Since 1934 San Francisco has relied on the Tuolumne River in Yosemite for almost all of its water. But to protect the health of the river and establish a more resilient water source in times of drought and disaster, the City is introducing the use of recycled and groundwater and furthering conservation efforts.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Washington, D.C. was built as a celebration of democracy and civic pride. Today, planners are extending this legacy to reconnect D.C.'s "monumental core" with the rest of the city.

While urban planners across the U.S. talk about creating transit-oriented development, the D.C. region has built TODs in a way that's actually changing commuter behavior. What lessons can San Francisco learn from this success story?

Planning efforts to address the Delta’s complex ecosystem and water supply crisis may also greatly enhance the Delta’s open space values.

How the nation emerges from this recession in terms of the structure of its economy, infrastructure, energy supply, and approach to the natural environment will determine our ability to compete and prosper in the 21st century.

Job decentralization has expanded the boundaries of our megaregion — increasing commute times and greenhouse gas emissions in Northern California. We propose a framework for developing strategies to drive jobs back into centers already served by regional transit.

How can we bring more jobs into the region's most transit-rich employment center? SPUR proposes a sustainable plan for transit-oriented job growth in the Bay Area.

Building a better rail system is critical for the Bay Area. Top priority should be expanding capacity in the urban cores of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. SPUR recommends how to make this happen.

After meeting with Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, Toronto's poet laureate, SPUR President Jim Chappell muses on what city planners can learn from the art of making poetry.

Seeing a new city from the perspectives of both a tourist and an insider, with a local guide, is an urbanist's dream. However, that local guide might get as much out of it as do the trippers.

SPUR talks to three new department heads -- Fred Blackwell, Michael Cohen and John Rahaim of the Planning Department -- about their priorities for shaping San Francisco's future.

The Northern California megaregion, home to 14 million people, is expected to add at least 10 million people by 2050. How we plan for and accommodate that growth is the defining question for urban planning in Northern California today.

This feature includes several maps showing the geographical reach of the Northern California megaregion – as defined by travel time, population density and access to natural resources. It accompanied a major SPUR study, published in November 2007, on the same topic.

Building high-speed rail in California could reinforce cities as the hubs of our economies and significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. So why is the proposal languishing?

SPUR’s review of CEQA found that after the law’s 30-plus years of operation, developments are environmentally worse than before. We need to change the way CEQA is applied in urban settings.

Portland's successful public art program demonstrates that something impractical can also be purposeful. In the case of Portland's program, the wide ranging public art programs bring together the community, place, and planning.

The article describes the statewide context for successful regional planning in Portland, Oregon and how the city and its downtown in particular was able to benefit.

This article describes the planning and growth of Mission Bay, a 300-acre former railyards that is being converted into a new UCSF campus, 6,000 homes, and millions of square feet of commercial space.

The chance to build Mission Bay with sustainable buildings is a rare opportunity, but some developers are missing out. This article discusses the greener features of the redevelopment plan.

A review of architecture and urban design at Mission Bay reveals that its projects have attracted good architects and landscape architects, but the results so far are generally less than stellar.

The article describes a new planning law in Oregon that reduces prior land use planning rules and gives more power to property rights and argues a similar measure is unlikely to pass in California.

In order to learn from San Diego, a SPUR delegation traveled to the city. This article describes what the delegation learned about San Diego's downtown.