Resetting San Francisco’s Governance Structure
In January, new San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie implemented recommendations from a SPUR report and reorganized his office to be more effective, creating four new policy director positions in order to improve interdepartmental collaboration, transparency, and accountability. SPUR’s then-CEO, Alicia John-Baptiste, who has long championed governance reforms in San Francisco, was tapped for one of the positions and became the Lurie administration’s chief of infrastructure, climate, and mobility.
Reforming California’s Dizzying Housing Governance System
After SPUR released a report recommending changes to California’s decentralized and fragmented housing governance system, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new state housing and homelessness agency and signed an executive order reflecting SPUR’s recommendations. The changes will bring a greater focus to homelessness and housing in state government, enable more efficiency and coordination across programs, and help speed up housing production and service delivery.
A Statewide Pivot to Smarter, More Efficient Electrification
A SPUR brief became a central policy document for state agencies working to eliminate fossil fuel use in buildings by addressing the costs and complexities of upgrading electrical infrastructure in existing homes. The California Public Utilities Commission released a proposed decision integrating multiple SPUR recommendations into state utility planning, citing SPUR’s brief and proceeding comments more than 30 times. By informing this landmark decision, SPUR’s work could help save Californians billions and speed the path to eliminating polluting gas appliances in homes.
Bold Changes to Meet San Francisco’s Housing Needs
Mayor Lurie released a rezoning proposal to help San Francisco meet its housing obligations under state law. SPUR and our partners at YIMBY Action and the Housing Action Coalition led advocacy for this expansion of previous rezoning drafts, which fell short of meeting housing needs and did not make it possible for new housing to be built equitably in all neighborhoods. The Family Zoning Plan addresses these issues by allowing taller multifamily buildings on neighborhood commercial streets and by allowing denser housing on residential streets in the city’s high-income western and northern neighborhoods.
Progress on Revitalizing Downtown San Francisco
San Francisco adopted nearly all of SPUR’s recommendations for converting unused office spaces to housing to support downtown revitalization. Voters approved Prop. C, a one-time waiver of the city’s transfer tax on properties converted from commercial to residential use. The city also waived inclusionary affordable housing and other impact fee requirements on commercial-to-residential conversion projects, and Mayor Lurie has introduced legislation to establish a new tax increment financing district to incentivize these types of projects. Following a recommendation from SPUR’s policy brief to support small businesses downtown, city leaders passed legislation to eliminate small business license fees, continued the First Year Free program, and accelerated efforts with the PermitSF executive directive to streamline permitting.
Investing Now to Cut Future Climate Costs
Californians committed to climate action by approving Prop. 4, the historic $10 billion bond to invest in critical climate adaptation projects across the state, which SPUR supported. The funds will finance drought and flood protection, wildfire prevention, sea level rise protection, conservation, and other climate initiatives. At least 40% of the funding will benefit disadvantaged communities.
Public Space and Climate Adaptation at Ocean Beach
San Francisco voted yes on SPUR-sponsored Prop. K to convert the Upper Great Highway between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard into a public recreation space. The permanent park opened to the public in April. The change increases access to shared public amenities; promotes walking, biking, and transit; and proactively addresses sea level rise and coastal erosion in a fiscally and environmentally responsible way, as recommended in SPUR’s 2012 Ocean Beach Master Plan.
Balancing Oakland’s Budget
SPUR undertook a research and advocacy initiative to understand the causes of Oakland’s structural deficit, educate the public and city leaders, and recommend actions for fiscal solvency and economic growth. Our work resulted in a widely read series of articles, well-attended public education events, and a major policy report. Key recommendations include committing to sound fiscal policies, reforming governance to establish clearer lines of authority and accountability, and developing a long-term economic development strategy in collaboration with private and philanthropic partners to increase the city’s revenues.
An Affordable Transition to Fossil-Free Buildings
SPUR is leading the Bay Area and California in the transition from gas heating to high-efficiency, zero-emission electric heat pumps. Over the past year — in a policy report, a policy brief, and a toolbox for policymakers — SPUR published more than 60 recommendations that shaped a major California Public Utilities Commission decision on building decarbonization, as well as Senate Bill 282 to streamline heat pump permitting statewide and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s implementation of first-in-the-nation zero-emission appliance rules. SPUR’s leadership helped local and state decision-makers seize opportunities to make heat pumps more affordable, ensure their equitable adoption, and envision an all-electric future.
Reducing Groundwater Rise Risk on the Bay Shoreline
Bay Area cities planning for sea level rise need to address another emerging hazard: groundwater rise. SPUR partnered with community-based organization Nuestra Casa to investigate how rising groundwater is likely to affect one Bay Area city: East Palo Alto. Our case study explained specific risks and offered five recommendations — all applicable to other vulnerable communities along the San Francisco Bay shore.
Culture As a Catalyst for Downtown Revitalization
Oakland, San Francisco, and San José are exploring how cultural districts can mitigate the economic and social impacts of office vacancies and reduced foot traffic in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. SPUR released a brief showcasing successful examples from Boston, Cleveland, Denver, and Philadelphia to explore how place-based cultural strategies can reactivate struggling neighborhoods to support businesses, create jobs, and make communities more resilient.
Helping Cities Build Modern Mobility Faster
For years, California’s bureaucratic environmental review process held up transportation projects designed to reduce carbon emissions, including transit upgrades and bike lanes. Recent legislation created a temporary exemption for sustainable projects, which has allowed 92 climate-friendly projects to move forward. To keep this momentum going and meet state climate goals, SPUR spearheaded research and advocacy to make the exemption permanent. We are co-sponsoring Senate Bill 71, and we published a policy brief making the case for this and other changes to streamline sustainable transportation in California.
Improving San Francisco’s Procurement Process
Purchasing goods and services can be a powerful opportunity for San Francisco to reduce inequalities and protect the health, well-being, and financial security of its constituents. But the complicated maze of legislation and policies that govern the city’s procurement system is making it harder to reach these goals. SPUR released a report identifying procurement process improvements to make it easier for city staff, vendors, and nonprofits to deliver services more effectively to San Franciscans.
Leadership on Funding for Public Transit
As pandemic emergency funds come to an end, transit operators (including BART, Muni, and Caltrain) face the very real possibility of severe service cuts, such as shutting down bus lines and eliminating trains. Public transit is the scaffolding for many things SPUR cares about, including climate resilience, affordability, and downtown recovery. This year SPUR took a leadership role in the funding conversation. We built a broad coalition to work toward a regional transit funding ballot measure, advocated for a state budget package and multi-county sales tax, served on regional and state task forces, pushed for more stable funding in the reauthorization of cap and trade, and sought local solutions for San Francisco’s Muni, which faces a budget shortfall of more than $300 million.
Housing Wins for Californians
Governor Newsom signed five pieces of SPUR-sponsored housing legislation. Assembly Bill 1886 (Alvarez) clarifies the process for certifying a city’s housing element, which will help ensure that cities create a sufficient supply of land zoned for housing. AB 2553 (Friedman) creates more opportunities to build housing near transit by expanding the definition of transit-oriented developments that can access land use incentives. Senate Bill 1395 (Becker) facilitates interim dwellings for unhoused people by streamlining approvals. AB 1820 (Schiavo), based on a SPUR recommendation, makes the costs of development impact fees more transparent and predictable. And AB 3122 (Kalra) includes cleanup provisions to SB 35 and SB 423 to make it easier for builders to use these transformative housing streamlining laws.
Making Dangerous Roads Safer
SPUR co-sponsored Senate Bill 960 (Wiener), which became law in September. It requires the state to accelerate projects like protected bike lanes and sidewalks on state-owned roads that often serve as main streets. These include some of California’s most highly used — and most dangerous — roads, such as Van Ness Avenue and Lombard Street in San Francisco, El Camino Real in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and International Boulevard in Oakland.
Funding Solutions for Affordable Housing
To address the Bay Area’s housing shortage, SPUR supported multiple efforts to secure new funding for affordable housing. San Franciscans passed Prop. A in March, approving a $300 million bond for affordable housing, and Prop. G in November, creating a new funding source to house people with extremely low incomes. And San José passed Measure R, a $1.15 billion bond to fund schools and educator housing. Sadly, a more durable solution, California Prop. 5 — which would have lowered the voter approval threshold for local affordable housing bonds — failed to pass. The path to creating new funding sources for affordable housing remains challenging, and SPUR will continue advocating for solutions.
Funding Public Infrastructure and Facilities
More than 70% of San Francisco voters approved Prop. B, authorizing the city to issue $390 million in general obligation bonds to fund infrastructure and facility upgrades that will benefit public health and post-pandemic recovery. SPUR supported the measure, which will direct funding to community health and medical facilities, shelters for the unhoused, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and outdoor public gathering spaces.
City Charter Reform in San Francisco and Oakland
Efforts to review and update city charters are underway in both San Francisco and Oakland. As recommended in a SPUR report, San Francisco formed the Commission Streamlining Task Force to identify ways to modify, eliminate, or combine redundant boards and commissions. In addition to the involvement of two SPUR board members on the task force, SPUR staff has been informing the process and continuing to identify other charter reform priorities in the city. In Oakland, a growing appetite for governance reform has piqued renewed interest in SPUR’s 2021 recommendations to clarify mayoral authority and improve the city’s financial decisions. This year we convened multiple stakeholders and held a public program to educate Oaklanders on the topic. We continue to guide the process in both cities with our research and advocacy.
Identifying Revenue Sources for Oakland
The City of Oakland’s Economic & Workforce Development Department is creating an economic development action plan that addresses the city’s structural budget deficit. To inform this process, SPUR has assembled a working group that will identify strategies to grow the city’s economic base, support businesses, and attract external public and private investments.
A Regional Plan for Sea Level Rise Adaptation
In response to a new state law requiring shoreline cities to coordinate their sea level rise plans, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission adopted the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan. As an advisory group member, SPUR contributed to the development of the plan by advocating for clearer metrics on outcomes, improved data on groundwater rise and combined flood risks, and the inclusion of flooding and groundwater rise impacts on contaminated sites in neighborhoods with a disproportionate level of environmental hazards.
Earthquake Resilience Around the Bay
San Francisco, San José, and Oakland all made progress on seismic safety for buildings. San José adopted a mandatory retrofit ordinance for multifamily wood-frame soft-story buildings. Oakland adopted a resolution SPUR advocated for that directs the Planning & Building Department to study the seismic risks and retrofit needs of the city’s non-ductile concrete buildings. And San Francisco mandated seismic safety assessments of older concrete buildings at risk of collapse in a major earthquake. SPUR participated in the city’s Concrete Building Safety Program working group, advocated for the adoption of this new ordinance, and encouraged the city to develop financing tools to help property owners with retrofit costs. The recent cancellation and uncertainty of FEMA grants like BRIC has undermined state and local seismic resilience efforts. SPUR remains committed to advancing seismic safety and hazard mitigation despite these barriers.
Ideas + Action: The Future of Cities
SPUR’s annual Ideas + Action symposium provided a thoughtful look at the future of cities. Our keynote speaker, urban planner Jennifer Keesmaat, joined a panel discussion on whether new cities are a sustainable and equitable response to California’s need for more housing. Breakout groups tackled the evolution of downtowns, inclusive public spaces, equitable hazard resilience, and emerging technologies.
Meeting San José’s Newest Leaders
SPUR partnered with the San José Chamber of Commerce to host a panel discussion and “meet and greet” welcoming newly elected members of the San José City Council and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. The event offered a unique opportunity for these emerging leaders to share their vision and priorities for San José’s future in meaningful conversations with SPUR and chamber members.
Empowering Voters in San Francisco, San José, and Oakland
The SPUR Voter Guide helped voters navigate a big year with two elections and measures at the local and state levels. In recent years, SPUR has expanded its well-regarded ballot analysis, long a mainstay in San Francisco, to include issues on the ballot in San José and Oakland. This year we took our popular Ballots and Brews event on the road for the first time, bringing our analysis and insights to voters in all three cities.
Making Oakland’s Government Work
SPUR held a panel discussion on the challenges we raised in our report Making Government Work and explored how city governance can adapt to meet the needs of Oaklanders. We looked at past efforts to revise Oakland’s city charter, which have left a unique government structure in their wake. Panelists examined Oakland’s current structure, looked at models in other cities, and discussed changes to the charter that will be needed to make government work better.
Revitalizing Downtown San José
SPUR convened the City of San José, major employers, community groups, designers, and other civic leaders at a half-day workshop to develop an implementation agenda for revitalizing downtown San José, grounded in previous SPUR research. Attendees learned about current conditions downtown, heard about ongoing efforts to refresh the strategies from SPUR’s report The Future of Downtown San José, and discussed potential implementation priorities SPUR could lead to enhance planning, transportation, housing, and public spaces.
Watermarks: Postcards From the Future
As part of SF Climate Week, SPUR presented Watermarks: Postcards From the Future, an interactive exhibition on the first floor of the SPUR Urban Center. The exhibition explored the past, present, and future of San Francisco’s changing shoreline through augmented reality tours, climate games, and flood-resilient design strategies. Watermarks highlighted large-scale efforts by city agencies to address the climate crisis and invited visitors to rethink their relationship with water.
Honoring Civic Leaders
The 60th annual Silver SPUR Awards recognized three extraordinary individuals for their contributions to shaping the Bay Area: Chip Bergh, former president and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.; Tomiquia Moss, secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency; and Senator Scott Wiener, California State Senate District 11.
Interim President’s Letter
Holding a Vision for the Bay Area
Since 1910, SPUR has been a stabilizing force for the Bay Area, holding a long-term vision of a region where all people thrive. Today, as communities grapple with significant change at the city, state, and federal levels of government, SPUR’s point of view remains clear. We believe that for people to thrive, we need abundant homes, convenient and sustainable mobility, vibrant downtowns, climate-resilient communities, and a high-functioning government.
The 2024–25 annual report highlights our impactful work to create more housing opportunities for all income levels, secure sustainable funding for transit operators, reimagine downtowns as inclusive mixed-use hubs, lead the way on transitioning buildings to zero-emissions energy, make communities resilient to climate hazards, and reform local government to be more responsive to residents’ needs.
Sometimes the change we advocate for unfolds in unexpected ways. We were pleased when San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie implemented our recommendation to reorganize the Mayor’s Office and create new roles to improve collaboration and accountability. And we were honored when he hired our then-President and CEO Alicia John-Baptiste to fill one of those roles. Alicia’s depth of experience in local government is a boon to the new administration, just as it was to SPUR.
My role as interim CEO has been to keep the momentum going. As a long-time SPUR board member, I am proud to support the organization’s staff in the work they are so capably carrying on. Our search for SPUR’s next leader is reaching its conclusion, and we look forward to announcing a new president and CEO very soon.
We’re proud of the strides we’ve made this year to realize an equitable, sustainable, and prosperous region for all. Thank you, as always, for helping us continue to hold the vision.
David Friedman
Interim President and CEO