Model Places Illustration

Housing

We Believe: Housing is a human right and should be affordable to everyone.

Our Goals

• Increase the supply of housing.

• Provide more affordable housing for low- and middle-income residents.

• Protect low-income communities of color from displacement.

Monte Vista Gardens apartments in San José

SPUR Report

Structured for Success

A key cause of California’s high housing costs is its decentralized and fragmented housing governance system. SPUR makes 11 recommendations to set California and the Bay Area on the path to produce the housing we need.
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photo of balconies on an apartment building

Research

Losing Ground

SPUR examines how the Bay Area’s housing market has become shaped by scarcity and wide economic divides — not only among income groups but also among races and ethnicities.
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Apartment Building

Research

Housing the Middle

SPUR digs into the housing market’s failure to meet the needs of middle-income households. California can look to innovative programs across the country as models for how to address the state’s housing challenges.
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Apartment Construction

Research

Planning by Ballot

SPUR has created the most up-to-date database of local land use ballot measures that impact housing production in California. Over the long term, measures that restrict infill housing can undermine housing affordability and have the potential to exacerbate racial segregation.
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Updates and Events

SPUR Supports SB831 (Accessory Dwelling Units)

Advocacy Letter
SPUR is pleased to offer support to SB 831 (Wieckowski), which we believe will help grow the number of homes in California in a form that is cost-effective, low-impact and appropriate in many kinds of neighborhood environments.

Homelessness in the Bay Area

Urbanist Article
The Bay Area has one of the largest and least sheltered homeless populations in the country. Over the past year, the SPUR Board of Directors convened a study group to learn more about homelessness — both its causes and its possible solutions.

SPUR's Agenda for CASA

Advocacy Letter
SPUR's agenda for CASA, a regional coalition devoted to addressing the Bay Area's housing crisis.

What Does the Bay Area Need to Do About Housing?

News /
A group of regional stakeholders is working together to develop bold solutions to address the Bay Area's housing challenges. CASA, the Committee to House the Bay Area, will spend the next year building consensus on the “three Ps”: increasing housing production, preserving housing and protecting residents from displacement. SPUR offers recommendations on how to move the needle forward on the first P, increasing housing production.

SF Mayor Directs City to Deliver 5,000 Housing Units Per Year

News /
Last month, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee issued an executive directive calling for the city to speed up housing production in order to deliver 5,000 homes a year on an ongoing basis. The mayor’s directive argues that there is more that the city can and must do to sustain the pace of housing creation over the long term.
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