SPUR Publications

We’d like your input! This pdf (24MB) presents the Ocean Beach Master Plan Draft Recommendations. (It is shorter than the one in the previous post, which also provides a lot of background etc). The issues at Ocean Beach are complex and challenging. If you’re new to the project, please spend some time with the materials on this site to familiarize yourself with the background. A…

For those that missed Saturday's workshop (10/29) or want a review, here is the presentation. It provides some project background, info on the public process to date, and a summary of the Draft Recommendations. Stay tuned for lots more workshop materials, and an online feedback tool! Please note: the coastal dynamics and infrastructure animations don't work in this viewer. They are both available on this…

In the weeks leading up to the November 8 election, San Franciscans find themselves up to their necks in news articles (from the Chronicle, the Mercury News and even The Economist) about our ranked-choice voting (RCV) system and how the tallying of voters’ first, second, and third preferences might affect the outcome of the mayoral election. In principle, ranked-choice voting is simple: If…

The Bay Area is in the midst of a major planning initiative to identify where to grow and how to allocate scarce transportation dollars over the next 30 years. City agencies have been consulted in the development of the Sustainable Communities Strategy, but recently they got a chance to respond publicly to the plan and raise concerns about its three proposed growth scenarios. SPUR agrees with much of the city’s response, but we differ on a few key points. Namely, we believe San Francisco should absorb a big share of future growth.

As mentioned at this saturday's Ocean Beach Workshop, the SFSU Neighborhood Task Force will be meeting this evening to discuss the 19th Avenue/State Rte 1 Corridor study, which is of interest as it may include some analysis of OB Master Plan transportation proposals.

Dale Minami has served as a Bay Area attorney for four decades, garnering nationwide recognition for his civil rights leadership in the process. A personal injury attorney with Minami Tamaki LLP by practice, Dale has made substantial contributions to the advancement of Asian-American rights. He helped found the Asian Law Caucus and the Asian American Bar Association, both the first of their kind in the United…

Rick Laubscher is most well known for his transformative impact on Market Street’s historic streetcars, but his transportation advocacy and commitment to San Francisco’s important historic treasures extends well beyond the Market Street Railway. A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Rick and his family have long been engaged in the vibrant life of Market Street. Among his civic contributions, Rick served as founding board chair of The City Club…

Art Gensler is a business visionary who has transformed the industry of architecture and design through his entrepreneurial creativity and leadership. In 1965, he co-founded Gensler, a San Francisco architecture and design firm, now a 3,000-person firm with 30 offices worldwide. A Cornell University graduate, Art is on the Advisory Council of Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning. Art’s civic leadership includes service to…

Natalie Berg, Ed.D., has influenced San Francisco as an educator, civic leader and land use consultant. In her 30 plus years at City College of San Francisco she has served as a professor, dean and most recently as an elected member and president of the Board of Trustees. Natalie recently retired from 12 years of service at Forest City Development, where she was responsible…

What’s the best way to revitalize Central Market? There isn’t one way, but many — and they all need to be coordinated with one another. While this sounds like an answer that Yoda might offer, we hope that the folks at the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OWED) don’t have to rely on the Force alone to help finalize the Central Market Economic Strategy. The strategy is full of good ideas — and all will need substantial political support in order to be realized.

Many of us in the Bay Area felt a series of sharp tremors on October 20 and 21 — coincidentally the same day that Christian radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted would bring the Apocalypse. It might not be time for the Rapture just yet, but we do know the Big One is coming, and we want our buildings to be prepared. Fortunately, Mayor Ed Lee has released the first draft of San Francisco's Earthquake Safety Implementation Program.

Absentee ballots will start to arrive this week, which means it's time for the annual SPUR Voter Guide, our in-depth analysis of all local San Francisco ballot propositions. With only eight measures on the docket, this is a short ballot for our fine city — but it's certainly not short on substance. Voters will weigh in on dueling pension reform plans, bonds for schools and…

Join us Saturday, October 29 at our next public workshop for the Ocean Beach Master Plan. We will be presenting draft recommendations that sketch out an ambitious vision to improve access, restore ecological resources, and protect critical infrastructure at Ocean Beach as sea level rise worsens erosion in the coming decades. The public will be invited to provide feedback on the recommendations, which will be refined in the coming months.

As the Ocean Beach Master Plan Team develops Draft Recommendations to be presented at the next Public Workshop (Oct 29th!), we are working hard to absorb and incorporate the diverse voices of the Ocean Beach Community. The presentation below provides additional distillation of what we have heard to date in our public workshops, neighborhood meetings, and online commentary. In particular, it shows which of the…

SPUR’s 2011 Piero N. Patri Fellow, Sarah Moos, spent this summer studying San Francisco's unmaintained and underused rights-of-way. The resulting project, Unaccepted Streets: From Paper to Reality, proposes to transform some of San Francisco's overlooked spaces into a network of public pathways that would better link local communities to open spaces and to each other.