The Bay Area needs more funding for affordable housing and regional coordination of policies. SPUR supports Assembly Bill 1487, which would help increase affordable housing in the Bay Area by providing funding and technical assistance. We believe it is critical that the creation of this entity strengthen the Bay Area’s ability to function as a region rather than weakening it.

Each of the Bay Area’s transit operators sets its own policy for determining the fares it will charge. This creates customer confusion, inhibits people from using more than one transit service and undermines the investments the region is making in new infrastructure and technology. SPUR offers recommendations for how operators can streamline and integrate their fares to help the region realize the promise of transit.

AB 1481 requires landlords to have a good reason for evicting their tenants and to list that reason on a notice that they are already required to provide. SPUR urges the authors to adjust payment requirements and to clarify terms like “waste,” “unsafe habitation,” “substantially remodel,” etc. to avoid future conflicts.

SB 18 will help prevent individuals and families from falling into homelessness by providing additional funding to the California Department of Housing and Community Development for rental assistance and legal aid, and requiring HCD to post informational material about landlords’ obligations to tenants on their website.

AB 1697 requires landlords to have a good reason for evicting their tenants and to list that reason on a notice that they are already required to provide. SPUR urges the authors to adjust payment requirements and to clarify terms like “waste,” “unsafe habitation,” “substantially remodel,” etc. to avoid future conflicts.

The current lack of clarity about the availability of property and which entities own and manage land can delay land acquisitions and ultimately future development to accommodate our growing population. SB 6 proposes a straightforward solution to identify and make public lists of both state and local properties as potential sites for housing development.

Current state law protects tenants from rent increases over 10% when an emergency has been declared. AB 1482 would further protect California renters from large rent increases as a result of the ongoing housing emergency that could drive them from their homes. SPUR supports AB 1482 with several amendments including the cap number and the use of pass-throughs.

California SB 330 intends to remove many barriers to the creation of new housing. It prohibits cities from imposing housing moratoriums and bans requirements that local voters approve increases in density, among other changes. SPUR strongly supports SB 330 in concept. The bill is complicated and covers a lot of territory, so we encourage proponents to identify how to make the requirements feasible and implementable.

SB 13 would address many remaining barriers that California property owners face when creating accessory dwelling units. It would reduce or eliminate some fees, shorten the approvals process, eliminate or loosen replacement parking requirements and reduce other administrative burdens. SPUR believes this legislation takes real, concrete steps that would make the creation of new ADUs easier.

SPUR supports California AB 1706, which would provide incentives to build much-needed housing that targets the “missing middle." The bill would provide financial feasibility incentives and a shortened approval timeline to Bay Area housing development proposals that provide mixed-income housing, serve the missing middle, pay prevailing wages and meet certain infill location requirements.

SPUR supports California AB 1485, which would help clear a path for much-needed housing developments that target the “missing middle." The bill would do so by making projects with a higher percentage of units reserved for moderate and middle-income households eligible to utilize SB 35.

Creating more in-law apartments, or accessory dwelling units, will help make a dent in California's housing shortage. SPUR supports AB 670, which would nullify prohibitions against accessory dwelling units in common interest developments. Since so much potential for accessory dwelling units lies in single-family neighborhoods, it is important that homeowners’ associations be stopped from creating blanket prohibitions against them.

SPUR supports the proposed resolution regarding the Diridon Station Area Planning Fund and Reimbursement Agreement.

SPUR provides comments on the draft City of San Jose green stormwater infrastructure plan. SPUR has been a strong advocate for advancing green infrastructure and integrated stormwater management. Managing stormwater and wastewater in urban environments is essential to public health, safety and quality of life. SPUR strongly supports a robust green stormwater management regime in urban development and are supportive of this draft plan.

Singapore's population consists of three major ethnic groups plus a large immigrant population. Food plays a crucial role in bringing these different cultures together, and hawker centers — public spaces for street-food vending — are the direct spatial manifestation of this role in the urban fabric.

California might be the most mythologized landscape in existence, from the glossy pools and palm trees of reality TV to the neurosis-inducing freeways and subidivisions of film and literature. But little has been said about urbanism as one of the state’s contributions to the world. A Bay Area writer launches a project to catalog the phenomenon that is California urbanism, one trope at a time.

SPUR Urges Budget Strategy for Agricultural Conservation in Santa Clara County

SPUR firmly supports the proposed update to design guidelines for downtown San Jose and urges the San Jose City Council to adopt them as the leading document to support future planning in downtown and the Diridon Station Area.