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SPUR Publications

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

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Infrastructure Bay Area

SPUR Report
SPUR’s report More for Less examines how the Bay Area can reverse its poor track record of delivering large, complex public transit projects on time, on budget and without major defect. This companion report details one of our most significant recommendations: to establish Infrastructure Bay Area, a specialized entity that would lead the procurement and delivery of all the region’s major transit projects.

Why the Bay Area Struggles with Transit Project Delivery, and How to Fix It

News /
The Bay Area has underinvested in transit for decades. Today, in the midst of a pandemic, it’s hard to imagine how the region will catch up: Our major transit projects regularly take decades to build and rank among the most expensive in the world. SPUR’s latest report offers three big ideas for delivering transit projects in less time,for less money and with better public value.

Six Ways to Better Deliver Benefits and Feed Hungry Californians

News /
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, social service agencies have been under-resourced and ill-prepared to deal with the huge surge of people seeking help to meet their basic needs. SPUR offers six ways the state can improve the benefits process and help Californians get the food assistance and other services they need.

Does State Tax Policy Discourage Housing Production?

Policy Brief
California’s housing crisis is due in part to a failure to build enough new housing. Many California cities view housing as less fiscally beneficial to build than other types of development. SPUR and California Forward explore whether cities that receive a low share of the state property tax would have an incentive to produce more housing if their share of the property tax was increased.

Model Places

SPUR Report
Over the next 50 years, the San Francisco Bay Area is expected to gain 4 million people and 2 million jobs. In a region where a crushing housing shortage already threatens quality of life, how can we welcome new residents and jobs without paving over green spaces or pushing out long-time community members? SPUR partnered with AECOM to envision an equitable and sustainable future region.

Remembering John K. Stewart

News /
John Stewart was a pillar of the real estate and affordable housing communities across California. Founder and chairman of the John Stewart Company, John was an entrepreneur who devoted his life to providing high quality, well-designed, well-managed affordable housing. Today the company manages over 420 projects with 33,000 units, housing 100,000 residents statewide, and is owner or general partner of a substantial number of these.

Mayors Breed, Liccardo and Schaaf Reflect on Their Leadership in Conversation with SPUR's CEO, Alicia John-Baptiste

News /
SPUR recently convened the mayors of the three largest cities in the region to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their communities. Each described how they have responded to this crisis, the meaningful policy changes they've implemented and what their vision is for long-term recovery that addresses systemic racism and provides inclusive economic opportunity.

Good Food for All: San Francisco Hospitals and Jails Commit to Improve Food Purchasing

News /
Two years after beginning an assessment of their food purchasing practices, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Public Health will start aligning these practices with standards set by the Center for Good Food Purchasing program. The goal is to leverage the agencies’ significant purchasing power by making choices that will improve the environment and human health.

The Future of Transportation

SPUR Report
Will the rise of new mobility services like Uber and bike sharing help reduce car use, climate emissions and demand for parking? Or will they lead to greater inequality and yet more reliance on cars? SPUR proposes how private services can work together with public transportation to function as a seamless network and provide access for people of all incomes, races, ages and abilities.

Can Private Mobility Services Support (Not Undermine) Public Transit?

News /
SPUR explores how public transportation and private emerging mobility providers can play to their respective strengths, function as a seamless network, and provide access for people of all incomes, races, ages and abilities. Together we can create a transportation system with fewer car trips, lower greenhouse gas emissions and increased access for the region’s most vulnerable residents.

From Copenhagen to Tokyo

Research
Different countries have vastly different ways of organizing their housing policies and real estate markets. Could some of them hold solutions to the Bay Area’s housing crisis? To find out, SPUR and AECOM explored housing delivery in Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Singapore. Each has a compelling and noteworthy approach that could inform future policy innovation in the Bay Area.

SPUR Co-Sponsors Bill to Make Sustainable Transportation an Essential Part of California’s Recovery

News /
Senate Bill 288, co-sponsored by SPUR, aims to accelerate sustainable transportation projects and jumpstart a green recovery, creating jobs and reviving local economies while improving public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. California can get projects — and jobs — going by taking a hard look at the regulatory processes that slow down, stop or increase the cost of sustainable transportation projects.

Six Global Lessons in Transit Recovery

News /
Transit agencies around the world are facing a shared existential crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. When can mass transit be “mass” again? This spring, SPUR and AECOM convened transit agencies, advocates and practitioners to explore solutions and share lessons learned. Six ideas emerged that transit agencies in the Bay Area should consider as they continue to navigate this crisis.

How Should We Rebuild Government After COVID-19?

News /
Should some smaller Bay Area cities merge as a way to weather the economic fallout wrought by COVID-19? The pandemic will have a significant impact on local governments — but it might also present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild a governance system that better serves the Bay Area.

Remembering Ron Miguel

News /
San Francisco lost an extraordinary yet humble citizen activist with the passing of Ron Miguel on June 28. A former president of the San Francisco Planning Commission and former president of the Planning Association for the Richmond District, Ron was a long-time active member of SPUR and the founding chairman of the Housing Action Coalition.

How California Can Use CEQA to Deliver Healthy Communities

News /
California has finally changed how the transportation impacts of new development and infrastructure are measured, switching from a decades-old metric that prioritized cars to one that will favor less-polluting forms of transportation. This straightforward yet monumental change will make it easier to build healthy, dense, walkable neighborhoods and will discourage sprawl development that degrades air quality and hastens climate change.

How Cities Can Support Ground Floor Business Survival

News /
SPUR has released Keeping the Doors Open , a set of 10 recommendations for cities to implement as they work to assist ground floor businesses in reopening while shelter-in-place orders remain in effect. We recommend three principles to keep in mind: move quickly and remain flexible, focus on neighborhoods, and center equity in the allocation of resources and staff time.

Four Tools for Stimulating Economic Recovery Through New Homebuilding

News /
During the last recession, homebuilding ground to a halt. We can’t let the same thing happen this time. What can be done to keep the pipeline of new housing open through this crisis and recovery? SPUR and the Terner Center offer four principles to help guide new housing construction and facilitate economic recovery.