Balancing Oakland's Budget
Closing the city’s structural deficit to move toward fiscal solvency and economic growth
Op-Ed: California Is 60 Years Behind on Its Climate Goals. We Can’t Catch Up Without Green Buildings.
News / From the SF Chronicle: At the rate carbon emission reduction is currently going, California will be 60 years late in meeting its 2050 climate goals — too late to prevent extreme climate change. Governor Newsom and the state legislature have taken bold moves to phase out fossil fuels from transportation, but we need a similarly ambitious commitment on decarbonizing buildings.
SPUR 2021 Impact Report
Impact Report / SPUR's 2021 Impact Report highlights our key accomplishments over the past year, from passing state housing legislation to proposing policies that can help the region adapt to climate change and lift people out of poverty. We published more than 60 policy reports, briefs and letters and hosted over 11,000 guests at public events.
How Reviving a Forgotten California Law Can Make Commuting More Sustainable
News / Free employee parking is a valuable job perk, but there’s one serious downside: It encourages commuting by car and hinders efforts to promote sustainable alternatives. One tool for countering this effect is parking cash out: offering the cash equivalent of a parking space to employees who don't drive to work. California passed a parking cash out law in 1992, but 30 years in, Santa Monica is still the only place in the state that requires employers to comply. Here's how the state can revitalize this underused tool to reach its long-term climate goals.
Temporary to Transformative
SPUR Report / During the COVID-19 pandemic, cities across the country piloted shared public spaces and slow streets. In a matter of weeks, these temporary changes transformed city streets in ways that would otherwise have taken years. The crisis injected the planning process with a sense of urgency and a willingness to experiment. How can San Francisco and other cities make these changes permanent? This report captures lessons learned and offers 18 recommendations for how to build on what's been started.
Making Government Work
SPUR Report / Many of the challenges Oakland faces are worsened by its unusual government structure, which makes it harder for the mayor, city council and other officials to do their jobs well. SPUR’s latest report diagnoses the problem and offers 10 recommendations for how the city can adapt its governance structure to better serve Oaklanders.