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erika pinto

Placemaking with Al Fresco Spaces: Q&A With SPUR’s Erika Pinto

News /
A new SPUR report, Making Al Fresco Work, notes that the initiative has begun to transform San José’s urban environment in ways that are consistent with the city’s larger goals of creating vibrant commercial corridors and walkable neighborhoods. We talked with Erika Pinto, SPUR’s San José planning policy manager, about proposed strategies for improving on San Jose’s current outdoor dining review processes and about the role of al fresco spaces in transforming the city’s public realm.
19th street bart

Unpacking the State’s Transit Budget: A Huge Victory, But an Unfinished Fight

News /
The state’s budget brought a big win for transit, but also an unfinished fight: the Bay Area still faces a sizable gap in operating funds over the next five years just to maintain existing transit service levels. What does the state’s budget include for transit, and what more must be done to transition transit to a sustainable business model?
Detroit’s Eastern Market helps food entrepreneurs bridge up to market-rate spaces.

How Detroit’s Food Entrepreneurs Are Invigorating Commercial Corridors and Neighborhoods

News /
Many Bay Area cities are seeing a significant uptick in commercial vacancies — a problem Detroit has been working to address for years. How has the Motor City responded, and what can we learn from its efforts? Here’s how four Detroit organizations have seized on the city’s culture of entrepreneurship to help launch and support food-related businesses that are repopulating deserted storefronts and enlivening neighborhoods that have received little investment.
New affordable for-sale homes created by Develop Detroit

Making Detroit Home: Addressing the Challenges of Housing Stability and Habitability

News /
In the wake of the Great Recession, Detroit went bankrupt and home foreclosures skyrocketed. Philanthropic dollars have come to the rescue, but the city must now reckon with the factors that keep many Detroiters from thriving: a high property tax rate and punitive tax foreclosure system, lack of access to equitable mortgage lending, and institutional racism.
al fresco report cover

Making Al Fresco Work

SPUR Report /
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of San José’s outdoor dining initiative extended a critical lifeline to businesses and their patrons. The program continues to be a popular way to advance economic recovery and enliven streets. SPUR recommends four strategies for improving upon the Al Fresco Initiative and expanding it to businesses and neighborhoods citywide.
A sign advertising the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot to customers at Harvest Market in Mendocino

Legislature and Governor Approve Extension of California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Program

News /
The California legislature and Governor Newsom have reinvested in the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot program, which provides low-income households with up to $60 each month in additional food assistance when they buy fresh fruits and vegetables with their electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards. Funding in the amount of $9.4 million in the state budget approved last month ensures that the program won’t die on the vine, a victory given the state’s significant budget deficit.
report cover with aerial photograph of San Jose

The Future of Coleman Avenue

SPUR Report /
Coleman Avenue sits at the intersection of several plans for San Jose’s growth. Located near downtown, the airport, and Guadalupe River Park and Gardens, it will be critical to their future success. SPUR and JLP+D present a community-informed evaluation of the Coleman Avenue corridor and make the case that developing a strategic plan for the area will be critical to leveraging it as a key connector and gateway for the city.

Letter to the CPUC: Protect Rooftop Solar and Batteries for California Renters

Advocacy Letter /
SPUR has signed on to this letter of support to help protect access to the financial and environmental benefits of rooftop solar and batteries for California renters. Last year, the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) gutted California's premier rooftop solar program for homeowners and businesses– Net Metering(NEM). Now the utilities are lobbying the CPUC to do the same for people who live in multi-family dwellings.

Joint Comments to MTC regarding Transit2050+ Outreach

Advocacy Letter /
As MTC and transit operators are beginning outreach for Transit 2050+ Plan SPUR, Seamless Bay Area and Friends of Caltrain urge the project team to consider opportunities to improve the region's transit network in both the near- and long-term.

Joint Comments on Clipper BayPass Pilot Program

Advocacy Letter /
SPUR submits joint comments with Seamless Bay Area, Transform and Friends of Caltrain emphasizing the importance of the Clipper BayPass Pilot. Clipper BayPass is a pilot transit pass program under development by MTC and transit operators that provides recipients with unlimited rides on all Bay Area transit systems.
San pedro square in san jose

How the 15-Minute City Concept Can Help Shape the Evolution of San José’s Urban Form

News /
Many cities grappling with post-COVID-19 economic recovery have seized on the concept of the “15-minute city,” where people can meet most of their needs within a short walk or bike ride from home. San José embraced similar principles in 2011, when it proposed “urban villages” as a key pillar of its general plan. SPUR believes the 15-minute city concept can help San José evolve its urban form to support a more equitable and sustainable future.
Fulton and Gough, San Francisco

Buildings: The Weak Link in California’s Race to Slow Climate Change

News /
California homes and workplaces are failing to keep pace with the clean energy transition — so much so that the buildings sector could scuttle California’s 2050 net-neutrality goal. Assembly Bill 593 (Haney), now before the California legislature, would direct the California Energy Commission to develop a pollution-cutting plan for buildings that fast-tracks progress by centering equity in implementation.

SPUR Oakland 2023 Draft Safety Element Comments

Advocacy Letter /
Advocacy letter making recommendations for inclusion in Oakland's 2023 Safety Element (part of the General Plan update process). Recommendations were shared with Oakland Policy Board prior to letter submission to City of Oakland.

SPUR Comments on Oakland's Draft Environmental Justice Element

Advocacy Letter /
SPUR recently submitted comments on the Draft Environmental Justice Element of the City of Oakland 2045 General Plan Update. Overall, SPUR feels that the EJ Element Draft is a thoughtful document that effectively uses data and demonstrates a clear commitment to evidence-based, inclusionary policy. The EJ Element is an important step toward addressing Oakland's past of inequitable city planning and ensuring that all Oaklanders have access to pollution-free air, clean water, a safe home, and other positive environmental factors. In our comments, SPUR offers recommendations on how the EJ Element can be improved to meet these goals.

SPUR Urges Governor to Endorse Legislature's Transit Budget

Advocacy Letter /
Our organizations strongly encourage you to support the Legislature’s transit budget, which includes restoring $2 billion to TIRCP from the General Fund and a new, 3-year $1.1 billion appropriation to a Zero-Emission Transit Capital Program from various sources, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the General Fund, and the Public Transportation Account.
San pedro square in san jose

Revitalizing San José’s Downtown: Five Strategies

News /
San José’s downtown has been hit hard by the impacts of hybrid and remote work. Its office occupancy rate is the lowest among the ten largest U.S. metros, and tax revenues in the city’s Downtown Growth Area have decreased in line with the drop in commuters there. City leaders, with the support of other downtown stakeholders, can adopt five strategies to revitalize downtown as a central social district.

Support for SB 410 (Becker), Powering Up Californians Act

Advocacy Letter /
The Powering Up Californians Act by Senator Josh Becker would help accelerate connecting EV charging infrastructure, new development, and retrofitted buildings to the electrical grid - a process that's been plagued by prolonged delays that are slowing the state's transition to a clean, electric economy.
muni bus in front of salesforce park

The World Is Coming to San Francisco. Will Public Transit Be Ready?

News /
World political and business leaders are coming to San Francisco later this year for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit. The Bay Area will use the event to highlight its innovation leadership. Ironically, the region’s claims to environmental leadership and the pursuit of equity will be undercut by a public transit system in freefall — unless the state acts quickly to use readily available and more-than-sufficient funding to help transit agencies step back from a fiscal cliff.

SPUR Supports the Pedestrianization of San Pedro Street

Advocacy Letter /
SPUR supports the pedestrianization of San Pedro Street in Downtown San José. Enabling outdoor operations along San Pedro Street as part of the Al Fresco initiative allowed for an expansion of outdoor public life in the center of the city that has become a popular destination for residents and visitors alike. However, the proposed project should set a precedent of efficiently and effectively creating a public amenity, as well as preserving the central spaces for dining and social gathering given this project’s overwhelming community support. We ask the City to enshrine this pedestrianized public space for the benefit of Downtown’s economic and public vibrancy and to do so by ambitiously making sure that thoughtful planning, great urban design, and innovative project delivery steer this public amenity forward.