transect diagram of a shoreline community with groundwater underneath the soil

Look Out Below

Reducing the risk of groundwater rise in Bay shore cities

Illustration of houses plugging into electricity

Closing the Electrification Affordability Gap

Planning an equitable transition away from fossil fuel heat in Bay Area buildings

illustration of yellow houses on a dark blue background

Structured for Success

Reforming housing governance in California and the Bay Area

people sitting in a parklet with a colorful mural outside a cafe

The 15-Minute Neighborhood

A framework for equitable growth and complete communities in San José and beyond

Office-to-Residential Conversion in Downtown SF

Can converting office space to housing help revitalize downtown?

illustration of a vibrant neighborhood with cyclists, pedestrians, bike lanes, benches, trees

The 2024 SPUR Annual Report

Celebrating our big wins of the past year

How Is Oakland Doing on Its Affordable Housing Goals?

News / April 26, 2017

The rate of increase in rents and home sale prices may have slowed, but Oakland still has the fourth highest rents in the nation, and housing remains unaffordable to too many. In 2016, the city set high goals for addressing the housing shortage — but how much progress has been made since then?

Why California’s New Transportation Bill Is a Really Big, Historic Deal

News / April 26, 2017

Senate Bill 1, the state transportation funding bill passed by the Legislature this month, represents a monumental win for California and the Bay Area. Not only does it solve big problems for cities and transit agencies across the state, it shows that California can raise significant funding for transportation in an era of dwindling federal resources.

Why Central SoMa Needs to Focus on Jobs, Even in a Housing Shortage

News / April 20, 2017

San Francisco will soon adopt the Central SoMa Plan, the city’s only current major neighborhood plan. In the 230-acre area, the plan changes the zoning to allow 45,000 jobs and 7,500 housing units. Considering the housing shortage, shouldn’t there be more focus on housing in the city’s only active neighborhood plan? Not necessarily. Here are five reasons we think the plan gets the mix right.

Rethinking the Corporate Campus

SPUR Report April 20, 2017

Technology has become the lifeblood of the San Francisco Bay Area economy, but the office environments where this work takes place do not reflect the innovation occurring within. The traditional suburban corporate campus reinforces dependence on cars and pushes sprawl development into open spaces and farmland. How do we create a more efficient, sustainable and high-performing model for the Bay Area workplace?

Spare the Air, Cool the Climate: The Bay Area’s New Strategy for Clean Energy and Transportation

News / April 19, 2017

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has adopted a major new climate action strategy that will move the region closer to attaining its goals for cleaner air and reduced carbon emissions. SPUR strongly supports this bold vision for a post-carbon economy by 2050.