Imagine a Bay Area where our greatest challenge, the scarcity and expense of housing, has been solved. This may sound like an impossible dream, but it isn’t. Within the next 50 years, we can live in an affordable Bay Area. But only if we make significant changes, starting right now.
SPUR's report series Housing the Region, a component of the SPUR Regional Strategy, is a 50-year vision for addressing the Bay Area's housing crisis. Focusing on a five-decade time horizon enables us to think about solutions to entrenched problems at the right scale. We can finally begin to consider the central question: “What interventions would actually be sufficient to turn the tide on the housing crisis?” There is no one answer. Instead, a sustained, multifaceted approach is needed. It is not sufficient just to build enough housing; we must also protect tenants from displacement and eviction. It is not enough to reduce speculation in the market; we must also make tax structures fairer and support affordable housing production. It is not enough to fund affordable housing; we must also make it faster and less expensive to build housing. SPUR views the ideas in these reports as mutually reinforcing and invites readers to engage with each one:
Housing the Region: Executive Summary
Read the executive summary
What It Will Really Take to Create an Affordable Bay Area
Housing as Infrastructure: Creating a Bay Area Housing Delivery System That Works for Everyone
Meeting the Need: The Path to 2.2 Million New Homes in the Bay Area by 2070
Rooted and Growing: SPUR’s Anti-Displacement Agenda for the Bay Area
