We believe: The region should be environmentally just, carbon-neutral,
and resilient to climate change and earthquakes.
Our Goals
• Decarbonize buildings.
• Make the region resilient to sea level rise and other climate-driven natural disasters.
• Improve communities’ resilience to earthquakes.
SPUR Report
Watershed Moments
Climate scientists predict that California will experience longer, more frequent droughts as the climate warms. How can the Bay Area better manage the limited water it has? SPUR, Greenbelt Alliance and Pacific Institute teamed up to highlight six Northern California leaders who are pioneering more sustainable approaches to water use.
The Bay Area is projected to add 2 million jobs and as many as 6.8 million people in the next 50 years. But can we add more jobs and build more housing without using more water? New research from SPUR and the Pacific Institute says yes.
Safety First: Improving Hazard Resilience in the Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area is both a treasured place and a hazardous environment where flooding, wildfires and earthquakes are common today. As a region exposed to multiple hazards, how can we manage for all of them at the same time?
We know that another major earthquake will strike San Francisco — we just don’t know when. Since 2008, SPUR has led a comprehensive effort to retrofit the buildings and infrastructure that sustain city life. Our Resilient City Initiative recommends steps the city should take before, during and after the next big quake.
Lessons Learned From California’s COVID-19 Water Debt Relief Program
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Legislature established the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program to provide financial relief for unpaid water bills. But water affordability struggles won’t end with the pandemic. The state will need to build upon its first experiment with water bill assistance to weather ongoing climate change and income inequality. SPUR investigates the success of the $985 million program and looks at lessons learned.
Ocean Beach, one of San Francisco’s most treasured landscapes, faces significant challenges. Since 2010, SPUR has led an extensive interagency and public process to develop the Ocean Beach Master Plan, a comprehensive vision to address sea level rise, protect infrastructure, restore coastal ecosystems and improve public access.
One in 10 adults in the Bay Area struggle to find three meals a day, while more than half of adults are overweight or obese. To meet our basic needs, improve public health and enhance our quality of life, Bay Area residents must have access to healthy food. SPUR recommends 12 actions that local governments can take to improve food access in Bay Area communities.
December’s drenching rain and big swells were the biggest thing to hit Ocean Beach for years. Fortunately, sand placement was already in process, providing a ‘sacrificial’ (i.e. temporary) buffer in the locations most vulnerable to erosion. This will be an important design factor in the managed retreat process.
In his fourth inaugural address , Governor Jerry Brown gave climate hawks cause to celebrate the new year by proposing an ambitious energy policy agenda that will keep California at the forefront of fighting global warming for more than a decade. Brown called for 50 percent of California’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030.
The San Francisco Planning Department recently secured $173,850 from the California Coastal Commission and the Ocean Protection Council to amend our Local Coastal Program to incorporate climate change and sea-level rise. The Planning Department will lead the Local Coastal Program amendment effort and, working closely with stakeholders, capitalize on the collaborative foundation built through the multi-stakeholder Ocean Beach Master Plan process.
The proactive adaptation measures for Ocean Beach – including managed retreat, coastal protection, and environmental restoration -- have garnered the attention of the Obama administration, most recently through visits from Interior Secretary, Sally Jewell, and Mike Boots, acting chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
2014 began as the driest year ever recorded in California. It is likely to close out as the fourth driest year in more than a thousand years — even with our recent storms. The worst drought in more than 30 years is forcing the state to reckon with its anachronistic water management system, and to find solutions for this century’s changing climate and growing population.