SPUR Publications

SPUR recently convened the mayors of the three largest cities in the region to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their communities. Each described how they have responded to this crisis, the meaningful policy changes they've implemented and what their vision is for long-term recovery that addresses systemic racism and provides inclusive economic opportunity.

Two years after beginning an assessment of their food purchasing practices, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Public Health will start aligning these practices with standards set by the Center for Good Food Purchasing program. The goal is to leverage the agencies’ significant purchasing power by making choices that will improve the environment and human health.

Housing has been a top issue in the California Legislature this session, and SPUR has doubled down on our involvement in state bills. We’re sponsoring two housing bills and supporting a number of others. As the session comes to a close, we offer our take on the key bills that have our support.

SPUR explores how public transportation and private emerging mobility providers can play to their respective strengths, function as a seamless network, and provide access for people of all incomes, races, ages and abilities. Together we can create a transportation system with fewer car trips, lower greenhouse gas emissions and increased access for the region’s most vulnerable residents.

Senate Bill 288, co-sponsored by SPUR, aims to accelerate sustainable transportation projects and jumpstart a green recovery, creating jobs and reviving local economies while improving public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. California can get projects — and jobs — going by taking a hard look at the regulatory processes that slow down, stop or increase the cost of sustainable transportation projects.

Transit agencies around the world are facing a shared existential crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. When can mass transit be “mass” again? This spring, SPUR and AECOM convened transit agencies, advocates and practitioners to explore solutions and share lessons learned. Six ideas emerged that transit agencies in the Bay Area should consider as they continue to navigate this crisis.

Should some smaller Bay Area cities merge as a way to weather the economic fallout wrought by COVID-19? The pandemic will have a significant impact on local governments — but it might also present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild a governance system that better serves the Bay Area.

San Francisco lost an extraordinary yet humble citizen activist with the passing of Ron Miguel on June 28. A former president of the San Francisco Planning Commission and former president of the Planning Association for the Richmond District, Ron was a long-time active member of SPUR and the founding chairman of the Housing Action Coalition.

California has finally changed how the transportation impacts of new development and infrastructure are measured, switching from a decades-old metric that prioritized cars to one that will favor less-polluting forms of transportation. This straightforward yet monumental change will make it easier to build healthy, dense, walkable neighborhoods and will discourage sprawl development that degrades air quality and hastens climate change.

SPUR has released Keeping the Doors Open, a set of 10 recommendations for cities to implement as they work to assist ground floor businesses in reopening while shelter-in-place orders remain in effect. We recommend three principles to keep in mind: move quickly and remain flexible, focus on neighborhoods, and center equity in the allocation of resources and staff time.

During the last recession, homebuilding ground to a halt. We can’t let the same thing happen this time. What can be done to keep the pipeline of new housing open through this crisis and recovery? SPUR and the Terner Center offer four principles to help guide new housing construction and facilitate economic recovery.

As California and the Bay Area face the urgency of economic recovery, we must take immediate steps to address the housing affordability crisis. What if we were able to build housing the way we build other critical infrastructure: when we need it, not just when we’re in an economic boom?

While the pandemic presents real challenges to public engagement, it is also pushing organizations to test new approaches and improve processes that are overdue for rethinking. Here are four things to keep in mind when conducting public outreach online.

Many white people are outraged and in pain over the murder of George Floyd. We want to be allies. But to do so, we have to take responsibility for our part in perpetuating the systems that have led to these outcomes. We have to undo our own racism, and we have to undo racism in our spheres of influence — including urban planning and policy.

San José is one of five new cities to join Reimagining the Civic Commons, a national initiative advancing ambitious social, economic and environmental goals through revitalized and connected public spaces. SPUR is thrilled to be part of this project. We believe public spaces are critical infrastructure and will be essential for building a more resilient shared future as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the wake of COVID-19’s disastrous impact, Bay Area transit agencies and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission need to make a commitment to public health in order for transit to recover. This commitment will be an evolving effort, and it must be coordinated across the region. SPUR recommends five things that can improve safety standards and help people feel comfortable riding transit.

Our state is in dire need of an infrastructure stimulus designed to put people back to work quickly. A traditional stimulus that funds huge, singular infrastructure projects like the Hoover Dam won't cut it. Instead, we need thousands of smaller, distributed projects that will get people back to work immediately, train them in fast-growing jobs and generate a healthier, low-carbon future of California.