Facing the loss of over 50,000 jobs since the onset of the 2008 recession, the City of San Jose embarked on a major update of its economic strategy. What is San Jose's approach to regaining the jobs and revenue it has lost while also investing for future success?

Facing the prospect of extraordinary population and job growth, San Jose planners have a choice: to let the city grow out, or up. How will they retrofit San Jose's car-oriented development pattern into thriving, walkable communities?

Facing the prospect of extraordinary population and job growth, San Jose planners have a choice: to let the city grow out, or up. How will they retrofit San Jose's car-oriented development pattern into thriving, walkable communities?

The South Bay has particular challenges when it comes to transit—a robust network of light-rail and buses, but some of the lowest ridership numbers in the country. Can better land-use policy help?

After a major disaster, our transportation infrastructure could be severely damaged. How are we going to get around in the weeks and months after an earthquake, if one or more of our regional transportation links fails? Who should lead the recovery effort? And what can we do now to make our roads, bridges and tunnels more resilient?

After a major disaster, our transportation infrastructure could be severely damaged. How are we going to get around in the weeks and months after an earthquake, if one or more of our regional transportation links fails? Who should lead the recovery effort? And what can we do now to make our roads, bridges and tunnels more resilient?

Why has the involvement of designers in urban planning dwindled over the last century? What can planners learn from the recent movement in "design thinking"—and how can these lessons lead to more visionary planning and the design of more humanist places?

Last fall, SPUR and AIA San Francisco hosted GOOD and CEOs for Cities to explore design solutions for some of San Francisco's most pressing urban problems. The program has been successful in other cities, where it has prompted some badly needed out-of-the-box thinking.

Includes SPUR's analysis of 5 city propositions on the June 2010 ballot.

Controller Ben Rosenfield talks about economic booms, busts and their impact on the City budget

Since 1934 San Francisco has relied on the Tuolumne River in Yosemite for almost all of its water. But to protect the health of the river and establish a more resilient water source in times of drought and disaster, the City is introducing the use of recycled and groundwater and furthering conservation efforts.

While there are lessons both good and bad that other cities might draw from Muni and its parent organization, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, a few recent highlights may be most noteworthy.

No other city or county in the nation has made and delivered on a promise of affordable health care for all.

The success of downtown San Francisco is one part accident and one part good planning.

In contrast to the traditional processes of official bureaucratic urbanization, there is an approach to urban processes that is characterized by temporary, participatory, flexible solutions that can adapt, evolve and change to meet a range of dynamic urban conditions.

Because almost all of the city's neighborhood retail districts developed along streetcar routes, today they retain the essential physical bones of commercial districts perfect for strolling, shopping and supporting the basic needs of neighborhood residents getting about on foot. This is the local flavor of neighborhood shopping that San Francisco is known for.

San Francisco's 72 percent waste diversion rate is the product of aggressive state and local policy, a fruitful public-private partnership, and a sustained investment in outreach and public engagement. Although we are setting the nation's leading example, there's still more we can do.

On October 17, 1989 was a dark moment for the city. And yet, out of this darkness, the possibility for change emerged.

With so many positive things to say about San Francisco, there are many things we could and should be doing better. Like any city, San Francisco has its own long list of successes and failures. These are ten ways SPUR thinks San Francisco can do better.

The revitalization of downtown, greater downtown and Center City

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Washington, D.C. was built as a celebration of democracy and civic pride. Today, planners are extending this legacy to reconnect D.C.'s "monumental core" with the rest of the city.

While urban planners across the U.S. talk about creating transit-oriented development, the D.C. region has built TODs in a way that's actually changing commuter behavior. What lessons can San Francisco learn from this success story?