Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley
Urbanist Article / As new business models continue to break the divide between content creation and distribution, SPUR considers how rail service between north and south might further facilitate creative collaboration.
Silicon Valley Lands One of Four New U.S. Patent Offices
News / Word of a big win for Silicon Valley came July 2 from the U.S. Commerce Department. For the first time in its history, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will open four offices outside of Virginia, and the western region office will be located in Silicon Valley.
SPUR Comments on the Mountain View Draft General Plan
Advocacy Letter / SPUR believes that the City of Mountain View has arrived at a General Plan that performs very well on environmental attributes. The plan incorporates housing into an otherwise single-use job district and permits an increase in floor area ratio that will support job growth, reduce congestion and strengthen the community’s character.
Reinvesting in the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market
News / Update: On July 17, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the expansion proposal and new lease for the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. The San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, the city’s hub for fresh produce, is looking to modernize and expand. And, this month, the SF Board of Supervisors will be considering a proposal to allow it to do just that. The market is a…
SPUR Comments on Modernization of the Wholesale Produce Market
Advocacy Letter / The San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market is a major piece of the region's food distribution infrastructure and San Francisco's food industry. Renewing the market's lease will support long-term economic development in the Bayview, generate new business and construction jobs and increase revenues for the city and will help ensure that San Francisco continues to have the facilities to support the vibrant food industry for which the city and region is so well known.
Changes to Great Highway Will Improve Ocean Beach Access
News / Some important improvements that SPUR recommended in the Ocean Beach Master Plan will happen right away, thanks to quick work by the San Francisco Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Recreation and Park Commission. This winter DPW will construct a planted median in the center of the Great Highway from Lincoln Way to Balboa Street as part of a previously scheduled project to repave…
SPUR 2011-2012 Annual Report
SPUR Report / It is our great pleasure to share with you SPUR’s accomplishments of the past year. The high point of our work was extending the reach of our 100-year-old organization beyond San Francisco with the opening of an office in San Jose. We invite you to learn about our accomplishments in 2011-12, as well as our vision for working in the region in the coming years.
SPUR Project Review Committee on Parcel P
Advocacy Letter / The SPUR Project Review Committee finds the proposed project at Parcel P to be an appropriate use of the site. The dense residential development will enliven and enhance this transit-rich neighborhood.
Ocean Beach Master Plan Final Document
News / At last, the final Ocean Beach Master Plan document is ready for viewing and download! Many thanks to everyone who participated in this groundbreaking effort, including community members, advocates and public agencies.
San Jose Passes New Incentives for More Active Streets Downtown
News / Many downtown areas have policies in place that restrict ground-floor storefronts for walk-in businesses such as retail, restaurants and entertainment. The idea is to encourage people to continue exploring (and hopefully shopping) on foot. But in an economic downturn, when retail stores may remain vacant for years, dark storefronts can create dead spaces of their own, further challenging the success of surviving retail tenants. With…
The Sunol AgPark: Farming City-Owned Land Outside SF
News / Thirty miles east of San Francisco, four farm businesses are growing food for market amidst the hills of Sunol. Though the rows of tomatoes, strawberries, kale, and other crops are typical of the region the land use arrangement at the site, known as the Sunol AgPark, is anything but typical. That’s because the park is on public land owned by the San Francisco Public…
June Election Results: SF Votes to Save Murals — and Recology
News / The shortest primary ballot in 16 years and the lowest turnout ever (30.83 percent) for a presidential primary. San Francisco’s ballot is experiencing a lot of interesting firsts in recent elections, but while the number of measures appears to be dwindling, their content is consistent: expensive implications. This election, San Franciscans considered two proposals to change city services. Proposition A, a proposal to require the city to use competitive bidding in the award of contracts for…
SPUR Supports Non-Potable Water Ordinance
Advocacy Letter / The new ordinance will allow for design, permitting and installation of systems that capture, treat and reuse water generated on site for non-potable uses. Onsite treatment systems can save significant amounts of water -- between 20-75 percent of potable water in mixed use and commercial buildings -- and contribute to the city's water conservation goals, which SPUR strongly supports.
SF Takes Steps Toward New Urban Ag Program
News / San Francisco may soon have a new urban agriculture program. On June 11, the Land Use and Economic Development Committee of the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed legislation introduced earlier by Supervisor David Chiu that seeks to increase the coordination, efficacy and breadth of city support for urban agriculture. Based on recommendations from SPUR's report Public Harvest as well as calls for change from community…
SPUR Project Review Committee on 8 Octavia
Advocacy Letter / The SPUR Project Review Committee finds this project to be a very positive additional to the Octavia Blvd corridor. It creates a strong visual presence at the prominent portal to the boulevard while fostering a positive pedestrian experience; it adds needed housing to the neighborhood; and it does so with an extraordinarily imaginative and compelling design of understated force.
Plan for New Transit Center District Moves Toward Adoption
News / Update: Mayor Ed Lee signed the Transit Center District Plan into passage on August 8, after unanimous approval by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Things are heating up again for San Francisco's Transit Center District Plan. On May 24, the SF Planning Commission voted 5-1 to certify the final draft of the environment impact report that will move the plan forward to the Board…
Diversity Didn’t Cause the Foreclosure Crisis
Urbanist Article / The “Cities of Carquinez" were hit by a perfect storm of housing boom and subsequent bust, fiscal stress, weak job growth, and more. The new map of regional inequality that these forces have wrought, and the consequent challenges faced by low-income families and communities of color in the region are examined here.
Urban Field Notes: Exploring the Cities of Carquinez
Urbanist Article / An urban planner finally stops to take a look around — and not just a drive right through — a region in his own backyard.
The Cities of Carquinez
Urbanist Article / The cities of southern Solano and eastern Contra Costa Counties are as old as the Bay Area itself. What happens if we start thinking about them as central to the future of the region as a whole?