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


Re-Envisioning the Guadalupe River Park

Research
From New York City’s High Line to Atlanta’s BeltLine, communities across the country are transforming underutilized infrastructure into engaging public spaces. Building on this national momentum, SPUR has launched a project to reconsider the Guadalupe River Park, an underappreciated gem in downtown San Jose.

SPUR Letter Addresses Oakland's Proposed Public Lands Strategy

Advocacy Letter
SPUR believes Oakland should have a comprehensive public lands strategy; we suggest the strategy comply with the Surplus Land Act, develop a clear process and a transparent criteria for evaluating development proposals, increase the affordable units built on public land, and coordinate with other public entities to support mutual goals.

SPUR Supports California Senate Bill 50, the More HOMES Act

Advocacy Letter
SPUR supports SB 50, the More HOMES Act, which would overcome barriers to the creation of infill homes close to major transit and in high opportunity areas throughout California. This policy would create an inclusive mix of homes near transit and jobs, consistent with the goals of Plan Bay Area, and would spur the development of housing types that are within reach of working families.

Six Ways Oakland Should Take the Long View for Its Downtown Plan

News /
SPUR has been advocating for comprehensive, visionary and ambitious Downtown Oakland Specific Plan ever since we published our Downtown for Everyone report in 2015. After many years of work, the City of Oakland has released a preliminary draft of that plan. SPUR offers suggestions to help realize a vision and strategy for building a true downtown for everyone.