SPUR

Spur has its roots in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when city leaders collaborated to improve housing quality. Today, SPUR is a non-profit organization that focuses on areas such as sustainability and resilience, transportation, economic justice, and good governance. Attending Spur events is a great opportunity to get involved with the brightest minds in the Bay Area community. This is a place of exchanging ideas on topics ranging from feasibility studies regarding commercial real estate conversion to housing, addressing the issue of 90 dB loud noise during BART work commutes, incentives for revitalizing San Francisco's downtown and many others. I love Spur!

I finally visited SPUR for a reception the other evening. The exhibits are well done and informative. I found the map of planned but unbuilt SF urban freeways kind of scary. It's a good to 'break the ice' and make new friends at a reception with conversation pieces.

What makes this city so fantastic? For that matter, what makes any city fantastic? SPUR will answer this question and more for you, oh brave and wondrous city dweller. Consider SPUR a curious cabinet for all things Urban Design. They frequently hold panel discussions, art exhibits and seminars on how to design better cities and will fill your head with more info in one sitting than a semester in architecture school. (That is an exaggeration but not a big one). Plus, now when you complain about how much the city is changing you will have cold, hard facts to back it up.

I've visited here a number of times for various events put on by Spur. When they first opened, the first floor was an exhibit and meeting space, with more meeting space on the 3rd floor. The exhibits change periodically and are nearly always presentations of grand ideas of the urbanist movement. They've now removed the meeting space from the first floor and replaced it with a cafe. And the entire first floor is open to the public during business hours. I don't recommend going here just for the cafe. It's run of the mill for this area of San Francisco, but I DO recommend stopping by every 4-6 weeks if you're in the area to check out their exhibits. And if you have any urbanist leanings, then please support SPUR by joining. You'll get advance notice of many presentations - many of them free for members. SPUR also has offices/meeting spaces in Oakland and San Jose.

Awesome space, great and thoughtful conversation, really a wonderful service to The city

Small venue with interesting exhibits. The urban cartography exhibition was great.

Great talks and exhibitions. A nice place to become more in tune with the city.

It’s sad to witness this place going down during the pandemic… wish I could do something about it but it was taken by homeless people now.. so sad

Spur's origins can be tracked down to 1906 San Francisco earthquake when city leaders came together to improve housing quality. Today, Spur serves as a nonprofit public policy organization that focuses on regional planning, transportation, sustainability and resilience, transportation, regional planning, economic justic and good government practices. The main reason I love attending Spur events is the exchange of ideas between some of the brightest local Bay Area minds. From talks about commercial real estate conversion to much- needed public transportation innovation (e.g. BART work commute with 90 dB loud noise) and San Francisco downtown revitalization incentives. I love SPUR.

Today is PARK(ing) Day, when certain parking spaces around the world are reclaimed and transformed into temporary parks. You can find such a spot right in front of SPUR today as well as scattered around the city (http://parkingday.org). SPUR, the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, is a public-policy think tank that promotes good government, urban planning and design. PARK(ing) Day (conceived in 2005 by REBAR in SF) is one of the many projects that is featured in SPUR's DIY Urbanism exhibit (http://www.spur.org/events/exhibits) which is on view at the Urban Center now through the end of October. There's even a Greenaid seedbomb vending machine (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/BDSx4Y5fYzQ_sjsq6EgBPw?userid=4FcfCT4WFGdNI_E09htphQ) installed if you want to partake in guerrilla gardening. Drop by, check out the events, read the Urbanist, be informed, and be inspired.

First time visit to Spur where St. Clare's coffee is housed. For all of my coffee lovers, St. Clare is the sister to St. Franks coffee. St. Clare is perfectly located near Yerba Buena and has some of the greatest coffee in the city. The decor is modern chic and the staff is super friendly! This is a MUST TRY location...

SPUR regularly has panels where key people in urbanism come to speak: government, planning, architecture, activists, artists, etc. These panels provide a window into the future of the Bay Area. On the ground floor they have a one room urban design museum that changes the exhibit every few months. Admission is free, and it's neat. Being a member is a great way to contribute to their work and to receive their great magazine. The one thing that I wish they would do more with is their young urbanists organization. More panels aimed at young professionals, rather than scavenger hunts.

I have very little knowledge about SF Planning and Urban Research, but I do admire their building! We rented out one of their large conference rooms and their upstairs area for a meeting of about 50 people recently and it was perfect for our needs. They have huge projectors that work perfectly and never glitch out as I've seen projectors do so many times, lots of tables and chairs to move around to our hearts' desires, and high ceilings and lots of natural lighting so you didn't feel like a lab rat by the end of a 6 hour meeting. It's also very conveniently located in SOMA so people could easily get there from BART or MUNI or from lots of downtown hotels. I think it's really clever that SPUR would use their great space to rent out, and I highly recommend it if you need it for a function in the area!

SPUR bills itself as "San Francisco's preeminent public-policy think tank." It's true, and not just because they're a kind of a local public policy think tank oligarchy. It's an organization of integrity (don't look behind the curtain at the kings of "downtown interests" lining their board), with a venerable history and a keen intuitive sense of regional urbanity. They have some enriching lectures, some impressive credits, and a bunch of smart, socially aware people on their side. Their policy papers are impeccably researched and well-intentioned, and when they speak, the city mostly listens.

SPUR's got a great space that we recently used for a 50+ person meeting. The built in sound system worked well on the second floor and we used the fourth floor to serve lunch. Access to mass transit is as good as it gets... a stones throw from BART, underground parking near the Four Seasons entrance, and it's walking distance (a healthy walk) from Cal-Train.

There's no doubt that Yelp has encouraged a bit more geo-awareness among our citizenry. But an encyclopedic knowledge of restaurants is only the first step; if you really want to become one with the city and all its joys and horrors past present and future, if you want to find the Joycean archetypes in our Hills Crowned with Edwardians and Alleys Laden with Pedestrians, if you want to cry "Save the cable cars, save the world"...well, look no further than SPUR (whose brand-new digs, incidentally, you'll find next door to Yelp. Yes, 2nd & Mission is truly the Ground Zero of our 21st Century renaissance). Admission to the ground floor exhibit is free ($5 suggested donation), but sadly they're only open 11-8 Tuesday and 11-5 Wednesday to Friday. C'mon guys, how are we going to enlighten the masses without weekend hours? The current exhibit, "Agents of Change", is nothing short of the history of San Francisco from a civic planning angle, complete with some breathtaking visuals. And if that sounds the least bit interesting to you, I urge you to come down here ASAP and bask in its geeky glory; you will not be disappointed. On top of that, they regularly hold talks upstairs (also only $5) on such topics as "The Post-Carbon City: Planning For Abundance in an Era of Dwindling Resources" and "Rising Tides: A Challenge For City Planners"...ah, my head spins just thinking about the bounty of ideas to be found in this building. In the end, is it any wonder that the 6 reviewers of SPUR include the 2 Yelpers who actually became my real-world friends? And yet I feel there must be more of us eco-urbanist freaks out there. Maybe it's you and you just don't know it. Who knows? A visit here could be the very thing to spur you (pun intended) from your aimless angst into the fulfilling life of an engaged citizen. (And by the way, if you're looking for ways to apply said engagement, give me a call; we could use you on Transition San Francisco. But that's a review for another day...)

Great forum for discussion about all the innovative ways of improving our urban lives!

I don't always agree with the SPUR viewpoint but this organization does thorough research, writes it up well and usually gives the pros and cons on an issue. I was a member before and am going to rejoin as soon as I get a chance.

Our company rented this venue for the second time this January for a corporate event and unfortunately, it has gone downhill, way downhill. The pre-event coordination went fine, a bit of a delay getting back to us on specific questions, but moved along decently. But the on-site event coordinator that they assigned to us for during the event was a different story. She was incredibly unprofessional and difficult to work with. I swear to you she was on drugs because she was extremely flustered and disoriented the entire time. She accused us several times of losing the elevator key when she had given it to the janitor herself. The janitor was on the street fighting with a homeless man for no apparent reason for over 20 minutes. The event coordinator left during our event to get get food and then she totally confused our caterers into moving all the rentals into the basement before pickup, which ultimately resulted in us getting fined for going over our scheduled stop time by 15 minutes. I highly recommend not renting this venue. The location is great, but not worth the hassle and fees they try to lay on you post-event.

We rented out the 2nd floor conference room for a corporate meeting and I thought it was a nice space for a group of around 40-50 people. They have two projectors built into the room that worked well. What I liked most about the space was that the air quality and climate control seemed better than average. I think that helps people stay awake during long meetings. I just read that it's a LEED-certified green building so maybe that explains it.

I spent almost 2 years as a full time volunteer for this organization. The work that they do in San Francisco and for the region has kept the people of the Bay Area involved in the city and the forces behind the city changes accountable. I was privileged enough to see the inner workings of this organization and I can't think of a group of people who work harder for San Francisco. Their dedication to the city is a true testament to what a non-profit organization can do for the city. I was proud to be a part of SPUR and will continue to be a member for life, even though I will not live in the same country! If you can't be a member, be a volunteer! It's opened my eyes in a new way to how a city works. Check SPUR out - not only the organization but the staff that drives it! You'll be amazed at what you find!

We held an all day meeting with 150 attendees at the SPUR facility. The space was perfect for what we needed and large enough to accomodate everyone including lunch on the first floor. The meeting room had everything we needed for Audio/Visual. The staff is incredible, flexible, attentive and accommodating don't say enough. Location is super convenient as well.

Website says they are open Tuesday evenings until 8PM...don't believe it. Went there tonight at 5:30...they are closed. Phone says push 3 for hours...don't believe it. Push 3 does not take you to their hours. An inability to correct website information or phone tree instructions shows a disdain for visitors...as if the no weekend open hours wasn't enough.