SPUR Planning Policy Area

Planning

Our goal: Add new jobs and housing where they will support equity and sustainability, and make neighborhoods safe and welcoming to everyone.

SPUR’s Five-Year Priorities:

• Ensure that communities are safe, inclusive and equipped to meet all residents’ daily needs with a diverse mix of businesses and services.

• Prioritize investment in and access to parks, nature and public spaces as a driver for social cohesion and economic opportunity.

• Ensure that regionally significant neighborhood plans in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland advance equity, sustainability and prosperity.

 

Read our policy agenda

SPUR Report

Model Places

Over the next 50 years, the San Francisco Bay Area is expected to gain as many as 4 million people and 2 million jobs. In a region where a crushing housing shortage is already threatening quality of life, how can we welcome new residents and jobs without paving over green spaces or pushing out long-time community members?

SPUR Report

A Downtown for Everyone

Downtown Oakland is poised to take on a more important role in the region. But the future is not guaranteed. An economic boom could stall — or take off in a way that harms the city’s character, culture and diversity. How can downtown grow while providing benefits to all?

SPUR Report

The Future of Downtown San José

Downtown San José is the most walkable, transit-oriented place in the South Bay. But it needs more people. SPUR identifies six big ideas for achieving a more successful and active downtown.

SPUR Report

The Future of Downtown San Francisco

The movement of jobs to suburban office parks is as much of a threat to the environment as residential sprawl — if not a greater one. Our best strategy is to channel more job growth to existing centers, like transit-rich downtown San Francisco.

SPUR Report

Getting to Great Places

Silicon Valley, the most dynamic and innovative economic engine in the world, is not creating great urban places. Having grown around the automobile, the valley consists largely of lowslung office parks, surface parking and suburban tract homes. SPUR’s report Getting to Great Places diagnoses the impediments San José faces in creating excellent, walkable urban places and recommends changes in policy and practice that will help meet these goals.

SPUR Report

Secrets of San Francisco

Dozens of office buildings in San Francisco include privately owned public open spaces or “POPOS.” SPUR evaluates these spaces and lays out recommendations to improve existing POPOS and guide the development of new ones.

Updates and Events


How California Can Stop Sprawl, Reduce Emissions and Strengthen Regional Economies — All at the Same Time

News /
California can address many of its issues at once by adding new jobs and housing around passenger rail stations. In September, SPUR partnered with Governor Newsom's Regions Rise Together initiative to hold a half-day workshop for California cities with rail stations. Together we asked: How can the state help cities spur compact growth and economic development near rail?

Four Trends Shaping the Future of Downtown San Jose

News /
San Jose — long known as the bedroom community for Silicon Valley — has struggled to grow its job base. But four new trends in downtown development may be about to change that. In 2014, SPUR made recommendations for how to encourage growth downtown. Five years later, we are seeing these ideas unfold — with positive indications for San Jose’s financial footing.

SPUR Supports MTC Evolving Its Role in Investments, Land Uses and Project Delivery

Advocacy Letter
There are conversations happening throughout the region about how to improve project delivery and it is important for MTC to identify shared solutions. With over $300 billion transportation project needs, there is potential to have many tens of billions of dollars of cost overruns. If we reduce costs by 10%, that puts $30 billion back into our communities.

SPUR weighs in on SF Planning Director desired qualifications

Advocacy Letter
In the wake of John Rahaim's announced retirement, the San Francisco Planning Commission held a hearing on desired qualifications for the next planning director. SPUR weighed in with policy priorities and key characteristics of the next director.

SPUR provides comments on the City of San Jose proposed extension of the downtown high-rise incentive program

Advocacy Letter
SPUR supports staff recommendation to extend the downtown high-rise incentive program until 2023. While we believe that downtown must have a large concentration of jobs to support transit, it is also important to maximize the potential of high-rise residential development downtown. This program helps ease the financial burden due to the cost of construction and land to help spur greater development in the urban core.