Issue 556 to

Zoning: The Next 100 Years

Zoning's Next Century

Last year zoning turned 100. What will the next century bring?

Last year, zoning turned 100. What will the next century bring? We invited planners, architects, journalists, economists and others to weigh in: What should change? What should remain? Will we, as New Urbanist Andres Duany suggests, look forward to the day zoning no longer exists at all?

Happy Fifth Anniversary, SPUR San Jose!

SPUR's San Jose office is celebrating five years of advocacy and community engagement.

Five years ago, SPUR’s vision for addressing the challenges facing the Bay Area took a major step forward with the opening of SPUR in San Jose. We would like to thank our board of directors, funders, business and individual members, and community partners, and we look forward to being a part of the transformational changes San Jose will experience over the next five years.

Urban Field Notes: Berlin, Freedom 2.0

Our correspondent witnesses a wonderfully urbane model of freedom in Berlin.

Our correspondent witnesses a wonderfully urbane model of freedom in Berlin. Here, some observations about Berlin’s transportation, transit and pedestrian system — the arterials and capillaries of urban design and planning - as it relates to the city’s personality and livability.

Member Profile: Brad Williford

A childhood fascination with trains led to a lifelong interest in how cities work.

Brad works out of Google’s San Francisco office on the Material Design team, which publishes a set of guidelines and tools that aim to make apps and other digital experiences more beautiful. Last fall, in his spare time, he volunteered to build a website for SPUR’s Voter Guide — the result provided essential information for thousands of voters confronting San Francisco’s ballot measures last fall.