San Francisco began collecting a soda tax in 2018. While the tax measure didn't allocate revenue to a specific purpose, it did create a process for directing funds to the cause of better public health outcomes. SPUR took a close look at the process and how well it did at achieving the intended aims of the original measure.

Climate change is here today, and after the devastating fires of 2017 and 2018, Californians know it. In 2019, SPUR will be working on a new policy report on the multiple hazards wrought by climate change, including fires and flooding. We now know that land use, planning, building code, forest management and other recommendations may be needed to improve fire resiliency across the Bay Area.

Last month, SPUR convened national and international experts in San Jose to share best practices for planning and building world-class transit stations and active neighborhoods around stations. City officials, transit agencies and civic groups came together to develop the vision for the future Diridon Station and to consider the legacy that today's decisions will create for the project.

Housing developers in San Francisco are currently required to provide a minimum amount of parking in new buildings. What if we eliminated those requirements? Then we’d see both lowered housing prices and more efficient use of urban land. Requiring parking brings too many new cars into the city, congesting streets, taking up space needed for more housing and harming the environment.

Cities and states are proposing policies that would discourage driving by charging for some the costs it imposes on others — namely congestion, pollution, heart and respiratory disease, greenhouse gases and deaths from collisions. It won’t be easy to start pricing something that’s been free for so long. To get the benefits without a backlash, SPUR offers six principles for fair and effective transportation pricing.

Earlier this year, SPUR began planning its first ever regional strategy for the Bay Area, an aspirational vision of what the region could be like in the year 2070 and a roadmap for getting there. Here’s what participants in three community workshops shared about their values and vision for the region for the next half century.

2018 Silver SPUR Honoree Dr. Anita Friedman’s record of public service ranges from leading the Bay Area’s Jewish Family and Children’s Services to serving as policy consultant to the State of Israel Ministry of Social Affairs. Her expertise includes social policy and programming for diverse populations; financing of health and human services; developing innovative business and social enterprise models; and Holocaust and genocide education.

Under 2018 Silver SPUR Honoree Greg Moore’s leadership, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy has become one of the most successful nonprofits supporting the national park system, providing more than $500 million to park projects and programs since 1981 as well as receiving numerous national awards for excellence in interpretation, conservation and park improvement.