housing building on 2060 Folsom Street, San Francisco

SPUR 2022 Impact Report

Learn what we accomplished in 2022

buildings in downtown SF

Flexible Work Has Reshaped Downtown San Francisco

How will the city embrace the New Normal?

computer rendering of howard terminal ballpark in oakland

What It Will Take to Make the Howard Terminal Ballpark Project a Home Run for Oakland

A once-in-a-generation opportunity for the City of Oakland

therese mcmillan

An Exit Interview With Therese McMillan

Retiring MTC director shares lessons from her career

taiko drummers

SPUR’s First 10 Years in San José

A retrospective of SPUR's work in the South Bay

Office-to-Residential Conversion in San Francisco’s Changing Real Estate Market

Research
Downtown San Francisco’s post-pandemic recovery is hindered by a lack of economic diversity and a shortage of workforce housing. Could converting vacant office space to residential use be a financially viable solution to both problems? In a first-of-its-kind study in San Francisco, SPUR, ULI San Francisco, Gensler and HR&A Advisors explored the physical and financial feasibility of redeveloping office buildings into housing, and identified policy tools to facilitate conversion.

A Technological Leap Makes Expanding Healthy Food Incentive Programs Easier

News /
California has taken a big step forward in scaling up healthy food incentive programs: CalFresh participants can now get bonus dollars from their healthy food purchases electronically credited to their benefits card. That technological leap happened because of legislation SPUR co-sponsored. Now SPUR is working to overcome the remaining challenge to enlarging healthy food incentive programs: insufficient funding.

Paving the Way to Downtown Revitalization: Three Cities San Francisco Can Learn From

News /
San Francisco’s office vacancy rate, one of the highest in the country, has dampened the city’s liveliness and economic prospects. Other cities are tackling the resilience challenges that office-centric downtowns face by reconsidering office building uses and creating incentives for redevelopment. San Francisco can take a page from their revitalization plans.

Investing in San José's Parks and Open Spaces Creates a Virtuous Cycle

News /
San José’s parks and open spaces are underfunded and falling into disuse. Realizing their potentially large economic and social dividends will take significant and sustainable funding mechanisms. Now more than ever, the city must study, assess, and develop long-term funding strategies with clear communication, intentionality, and creativity.

Averting a Worsening Hunger Crisis Hinges on Making Temporary Benefits Programs Permanent

News /
Recipients of CalFresh food assistance are about to take a big hit: emergency allotments authorized during the COVID-19 pandemic are set to expire just as food costs are at historic highs. SPUR is working to make temporary food access programs permanent and has just launched a statewide project institutionalizing supplemental benefits by making them directly reimbursable to recipients’ EBT cards.