This year, SPUR is celebrating staff members — a.k.a. “Spurritos”— who have served the organization for 10 years or more. First up is a face that will be familiar to anyone who attends our Digital Discourse events. Public Programming Director Noah Christman started at SPUR as a programming intern in February 2011. Since then, he has spearheaded more than 1,800 programs and events in three cities — and now online — making SPUR the place for important public conversations about issues facing the Bay Area. Among staffers, Noah is a team player of the first order, well known for his killer headlines, pop culture knowledge, great taste in music and sartorial style.
Name: Noah Christman
Title: Public Programming Director
Start date at SPUR: February 2011
Programs produced: 1,800+
Exhibitions curated: 37
What drew you to the field of urban policy and working at SPUR?
I played a lot of SimCity and LEGOs as a child, so I always had a desire to shape the built environment. But after a few years of working in master planning, infill housing development and urban design, I realized that if we really want to change cities for the better, we have to change mindsets. SPUR is one of few places that takes a holistic approach to urban policy and operates a public engagement platform designed to educate the public. I wanted to help craft the conversations that could shift mindsets and pave (though not literally) the way toward a brighter, better Bay Area.
What has changed the most about SPUR or the field since you started here?
It’s amazing how much the organization has grown. Not only has staff more than doubled, we’ve expanded into two cities [opening in San José in 2012 and Oakland in 2015] and significantly widened the scope and capacity of our policy work. This growth has enabled us to have an incredible positive impact on the region — and now even statewide —that we could only have wished for in 2012.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
In my time at SPUR I’ve led the planning and execution of more than 1,800 programs and opportunities for public engagement, creating space for more than 100,000 people from the Bay Area and beyond to connect with the leaders and ideas that shape the places they love. But none of that was done by myself alone — it’s always a team effort. In fact, what I’m most proud of are the many programming associates I’ve had the opportunity to bring to the organization, collaborate with, mentor and then see succeed in their post-SPUR careers. I’ve been lucky to work alongside so many truly outstanding individuals, and it’s been incredible to see the success they’ve all found and how their time at SPUR helped to create a foundation for their careers.
What’s a favorite SPUR memory?
There was a string of years where the tail end of the SPUR Member Parties would see someone trying to do “the worm” or to breakdance, and it inevitably brought everyone together into a raucous dance party. I actually have a video from the 2013 SPUR Member Party of a number of current and former SPUR staff and board members all dancing to “Gangnam Style.” I stumble upon it in my archives every now and then, and it never fails to make me laugh.
What’s something coming up that you’re excited about?
By the time that you’re reading this, we’ll have launched free programming for all. Since long before I started at SPUR, membership was the way to get free tickets to the dozens of programs that we hosted each quarter. I’m very excited to have been able to collaborate with our Development team and others in the organization to reframe what membership to SPUR actually means and to disconnect it from our programming, enabling us to make the majority of our programs free for everyone and removing one of the most substantial barriers to access.
What do you do when you’re not planning SPUR programs?
I love to explore, so I spend a lot of time with my wife and young daughter doing just that — especially if we can find a good vantage point to appreciate a sweeping panoramic of the Bay Area. If we can find excellent pastries nearby, it’s even better.
What’s one of your favorite spots in the Bay Area?
I don’t get out for a bike ride nearly as often as I used to (see “young daughter” above), but there’s a magnificent combination of terror, reverence and adrenaline that I get from bombing down Conzelman Road in the Marin Headlands, from Hawk Hill down to Point Bonita. I’ve probably ridden that route a hundred times or more, but the incredible spectacle of the Golden Gate — immediately followed by flinging oneself precipitously towards the Pacific — never ceases to be magical.
If you could wave a magic urbanist wand and make one policy idea come true, what would it be?
If this wand only has one good sweep of magic in it, I’d upzone all residential parcels across the region and allow for mixed-use, multi-family development by right. Let’s clear out a major obstacle to providing the housing and easy access to goods and services that Bay Area residents deserve. It’d get us a healthy step closer to looking more like many of the international metropolises that we lust after.