SPUR Planning Policy Area

Planning

We believe: Growth can be good and should be directed to areas
that will support equitable development and sustainability.

Our Goals

• Leverage growth to create great neighborhoods and public spaces.

• Protect and expand open space.

• Concentrate new jobs and housing in downtowns and near major transit hubs.

• Grow up, not out.

Photo of a locally owned bakery storefront in downtown San Francisco

Policy Brief

Small and Mighty

San Francisco’s small businesses face complex regulations, rising costs, and slow economic recovery after the pandemic. SPUR identifies seven interventions to support the city's small business sector.
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Photo of high rise buildings in downtown San Francisco

SPUR Report

From Workspace to Homebase

Converting empty offices into apartments could both reanimate downtown San Francisco and provide housing for more people near transit, jobs, and culture. SPUR explores the suitability of converting office buildings to housing and tests the financial feasibility.
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illustration of a mixed-used downtown with offices, restaurants, childcare, retail, greenspace and transit

Urbanist Article

What If We Get Downtown Right?

SPUR asked community leaders: “What would it look like if cities were to get downtown right?” We invited them to picture a future in which today’s ideas and policy proposals for downtown revitalization are put into place ... and they work.
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photo of a pedestrian bridge and tree cover over the Guadalupe River

Virtual Exhibition

Re-Envisioning the Guadalupe River Park

The Guadalupe River Park is downtown San José’s most important urban green space, but it faces serious challenges. SPUR's virtual exhibition celebrates the promise of the river park and brings together three years of research and conversation about its future.
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Updates and Events

Keeping California on Track

Urbanist Article
Building high-speed rail in California could reinforce cities as the hubs of our economies and significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. So why is the proposal languishing?

Hard Choices at the Port of San Francisco

SPUR Report
The costs of repairing, seismically upgrading and redeveloping the Port's piers are staggering. Restoring this valuable city asset will require new thinking and new cooperation among government agencies.

Civic Planning in America

Urbanist Article
Can a politics of place help overcome California's increasingly divisive and dysfunctional politics? This paper explores several geographic scales for “reinventing California” through improving civic engagement.

Framing the Future of Downtown San Francisco

Urbanist Article
Downtown San Francisco is the region’s best chance of getting people to work without a car. But to add more jobs, downtown must overcome limits in zoning and transit capacity.

What's the Correct Balance Between Housing and Jobs?

Urbanist Article
San Francisco should heed the lessons of Vancouver's downtown residential boom: the "living first" policy allowed residential building to outpace office building, resulting in backwards commuting and higher office space rents.

Form Foils Function

Urbanist Article
How our process prevents real planning — and what we can do about it
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