The costs of repairing, seismically upgrading and redeveloping the Port's piers are staggering. Restoring this valuable city asset will require new thinking and new cooperation among government agencies.

Can a politics of place help overcome California's increasingly divisive and dysfunctional politics? This paper explores several geographic scales for “reinventing California” through improving civic engagement.

Downtown San Francisco is the region’s best chance of getting people to work without a car. But to add more jobs, downtown must overcome limits in zoning and transit capacity.

San Francisco should heed the lessons of Vancouver's downtown residential boom: the "living first" policy allowed residential building to outpace office building, resulting in backwards commuting and higher office space rents.

SPUR's executive director interviews San Francisco's planning chief

In 2004, Mayor Gavin Newsom created TechConnect, an initiative to explore how to deliver free wireless Internet throughout San Francisco. After a lengthy public process, the city selected a team of EarthLink and Google. Given the potential benefits of the proposed system, SPUR requests the Board of Supervisors and Public Utilities Commission to adopt the proposed agreement with EarthLink and Google.

How our process prevents real planning — and what we can do about it

Instead of wasting stormwater, the City could manage it as a resource. SPUR explores four strategies that allow for greater stormwater storage and infiltration of rainwater into the ground.

This measure appeared on the November 2006 California state ballot. What it does Proposition 90 is an amendment to the California Constitution that does two things: Prop. 90 imposes new requirements on the way that governments use eminent domain17 and increases the total amount that governments pay property owners when they make use of eminent domain. Prop. 90 requires compensation to property owners…

Prop. 84 is a state bond authorizing the issuance of nearly $5.4 billion in general-obligation bonds to fund programs and the construction of improvements for a diverse array of natural resource areas throughout the state, including safe drinking-water supply, flood control, and the protection and preservation of parks, forests, lakes, rivers, beaches, bays and ocean coastline.

This measure appeared on the November 2006 California state ballot. What it does Proposition 1D would authorize the state to sell $10.4 billion in bonds to build and repair public school facilities. The money would be used to repair older facilities and build new facilities at the K-12, California Community College, California State University and University of California systems. The money will also be…

This measure appeared on the November 2006 California state ballot. What it does This measure seeks voter approval of a $2.85 billion general-obligation bond to finance housing production ($1.5 billion), and infill and transit-oriented infrastructure ($1.35 billion). The $1.5 billion housing-production programs include the following: Low-interest loans for development of affordable rental housing $345 million); units for the disabled ($195 million); units for emancipated…

This measure appeared on the November 2006 California state ballot. What it does Proposition 1B, the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality and Port Security Act of 2006, is $19.9 billion in general obligation bonds designated for highway and street repair and reconstruction, traffic congestion improvements, port goods movement and security, mass-transit projects, traffic safety, and air-quality programs. With the exception of a $1…

This measure appeared on the November 2006 California state ballot. What it does This state Constitutional amendment embodied in Proposition 1A, (the "Transportation Investment Fund "), would: a) prohibit the Legislature and governor from using gas sales-tax revenues for any purpose other than transportation or transit improvements, b) authorize "loans" only in the case of severe state fiscal hardship, c) within three years require…

This measure appeared on the November 2006 San Francisco ballot. What it does This declaration of policy regarding senior housing calls on San Francisco to acknowledge the particular housing needs of people with limited financial means who are 60 years of age or older and/or are disabled, and to explore ways of addressing these housing needs. The policy statement defines "limited financial means" as…

This measure appeared on the November 2006 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition J is a policy statement calling for "the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney." The measure lists several reasons why the president and vice president should be impeached, including the abuse of power in relation to illegal electronic surveillance, the detention of citizens and…

This measure appeared on the November 2006 San Francisco ballot. What is does The measure is a very brief, non-binding policy statement that reads, in its entirety, "It is the policy of the voters of San Francisco that the Mayor should appear in person at one regularly-scheduled meeting of the Board of Supervisors each month to engage in formal policy discussions with members of…

This measure appeared on the November 2006 San Francisco ballot. What it does Proposition H would provide additional relocation benefits to eligible tenants who are evicted in a "no-fault eviction." No-fault evictions are when a landlord evicts a tenant for reasons that are not the tenant's fault. Examples include the owner moving in to the unit, the need to undertake substantial rehabilitation of or…

This measure appeared on the November 2006 San Francisco ballot. What it does The measure would require any "formula retail use" (as defined by the San Francisco Planning Code) desiring to locate in any neighborhood commercial (NC) district to obtain a conditional-use permit prior to starting a business. A conditional-use permit request is granted or denied by the Planning Commission and requires a public…

This measure appeared on the November 2006 San Francisco ballot. What it does This initiative ordinance would require employer-financed paid sick leave for all employees in San Francisco. Employees would earn paid sick leave at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked after the first three months on the job. Employees who work in businesses with fewer than 10 employees could…