Earlier this year, SPUR provided comments to improve a proposed vacant parcel tax measure (now Measure W) co-sponsored by Oakland City Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan. We greatly appreciate the time Councilmember Kaplan spent with us and the changes she made to the measure at our suggestion. The following letter from Councilmember Kaplan is a companion piece to the Oakland section of the SPUR Voter Guide.

What can California and its cities do to bring down the soaring costs of housing? Land entitlement is one process that could be reformed to speed up the construction of new housing and reduce costs. At a recent SPUR forum, researchers and planners discussed how state and city reforms might (or might not) streamline the approval processes.

What do we mean when we say a home, a street or a city is “accessible”? It’s more than a measure of the physical characteristics of the built environment, and it impacts a person’s overall sense of freedom and representation. At a recent SPUR forum, panelists discussed what architects, designers, planners and citizens can do to increase access in our cities.

San Jose leads the nation in electric vehicle purchases. In the quickly evolving landscape of electric vehicle ownership, charging technology and future demand, what is the right level of charging service to provide in commercial buildings and multifamily housing? To discuss this challenge, and the market opportunity, SPUR recently brought together real estate developers with experts from PG&E, the City of San Jose and Tesla.

Creating a great user experience at the redeveloped Diridon Station will be critical to whether people embrace the station and use transit. If Diridon’s transit services are going to compete with the automobile — or the next big transportation technology — the partners developing the station will need to focus on the user as the primary driver in their planning efforts .