SPUR supports the repeal and replacement of the current local Fire Code with an amended 2013 San Francisco Fire Code that allows an exception to the existing air replenishment system requirement - a code change has been spurred by an interest in creating choice for the best safety measures in each building.

SPUR strongly supports efforts to conserve water and to use alternative supplies for appropriate, nonpotable uses. This effort to expand a successful voluntary onsite reuse program to allow nonpotable water systems to be shared between two or more parcels will effectively expand this successful program to the district scale. Establishing a clear process for district-scale water reuse today will help the city lay the groundwork for the the sustainable infrastructure and eco-districts of tomorrow.

The exhbition Ambition and Imagination views the unbuilt realm of San Francisco from five perspectives, some obvious, some not.

Empowering Urban Entrepreneurs

This month, we are pleased to devote The Urbanist to Unbuilt San Francisco, an ambitious five-venue exhibition that provides an opportunity to confront visions for the region that never came to pass. Attempts to reconfigure San Francisco according to evolving notions of progress, beauty and justice have often proved controversial — and even traumatic.

The works on view in “Unbuilt San Francisco” show us how people defined the future, and why those visions in turn sparked resistance. It’s a parallel history of San Francisco and the Bay Area, for better and for worse.

The northeast neighborhoods of San Francisco — North Beach, Telegraph Hill, Russian Hill, Fisherman’s Wharf and the edges of Chinatown — have some of the city’s highest densities of residents, workers and tourist activities. Yet there are currently no major plans to increase transit capacity serving the area. SPUR convened a community workshop to assess transit needs in these neighborhoods.

Innovative design solutions can better accommodate the changing — and sometimes surprising — demographics in cities, including a rising number of single people. In New York, a third of all households are single people living alone. In San Francisco, it’s 38 percent. Why aren’t we designing housing for that demographic?

Inspired by New York transit, we contemplate what it would mean to integrate Muni, BART, Caltrain and the Valley Transportation Authority. (Hint: 168 train stops in one fare control area.)

As it begins work on a new regional plan, RPA’s vision of a metropolitan region with strong, vibrant urban communities seems more achievable than ever.

For this self-described “time philanthropist,” every day is another opportunity for edification.

In cities, quality of life is shaped by much more than housing alone; how the public realm completes the picture is key.