Recycled Water Study Shows SF Will Still Need Hetch Hetchy
News / This November, San Francisco’s Prop. F asks voters to approve an $8 million planning process to find a way to drain Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the city’s most important water system asset. SPUR believes that this is a bad idea for many reasons , and we strongly oppose Prop F (stay tuned at www.spur.org/voterguide for our full ballot analysis in early October). The measure also calls…
Realizing the Potential of Bay Area Boulevards
News / Los Angeles is in the midst of discarding its stereotype of exclusive auto-mobility and reshaping itself as a transit metropolis. (See the August/September issue of The Urbanist for more on the expansion of transit in L.A.). Pedestrian plazas, food trucks, CicLAvia (L.A.’s version of Sunday Streets ), planned bike sharing, 1,600 miles of planned new bike lanes, and $40 billion for transit over the next…
A Farmers’ Market in the Heart of the City
News / For more than three decades, San Francisco's Heart of the City Farmers’ Market has been operating at UN Plaza, along Market Street and within sight of City Hall. The market is unique not only for its central location but also for its dedication to offering fresh produce to low-income customers living in the nearby Tenderloin neighborhood while also supporting the livelihood of California farmers. Since…
New Challenges to Funding Affordable Housing in San Jose
News / In January 2010, San Jose passed an inclusionary housing law to help do three things: address the city’s affordable housing needs, meet the state’s requirement for regional fair share housing and promote economic integration. But now a successful legal suit has thrown the future of this law into question.
A New Season for San Francisco’s Support of Urban Agriculture
News / San Francisco will soon have a new urban agriculture program. On July 17, the Board of Supervisors passed legislation — introduced by Supervisor David Chiu and co-sponsored by Supervisors Avalos, Cohen, Mar and Olague — that sets clear goals and timelines for how the city government can better support urban farmers and gardeners. The following week, the board put funding behind the program when it…
Status Report: Bus Rapid Transit Around the Bay
News / Bus rapid transit projects are in the works around the Bay Area, but progress has been intermittent. Oakland and San Leandro have voted to approve a 9.5-mile line in the East Bay. After delays, San Francisco is making progress on designs for Van Ness adn Geary. Meanwhile, the South Bay's plan to implement BRT on El Camino Real has hit a hurdle.
$195 Million Parks Bond Goes to November 2012 Ballot
News / Following extensive community outreach and planning — and months of negotiations over specific projects — the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has placed the $195 million 2012 Neighborhood Parks Bond on the November ballot. That's nearly $200 million that will help repair and upgrade facilities throughout San Francisco. The bond follows others in 2000 and 2008 to maintain and rebuild a parks system that makes…
Housing Trust Fund Heads to Voters in November
News / After many months of work by SPUR and other housing advocates, the Housing Trust Fund , has made its way through San Francisco’s legislative process and been placed on the November ballot. We were very involved in crafting this measure, which would provide a permanent source of funding for affordable housing, encourage the creation of moderate-income housing and stimulate the production of market-rate housing. This…
From Doyle Drive to Presidio Parkway: How a Landscape Architect Reinvented a Road
News / On the last weekend of April, as thousands watched, 40 giant pneumatic hammers pounded much of San Francisco’s Doyle Drive into recycled concrete and rebar. The following Monday morning, cars streamed across an elegant new viaduct over the Presidio’s Cavalry Valley.
Historic Vote Kicks off the Real Journey for High-Speed Rail
News / An epic battle over the California high-speed rail project ended with a nail-biter on July 6, when the state senate got exactly the 21 votes needed to move ahead with funding the first segment of the project. The California Assembly had already passed the bill authorizing $2.6 billion in state bonds for the first segment, and Governor Brown’s signature is assured. [Update: Governor Brown signed…
Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley
Why California needs high speed rail & how we can pay for it
The Urbanist /Silicon Valley Lands One of Four New U.S. Patent Offices
News / 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.
Reinvesting in the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market
News / Update: 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 …
Changes to Great Highway Will Improve Ocean Beach Access
News / Some 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…
Ocean Beach Master Plan Final Document
News / At last, the final Ocean Beach Master Plan document is ready for viewing and download! Many thanks to everyone who participated in this groundbreaking effort, including community members, advocates and public agencies.
San Jose Passes New Incentives for More Active Streets Downtown
News / Many 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…
The Sunol AgPark: Farming City-Owned Land Outside SF
News / Thirty 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…
June Election Results: SF Votes to Save Murals — and Recology
News / 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 to use competitive bidding in the award of contracts for…
SF Takes Steps Toward New Urban Ag Program
News / San 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…