Upcoming Events

Each month, the Casita Coalition will be discussing best practices in ADUs by highlighting some of the innovative approaches that local ADU practitioners have used to navigate state policy and make these homes more accessible. This webinar will shine a spotlight on the innovations in East Palo Alto.

This program has been postponed; once it has been rescheduled we'll update this page with the new date. We apologize for any inconvenience. High-speed rail can be a powerful tool to connect and strengthen cities and towns, but it’s the stations themselves that connect people with the service. Rail stations are a passenger’s first point of contact with high-speed rail and a critical component of their door-to-door journey. How can California get its own stations right in order to build a foundation of broader success for high-speed rail? Come hear from a panel of international experts, with experience operating more than 3,000 stations in 400 cities worldwide, to learn about how international best practices can inform a strategy for managing and operating the stations along our state’s own high-speed rail corridor.

As the pandemic is beginning to lift, Bay Area residents have begun returning to work and traveling more frequently in general, traffic congestion is returning with them — and in some cases it is even worse than before the pandemic. Putting more people in fewer vehicles is one solution to this gridlock, but we need to prioritize buses and other transit to more effectively cut through traffic. Without a regionally-coordinated plan, how can the Bay Area better support transit on busy roadways when their routes may cross the jurisdictions of multiple cities and more than a dozen different approval agencies? Hear from a panel of transportation experts about what it will take to coordinate successfully and accelerate transit priority throughout our region.

California gives out more than four million traffic tickets each year, the majority of which disproportionately fall on Black and Brown communities across the state. It also has the most expensive traffic tickets in the country, with the bulk cost of these tickets being driven by numerous fees on top of the base cost of the ticket. Failure to pay the full cost of a ticket can result in even greater penalties, including added fees, a suspended license and even a misdemeanor charge. For those that can afford a ticket, the impact is minimal, but for many individuals a single ticket can cause a downward spiral into economic insecurity. Come hear how we reached this unsustainable situation and what we can do to reach a more equitable and viable system for the long term.

For the past two years, SPUR, in collaboration with the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, has been undertaking a multi-phase study that plans for the future of the Guadalupe River Park, one of downtown San José’s most important, but underutilized, assets. Recent studies done as part of this effort have focused on both the river’s natural ecology and its current and potential economic impact. What was discovered during those analyses and, more importantly, how should the city leverage the abundant resources that the Guadalupe River Park offers? Join us for a discussion about the next steps that San José must take to realize the potential of the Guadalupe River and its surrounding areas as an urban amenity that is accessible to all.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about profound changes in the way we use public space. Nowhere is this more prevalent than on our streets, where the creation of a wave of parklets and “slow streets” have been juxtaposed with an increased reliance on individual driving over transit. What has the pandemic taught us about the primacy of cars on our city streets, and how can those lessons inform how we can utilize streets to best serve equity-priority communities and small businesses while encouraging walking, biking and transit use? Transportation leaders from Oakland, San Francisco and San José will discuss these questions and more in a conversation about the post-pandemic future for our cities’ streets.

The process through which a policy idea must traverse to become California law can seem incredibly byzantine and sometimes opaque. Between the original drafting of the legislation and when it finally crosses the Governor’s desk, there are multiple points at which a bill can stall, die or be significantly amended. What are the keys to understanding this often circuitous process and what should advocates know and do to improve the chances that a bill will pass through it smoothly? Former State Senator Jim Beall will join us to talk about the lifecycle of a bill in the State Capitol and what it takes to get results.

For generations, cities across California have required that developers build a certain number of parking spaces for each housing unit they construct. The results have been that many suburban neighborhoods have become dominated by multi-car garages, while higher-density communities are regularly pocked with expansive parking lots and large structures. However, as transportation patterns continue to shift, this regulated emphasis on driving — and the required spaces allocated for parking — has adversely impacted how we interact with the environments around us. Parking requirements significantly drive up home prices, have deleterious effects on our climate and public health and make neighborhoods less enjoyable. Join us for an interactive workshop where we’ll jointly envision a city that puts people, not cars, first and the benefits that such a bold idea can provide.

Community-based organizations across the country are rethinking their approach to the design of food incentive programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — formerly known as food stamps. Rather than iterating in a vacuum of policymakers or basing revisions on metrics alone, organizations are turning to the individuals and households who rely on these programs to put food on their families' tables. These bi-directional engagements focus on the lived experience of those dealing with food insecurity to inform how these supplemental programs can better serve the people who use them, and ultimately, reach even more people in need of support. Join us to learn more about how organizations in California, Colorado and Washington, D.C. are building food incentive programs that center on what matters most: people.

It’s not news that California is deeply entrenched in a housing crisis, for which the only solution is building more homes. Beyond even where that housing should be built, for whom they should be built is a common topic of argument. There’s no question that significant numbers of homes must be produced for very low- and low-income residents. But the high construction costs in the San Francisco Bay Area are also pricing out moderate income people in the workforce. Without the guarantee of subsidies or financing like affordable housing tax credits or income from sky-high rents, how can middle-income home construction actually pencil out? Join us to learn what it takes to build for middle-income households, and how mixed-income developments can provide housing opportunities for residents across the wealth spectrum.

Despite being banned more than a half-century ago, the impacts of redlining — the act of refusing mortgages in and around predominantly Black neighborhoods — are still felt today. Its use, in tandem with other discriminatory practices, dramatically reduced opportunities for upward mobility and contributed significantly to California’s vast inequities. Today, the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) seeks to “combat housing discrimination, eliminate racial bias, undo historic patterns of segregation, and lift barriers that restrict access in order to foster inclusive communities and achieve racial equity, fair housing choice, and opportunity for all Californians.” Come hear about the work of HCD's Fair Housing Division and how it is dismantling racist housing systems while promoting vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities for all Californians.

Each month, the Casita Coalition will be discussing best practices in ADUs by highlighting some of the innovative approaches that local ADU practitioners have used to navigate state policy and make these homes more accessible. This webinar will shine a spotlight on the innovations in the City & County of San Francisco.

Each month, the Casita Coalition will be discussing best practices in ADUs by highlighting some of the innovative approaches that local ADU practitioners have used to navigate state policy and make these homes more accessible. This webinar will shine a spotlight on the innovations in Oakland.