Originally posted on the Project Oakland blog on November 17, 2015
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The San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association—or SPUR—will open its Oakland branch at 1544 Broadway this December. SPUR has had a huge influence on San Francisco’s politics over the years and will probably have a big effect in Oakland too.
What can we expect?
Dr. Robert Ogilvie, director of Oakland SPUR
SPUR’s mission is to promote “good planning and good government in the San Francisco Bay Area.” To them, this means championing government policies focused on ensuring a dynamic and stable capitalist economy in the region. They pursue apparently “progressive” goals like “transit oriented development” (think: bike lanes) and resist things like strong unions or other assertions of working class power. Made up mainly of planners, architects, academics, lawyers, and real estate people, SPUR advances its agenda through research, education, and advocacy— reports, ballot recommendations, and public forums on development issues. They have already released a study on downtown Oakland and have begun holding regular talks.
I suspect that they will impact Oakland in the following three ways:
First, SPUR will shake up the dominant political class. SPUR’s people are professionals who specialize in being professional—their fancy reports and declarations are usually coherent, well-argued, and fact-based (even when wrong politically). As such, they will put pressure on Oakland’s politicians, who have gotten away with loads of buffoonery for decades. Thanks to SPUR, we will be less likely to see things like Jean Quan’s totally invented “100 block” crime plan, Rebecca Kaplan’s vapid cheerleading for the Raiders stadium, or Mayor Schaaf’s ridiculous ban on nighttime protests.
Second, SPUR will create problems for Oakland’s Left. The Oakland Tenants Union, Just Cause / Causa Justa, Dan Siegel’s Oakland Political Alliance and the other groups and individuals that compose the city’s diffuse opposition will have a hard time wrestling with SPUR’s paradoxical program. SPUR will work to make Oakland more walkable and environmentally friendly; these changes seem progressive but, in the context of a rapidly gentrifying city, only really serve the wealthy. How will the Left respond? Will it oppose these changes at the risk of seeming like curmudgeons? Will it embrace them and risk complicity? Or will it somehow carve out a middle ground? The Left’s silence around the recent “Plan Downtown” process, which SPUR supports and reflects a lot of its values, suggests a degree of confusion.
SPUR event on housing costs in Oakland at City Hall (November 16, 2015)
Finally, SPUR will encourage gentrification. It is a huge ally of developers and will likely push the city to allow the construction of more market-rate housing, which is too expensive for ordinary working people. Likewise, its “livability” agenda will make Oakland even more attractive to the rich techies who rent this housing. SPUR will also probably oppose any attempt to restrict housing developers that might emerge (for instance, it mobilized against San Francisco’s Proposition I, which sought a moratorium on the construction of market-rate housing in the Mission District).
Only the future will tell but, whatever changes, occur SPUR’s arrival in Oakland portends a shift in the local political landscape.
~ Chuck Morse