SPUR Publications

Many white people are outraged and in pain over the murder of George Floyd. We want to be allies. But to do so, we have to take responsibility for our part in perpetuating the systems that have led to these outcomes. We have to undo our own racism, and we have to undo racism in our spheres of influence — including urban planning and policy.

San José is one of five new cities to join Reimagining the Civic Commons, a national initiative advancing ambitious social, economic and environmental goals through revitalized and connected public spaces. SPUR is thrilled to be part of this project. We believe public spaces are critical infrastructure and will be essential for building a more resilient shared future as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the wake of COVID-19’s disastrous impact, Bay Area transit agencies and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission need to make a commitment to public health in order for transit to recover. This commitment will be an evolving effort, and it must be coordinated across the region. SPUR recommends five things that can improve safety standards and help people feel comfortable riding transit.

Our state is in dire need of an infrastructure stimulus designed to put people back to work quickly. A traditional stimulus that funds huge, singular infrastructure projects like the Hoover Dam won't cut it. Instead, we need thousands of smaller, distributed projects that will get people back to work immediately, train them in fast-growing jobs and generate a healthier, low-carbon future of California.

Construction bans made the early days of shelter in place a confusing and frustrating time for those in development and construction. SPUR jumped into action, getting our members the information they needed and successfully advocating for a safe return to work.

As shelter-in-place orders are relaxed, Bay Area cities must balance public health and safety with equitable and creative approaches to economic recovery. SPUR recommends four steps to make public life the focus of San José’s recovery strategy.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a profound threat to the future of transit. It’s hard to speculate how the future will play out when the world today looks so different from the one we inhabited just two months ago. But one thing is certain: We will still need transit.

SPUR is developing recommendations regarding the many policy issues arising in the Bay Area with the outbreak of COVID-19 and shelter-in-place orders. Here are the resources, events, articles, and policy letters SPUR has produced so far.

Shelter in place has made it starkly evident just how much space cities allocate to cars and parking. The City of San José is currently considering changes to the amount of parking it requires of new development. All of this makes it a good time to unpack the many ways that parking impacts neighborhoods and quality of life.

The mayors of the region should follow Oakland’s lead and close some streets to through traffic to create space for walking and biking. By making it safer for us to be outside in a socially distant way, “slow streets” help us combat another public health crisis: chronic diseases caused by inactivity. They also equalize the opportunity to be outside for communities that lack open space.

Homebuilders, residents, housing advocates, city staff and elected officials across the Bay Area are working to understand the fluid and challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place orders. SPUR and partner groups have created a database of up-to-date information and resources about finding and staying in housing, planning, construction and more.

Writing in The New York Times, SPUR's Allison Arieff reflects on the opportunity COVID-19 presents to fix our cities: "Ultimately, what we really need to figure out is how the world gets put back together. Our new COVID-19 reality shows that behavior can change. It is also, however, making it glaringly apparent how poorly existing systems (and places) have been working for most."

The COVID pandemic has highlighted a fundamental truth: Housing insecurity is a threat to our society — both at the height of the market and during crises like this one. By understanding what caused Bay Area housing prices to escalate over the past decade, and how that changed who can and can’t afford to live here, the region can make a course correction.

Only a couple of weeks into shelter-in-place orders, COVID-19's impact on the economy is crashing down on us. To keep food flowing and avoid historic levels of hunger, SPUR recommends 14 steps that policymakers at the local, state and federal level can, and should, take immediately.

Congress is considering an almost two trillion dollar relief package to help those impacted by COVID-19 and jumpstart the economy. As part of this stimulus package, the Trump Administration is considering a multi-billion dollar bailout for Big Oil and Big Coal. Instead, Congress should use this stimulus to lay the foundations for shared economic prosperity founded in a clean and restorative economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic is teaching us something extraordinarily important: We are part of a collective whole and our individual actions determine the health of that whole. This is an opportunity to develop our understanding of our interdependence and exercise our collective action muscle. To do this effectively, there are practices we can put in place right now, even before we begin post-pandemic rebuilding.