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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More

Updates and Events

Transforming Downtown San Jose

Urbanist Article
Downtown San Jose is the only downtown in the South Bay that is ready to grow in a serious way. Here are six big ideas to help make that happen.

Tech Campuses as Cities: The Solution to the Housing Crisis?

News /
Why not address the Bay Area’s housing crisis — caused by a surge of new jobs without an equivalent increase in new housing — at its source? Alfred Twu’s fantastical renderings imagine Silicon Valley corporate campuses like Google, Apple and Facebook as complete cities, their parking lots packed with enough housing to accommodate their entire workforces.

Can SF Take Down I-280? The City Studies the Feasibility of a Bold Idea

News /
A few billion dollars of transportation projects are converging in San Francisco: the electrification of Caltrain, the extension of Caltrain’s route to the Transbay Transit Center and the arrival of high-speed rail. How can we make sure these transportation investments improve San Francisco's urban environment rather than disrupt it? To find out, the city is launching a major study .

SPUR Comments on the Diridon Station Area Plan Draft

Advocacy Letter
SPUR supports the broad outlines of the City of San Jose's draft Diridon Station Area Plan. We do, however, think that the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report does not provide sufficient analysis of some of the project impacts and recommend specific areas that should be corrected, modified or further studied.

A Taste of the Future on North First Street?

Urbanist Article
Samsung broke ground on a massive new headquarters for its U.S. Research and Development operations in north San Jose. More than any project to date, the new Samsung campus embraces the city’s vision of a denser, more walkable pattern along North First Street, the city’s tech employment heartland.
Get Our Newsletters