SPUR’s Bigger Picture series proposes ideas for key locations in San Francisco, San José and Oakland, the Bay Area’s three largest cities. Each exploration represents an opportunity to tackle major regional challenges through local planning processes. And, conversely, each suggests how big investments in infrastructure can — if planned carefully — bring about positive transformation for the immediate neighborhood.
We partnered with AECOM to identify and explore locations that have important implications for the future of the region. Then we brought together community organizations, businesses and government leaders to identify opportunities and goals for these locations. We see them as great urban places that can uplift both the local community and the greater Bay Area — if decision makers keep that bigger picture in mind.
Many of these ideas build on the best efforts already underway, proposing bold new ways to make the most of existing plans and ensure that they work with — not against — one another. These ideas are not policy prescriptions but possibilities — offering one vision of what a more sustainable, equitable and prosperous future might look like.
Seven Ideas for Downtown San José
Five Ideas for Transforming the San Francisco Waterfront
Ten Ideas for Equitable Transportation in Oakland
Nine Ideas for a Connected San Francisco
