The California legislature and Governor Newsom have reinvested in the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot program, which provides low-income households with up to $60 each month in additional food assistance when they buy fresh fruits and vegetables with their electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards. Funding in the amount of $9.4 million in the state budget approved last month ensures that the program won’t die on the vine, a victory given the state’s significant budget deficit.

Many cities grappling with post-COVID-19 economic recovery have seized on the concept of the “15-minute city,” where people can meet most of their needs within a short walk or bike ride from home. San José embraced similar principles in 2011, when it proposed “urban villages” as a key pillar of its general plan. SPUR believes the 15-minute city concept can help San José evolve its urban form to support a more equitable and sustainable future.

California homes and workplaces are failing to keep pace with the clean energy transition — so much so that the buildings sector could scuttle California’s 2050 net-neutrality goal. Assembly Bill 593 (Haney), now before the California legislature, would direct the California Energy Commission to develop a pollution-cutting plan for buildings that fast-tracks progress by centering equity in implementation.

Despite its economic woes, Detroit has transformed much of its urban riverfront. The two-decade (and counting) effort to make the riverfront a beautifully landscaped, bicyclist- and pedestrian-friendly public area with parks, plazas, pavilions, and green spaces suggests a strategy for San José to ramp up its redevelopment of Guadalupe River Park.