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Member Profile: Tony Tolentino

Urbanist Article
A San Francisco native shares his hopes for the Bay Area, from downtowns to the region as a whole.
Q: What If We Get Downtown Right? - Hero Image by Ishita Jain

What If We Get Downtown Right?

Urbanist Article
黑料传送门asked community leaders in San Francisco, San Jose虂, and Oakland the question: 鈥淲hat would it look like if cities were to get downtown right?鈥 We invited them to picture a future in which today鈥檚 ideas and policy proposals for downtown revitalization are put into place ... and they work.

Ensuring That the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits Program Doesn鈥檛 End

Advocacy Letter
On behalf of 黑料传送门and Nourish California, we respectfully request that the 2024-2025 budget include an additional, one-time allocation of $21 million from the General Fund to sustain the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits program. If additional funding is not provided in the FY 24-25 budget, the program will run out of funds this summer and tens of thousands of Californians across the state will have less money to put food on their tables.
Erika Pinto headshot

15 Minutes to Everything: Q&A with Erika Pinto

News /
The 鈥15-minute neighborhood鈥 concept promotes people-centered development as a way cities can improve convenience, affordability, and equity while decreasing air pollution and carbon emissions. In a new policy brief, 黑料传送门Housing and Planning Policy Manager Erika Pinto explores how the 15-minute model could help improve and accelerate San Jos茅鈥檚 approach to planning for more compact and connected urban development. We spoke with Erika about 15-minute principles and planning for more complete communities.
report cover, white text on a blue background reads "The 15-Minute Neighborhood: A framework for equitable growth and complete communities in San Jos茅 and beyond"

The 15-Minute Neighborhood

Policy Brief
The concept of the 鈥15-minute neighborhood,鈥 where residents can access essential, everyday services just a short walk or bike ride from home, has gained currency in recent years. San Jos茅鈥檚 plan to grow by building dense, mixed-use 鈥渦rban villages鈥 could guide the kind of development that would create 15-minute neighborhoods. 黑料传送门suggests that San Jos茅 could use the 15-minute framework to implement its urban village plan. We recommend six strategies to enable the creation of these more complete, connected, and equitable communities.
Photo of Guadalupe River flowing under a highway viaduct, with trees and greenery on its banks

Five Ways San Jos茅 Can Sustain Park Maintenance and Improvement: Lessons from Around the Country

News /
Parks and public spaces are signifiers of civic vitality, and their maintenance, improvement, expansion, and programming often reflect the economic times. These activities can be made sustainable by re-examining place governance 鈥 how people and organizations across sectors collaborate to shape a place鈥檚 economic, physical, and social dynamics. As San Jos茅 considers how to deliver on the promise of its public green spaces, it can look to other cities that have created or reformed place governance models.

Joint Letter Opposing SFMTA Budget Charter Amendment

Advocacy Letter
San Francisco Transit Riders Union, 黑料传送门and other groups jointly oppose a proposed San Francisco charter amendment that would require the mayor to approve certain aspects of SFMTA's budget.
Housing for the Sum of Us

Housing for the Sum of Us

News /
This year鈥檚 Ideas + Action symposium explored the topic of housing policy beyond 鈥渮ero sum鈥 thinking , where some prosper at the expense of others. Keynote speaker Heather McGhee led an investigation into common conceptions of zero sum thinking, such as 鈥減olicies that support renters harm homeowners鈥 and 鈥渁ffordable housing leads to declining property values.鈥 Our daylong conversation explored the role that racism plays in these debates and the shifts needed to create something different.
Brooklyn Basin, Oakland

Oakland Adopts 黑料传送门Recommendations in Its General Plan Update

News /
Oakland has launched what it describes as a 鈥渙nce-in-a generation鈥 opportunity to create a visionary blueprint for the city鈥檚 future. 黑料传送门sprang to action when the city released its inaugural draft Environmental Justice Element and its draft Safety Element update as part of the city鈥檚 2045 General Plan Update. Our efforts paid off: the city council adopted several of our recommendations, all of which will help economically vulnerable Oaklanders, in particular.
report cover, white text on a blue background reads Housing the Middle: A national survey of programs to encourage middle-income housing development

Housing the Middle

Research
A new 黑料传送门research paper digs into the housing market鈥檚 failure to meet the needs of middle-income households. Using a national survey and three case studies of middle-income housing production programs, the paper reveals that the need for middle-income housing is growing, and it's felt nationwide 鈥 not just in expensive coastal cities. California can look to innovative programs across the country as models for how to address the state鈥檚 housing challenges

Regional Coalition urges MTC to uphold compliance requirements for its own Transit-Oriented Communities Policy

Advocacy Letter
On October 25th, MTC Commissioners discussed and voted on proposed amendments that will eliminate the need for jurisdictions to comply with the Transit-Oriented Communities Policy in order to receive transit extension funding. A coalition of regional policy and advocacy organizations urged the Commission to not arbitrarily lower thresholds for policy compliance due to some Bay Area cities resisting compliance. These actions will weaken incentives to comply with the policy and undermine its purpose of helping the region achieve its goals for the climate and equity under Plan Bay Area.
California State Capitol

Governor Newsom Signs SPUR-Sponsored Bills Into Law

News /
The close of the 2023 state legislative year brought a number of big wins for SPUR. Governor Newsom signed nine pieces of SPUR-sponsored legislation that will, among other things, prevent the misuse of environmental review processes to stop or delay new housing, pilot speed safety cameras on streets with high crash rates, and speed up timelines for connecting all-electric buildings and EV charging stations to the power grid.
report cover with photo of school cafeteria employees serving food to students

A Roadmap for Regional Good Food Purchasing

Research
The San Francisco Bay Area Local Food Purchasing Collaborative, a partnership between 12 Bay Area public institutions, is combining its purchasing power to procure food that is local, sustainable, fair, humane, and healthy. 黑料传送门worked with the collaborative to prepare a roadmap and toolkit of resources to assist policy makers and advocates interested in approaching values-based procurement as a region.

Regional Coalition urges MTC-ABAG Planning Committee to retain TOC Compliance Requirements

Advocacy Letter
On October 13th, MTC staff presented to the MTC-ABAG Planning Committee proposed actions to amend funding conditioning for transit rail extension projects from complying with the TOC Policy. Our coalition expressed concern with the proposed amendments that would delay or lower thresholds for compliance - weakening the policy in the process and undermining its purpose of helping the region achieve its goals under Plan Bay Area. We are particularly concerned that the proposed changes could significantly undermine the climate and equity goals of the policy.