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

SPUR Comments on the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan

Advocacy Letter
Now is the time to prepare a bold vision for the future that enables Oakland to grow into its role as a major regional center with significantly more employment, residents and visitors than today. This plan should be about how to shape that future in a way that achieves a downtown with significant benefits for everyone.

What Will Diridon Station’s Legacy Be?

News /
Last month, SPUR convened national and international experts in San Jose to share best practices for planning and building world-class transit stations and active neighborhoods around stations. City officials, transit agencies and civic groups came together to develop the vision for the future Diridon Station and to consider the legacy that today's decisions will create for the project.

SPUR Comments on Morgan Hill Urban Service Area Expansion Proposal, 2018

Advocacy Letter
Morgan Hill’s proposal runs counter to SPUR and LAFCO’s shared goals of curbing sprawl and preserving agricultural land. The proposal runs contrary to the regional goal of directing growth into higher density in-fill development within existing city boundaries as outlined in Plan Bay Area.

SPUR Comments on Proposed Oakland Public Lands Strategy

Advocacy Letter
We are pleased that such a robust discussion regarding the role and use of public lands is underway. Like many other groups, we believe that public land should contribute to the public good – by supporting long term housing affordability, mixed income communities, economic development opportunities for all Oaklanders and the fiscal health of the city as a whole.

Why San Francisco Should Stop Requiring Parking in New Housing

News /
Housing developers in San Francisco are currently required to provide a minimum amount of parking in new buildings. What if we eliminated those requirements? Then we’d see both lowered housing prices and more efficient use of urban land. Requiring parking brings too many new cars into the city, congesting streets, taking up space needed for more housing and harming the environment.

SPUR Comments on San Francisco's Central SoMa Plan

Advocacy Letter
San Francisco's proposed Central SoMa Plan is a thoughtful and ambitious plan to improve the neighborhood for residents, workers and visitors. It will increase housing opportunities, provide significant affordability, expand green space, maintain a vital mix of uses, allow a diverse mix of businesses to remain in San Francisco and more. SPUR urges the Board of Supervisors to approve the plan.
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