Downtown San José is the densest, most walkable, most transit-oriented and most dynamic place in the South Bay. It’s now poised to benefit from the growing trend toward working and living in urban centers. But downtown needs more people. This SPUR report identifies six big ideas for achieving a more successful and active downtown, then lays out the steps for making them happen.

Supervisor Scott Wiener recently proposed an ordinance that would permit the construction of secondary (in-law) units in the Castro Street Neighborhood Commercial District within 1,750 feet of the District Boundaries. Given San Francisco’s ongoing need for more housing and the affordability crisis we face today, SPUR supports this ordinance as an opportunity to increase supply in an existing neighborhood with minimal impact on existing residents.

Downtown San Jose is the only downtown in the South Bay that is ready to grow in a serious way. Here are six big ideas to help make that happen.

The radio host muses on toothbrushes, reinforced concrete and a secret kept by Pittsburghians.

This quartet of buildings in Oakland hold deep memories about the city’s history. When we walk its streets, buildings like these “speak” to us through their variations in height, materials, and styles. When we investigate, we find that the narratives of each building — the facts and fictions that attach to it — make a claim for our attention.

SPUR offers three specific design recommendations to the future Berryessa BART parking garage to maximize space efficiency and ensure active ground floor uses.

SPUR supports the broad outlines of the City of San Jose's draft Diridon Station Area Plan. We do, however, think that the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report does not provide sufficient analysis of some of the project impacts and recommend specific areas that should be corrected, modified or further studied.

San Francisco is in the midst of an affordability crisis. Changing this situation will require far-reaching changes to the city’s housing policies. But there are many things we can do at the local level to make San Francisco more affordable for the people who live here. What follows are eight ideas that SPUR believes are worth pursuing.

San Francisco is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. This issue of The Urbanist takes a look at practical solutions we can begin to implement now. Excerpted from a policy proposal, these are SPUR’s best ideas for tackling this problem together, as a city, through far-reaching changes to housing policies.

An architect involved in the building of many affordable housing units shows the real costs of building in the country’s most expensive city.

Quirky apartment building names were (and remain) a classic real estate marketing tactic.

Need a ride? This veteran entrepreneur wants to change the way you get around your city.