Oakland Needs More — Here’s How to Get It
News / Oaklanders have been willing to tax themselves heavily over the years, but it’s never enough to provide an adequate level of services. The need for more, and the inability to deliver it, has been a defining characteristic of the city for the last few decades. How can Oakland change this? By growing its job and tax revenue bases.
Reading the City
Urbanist Article SPUR put out the call to planners, architects, designers, developers, professors, technologists and others with a simple question: What’s your favorite book about cities? We invite you to peruse this list and read to your heart’s content.
What’s the Best Use for Oakland’s Publicly Owned Land?
News / Many have asked how Oakland’s publicly owned land might be put to use to create affordable housing. The city is now working with a community coalition to develop a new policy for how public land is used. At issue is whether prioritizing affordable housing on public land would pit affordability against other important imperatives like generating funding for city services and creating well-paying local jobs.
Phasing Out Nuclear Power in California
News / Nuclear power and the future of California’s electricity grid made the news last week with the announcement that the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved closing Diablo Canyon, the state’s last operating nuclear power plant. SPUR wrote about this promising idea in our 2016 report Fossil-Free Bay Area .
Big City, Big Airport: How San Jose Can Have Both
News / The remaking of Diridon Station is the most important city-building opportunity San Jose will get for a long time. But the amount of growth planned for the area is limited by the station’s proximity to the Mineta San Jose Airport and its flight paths. Can San Jose get more space near the station for jobs and housing? Preliminary analysis by SPUR and SOM says yes.