Lessons for Diridon: Rebuilding Rotterdam Centraal Station
News / Over the next decade, San Jose’s Diridon Station will be remade into the first high-speed rail station in the country and the busiest transportation hub west of the Mississippi. What models can guide the planning for this major opportunity? Rotterdam Centraal, in the Netherlands, has a number of parallels to Diridon and offers an excellent model of what a modern transportation hub can be.
Fossil-Free Bay Area
SPUR Report Fossil fuel use is causing runaway global climate change, but we still have time to reverse course if the world can transition to renewable sources for almost all energy uses. The Bay Area is uniquely positioned to prototype ways to become fossil-free and model them for urban areas around the world. We propose three big ideas for how to end our dependence on fossil fuels.
Make Alameda County More Affordable: Support Measure A1
News / In November, residents of Alameda County will have the opportunity to make their cities more affordable by supporting Measure A1. This $580 million bond is badly needed, and would fund the creation of permanently affordable rental housing and help moderate-income households afford home ownership.
Taking Care of Basic Needs: Support Measure KK, the Oakland Infrastructure Bond
News / The City of Oakland has $2.5 billion in unfunded capital needs, including a $443 million paving backlog. Libraries and parks need maintenance and upgrades, as do fire stations. And the city’s shortage of affordable housing is displacing long-term residents. But Measure KK, on the ballot in Oakland this November, will help to address these and other problems.
Support South Bay Traffic Relief and Road Repair: Vote Yes on Measure B
News / Measure B, on the ballot in Santa Clara County this November, would raise the sales tax by half a cent and generate $6 billion to $6.3 billion over 30 years to fund critical transportation projects in the South Bay. SPUR recommends a “yes” vote on Measure B.
Increasing Economic Access to Healthy Foods
News / Eating fresh fruits and vegetables, is key to health and a high quality of life. But many Bay Area residents struggle to afford these healthy ingredients. SPUR recently hosted a conversation about how to expand access to healthy food by increasing low-income families’ purchasing power in grocery stores and at farmers’ markets.
Can You Make a Living as an Urban Farmer?
News / In recent years, urban agriculture has been championed as solution to some of cities’ most persistent issues: food insecurity, environmental sustainability and lack of accessible green space. At a recent SPUR forum, three panelists who run urban farming businesses and organizations explored urban agriculture’s potential to provide economic development and jobs, highlighting the challenge of economic sustainability.
Rethinking Regional Planning: A Window of Opportunity in 2016
News / The Bay Area is changing. We are living in an age of climate change, housing shortages, income inequality, fiscal stress and — soon — driverless cars, trucks and buses. Our local governments will not be able to take on the significant challenges of these times on their own. We need effective — even visionary — regional government to put its resources toward solving them.
Urban Design Deconstructed: A Walking Tour of Santana Row
News / Right now, San Jose is the midst of planning three urban villages: the Santana Row/ Valley Fair Urban Village, the Winchester Urban Village and the Stevens Creek Urban Village. SPUR led a walking tour earlier this summer to explore how the urban village plans can use key urban design concepts to create people-friendly places in this growing part of the city.
Legalizing Urbanism, One Block at a Time
News / Jason Roberts just wanted a coffee shop and bike lane in his Dallas neighborhood. But he found that even the simplest streetscape improvements were too expensive or, worse, illegal. So Roberts and his friends got to work with duct tape and stencils. As a result, the city has since dramatically reduced permitting fees and peeled back ordinances that banned street activity.
Building an Inclusive Community in Times of Fear and Distrust
News / Our nation is suffering from a gaping wound reminiscent of the 1960s. During that era, my parents were active in el movimiento , working alongside Cesar Chavez to advocate for better living conditions, opportunities, safety and acceptance. My parents dreamed of a different future than we are experiencing now. We must return to being an inclusive community that provides a path to opportunity and mobility.
Violence and the Urban Commons
News / There are times when the very fabric of society seems to be unraveling, and this is certainly one of them. San Bernardino, Orlando, Dallas, Nice. Oscar Grant, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling. How are those of us who think about cities to understand this moment?
A Plea to End Racial Bias: A Mom’s Response to Police Violence in Our Cities
News / When people want to know what can be done to change centuries of institutional racism and socialized prejudice, I want them to know my experience as a White mom to Black kids. As Americans, we are all socialized toward bias. In my experience you can change your part in it, and it is critically important for White people to take responsibility for doing so.
What’s Going On: Tensions, and Solutions, in a Changing Oakland
News / On July 7, more than 2,000 people marched peacefully in Oakland to protest police killings of innocent civilians in other parts of the country. In a city that is changing quickly, and where tensions run high, a peaceful protest is worth noting. We must pay close attention to the reasons people were marching — and work as hard as we can to fix the causes.
What Can San Francisco Do to Address Homelessness?
News / On June 29, more than 80 Bay Area media organizations contributed to an unprecedented wave of coverage on homelessness. SPUR, together with HandUp, hosted an evening forum, “Housing, Homelessness and the Way Forward for San Francisco,” to report on the challenges the city faces, uncover solutions and inspire action.
Is San Francisco Finally Ready to Make In-Law Units Legal?
News / San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin recently introduced an ordinance to allow new “in law” housing units across San Francisco. Soon afterward, supervisors Mark Farrell and Scott Wiener introduced a proposal that’s similar but slightly less restrictive. We’re thrilled to see proposals to increase the city’s housing supply moving forward. Now it’s going to be important to get the details right.
Why California Accidentally Encouraged Driving, and How That's About to Change
News / California cities that want to become more environmentally sustainable are being held back by, of all things, the California Environmental Quality Act. Here’s how an environmental regulation became one of the biggest forces in widening roads to accommodate more cars — and why the state is finally changing this outmoded standard.
A New Pro-Housing Generation Says “Yes In My Back Yard”
News / A growing collection of like-minded urbanists from around the country have jauntily adopted the label YIMBY or “Yes In My Back Yard.” YIMBYs tend to live in cities. And the thing they most want in their backyards is housing. Last week they met at YIMBY 2016, their first-ever international conference.