Balancing Oakland's Budget
Closing the city’s structural deficit to move toward fiscal solvency and economic growth
No Question: California Is in Fiscal Crisis
News / Three California cities have filed for bankruptcy protection since June. Since 2008, local governments in California have shrunk by nearly 190,000 employees and property values over the same period declined by 21.3 percent. What comes next? The Institute for Government Studies at the University of California at Berkeley convened an impressive panel of experts last month to move that debate forward.
PARK(ing) Day and the Legacy of Iterative Placemaking
News / On September 21 SPUR celebrated PARK(ing) Day with an original form of alchemy: transforming asphalt into mini-golf and pizza. The annual event, celebrated in more than 160 cities, invites the public to reimagine metered parking spots as new types of urban space— a temporary disruption that invites the community to inhabit and new spaces and give shape to the permanent solution.
A Policy Agenda for the Sharing Economy
Urbanist Article / From carsharing to clothes-swapping to couchsurfing, collaborative consumption is not only reinventing what we consume but how we consume it.But as it moves out of infancy and toward greater adoption and acceptance, it’s time to look at the ways policy might help facilitate its growth — and how government might help, or hinder, its progress.
November 2012 Voter Guide
Voter Guide / It doesn't happen every election, but this November some of SPUR's top priorities appear on the ballot. See how we weighed in on: the Gross Receipts Tax, the Housing Trust Fund, the Parks Bond and four more city measures.
SPUR Supports Housing Trust Fund Legislation
Advocacy Letter / SPUR strongly supports the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Housing Production Incentive Program. We believe this measure will support the production of housing at all income levels by creating a housing trust fund for affordable housing and incentives to support the production of market rate and below-market rate housing.