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SPUR Impact Awards 2019: Consuelo Hernandez Manages Finances to Increase Affordable Housing

News /
The 2019 SPUR Impact Awards, held on March 22, recognized outstanding job performance of those serving San Jose and the surrounding communities. The ceremony honored Consuelo Hernandez for building and leading a team that manages funds from the 2016 Measure A Affordable Housing Bond and the state’s No Place Like Home Program to increase supportive and affordable housing units in Santa Clara County.

SPUR Impact Awards 2019: Better BikewaySJ Transforms City Streets into a Network of Bike Lanes

News /
The 2019 SPUR Impact Awards, held on March 22, recognized outstanding job performance of those serving San Jose and the neighboring communities. The ceremony honored Better BikewaySJ for allowing hundreds of thousands of people to safely bike (or scoot) for their daily transportation needs, and transforming the role of San Jose streets into public spaces.

Good Government Awards 2019: SF Prepared Team Keeps Disaster Support Services Running

News /
The 2019 Good Government Awards, held on March 6, recognized outstanding job performance of those serving the City and County of San Francisco. The event honored the SF Prepared team for executing complex but essential finance and administrative projects and a “Disaster Academy” curriculum to prepare city finance and admin staff to respond in an emergency.

Four Goals Cities Should Keep in Mind When Planning for Shared E-Scooters and Bikes

News /
The success of e-scooters and other micro-mobility vehicles has created challenges over safety and the allocation of street and sidewalk space. As cities look for ways to better balance their rise, new regulations should focus on four objectives that will promote their use while keeping cities safe and welcoming for everyone.

How Can Santa Clara County Prevent Wildfire?

News /
2018 was the deadliest and most destructive fire season in California history — and climate change will only accelerate this dangerous trend. What is Santa Clara County doing to prepare? At a recent SPUR forum in San Jose, fire and open space officials discussed how they are working together to prevent a fire event from devastating the South Bay.

How Much Housing Should the Bay Area Have Built to Avoid the Current Housing Crisis?

News /
One of the key causes cited for the Bay Area’s housing affordability crisis is that demand for housing continually outstrips the available supply. If only the region had built more housing, extreme competition for a limited number of units wouldn’t be driving prices so high. How much housing should the region have built? SPUR presents new data to answer this question.

San Jose Makes a Bold Move to Realize Its Climate Smart Goals

News /
Since launching Climate Smart San Jose in February 2018, the City of San Jose has been leading the charge to reduce air pollution, conserve water, and create a stronger and healthier community. Recognizing that all sectors need to help meet these goals, city staff proposed an ordinance that would increase commercial building energy efficiency through a transparent open-data benchmarking tool. SPUR strongly supports the ordinance.

Did the Bay Area Reach a “Grand Bargain” to Solve Housing?

News /
The Bay Area’s housing shortage and affordability crisis is arguably the greatest threat to its future. In January, the region took an important step forward with the endorsement of the CASA Compact, a grand bargain among dozens of governments and organizations to arrive at real solutions.

2018 Was a Big Year for Federal and State Investment in Healthy Food Incentives

News /
Since 2017, SPUR's Double Up Food Bucks program has helped families eat healthier and stretch their food budgets further while also supporting California farmers. Our program’s success — and that of many others across the country — has garnered the attention and support of elected officials. Policymakers at both the federal and state level dedicated unprecedented amounts of money toward these programs in 2018.

Finding Transit

Policy Brief
Navigating transit in the Bay Area is complicated: Each of the region's 27 transit operators develops its own maps, using a wide range of styles, symbols, graphics and language. Research shows that well-designed transit maps can increase ridership and improve passengers’ understanding of the transit system. SPUR offers recommendations for creating better maps that can make Bay Area transit easier to understand and navigate.

Update: How Did San Francisco Decide to Spend Its Soda Tax Revenue?

News /
San Francisco began collecting a soda tax in 2018. While the tax measure didn't allocate revenue to a specific purpose, it did create a process for directing funds to the cause of better public health outcomes. SPUR took a close look at the process and how well it did at achieving the intended aims of the original measure.

Learning to Manage California’s Fire Problem

News /
Climate change is here today, and after the devastating fires of 2017 and 2018, Californians know it. In 2019, SPUR will be working on a new policy report on the multiple hazards wrought by climate change, including fires and flooding. We now know that land use, planning, building code, forest management and other recommendations may be needed to improve fire resiliency across the Bay Area.