Why Central SoMa Needs to Focus on Jobs, Even in a Housing Shortage
By Egon Terplan, Regional Planning Director, and Kristy Wang, Community Planning Policy DirectorSan Francisco will soon adopt the Central SoMa Plan, the city’s only current major neighborhood plan. In the 230-acre area, the plan changes the zoning to allow 45,000 jobs and 7,500 housing units. Considering the housing shortage, shouldn’t there be more focus on housing in the city’s only active neighborhood plan? Not necessarily. Here are five reasons we think the plan gets the mix right.
Spare the Air, Cool the Climate: The Bay Area’s New Strategy for Clean Energy and Transportation
By Laura Tam, Sustainable Development Policy DirectorThe Bay Area Air Quality Management District has adopted a major new climate action strategy that will move the region closer to attaining its goals for cleaner air and reduced carbon emissions. SPUR strongly supports this bold vision for a post-carbon economy by 2050.
Getting to 5 Percent by 2020: Building Better Bikeways in San Jose
By Joshua Brett, San Jose Policy InternIn 2009, San Jose set a goal: 500 miles of bikeways and 5 percent of commutes taken by bicycle by 2020. Since then, the city has added 95 new miles of bikeways, yet the share of people commuting by bike has barely inched up. A recent SPUR forum looked at the reasons why — and how the city can build a bike network for everybody.
Lessons for Diridon: Denver’s Success Story That Almost Didn’t Happen
By Laura Tolkoff, Alex Shoor and Kenichiro SuzukiSince Denver Union Station reopened in 2014, it has become one of the nation’s best examples of a modern intermodal train station embedded in a transit-friendly urban neighborhood. The project has a number of important lessons for the team that’s planning the transformation of San Jose’s Diridon Station into a major transportation hub with the country’s first high-speed rail station.
2017 Good Government Awards: How Robert Beck Launched the Transformation of Treasure Island
The 2017 Good Government Awards, Held on March 22, recognized outstanding performances by Managers Working for the City and County of San Francisco. The ceremony honored Bob Beck, for his role in the transfer of nearly 300 acres of Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island, and his leadership in the 25-year process of transforming the former naval base into a sustainable, mixed-use, high-density, transit-oriented space.
2017 Good Government Awards: How Eva Cheong Modernized Transportation at SFO
The 2017 Good Government Awards, Held on March 22, recognized outstanding performances by Managers Working for the City and County of San Francisco. The ceremony honored Eva Cheong for her leadership in enabling the legal operation transportation network companies at SFO.
2017 Good Government Awards: How the S.F. Benefits Net Team Streamlined Social Good
The 2017 Good Government Awards, Held on March 22, recognized outstanding performances by Managers Working for the City and County of San Francisco. The Ceremony Honored the S.F. Net Benefits Team for integrating t he city’s CalFresh and MediCal programs into a streamlined, one-stop service delivery model that provides nearly one in four San Franciscans with nutrition assistance and low-cost health coverage.
2017 Good Government Awards: How the Zuckerberg Hospital Move Team Safely Relocated Patients and Staff
The 2017 Good Government Awards, Held on March 22, recognized outstanding performances by Managers Working for the City and County of San Francisco. The ceremony honored the Zuckerberg Hospital Move Team for their role in safely transferring patients and staff to the hospital's new trauma center.
2017 Good Government Awards: How Donny Oliveira Champions San Francisco’s Environmental Initiatives
The 2017 Good Government Awards, Held on March 22, recognized outstanding performances by Managers Working for the City and County of San Francisco. The ceremony honored Donnie Oliveira for his work creating clever, culturally sensitive public outreach programs to help San Francisco achieve its environmental protection goals.
Who Benefits From Oakland’s “Community Benefits” Negotiations?
By Robert Ogilvie, Oakland DirectorWith new construction heating up in Oakland, local groups are asking developers to pay for “community benefits” beyond what the city requires. But as Uber backs away from its plans for downtown, Oaklanders should beware that pushing too hard may lose the city the most important community benefit of all: the long-term increase in tax rolls that the city desperately needs.