SPUR Planning Policy Area

Planning

We Believe: Growth can be good and should be directed to areas
that will support equitable development and sustainability.

Our Goals

• Leverage growth to create great neighborhoods and public spaces.

• Protect and expand open space.

• Concentrate new jobs and housing in downtowns and near major transit hubs.

• Grow up, not out.

Photo of a locally owned bakery storefront in downtown San Francisco

Policy Brief

Small and Mighty

San Francisco’s small businesses face complex regulations, rising costs, and slow economic recovery after the pandemic. SPUR identifies seven interventions to support the city's small business sector.
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Photo of high rise buildings in downtown San Francisco

SPUR Report

From Workspace to Homebase

Converting empty offices into apartments could both reanimate downtown San Francisco and provide housing for more people near transit, jobs, and culture. SPUR explores the suitability of converting office buildings to housing and tests the financial feasibility.
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illustration of a mixed-used downtown with offices, restaurants, childcare, retail, greenspace and transit

Urbanist Article

What If We Get Downtown Right?

SPUR asked community leaders: “What would it look like if cities were to get downtown right?” We invited them to picture a future in which today’s ideas and policy proposals for downtown revitalization are put into place ... and they work.
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photo of a pedestrian bridge and tree cover over the Guadalupe River

Virtual Exhibition

Re-Envisioning the Guadalupe River Park

The Guadalupe River Park is downtown San José’s most important urban green space, but it faces serious challenges. SPUR's virtual exhibition celebrates the promise of the river park and brings together three years of research and conversation about its future.
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Updates and Events

Headshots of Erika McLitus and Sujata Srivastava

How Arts and Cultural Strategies Can Revitalize Downtowns: Q&A with Erika McLitus and Sujata Srivastava

News /
Bay Area downtowns have faced significant social and economic challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic. In a new brief, SPUR’s Erika McLitus and Sujata Srivastava explore how cultural districts can play a transformative role in breathing new life into these urban landscapes. We asked them about the potential of cultural districts to both enhance the vibrancy of downtown areas and promote equity and belonging, ultimately paving the way for a more resilient urban future.
dark blue report cover with title in white text

Culture As Catalyst

Policy Brief
Oakland, San Francisco, and San José are exploring how cultural districts can mitigate the economic and social impacts of office vacancies and reduced foot traffic in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Successful examples from Boston, Cleveland, Denver, and Philadelphia show how place-based cultural strategies can reactivate struggling neighborhoods to support businesses, create jobs, and make communities more resilient.
100 Van Ness, San Francisco

Rethinking Revenue: Business Tax Reform in San Francisco in the Era of Remote Work

News /
The rise of remote work and other economic changes have exposed vulnerabilities in San Francisco’s business tax structure. The city’s controller and treasurer have studied potential tax reform recommendations for a possible November 2024 ballot measure. Their proposal aims to increase the city’s economic resilience, create more transparency for taxpayers, and help struggling small businesses.
Participants in SPUR's workshop on downtown San José

Developing the Next Steps to Revitalize Downtown San José

News /
Ten years ago, SPUR offered six big ideas to make downtown San José a more welcoming, vibrant, and pedestrian-friendly space and to strengthen the city’s presence on the regional stage. Those ideas have currency today, as post-pandemic shifts affect foot traffic and activity downtown. This spring, SPUR convened a workshop focused on implementation priorities for the urban core’s revitalization and surfaced questions for future policy research.
Report cover with title and subtitle in white text on blue background

Small and Mighty

Policy Brief
San Francisco’s small businesses face multiple challenges: a notoriously complex regulatory environment, rising costs, and a slow economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges are even more acute for small businesses in the downtown area, which has still not recovered its office and visitor customer base. SPUR identifies seven interventions to support the small business sector in San Francisco.

SPUR Public Comment on Draft San Francisco Waterfront Coastal Flood Study

Advocacy Letter
The Draft Plan was released in late January by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), in collaboration with the City of San Francisco, to build coastal flood defenses along the Port's 7.5-mile jurisdiction between Aquatic Park and Heron's Head Park. The Draft Flood Study's proposed adaptation strategies will lead the way for regional and statewide efforts on sea level rise adaptation over the next 50 to 100 years. SPUR, Save the Bay, and Greenbelt Alliance submitted a public comment letter with five recommendations regarding proposed actions around elevating the shoreline, mitigating contamination, addressing inland flooding from stormwater and groundwater, the use of bay fill, and nature-based solutions. Read the letter to learn more.
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