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


Parking + Placemaking = San Pedro Squared

News /
San Jose’s San Pedro Square is a one-sided retail and entertainment strip. Bars and restaurants line the west side of the street, but the main feature on the east side is a monolithic parking garage. In 2014, SPUR suggested making the first row of parking on the ground floor available for pop-up uses like food trucks and retail. The idea is now becoming a reality.

SPUR Supports Protected Bikes Lanes at Lake Merritt

Advocacy Letter
SPUR supports the creation of protected bike lanes around Lake Merritt. Two of our core transportation goals are to make our streets safe and inviting for pedestrians and to complete our bicycle networks. This project would accomplish both goals.

SPUR Supports The Hub EIR for MTC PDA Planning Grant

Advocacy Letter
SPUR submitted a letter of recommendation for San Francisco Planning Department's application to PDA Planning Grant program. Funding for the Hub EIR is an investment in a significant regional epicenter of transportation, housing and job growth.

SPUR Comments on Lake Merritt BART RFQ

Advocacy Letter
On March 2, 2018, BART posted a request for qualifications for building a transit-oriented development at the Lake Merritt BART Station. SPUR comments on BART's objectives and offers considerations as the selection process moves forward.