2015 Silver SPUR Awards: How Jim Lazarus Puts the Public's Needs First
News / 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.
2015 Silver SPUR Awards: How Leah Shahum Makes the Streets Safe for Everyone
News / 2015 Silver SPUR honoree Leah Shahum led the 10,000-member San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for 12 years, building it into one of the strongest advocacy groups in the city, significantly growing the citywide Bike Network and the number of people riding in the city. She is now the director of the Vision Zero Network, advocating nationally for the elimination of all traffic deaths and severe injuries.
Cracking the Code
Policy Brief Great urban design is essential to creating sustainable, walkable cities. But oftentimes city codes undermine urban design principles. How might San Jose raise the bar on its urban design? SPUR proposes that the city address the ground rules of design — in the municipal code, largely under the planning and zoning code — in order to have the greatest positive impact on new development.
A Great Election for Housing
News / The November 2 election was an encouraging sign that San Franciscans are aligned behind one of the key solutions to our affordability crisis: build more housing.
Is Berkeley's Soda Tax Working?
News / Last November, the City of Berkeley made the news — and history — by becoming the first U.S city to pass a sugar-sweetened beverage tax. Measure D was a significant victory for supporters, winning with 76 percent of the vote despite huge opposition from the American Beverage Association. Now that the tax has been in place since March, researchers are beginning to assess its impact.
Will Rail Rule the Bay Area Peninsula Corridor Again?
News / The Bay Area Peninsula faces serious transportation challenges. But it wasn’t always jammed with cars. In fact, the Peninsula grew up around rail, in compact and walkable communities. Is this legacy enough to make rail a thriving transportation option for the corridor in the future? In advance of a major SPUR project addressing these issues, we take a look at the history of Peninsula transportation.
Why the Bay Area Needs a Single Regional Planning Agency
News / Many of the Bay Area's difficulties result from our fragmented system of governance. But this week, there’s an opportunity to help move that system in another direction. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will vote on whether to combine its planning staff with that of the Association of Bay Area Governments. We think this is the right move for the future of the Bay Area.
A Little Taller, A Lot Smarter
News / Have you ever walked down a San Francisco street and wondered, "Why aren’t these buildings taller?" If we’re in a housing shortage, why don’t we have six-, ten- and twelve-story residential buildings throughout the city? San Francisco is trying to change this with the Affordable Housing Bonus Program, a proposal to allow an increase in height and allowable density in exchange for building affordable housing.
SF’s Latest Tool to Save More Water: Pay Building Owners to Recycle It
News / San Francisco just upped the ante on what building owners and developers can do to reduce our water deficit (and likely, their own water bills). Changes to the city’s nonpotable water program, approved this month, will provide grant funding for existing buildings to install onsite water treatment and reuse systems — and for buildings to connect to each other and recycle water as a district.
City Launches Coastal Plan Amendment
News / LCP Amendment will tackle sea level rise, coastal management.
With El Nino Looming, Ocean Beach Gets Smarter About Storm Protection
News / The Ocean Beach Master Plan could face a major test this winter if predictions of El-Nino-driven storms come to pass. In previous storm seasons, San Francisco used large piles of boulders to armor the beach, but this degrades beach access and can even accelerate erosion. Based on recommendations from the master plan, the city is looking to weather the coming winter with less intrusive measures.
How Apps, Maps and Other Tools Can Help Activate Downtown San Jose
News / In our report The Future of Downtown San Jose , we suggested that the city can bring more people and activity downtown by providing better wayfinding signage and other tools. Since the spring, San Jose’s Office of Economic Development has been working with City ID to lay the groundwork for a permanent wayfinding program downtown. Here’s a preview of where they’re headed.
Improving Access To, Through and From the Santana Row / Valley Fair Urban Village Area
Policy Brief San Jose's two major retail, office and residential destinations — Santana Row and Valley Fair — are both planning to expand. SPUR convened a workshop to brainstorm ideas for improving access and circulation for this already-congested area. Instead of increasing automobile capacity, we focused on how to help people use transit, cycling, walking and on-demand vehicles. Our white paper offers 20 ideas for better mobility.
Urban Ag Incentives Adopted in Santa Clara County and Sacramento
News / This fall, multiple jurisdictions, including Santa Clara County and Sacramento, have followed San Francisco’s model and created urban agriculture incentive zones of their own or have taken official steps toward doing so.
New Report Says Mission Moratorium Will Only Make the Housing Crisis Worse
News / In September, San Francisco Chief Economist Ted Egan released a report analyzing the impacts of a moratorium on new housing construction in the Mission District. While the rapid changes happening in the Mission neighborhood are real and of grave concern, the report showed that a moratorium on new housing would have many costs and few benefits.
Improving Regional Planning in the Bay Area
Policy Brief There is a long history of attempts at better collaboration between the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). An MTC proposal this summer to establish a merged planning department has again opened up the discussion about the future of regional planning in the Bay Area. SPUR offers thoughts on the proposal and the broader opportunity for improved regional planning.