Upcoming Events

Zoning, at least in its most recognizable form, is an antiquated tool that does more harm than good. Poorly-designed zoning and other land use regulations increases home prices, reduces housing availability, promotes segregation, lengthens commutes and restricts transportation choices. With the movement to eliminate single-family-exclusive zoning gaining steam around the country — here in California, two bills that permit multiple homes on single-family-zoned lots were recently ratified into law — the opportunity is ripe to reimagine zoning entirely. Come participate in a conversation about the need for widespread zoning reform, what could replace zoning as we know it and how it could advance real change in our neighborhoods.

Once fully built out, California High-Speed Rail will connect eight of the state’s ten largest cities. High-speed rail will make it easier to get to these cities — but equally easy to leave. What effect will this have on the economies and growth patterns of our state’s larger cities, and how should they begin planning for those changes now? Come discuss the role of high-speed rail in big cities and the necessary steps that those here in California must undertake to prepare, based on examples from around the world.

While the pandemic brought much hardship, our response to the emergency also brought lessons about the resilience and flexibility of our cities, providing a window of opportunity to reexamine how streets serve us. Transformations like "slow streets" and swaths of new outdoor dining offer a glimpse at a vision for streets that are untethered from our car-oriented past and better-suited for a more sustainable future. SPUR's new report examines the success of programs and sets a path forward to integrate these efforts into a larger vision for reimagining our city streets. Come learn more about the report, its recommendations for San Francisco's streets and how it can be used as a model for other cities.

It can feel as if an invisible forcefield divides San José State University from the city that surrounds it. What would it take to cultivate a more robust relationship between San José and the university, and spur further economic and cultural activity in the downtown and beyond? Join us for a dialogue between some of the stakeholders who are invested in fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between San José State University and the city it calls home.

As the housing crisis worsens throughout the Bay Area, legislators and policymakers from across the region are looking for varying ways to boost housing production to alleviate California’s increasing level of unaffordability. Come join us as we discuss how leaders in the Bay Area can develop an ecosystem of missing-middle housing production that has been missing for decades.

The Bay Area’s transit system is overly fragmented and challenging for even experienced riders. Integrating bus and rail services across the region into a single-fare structure with coordinated schedules would increase ridership, make transit easier to understand and greatly expand affordable access to housing and jobs. Join transit agency leaders from around the country who have successfully integrated their own once-splintered transit systems, and hear their advice about how the Bay Area might integrate its own buses, rails and large transit institutions.

The 2021 California state legislative year — the first of a two-year session — has come to an end, allowing us to both reflect on the year in the Capitol and begin to formulate the 2022 housing agenda. The passage of key bills like SB 9, which allows for duplexes and lot splits in single-family residential zones, and SB 10, which enables cities to densify infill, transit-rich and jobs-rich sites, along with historic levels of investment in affordable housing and programs to reduce homelessness, showed that the Legislature was willing to address the state’s housing crisis head on. But what about bills that addressed the pressing issue of development and wildfires, such as SB 12? Or those that sought to extend COVID-19-related tenant protections into next year, as AB 15 intended? Join us for a debrief of the legislative year and a discussion about the key issues and themes we can expect to see our state legislators tackle next year.

Zanker Recycling in San José is an award-winning, nationally recognized recycling facility and home to the nation’s first and largest construction and demolition recycling site. Come see where more than 3,000 tons of mixed debris are processed every day and learn how Zanker is able to divert so much of it from our landfills, bringing the South Bay closer to zero-waste goals and a reduced environmental impact on future generations.

No matter how you calculate it, California is home to many of the country’s most expensive housing markets. The inability to curb the state’s rapidly inflating home prices has led to commutes that are stretched dramatically in an effort to connect the all-too-often physically distanced poles of housing affordability and economic opportunity. High-speed rail has long been touted as a way to shrink travel time between cities along its route, offering quicker access between one’s home and job. And by directly connecting some of the state’s most expensive markets — San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles — with more affordable communities in the Central Valley and Antelope Valley it may do just that. But can it also shrink the distance between housing affordability and economic opportunity by boosting economies closer to where workers live? Join us for a discussion about potential that high-speed rail holds to reshape the future of the state’s economic geography.

The much-loved City Trivia Night returns to SPUR — and back in person for the first time in two years! Join us for five themed rounds of searing questions all relating to cities, architecture, urban planning, policy and more! As we always say, it’s the ultimate showcase of urbanist talent and planning geekery. Bring your own team of six or join up with other urbanists at the event to compete for the figurative crown and prizes.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and has developed new preliminary policy proposals for its updated transit-oriented development (TOD) plan, drawing on rigorous analysis and years of research into best practices to determine how best to house thousands of jobs and residents in communities around existing transit throughout the Bay Area. Join us to learn what MTC is proposing, share your questions and concerns and help push the region towards more achievable transit-oriented development.

With vaccinations becoming more widespread and employees beginning to return to their offices, one concern is that our highways and bridges will soon become flooded with single-occupancy vehicles. Can commuters be encouraged to choose transit instead of the car? Come hear about new scenarios for sustainable and equitable transit transformation, what businesses are saying about their post-pandemic office plans and the actions the Bay Area should take now to position itself as the region reopens.

The La Cocina Municipal Marketplace, a new food hall in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, provides an innovative model of conscious, community-led development. Join us for a tour with La Cocina's Marketplace Manager and its Executive Director to learn the unique story of how this food hall came to be and what the future holds for food entrepreneurism in San Francisco.

As the housing shortage in the San Francisco Bay Area continues unabated, elected leaders across the region are exploring myriad options in order to build the number of homes mandated by the Regional Housing Needs Allocation. One of the innovative methods for achieving these housing goals being explored is the creation and application of overlay zones, at which Berkeley is serving as a regional model. Come hear how overlay zoning are working there, the success that they’ve seen in Massachusetts and why they might be the best tool for which to address the state’s expanding housing crisis.