SPUR didn't give a grade to the Bay Area on housing affordability in its most recent issue of The Urbanist, but it does provide a thorough overview of the current and ongoing efforts to make housing more affordable in the region.
"Housing affordability is the No. 1 problem in San Francisco and, increasingly, in the other cities of the region. It threatens everything that makes the Bay Area a great place to live — our diversity, our openness, our culture, our environment and our economic competitiveness." writes Jennifer Warburg in the most recent issues of SPUR's The Urbanist magazine."
After explaining SPUR's approach to the issue of housing affordability, the article goes on to list achievements benefitting housing affordability, including the 2012 establishment of San Francisco's Housing Trust Fund, new approaches to public housing, and legislation regulating short-term rentals through Airbnb, among other measures.
Finally, the article also details significant policy and development questions looming for 2015 that will determine the progress of the region in improving housing affordability.
Read the full story: Housing Affordability: A Report Card
11,000 Housing Units Possible with S.F. Office Conversions, Study Says
A new study by SPUR and the Urban Land Institute’s San Francisco chapter estimates a specific number of apartment units that could be built from vacant office units in the city.
Bay Area Planners Acknowledge the Need for Regional Housing Solutions
While most Bay Area communities are pursuing housing solutions "individually," local planners acknowledge the need for strategies that address the regional as a unified whole.
Will More Money Solve San Francisco's Homelessness Problem?
San Francisco voters will decide on Proposition C, a business tax based on gross receipts levied on large employers, the most contentious of five local measures.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority