Tom Matoff takes the reader through an illuminating history of our Municipal Railway, from the days of private, profit-making transit companies to today’s beloved Muni.

SPUR's deep involvement with city planning issues, while guiding SPUR's expansion into new policy areas of city management, finance, and the democratic decision-making process. He has an intimate knowledge of the dynamics of change in San Francisco during the 1970s, from the founding of the GGNRA, to the effects of Proposition 13, to the continuing transformation of San Francisco's economic base. In February of this…

Along with other civic groups, SPUR played a leading role in preserving the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Community activist Amy Meyer...

This report is the fourth in a series of SPUR reports on ways to increase the supply of housing in the San Francisco. The others are: "The Central Waterfront – One SPUR Answer to San Francisco's Housing Crisis" (March, 1998, Report 361); "Zoning for More Housing – Proposed Changes to San Francisco 's Planning Code and Zoning Map" (April, 1998 Report 362); and "Reducing Housing…

Redevelopment in the period from 1948 through 1973 was characterized by a reliance for funding on the federal government - first the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), then the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This was the era of big government, big redevelopment, big programs, and big changes to San Francisco's cityscape.

In January of 1999 SPUR's deputy director, Gabriel Metcalf, interviewed John Hirten to talk about the first decade of SPUR's existence and, more specifically, about urban renewal. As SPUR's first executive director, John Hirten was a national spokesman for enhancing our cities, through the federal urban renewal movement, and was one of the key actors behind San Francisco's programs. This candid interview between two generations…

While the world has changed a great deal in the last 40 years, and SPUR along with it, certain remarkable individuals had a prescience about the core values that make a difference. One such person was Dorothy Erskine (1896-1982), a founder of both SPUR and Greenbelt Alliance, and a key participant in a wide variety of civic planning activities. Were she here today, we would…

Funding Section of the Community Parks Task Force The Funding Committee investigated sources of additional funds for San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (R&P) in both the public and private spheres. Its aim was to find promising ideas to build both the annual operating budget and the longer-term capital budget for the department. The recommendations fall into four categories: 1. Department Initiatives: Operating…

This paper summarizes the Community Parks Task Force's recommendations to improve the way the Recreation and Park Department manages over $100 million in voter-approved bonds.

The Central Waterfront— currently a predominantly industrial area— could be transformed over time into a thriving residential neighborhood with transit, retail and access to a Bay shoreline park system.