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In this year's State of ���ϴ�����address, given at our annual Board of Directors retreat, ���ϴ�����President and CEO Alicia John-Baptiste reflected on the past few years and looked ahead to how we can build on what we've learned, so that the region's future is one in which all people thrive.

This year, ���ϴ�����is celebrating staff members — a.k.a. “Spurritos”— who have served the organization for 10 years or more. This month we profile Strategy and Operations Director Lawrence Li, who keeps the ���ϴ�����Urban Center in San Francisco — and our remote work across the Bay Area — humming seamlessly despite global pandemics and other unforeseen disruptions.

Since 2018, one of SPUR’s top priorities has been research and planning for San José's Guadalupe River Park. The initial phase of this work culminated in January with a virtual exhibition. W e are now excited to announce our plans to move forward with policy ideas for the river park and other areas in and around downtown San José, supported by essential funding from the Knight Foundation.

One of the root causes of San Francisco’s high housing costs is the city’s ongoing failure to build enough housing, a problem that’s been compounding for decades. A measure that ���ϴ�����and others are proposing for San Francisco’s November ballot would take two approaches to building more affordable housing: streamlining the permitting process and deepening the bench of construction workers.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has put forth a promising proposal for a new regional transit-oriented communities policy that would support new housing at all income levels, new jobs, sustainable access to transit, and protection from displacement in transit-rich areas. In crafting the final policy, MTC’s commissioners must not only maintain the ambition of the current proposal but leverage the agency’s funding authority to ensure that the policy is implemented.

During the early days of COVID-19, San José's Al Fresco program closed some streets and opened parking lots to allow businesses to operate outside. ���ϴ�����advocated for the program, and we believe it’s worth extending beyond the pandemic. We’re pleased to announce that, through investment made by the Knight Foundation, we will continue to support the development of an ongoing Al Fresco program that's feasible in public and private outdoor spaces.

This year, ���ϴ�����is celebrating staff members — a.k.a. “Spurritos”— who have served the organization for 10 years or more. First up is a face that will be familiar to anyone who attends our Digital Discourse events. Public Programming Director Noah Christman started at ���ϴ�����as a programming intern in February 2011. Since then, he has spearheaded more than 1,800 programs and 37 exhibitions.

For the second year in a row, California will have a sizable budget surplus — and a host of critical needs to be funded. Governor Newsom’s proposed budget spending plan continues to include significant investments in affordable housing and solutions to homelessness. ���ϴ�����is especially pleased to see a strategy that makes an explicit link between locating housing in urban areas and reducing climate change, a key idea in our Civic Vision for Growth.

California has reached a milestone in its effort to make healthy, California-grown food more affordable for low-income residents. The California Department of Social Services has awarded contracts to ���ϴ�����and two other nonprofits for pilot projects that will test new technology for providing healthy food incentives.

From the SF Examiner: At the end of 2021, California received permission to pilot new approaches to providing healthcare for those who rely on Medi-Cal. The onus is now on local health plans to implement pilot strategies. One option they should consider is medically supportive food and nutrition. Recent ���ϴ�����research makes a strong case for these interventions, which include produce prescriptions, food pharmacies, healthy groceries and medically tailored meals.

From the SF Chronicle: At the rate carbon emission reduction is currently going, California will be 60 years late in meeting its 2050 climate goals — too late to prevent extreme climate change. Governor Newsom and the state legislature have taken bold moves to phase out fossil fuels from transportation, but we need a similarly ambitious commitment on decarbonizing buildings.

Free employee parking is a valuable job perk, but there’s one serious downside: It encourages commuting by car and hinders efforts to promote sustainable alternatives. One tool for countering this effect is parking cash out: offering the cash equivalent of a parking space to employees who don't drive to work. California passed a parking cash out law in 1992, but 30 years in, Santa Monica is still the only place in the state that requires employers to comply. Here's how the state can revitalize this underused tool to reach its long-term climate goals.

San José is on the cusp of deepening its commitment to growing up, rather than out. The city has a unique and critical opportunity to concentrate growth within its existing urbanized areas rather than sprawling further. But it will miss a critical opportunity unless the City Council accepts the recommendations of the Planning Department and the Envision San José 2040 General Plan Four Year Review Task Force related to Coyote Valley.