Hybrid work and a scarcity of affordable housing have depopulated San Francisco’s downtown. The consequences have been devastating to San Francisco’s budget, putting essential services and surviving small businesses at risk. How can the city create more economic diversity downtown — and address pre-COVID equity and sustainability challenges? SPUR has identified four key areas on which to focus our downtown revitalization research, engagement, and advocacy.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Transit Oriented Communities Policy, passed in 2022, aims to simultaneously address the climate crisis, the Bay Area’s unaffordability, and racial and economic inequities. SPUR reports on the policy’s main components and answers some critical questions, such as how local jurisdictions are being incentivized to comply with the policy and how residents can follow and become involved in its implementation.

San Francisco’s office vacancy rate, one of the highest in the country, has dampened the city’s liveliness and economic prospects. Other cities are tackling the resilience challenges that office-centric downtowns face by reconsidering office building uses and creating incentives for redevelopment. San Francisco can take a page from their revitalization plans.

San José’s parks and open spaces are underfunded and falling into disuse. Realizing their potentially large economic and social dividends will take significant and sustainable funding mechanisms. Now more than ever, the city must study, assess, and develop long-term funding strategies with clear communication, intentionality, and creativity.