Coalition, a regional organization that advocates for a sustainable, socially just Bay Area through its work on the development and implementation of transportation and land-use policies. SPUR Policy Director Sarah Karlinsky served on TALC’s Board of Directors in 2007 and will continue to do so in 2008. TALC’s major efforts this past year include organizing an advocacy campaign to influence the Regional Transportation Plan 2009 update, supporting High Speed Rail, taking up the challenge of climate change and protecting state funding for transit, among other important initiatives.
Learn more about TALC at www.transcoalition.org.
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