Lydia Tan joined SPUR’s board of directors in 2005 and today serves as our board chair. A real estate professional, she consults on organizational development and transformational urban redevelopment projects and is chief real estate officer for the Oakland Roots, a purpose-based professional soccer team. She spoke with us about the relationship between housing and community planning and professional sports organizations, creative approaches to housing challenges, and SPUR’s vital role in the Bay Area.

Washington is pushing more of the cost and responsibility for healthcare, infrastructure, and disaster response onto local governments — at the exact moment these costs themselves are climbing. This reality demands that cities find ways to serve residents better and more nimbly. They must be willing to abandon approaches that no longer work and take measured risks on those that might.

Across the country, cities and states have faced an unprecedented wave of threats to their resiliency. The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened critical federal funding unless they acquiesce to its political agenda. And the administration’s failure to enforce many federal laws is harming vulnerable residents. Under these circumstances, cities must defend themselves.

San Francisco’s permitting system determines what gets built, how quickly businesses can open, and whether public infrastructure projects move forward or stall. But structural inefficiencies in the current system can result in lengthy delays, increased costs, and a sense of governmental obstruction. SPUR’s latest report offers recommendations to modernize the city’s permitting system so San Francisco can grow and adapt to change.