For Bay Area Transit, a Turning Point
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In the early months of the pandemic, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission convened a Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force to stabilize and reimagine public transit in the face of a severe financial crisis. This month, the task force released its Transit Transformation Action Plan with 27 actions to reimagine transit and set the stage for new legislation, commission policies, funding and governance changes in upcoming years.
Rewilding the Guadalupe River in San José
SPUR Report
Guadalupe River Park is San José’s largest urban green space and the physical spine of downtown, but underinvestment and misuse have caused the park’s safety and natural habitat to deteriorate. While discussions about how to reimagine the park have accelerated over the last two years, there has been little talk about the river itself. This report identifies strategies for protecting the Guadalupe River and transforming it into a place that supports natural ecology, improves the human experience and public health of residents, and improves the overall environmental performance of downtown San José.
SPUR Announces Platform for Economic Justice Advocacy
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The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying recession have made economic justice advocacy more urgent than ever before. As the Bay Area looks to rebuild and reimagine its economy, federal, state and local governments are hungry for policy interventions that will help people become economically secure. SPUR is committed to helping shape the conversation. We are pleased to announce the adoption of SPUR’s Economic Justice Platform for Advocacy.
Planning Cities for Everyone Starts With Earning Trust
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Incoming San José Director Fred Buzo shares his goals and vision for SPUR’s work in the South Bay. Fred strongly believes that San José can achieve social equity as it continues to develop its downtown core and other areas. For this to happen, we must be willing to admit our past failings, struggle through our differences and work together to better our community.
SPUR-Sponsored Housing Bills Continue to Move in the State Legislature
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SPUR is advocating for a number of pro-housing bills and regulatory reforms in Sacramento that would increase housing supply and reduce the time and cost to produce housing. A number of key SPUR-sponsored and supported bills continue to move through the legislative process. When the Legislature returns from summer recess a number of bills will face critical votes in the State Senate and Assembly.
How Much Does It Cost to Permit a House?
Policy Brief
California is in the midst of an enduring housing affordability crisis that is rooted in a lack of housing supply and perpetuated by the high costs of development. This brief focuses on one obstacle in the development process that can contribute to these steep costs and hamper overall housing production: the lack of transparency around development fees and requirements at the local level.
Progress on Keeping the Water Flowing
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Making sure everyone can afford clean water has long been an issue, but the economic hardships of COVID-19 have exacerbated the problem. SPUR addressed water bill debt in the wake of the pandemic in our January 2021 policy brief Keeping the Water On. Since the publication of the brief, state and local policy on water affordability and sustainability has made progress, which we discussed in a recent SPUR Digital Discourse.
The Bigger Picture: Ten Ideas for Equitable Transportation in Oakland
SPUR Report
Many Bay Area freeways and rail lines were designed without regard for their impact on local communities. SPUR and AECOM look at how key regional transportation infrastructure currently intersects in Oakland — and how it might do so differently in the future. The next generation of transportation investments and policy could rectify past planning injustices to facilitate a healthy, climate resilient and equitable Oakland.
A No-Cost Rooftop Solar Stimulus
Policy Brief
When cities emerge from the COVID-19 emergency and start to organize around economic recovery, California and the Bay Area should look to significantly expand employment in the solar industry. While there’s little money in state and local budgets to support this job expansion, state and local governments can provide a no-cost solar stimulus by streamlining the stack of codes and requirements that delay solar installations and drive up costs.
Climate Justice: The Peril, the Progress and the Path Forward
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Climate discourse has often relied on moral platitudes, abstract facts and figures, and an over-emphasis on the consequences of climate change to incite action. What if instead we turned to a framework of justice and equity? SPUR’s Ideas + Action 2021: Sustainability & Resilience symposium focused on how to create a climate movement centered on community and people. International climate experts, elected officials and environmental leaders discussed the perils, progress and path forward to creating a hopeful, sustainable future.
The Bay Area Needs a Holistic Vision for Equity, Sustainability and Progress
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With the pandemic lifting and California re-opening, now is the time to commit to overcoming long-standing challenges made worse over the past year. If we really want to make progress on homelessness, traffic the climate crisis and more, we need a bold vision, a long-term strategy and solutions of a similar scale to the problems themselves. It’s time to start building the thriving, equitable Bay Area of 2070.
More Harm Than Good
SPUR Report
California’s system of fines and fees is causing significant financial harm to low-income, Black, and Latinx communities in the San Francisco Bay Area — which runs counter to the region’s commitment to an equitable economic recovery. To address these challenges, California should eliminate its reliance on punitive fees and introduce more effective ways to promote behavior that supports safety and the greater social good.
Greetings From 2070. The Bay Area Is Thriving. Here’s How We Staved Off Dystopia
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Remember the summer of 2021? Everyone was thrilled that COVID was largely contained and that California was reopening. But that sense of relief didn’t last long. Housing was too expensive. More people were falling into homelessness. Drought was everywhere. But that was then. By 2070, we turned a region on the precipice of dystopia into a sustainable, affordable and equitable place to live. Here's how we did it.
Six Ways We Can Create an Integrated Transit Network, Together
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One of the barriers to restoring Bay Area transit ridership after the pandemic is the fragmented nature of our public transit system, which can discourage people from riding. To stimulate recovery of both the transit system and the economy, policymakers are now pushing for changes that will welcome riders back and make regional transit work for more people. To make the most of these opportunities, SPUR believes six principles should guide this work.
Regional Challenges Need a Regional Approach
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SPUR’s recently released Regional Strategy outlines a vision for the Bay Area of 2070 as an equitable, sustainable and prosperous region. The strategy provides a roadmap for building that future and centers deep regional cooperation as critical to transformational change. To celebrate the release of the project, four Bay Area civic leaders gathered on May 13 to talk about the role of regionalism in advancing a future where everyone thrives.
From Transit to Tipoff: Solving the Transportation Challenges of Large Venues
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Large venues like convention centers, stadiums and sports arenas play an important role in the social and economic life of cities. As public spaces, they bring people together to be inspired, celebrate victory (or commiserate loss) and share passions. At the same time, they are critical economic drivers, contributing to a city’s tax base and bolstering the sales of nearby businesses. However, over the last decade there's been a shift in thinking about how these centers can be better integrated into their communities as mixed-use destinations that focus on placemaking and people.
A Civic Vision for Growth
SPUR Report
The Bay Area is a place of incredible possibility, but it faces threats from some of the highest housing costs in the country, growing income inequality, long commutes between jobs and affordable homes, and increasing danger from climate change. If we continue with business as usual, the region can expect these challenges to continue to escalate. But what if the people of the Bay Area chose a different future?
Can Automated Speed Safety Systems Advance Racial and Economic Equity?
News /
Automated speed safety systems are in place in more than 150 communities around the United States. Such systems offer the potential to reduce traffic violence and establish a more equitable framework of traffic enforcement. But those outcomes are not guaranteed. Achieving them requires thoughtful planning and design, an opportunity that California now has as legislators consider Assembly Bill 550, which would authorize a 5-year speed safety camera pilot program in six California cities.
Coming Soon: The SPUR Regional Strategy
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Three years ago, SPUR undertook an initiative to envision a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous Bay Area for all and propose the bold strategies needed to get there. On May 13, we will release the completed SPUR Regional Strategy, providing a clear vision for the region’s next 50 years.
Welcome New SPUR Board Members
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SPUR has welcomed 13 new members to its board of directors. These new appointees bring extensive knowledge in planning, housing, transportation, economic justice, good government, food and agriculture, sustainability and resilience to the organization’s leadership. We look forward to their advisership as we continue our work to make the Bay Area a place where everyone can thrive.