Balancing Oakland's Budget
Closing the city’s structural deficit to move toward fiscal solvency and economic growth
The Bay Area Parking Census
SPUR Report / For decades, parking in the Bay Area has been both ubiquitous and uncounted. Now SPUR and the Mineta Transportation Institute have produced the San Francisco Bay Area Parking Census, the most detailed assessment of parking infrastructure ever produced for the region. The census helps fill data gaps about parking to inform policy reforms and will help policymakers make better decisions for the future of Bay Area cities.
Staff Profile: Noah Christman, 11-year Spurrito
News / This year, SPUR is celebrating staff members — a.k.a. “Spurritos”— who have served the organization for 10 years or more. First up is a face that will be familiar to anyone who attends our Digital Discourse events. Public Programming Director Noah Christman started at SPUR as a programming intern in February 2011. Since then, he has spearheaded more than 1,800 programs and 37 exhibitions.
Governor’s Proposed Budget Includes Focus on Housing as a Climate Strategy
News / For the second year in a row, California will have a sizable budget surplus — and a host of critical needs to be funded. Governor Newsom’s proposed budget spending plan continues to include significant investments in affordable housing and solutions to homelessness. SPUR is especially pleased to see a strategy that makes an explicit link between locating housing in urban areas and reducing climate change, a key idea in our Civic Vision for Growth.
Burdens and Benefits
Research / California’s Proposition 13 is one of the most studied property taxes in the country, but how does it affect the lives of residents in Bay Area cities? SPUR’s research brief Burdens and Benefits explores how the law impacts homeowners in Oakland, with a look at who receives the largest benefits from the state’s unique property tax law and who shoulders the burdens from its constraints on revenues.
SPUR and Others to Pilot New Technology for Making Healthy Food More Affordable
News / California has reached a milestone in its effort to make healthy, California-grown food more affordable for low-income residents. The California Department of Social Services has awarded contracts to SPUR and two other nonprofits for pilot projects that will test new technology for providing healthy food incentives.