This year, SPUR is celebrating staff members — a.k.a. “Spurritos”— who have served the organization for 10 years or more. This month we profile Strategy and Operations Director Lawrence Li, who keeps the SPUR Urban Center in San Francisco — and our remote work across the Bay Area — humming seamlessly despite global pandemics and other unforeseen disruptions.

Since 2018, one of SPUR’s top priorities has been research and planning for San José's Guadalupe River Park. The initial phase of this work culminated in January with a virtual exhibition. We are now excited to announce our plans to move forward with policy ideas for the river park and other areas in and around downtown San José, supported by essential funding from the Knight Foundation.

One of the root causes of San Francisco’s high housing costs is the city’s ongoing failure to build enough housing, a problem that’s been compounding for decades. A measure that SPUR and others are proposing for San Francisco’s November ballot would take two approaches to building more affordable housing: streamlining the permitting process and deepening the bench of construction workers.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has put forth a promising proposal for a new regional transit-oriented communities policy that would support new housing at all income levels, new jobs, sustainable access to transit, and protection from displacement in transit-rich areas. In crafting the final policy, MTC’s commissioners must not only maintain the ambition of the current proposal but leverage the agency’s funding authority to ensure that the policy is implemented.

During the early days of COVID-19, San José's Al Fresco program closed some streets and opened parking lots to allow businesses to operate outside. SPUR advocated for the program, and we believe it’s worth extending beyond the pandemic. We’re pleased to announce that, through investment made by the Knight Foundation, we will continue to support the development of an ongoing Al Fresco program that's feasible in public and private outdoor spaces.