The Urbanist #517 - Sept 2012 - Is Information Making our Cities Smarter?
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Transcript of The Urbanist #517 - Sept 2012 - Is Information Making our Cities Smarter?
O SPURSAN FRANCISCO
NOVEMBER 2012
VoterGuideSummary
See SPUR's complete ballotanalysis online atspur.org/voterguide2012
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ter?
VOTEPROP.
A
PROP.
B
PROP.
c
ORDINANCE
City College Parcel TaxParcel Tax to Support City Co llegeOperationsLevies a ta x of $79 per parce l for eight years, generating approximately $14milli on per year to support the op erations of th e City Coll ege of San Francisco.
GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND
Parks BondClean and safe neighborhood parksAuthorize s the cit y to issue $195 mill ion in gen eral obl igation bonds to fun d
capi ta l mainte nance, repair and improvements to facil it ies th rough out th e
San Francisco parks system.
CHARTER AMENDMENT
Housing Trust FundAffordable housing trust fund andhousing production incentives actCreates a dedic ated fund ing source for affordable hous ing producti on in
San Francisco for 30 years.
YES
VOTE
YES
VOTE
YES
Corey Marshall is
Good Government
Policy Director
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THE URBANIST
OCTOBER 2012
NewsatSPUR
Transit Center District PlanWins Final ApprovalOn August 8, Mayor Ed Lee signed the San Francisco
Transit Center District Plan after the Board of Supervisors
unanimously approved it in late July. SPUR has long
advocated for the passage of this plan, which proposes
update d land uses surrounding the Transbay Transit Center
now under construct ion. In addit ion to creating a walkable,
transit -oriented neighborhood with new housing and jobs,
the plan aims to raise revenue from new development to
extend high-speed rail and Caltrain service into down town
San Francisco, as well as to comp lete other pub lic
infrast ructu re that would support continued growth in the
plan area. The plan's funding program is projected to raise
$590 million of new revenue from develop ment, includi ng
more than $400 million for complet ing the extension
of high-speed rail and Caltrain . The next milestone in
implement ing the plan takes place in mid-October, when
the city wi ll hold joint hearings between the San Francisco
Planning and Recreation and Park commissions. The
hearings will address shadows created by new buildings in
the plan area and their potential impacts on nearby public
parks. The tallest building in the plan area, the Transit Tower,
wi ll go before the Planning Commission in early October.
San Francisco's WaterfrontTransformationSan Francisco's waterfro nt has
been home to some of th e city's
most transform ative proj ects,
including Mission Bay, AT&T
Park, China Basin and the South
Beach neighborhood. Today,
the water front is once again
the location of many of San
Francisco's largest and most
excit ing developm ent prop osals.
Several new plans along th e bay,
includi ng Seawall Lot 337/Pier
48 (Mission Rock), Pier 70 and
the proposed Warriors' Stad ium,
aim to make their mark on San
Francisco. As always, SPUR wi ll
be tracking and weighing in on
these important projects, wh ich
have the potent ial to make an
enormous posit ive impact on
the wate rfront while also helpin g
the port to repair and seismically
THE URBANIST
upgrade some of its deteriorat ing
infrastructure. Throughout th e fall,
SPUR will be hosting a series of
forum s exp loring planning on the
waterfront. To find out more, go to
www.spur.org/events/
ABAG's General AssemblyFocuses on DisasterResilienceEvery year th e Associat ion of Bay
Area Governm ents (ABAG) hosts
a major meeti ng of the region's
elected officials to focus on an
important planning topic. This year,
inspired by the work of both ABAG
and SPUR, th e general assemb ly
will focus on the issue of disaster
resilience and long-term recovery.
SPUR is proud to be part of thi s
assembly, which will be held on
October 18 in San Francisco. For
more infor mat ion, go to
www.abag.gov.
A Focus on SF's SoutheastWaterfrontSince 2007, SPURhas stewarded a
graduate student in design und er
the Piero N. Patr i Fellowship in
Urban Design, a summer- long posi
tio n that provides the opport unity
to work on meaningful projects
along San Francisco's sout heast
waterfront. This summer's fellow,
Alexa Bush, recentl y presented
her completed prop osal to an
audience of representat ives from
city agencies, th e press, local resi
dents, business owners and ot her
key stakeho lders. Alexa's project,
a website developed to engage
neighbors and visitors with the
city 's wat erfront neighborhoods,
studies the history and develop
ment of th e southeast waterfront
and analyzes opportunities to
increase pub lic access and aware
ness. www.sewsf.org.
SPUR Makes 7x7 Hot List7x7 magazine has named Benjamin
Grant, SPUR's publi c realm and
urban design prog ram manager,
to its 2012 "Hot 30" list. Each year
the magazine prof iles a select
group of locals who help make
San Francisco a place like no other.
Grant, who was recogn ized fo r
his role leading th e Ocean Beach
Master Plan, appears alongside
Stew art Brand, founder of the
Whol e Earth Catalog and the Long
Now Foundation; Neal Benezra,
direc tor of SFMOMA; and Jeff
Henry, design director of Gensler.
"Hot 30" coverage appears in 7x7s
October issue. •
OCTOBER 2012 3
COLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION
A policy agenda forthe sharing economyThis emerging movement is redefining the ways goods and
services are exchanged, valued and created.
Summary: From carsharing to
clothes-swapping to couchsurf ing,
collabo rat ive consumption is not
only reinventing what we consume
but how we consume.
By Gabriel Metcalf
and Jennifer W arburg
Sharing is an old idea. But its potential to generate
new economic opport unit ies is only just beginning.
Under the name "collaborative consumption," orsomet imes simply "the sharing economy," a new
type of enterpri se is emerging that strive s to make it
easy for peop le who don't know each other to share
resources. Habits of sharing that have existed with in
small, informal networks for most of human existence(say, borrowing your neighbor's lawnmower or lett ing
a fri end crash on your couch) have now blossomed
into a market for micro-entrepreneur ship that spans
the globe. This new enterpr ise is fundamenta lly
capitalist yet simultaneously more socially and
environm entally conscious. And it has been madepossible by the emergence of new, networked
social tool s and a cultural shift toward peer-to -peer
commerce that makes trust and efficient exchangebetw een strangers possible.
Collabo rative consumption represents a major
economic, social and cultural shift. But as it moves
out of infancy and towa rd greater adoption and
accepta nce, it' s tim e to look at the ways policy migh thelp facil itate its growth - and how government
migh t help, or hinder, it s progress.
The emergence of the sharing economyOne of the longest-standing examples of the sharing
economy is car sharing, which got its start more than
a decade ago. SPUR was an early supporter and in
2001 made it a strategic priority to bring car sharing
to the Bay Area, helping to incubate a new nonprofit
4 OCTOBER 2012
orga nization, City CarShare, to prov ide the service.
Car sharing proceeded from two basic insights: first,
that cars are expensive to own and second, that most
cars sit idle most of the time . The early car-sharing
movement identified a previously unvalued resource
- the unused hours of a car. By making it possibleto pay based on how much one dr ives, car sharing
converts the fixed costs of ownership to variab le
costs based on use.Car sharing offered a glimpse of the incentives
that wou ld come to moti vate the broader sharing
economy, such as cost-con sciousness, concern for theenvironment and a renewed interest in community.
Today, City CarShare members save an average of
more than $8,000 per year compared with the costs
of private car ownership. From an environmental
perspect ive, the benefit s of car sharing are
enormous: reduced resource consumpt ion becausefewer cars are manufactured and better use of
urban land previously devoted to storing vehicles.
By making the true marginal costs of car use visible
to drivers, car-sharing members are incentivized
to drive less.' Since City CarShare launched in 2001
wit h 50 participants, it has grown to mor e than
15,000 memb ers and 400 cars while attra ct ing
compet ition and imita tor s of all kinds. City CarShare
has overcome numerous practic al hurdl es - lining
up parking spaces, creating reservations technology,
acquiring the vehicles themselves - but more
importantly, it has gotten peop le to rethink the role of
the automobile in their lives.
Gabriel Metcalf isexecutive directorof
SPUR. Jennifer Warburg isassistant to the
executive director.
Special thanks to Allison Arieff, Neal
Gorenflo, Rick Hutchinson, Eric Irvine, Molly
Turner and Vivian Wang.
1 SeeRobert Cervera. Aaron Goluband BrendanNee.
"SanFrancisco City CarShare: Longer-Term Travel
Demand and Car Ownership Impacts: ' University of
California at Berkeley Inst itute of Urban and Regional
Develop ment. May 200 6. (www.iurd.berkeley.edu/
publications/ wp/2 006-07.pdf)
THE URBA NIST
Newer entrants to th e collaborat ive consumption
fie ld have offered many of the same benefits and
seen similar levels of remarkab le grow th . Services
and spaces like Loosecubes and Hub Bay Area make
it possible to share off ice space. Airbnb, VRBO and
CouchSurfing provide a way for people to rent out
their apartments, homes or extra rooms when they
aren't in use. Peer-to -peer car-sharing companies like
Getaround and RelayRides enable pri vate owners to
rent out their cars, pot entia lly turnin g every car into
a shareable asset, while Park Circa is doing the same
th ing for parking spaces. SideCar and Zimride help
drivers share th e unoccupied seats in their vehicles
by using technology to facilit ate spontaneous,
on-demand ride sharing. Everything from appare l
to babysitti ng services, backyard prod uce to cargo
bikes, can be exchanged under the new sharing
economy model. Nearly all of these ventures
challenge existing industries and practices, such as
traditional rental car companies and cab companies ,
traditional rental agreeme nts or conventional usage
patterns.
The people who deve loped the necessary
technologies and the projects that got us accustomed
to the idea of sharing on a larger scale deserve
considerable credi t for this shift in the status quo.
The open-source software movement and Wikipedia
pio neered a method for harnessing the contribu t ions
of a crowd to produce a shared resource, even when
th e parti cipants are far-flun g and don't know each
other. This remains a core element of collaborat ive
THE URBAN IST
consumption, one that defines the practices of
companies like Kickstarter and other forms of
crowdso urced funding, social lendin g (Lending
Club, Prosper) and social currencies (Ven, Bay Area
Community Exchange). The 1999 advent of Napster,
the noto rious music downloading site, made many
peop le comfortab le with not ions of use rather than
ownership. And eBay brought technology-based
market exchanges to th e masses, facilitatin g a huge
wave of micro-entr epreneurship that paved th e way
for companies like TaskRabbit, Vayable and Skillshare.
It' s imp ortant to note that th is is not solely
an outgrowth of new technologies; some facets
of collaborative consumpt ion are thr iving via
comparative ly low-tech too ls, such as parents' groups
that facilitate kids' clothing exchange, announce
garage sales and the like on Yahoo discussion
threads, and via brick-and-mortar community efforts
like too l sharing and skill sharing. A huge component
of this movement is a cult ure and behavior shift:
People are collaborating informally in their
neighborhoods out of necessity and as a lifestyle
choice.
That said, the increasing adoption of online
commerce and the rise of smartphone ownership
are core to the rapid growth of collabora t ive
consumpt ion. Fort y-six percent of Am erican adults
now own a smartpho ne, up 11 percent f rom a year
ago.2 In the Unit ed States , e-co mmerce sales grew
16.1 percent from 2010 to 2011and are expected
to cont inue growing by 10 to 15 percent for the
2 Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.
org/Reporls/ 2012/ Smarlphone· Updale·2012/ Find·
ings.aspx
OCTOBER 2012 5
COLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION
next several years.' Whereas traditional sharing
arrangements tended to be informal and limited to
folks one knew, the new technologies allow people
who don't know each other to share resources more
safely, formally and effic ient ly.
Why the sharing economy isimportantFor urbanists, th e rise of th e sharing economy is
grat ifying. These sharing services are extensions of
our community . They require a belief in the commons
(i.e., publi c space, public educat ion, health and the
infrast ructure that allows our society to functi on),
which cities foster, and they are amplified by the kind
of physical proximity that only exists in cit ies. Metr ics
increasingly reveal that sharing economy businesses
tend to generate greater economic benefits and
reinvestment in the community. Studies have shown,
for examp le, that for every reduction of 15,000
owned cars, a city keeps $127 million in the local
economy as peop le are able to get what they need
wit hin a smaller geog'raphic area.'
For the Bay Area, the sharing economy has the
potent ial to be especially significant in several
ways. One, it offe rs a very direct and powerful way
to make it more affordable to live here. Instead of
owning a car, you can rel iably access one only when
you need it. If you ow n a car, you can rent it out
during the est imated 92 percent of the time it is not
being dri ven. If you go out of town, you can rent
out your vacant home. The imp act of th ese serv ices
6 OCTOBER 20 12
on household budgets can be huge. Getaround
membe rs earn an average of $4,200 per year
rentin g out their cars?while Airbnb hosts in San
Francisco earn an average of $5,000 a year rentin g
out their housing unit s. Those hurt by the recession
can supplement - or even cobble toge ther - their
income throug h 21st-century versions of the temp
agency, such as TaskRabbit.
Second, thi s industry model is exportable. One
of the ways that cit ies grow their economies is
by developing businesses that serve specia lized
local tastes - think music in Nashvill e or jogging
in Portland. Local fi rms that grow up serving these
demanding customers can then export to customers
elsewhere." The urbanized Bay Area prov ides the
perfect incuba tor for collabo rative consumption.
Some of our cities have compact land use patterns
that facilitate interaction and exchange. We have
an educated pop ulation with high numb ers of
early adopters of new technolog ies. We have high
environmental awareness, along with a high cost
of liv ing, which motivate us to experiment in new
ways to save money by sharing resources. Today
San Francisco is the center of the collaborative
consumption movement in the United States, with
stro ng support fro m Silicon Valley. If some of the
firms that exist today can find traction and grow
nati onally and internationally, we will have witnessed
the emerge nce of an important new part of our
economic base.
3U.S.Departmentof Commerce. http://www.
internetretailer.comj2012/02 / 16/e-commerce-sales
jump-16-2011
4Susan Piedmont-Palladino. "The Space-Time-Money
Continuum," National BuildingMuseum. http://www.
nbm.org/ intelligentcities/topics/city!city-essay.
hl ml#full
S Providedby Getaround. AshleyLevine. Getaround
Press Office.
6 SeeJoeCortwright'sdiscussionof the "Distinctive
City" in City Success:Theoriesof Urban Prosperity,
CEOs for Cities,2008. www.cecstorcltfes.crcz/research/city-success-theories-of-urban-prosperity/
THE URBANI ST
A policyagendafor the sharing economyDespite the excitement surround ing these ventur es,
the emerging industry faces several significant
challenges - most pressingly, outd ated regulatory
frameworks and the hostili t y of established
enterpr ises.
When a new industry or technology emerges,
government f requently has to rely on past models as
it figures out how to regulate the new enter prise. For
example, when t he auto mobi le debut ed on American
roads, it came into conflict with the horse, and early
regulations tended to pr ior itize the horse. As Kenneth
Jackson detailed in his book Crabg rass Fron tier:
TheSuburbanization of the Uni ted States, "On the
theory that lumbering automobiles fr ightened
horses and raised dust, many states fol lowed Brit ish
precedent and passed laws limit ing self-p rope lled
vehicles to four miles per hour and requiring that
each be preceded by a man on foot carryi ng a red
flag."7At the same t ime, the extremely powerful
railroad industry kept the automobile from emerging
as a competitive threa t, delaying by decades the
construct ion of networks of paved roads.
We can see here that these twin thre ats
inappropr iate regulation s and fearful established
comp anies - are interrelated. Peer-to- peer car
sharing, for example, was held back for years
because California insurance regulati ons didn't allow
it. Car companies are thr eatened by car sharing,
just as taxi compan ies are threatened by dynamic
ride sharing . Likewise, hotels are threatened by the
increasing numbe rs of peer-to-peer room and house
renta ls. In all of these situatio ns, there may be valid
reasons to monitor, regulate and tax the collaborative
act iviti es, but there is great danger that in doing so,
government could make it imposs ible for the sharing
econom y to work.
What companies within the sharing economy need
from government is fairly st raightforwa rd: They need
to be allowed to operate. This means that they need
pro tect ion from established companies that might tr y
to use the power of governm ent to kill compet itio n,
and it means that they need a tax structure that does
THE URBAN IST
not penalize collaborat ive consump t ion.
As of th is wr iting , th e rules of the San Francisco
assessor-recorder state that every person who
rents his or her apar tment on a sharing site must
pay the transient occupa ncy tax (commonly known
as the "hotel tax"), just like a hotel does. But oth er
businesses in San Francisco don' t start paying taxes
until they generate revenue over a certa in th reshold.
( If the business tax reform on this Novem ber's
ballot passes, businesses in San Francisco that
earn less than $1 million in revenue wi ll not be
subject to a gross-receipts tax.) Shouldn't people
who earn a couple thousa nd dol lars a year from
sharing resources have a similar small-busi ness tax
exemption?
Advoca tes of the sharing economy argue that we
should give the benef it of the do ubt to people who
are try ing to earn a litt le extr a money renti ng their
housing units, cars, parking spaces or other assets
- that we should be permissive about letting peopl e
share resources.
If gove rnments decide to require perm its for
certain form s of sharing, let 's make sure that we
invent a modern form of permit - one that is
accessible online and easy to understand, as simple
as registering to vote. If we can't make it that easy,
let 's st rongly consider not requirin g a permit. These
new platforms provide an easy and low-impact
way to t rack transact ions that otherwise were
"undergro und" and to capture revenue.
Governmen t 's fi rst and prima ry role in fostering
the sharing economy should be to pro tect this
economy's existence by not overtaxing it or
regulating it out of existence . Beyond that, there are
several key thin gs governments can do to promote
collabo rative consumptio n:
1.Governments can be early adopters of shared
services, as the City of Berkeley did with City
CarShare.8 By prom ot ing the services and providing
the early users that new serv ices rely on to grow,
they give their stamp of approval to something that
will, in many cases, save taxpayers money.
1 KennethJackson. Crabgrass Frontier: The Subur
banizationof the United States(New York: Oxford
University Press. 1987). p. 158.
8 Seewww.shareable.net/blog/policies-for-a-share
able-city-14-the-shareable-city-employee
OCTOBER 2012 7
II
I
2. They can help create bet ter and more standardize d
methods for measuring the impacts and benefits of
the sharing economy. Hotels have ways of quant if ying
their economic benefits to the community through
hiring; purchasing of furnit ure, food and cleaning
products; procurement contract s; and tourist dollars
spent locally. As yet, Airbnb has no consistent
method to measure its economic impact, though ithas substant ial survey evidence indicat ing that the
income of Airbnb guests most ofte n flows to the
immediate neighborhood, which is generally outside
the traditi onal touri sm districts where visito r dollars
concentrate. Survey data also shows that hosts use
their Airbnb income to reinvest in their home thusincreasing property values in their neighb orhood.
3. Local decision makers can communicate with other
cities about model policies for suppor t ing the sharing
secto r. Creat ion of overarching best pract ices would
save municipalities across the country t ime andwould help them create incentiv es for growth. San
Francisco can be an undisputed leader in this effor t.
4. Cities can playa more active role in making both
pub licly owned and private assets available for
maximum ut ilizatio n by residents. The simple genius
of the sharing economy is in identify ing existing but
underuti lized assets and ext racting a benefit that
previously didn't exist. SPUR's Public Harvest report ?
inspired San Francisco to do this with public lands by
calling fo r an audit of city -owned land and roof tops
to see which are suitable for urban agriculture.
8 OCTOBER 2012
5. Local gove rnments can build on the backbone
of the great sharing service they already provide
libraries - by expanding them to related uses such as
tool libraries.'?
Potential for a symbiotic relationshipSince City CarShare launched more than 10 years ago,
the sharing economy has grown and developed inways we never could have imagined. It 's generating
ways to save resources and money. It 's act ively
helping build community and creat ing new jobs and
new modes of comme rce. It 's an expression of the
natural virtues of city life, in which high densities
of people facilitate exchange, collaborat ion and
innovation.Collaborative consumpt ion shares a core trait with
government in that both exist to help local residents
meet their goals. Their aspirat ions for community
based benef its are largely aligned and can amplify
each other. Consider city goa ls of zero-waste and jobgrowth, for example. Collaborative consumpt ion can
help make cit ies better. But its contin ued viability and
grow th will be contingen t on learning to play well
with government. It is incumbent on all of us to figure
out the best ways to ensure that will happen.
Some of the sharing economy is taking shape
within for-profit businesses, which will want to
expand around the country and around the wor ld.
Others are nonprofit, mission-d riven organizat ions or
local, informal effo rts. A range of different project s
are taking shape and gathering momentum. We may
have only begun to realize their potential. •
9 Public Harvest: Expanding theUseof Public Land
for UrbanAgriculture inSan Francisco, SPURReport.
April 2012(available at htlp:!! www.spur.org!files!
event -atla chments!SPUR]ublic_HarvesLpdf)
10Seewww.shareable.net/blog/policies-for-a-share
able-city-13-public-libraries
THE URBANIST
DEMAND BASED PRICING
Smart Cities,Limited ResourcesCan we provide public goods more efficiently by pricing themto reflect real-time demand?
Summary: Demand -based pricing
may result in a bet ter matc h-up
of supply and demand th an has
previously been possible.
By Laura Tam
Have you ever looked up the fare for a roundtrip
flight only to find two days later that the price has
gone up $200? Or perhaps you've had better luck
finding rock-bottom, seemingly half-price deals
to t ravel somewhere at the last minute? Why do
different seats on the same plane, all purchased
at diffe rent t imes, vary so wide ly in price? It' s
because airlines employ a tool called dynamic
pricing - a system that adjusts prices based on
expected demand in ord er to increase profit in light
of fixed capacity and th e elast icity (or flexibility) of
consumers' individual demands. This enables the
airlines to yield as much revenue as possible for
each fixed cost (or fli ght), sometimes resultin g in
substantia l consumer savings, other t imes not.
The price of public goods provided by either
government or a regulated monopoly - th ink tran sit
rides, drinking water, park admission - typica lly
aren't based on supply and demand , because there is
no real "market" for such goods. Prices may be based
on the cost to supply the goods or the cost that
regulators believe wil l meet public expectations of
fairness, or some combination of the two . Sometimes
there is no price at all because it has not been
possible - either physically or po lit ically - to charge
for resources based on use.
But it is becoming possible for the public secto r to
employ dynamic pricing - as airlines do - to manage
certa in limi ted public resources. Somet imes called
demand-based pricing or real-tim e pri cing, thi s is a
THE URBANIST
more efficient way of allocating publicly provided or
regulated goods, especially those that are subject
to wide fluctuat ions in demand over a short period
of t ime, such as within an hour or a day. By judg ing
people's willi ngness to pay for a publicly prov ided
serv ice - such as elect rici ty, road space or parking
- demand-based pr icing enab les a more nim ble
match-up of supp ly and demand than has previously
been possible.
The innovations that fuel smart cities make these
pri cing schemes possible. A combinat ion of new
sensory and comput ing technologi es, tw o-way
communicat ions and devices that both create and
analyze large volumes of data can now measure and
communicate real- time demand. This information can
be used to automa te price signals for resources, such
as at smart parking meters . In some cases, it can also
be used to remotely tr igger a certa in actio n, such as
powering down preselected devices dur ing periods of
peak electricity demand .
Demand -based pric ing offers th ree key pub lic
benef its:
1. Economic efficie ncy (as exp lained above)
2. The creatio n or growth of a revenue stream
that could be used to recoup the cost of building
infrast ructure or to maint ain levels of service for
supporti ng it -7
lauraTam isSPUR'ssustainable
development policydirector.
OCTOBER 2012 9
DEMAND BASED PRICING
3. The avoided cost and environmenta l impa ct of
building new infrastructure to accommodate peak
demand
SPUR believes that effective use of prici ng is an
appropriate way to manage limited resources like
parking, hig hways and electric ity . In our repo rt TheUrban Future of Work published in January of this
year, we recomme nded insti tut ing full-road pr icing
on key regional highway corridors as an initial step
toward broader pricing of all major highways in the
Bay Area.
Dynamic, demand-based pricing has potent ial
environmenta l and economic benefit s. Because it is a
more effic ient mechanism fo r allocatin g public goo ds,
it can help reduce waste or loss that is otherwise paid
for by taxpayers or ratepayers. A new revenue stream
generated by road pricing, whether congest ion pric
ing or a peak-per iod bridge toll, for example, can be
direc ted toward road maintenance or t ransit opera
tions, wh ich are often underfunded. By reducing peak
demand , demand-based pr icing for electric ity could
save ratepayers the cost of purcha sing reserve power
production , allowing those fund s to be invested in
Demand-BasedPricing in Practice
energy eff iciency or even returned to customers
through futu re electricity price decreases.
The environment benefits because operating
or bui lding new infrastructure just to sat isfy peak
periods of demand can be avoided, and peak
demand fo r the resource itself can be reduced. By
pr icing peak demand for tra ff ic lanes at a rate that
encourages some travelers to dr ive at other times
of day to do so, for example, we can avoid buildi ng
a new lane (a costly enterpr ise that will increase
emissions in the long term) and reduce traffi c
congestion in the short term resultin g in f ree-f lowing
lanes of t ravel and fewer emissions).
Of course, there is a tradeoff here: Peak-period
pricing may be regressive, because higher prices
will have a bigger impact among people with
lower incomes. Any demand- based pricing scheme
for public goods must be designed to mitigate
disproportionate impacts as much as possible,
especially with good s that were previously "free."
SPUR believes that one way to mitigate equity
concerns around new pric ing plans would be to
provide a certain quantity of things such as free tr ips
and reduced rates, to lower-income people .
10 OCTOBER 20 12
ElectricityDemand-based pricing of electr icity can save
ratepayers and elect ric ut ilities both capita l and
opera t ing costs. Capital costs may be saved by
avoidi ng (or at least postponing) the construction of
new facilities that w ill be inf requen t ly used except
in extreme peak demand circumstances (i.e., 3 p.m.
on the hottest day of the summer). Utilit ies can
save operating costs if they don't need to have a
large operationa l reserve or spare capacity online
to deal with unanticipated or sudden changes in
demand. Instead, existing facilit ies wi ll operate more
freq uent ly. The cost savings fro m effic ient pricing
may be signi ficant. Betwee n 10 and 20 percent of
elect ricity costs in the United States are due to peak
demand during only 80 to 100 hours of the year.'The key new technologies that enable demand
based pricing for elect ricity are smart meters
and smart grids. Together, th ey form an energy
network that is more efficie nt and can bett er utili ze
decent ralized and small-scale renewable energy
sources such as solar and wind. Because it moni tors
real-time demand, a smart grid could enable
significant expansion of demand-response programs
- which current ly enroll mainly volun teers and large
business customers - into the residential market. For
participants, demand -response programs provide an
incentive to temporarily reduce electr icity demand
on peak days. But they also create perma nent energy
savings by reducing demand in off-peak periods by
an average of 4 percent. Smart meters allow users to
moni to r real-time energy consumption and to take
advantage of variable-rate pricing plans where they
are available . Betwee n consumers, ut il it ies and the
environment, everyon e stands to gain from impr oved
effic iency in pricing and the expansion of demand
response programs.
THE URBANI ST
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2011.www.drsgcoalition.org/po licy/DRSG_Com
ments_on_CES.pdf
TH E URBANI ST
ParkingThough parking costs vary by location, hourl y or daily
rates tend to be predictable and fixed. But there are
ineffi ciencies and socioeconomic impacts if providersget the price of parking "wron g." While overpricing
parking could lead, for example, to shoppers ortouri sts taking their business elsewhere, underpri cing
leads to excess dri ving, which causes congest ion
and unnecessary emissions (th e percept ion of
limit ed parking could also lead shoppers or touri sts
to choose a different destination). Now, new smart
parking meters can use demand-based pricing to set
the price of parking right at the equilibrium of supply
and demand. A theory of tr ansportation economics
holds that the optimal occupancy rate of publi cly
provided parking is 85 percent - where little or no
circling is necessary to find a spot. New technologies
that can monitor occupancy and gauge demand
block by block can help set rates to achieve this goa l.
San Francisco was one of the fir st citi es in the
RoadsDemand-based pricing for roads can make tr avel
more efficient within a congested zone (li ke a
downt own area), at a congest ion choke point (like a
brid ge) or through out a region by using a network
of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. As with smart
parking policies, bet ter utili zation of road space
through demand-responsive pricing could reduce
congest ion, especially durin g peak demand periods,
impr ove the speed and reliabilit y of transit vehicles
and enhance the att ract iveness of other modes of
travel such as tr ansit and bik ing.
Road pricing is a common practi ce, especially on
the East Coast of the United States, but the strategy
of rapidl y changing toll prices to reflect real-t ime
traffi c condit ions is newer. London, Stoc kholm and
Singapore are models of city center cordon, or
congest ion pricing; the idea is being studied for San
Francisco.The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is
tr ansitioning many of the Bay Area's high-occupancy
vehicle (HOV) lanes into HOT lanes, which are
Demand-based pricing canmakecitiesbetterCit ies now have the tools and technologies to better
utili ze key pieces of urban infr astructure by getting
the pr ice much closer to the real equilibrium price
than ever before. By doing so, we gain a host of
count ry to test thi s model with its SFpark prog ram,
which began in 2010. SFpark meters have been
installed in a few pilot district s: Fillmore, Downt own,
Fisherman' s Wharf and more. Rates vary by tim e of
day, day of the week, block by block and over t ime
(monthly) to respond to demand. Parkin g sensors
install ed in each parking space detect occupancy
rates, and program managers review utili zation
data every month, at which t ime they may move
hourl y maximum rates up or dow n by 25 to 50 cents.
Two-way communicat ions by these sensors make it
possible for driv ers to look up real-tim e availability
using a smartphone app.
Besides the benefit s of more readily availableparking in SFpark distri ct s and reduced congest ion
and emissions, the progr am may help improve the
speed and reliability of tr ansit vehicles, which may
spend less tim e blocked by tr affi c or doubl e-parked
vehicles.
expected to bett er utili ze exist ing capacity and
reduce idlin g and emissions. An addit ional publi c
benefit is a new revenue source that can be used to
pay for road maintenance or transit.
SPUR believes that full -road pricing is better
than establishing single HOT lanes; a single-t oll
lane approach could result in mor e driving, not less
(by creat ing less congest ion in the unpriced lanes).
Real-t ime congest ion pricing may be more difficult
to impl ement than smart parking policies, tim e-of
use energy pricing or demand-response programs.
This is because people are generally accusto med to
paying for parking and electricity already, but not
for dri ving on freeways. Also, there are real-tim e
benefit s for parti cipants in these other programs:
being able to find a parking spot (and in SFpark, topay with a credit card) or saving money by turnin g
of f nonessenti al appliances. Some of the equity
impact s of thi s type of plan may be miti gated by
reinvesting revenue from full- road toll ing into publi c
tr ansportation serv ices.
co-be nefits, includin g qualit y-of-life improvements
such as less traffic and environmental benefit s such
as fewer emissions. Smart cit ies of the future will
invest in these opportunities as a boon to their own
residents and businesses, and to society at large. •
OCTOBER 2012 11
CIV IC DATA
Why Does CivicData Matter?A new emphasis is being placed on the availability of open datafrom governments but what use does this data have for citizens'daily experience?
Summary: Open data has the
poten t ial to spur economicdevelopment , engage citi zens,
reduce government costs and
improve its services. But we're not
there yet.
By A licia Rouau lt
A new emphasis is being placed on the availability of
open data from governments. but what use does this
data have for cit izens' daily exper ience?I work with Code for America to advocate for city
gove rnment s to open up public data sets. We make
a clear economic argument to these cit ies: If you
prov ide data as a free commo dity to web developers.
they will ult imately start businesses. grow jobs and
create consumer-facing produ ct s - with relative lylitt le government funding or other support. Althou gh
there are many deep arguments made for opening up
civic data in the publi c domain , from a pragmatic and
economic perspective civic data has great value for
cit ies.
NewsCivic data is literally enhancing news and information
on publ ic sector matters. A lot of attention has been
given to enhanced news experience s: Journ alists are
able to tell better stories because mor e information
is availab le. for example. Though most citizens have
little use for a list of, say, the longi tude and lat itud e of
fire hydrant locat ions. we are all taking in mor e (and
bett er) art icles, chart s, graphs and other interestin g
graphical manifestat ions of publicly provided
12 OCTOBER 2012
stat ist ics about weather, transit. crime, budget
allocat ion and politi cs.
Weather (and Crime)In perhaps open data evangelists' favorit e example
of how data can generate an ent ire industry. the
Nat ional Weather Service released basic weatherdata to pub licly accessible sites like Weather.com
and AccuWeather and to developers of widget s for
mobile devices. contribut ing to what is now a $1.5
bi llion industry of weath er forecasts. San Franciscodesign firm Stamen was one of the fir st to change
the way we consume weather data by building an
innovative hurricane tracker for MSNBC back in 2008 .
Stamen is also responsible for CrimeSpotting, one of
the earliest interact ive crime maps that maps publ icpoli ce data onto a user-f riendly interface.
TransitAnother industry has grown around open transit data .
General Transit Feed Specifi cation (or GTFS data) is
a standardized format born out of a public-private
part nership created when a few city employe es of
Portl and. Oregon's municipal transit system (TriMet)
wanted to provide transit schedules to Google in a
Alicia Rouault isa2012 Code for America
fellowanda2012 Knight News Challenge
Data Winner
THE URBANIST
· I
standardized way. GTFS is now publicly provided for
383 transit agencies and counting and is currently the
standard for releasing static (scheduled) transit data .
Real-time transit data is also one of the more
straig htforward contributions to our daily lives. In
major cities where people commute and rely onpublic transit, quality of life can be infin itely improved
when commuters are given access to real-time arriva l
and departure information in the palm of their hands.
Excellent examples of this have been created by third
parties - and not the transit companies themselves.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency(SFMTA) openly encourages third-party developers
to produce mobile apps like NextBus and iBart that
help riders access real-time data.
What It All Means for CitiesCivic data is just another free commodity provided by
government agencies, similar to the radio frequencies
that were once divvied out to third parties as a
government-provided good. Third-party developers
consume information and can ultimately provide a
better product for less money than if a government
were to produce it. When government or transit
agencies make raw data available at little or no cost,
the private market can process the data to deliver a
superior consumer product.
This trend is being promoted through a slew of
city-hosted competitions like New York's BigApps,
which each year gives cash awards tota ling $50,000
to app developers who create a useful tool with
civic data for citizens. Web developers are drawn
to the notion of doing good for society with data
and the process speaks to the highly competitive
hacker/hackathon culture. By leveraging the talent of
individual web developers, the city gets a whole suite
of software for a mere $50,000 investment. Othercities can follow New York's lead on this.
Open data success stories have historically been
pushed forward by for-profit companies . Whether
it 's governments recycling innovative applications
of data (as with websites like federalregister.gov)
or consumers benefiting from indirect application
of data sets provided (as with mobile transit apps
like Routesy), public -private partnerships are crucial
to understanding the unique value of civic data in
the real wor ld. Just as new and small businessesare made strong with governmental subsidies and
tax incentives, civic data has the power to stimu late
economic activity in cities . •
URBAN FIELD NOTES
Case Study #52:
Patched
As a photographer, I am fascinated by the ever
evolving mosaic of colors and textures that are
characteristic of urban environments like San
Francisco. I am always looking for ways to capture
these changes both large-s cale and in det ail.
Graff it i cultu re and vandalism ofte n result in paint
job s to patch up unwanted blight. It's a phenomenon
that continuously alters our environment. These
patches on buildings and surfaces vary in color s and
textures, add ing to an ever-chang ing mosaic. In my
photographs, my goal is to depi ct the diverse colors,
texture s and (sometimes subt le) patterns that result.
Without getting into the politics of graff iti or st reet
art, these photographs serve as a visual descr ipt ion
of the proc ess.
14 OCTOB ER 2012
A ph otographer observes that
after the graffiti's gone, new wo rks
of art emerge.
Caseworker: Sergio Ruiz
Each image reveals the choices that were made
and what method s were used to mask unwanted
tagg ing or graffiti. I imagine that a bui lding or
business owner may use whatever color paint is
available to them, resultin g in patches that vary in
hue or are an entir ely different color than the original
surface. The painte r (or patcher), can then choose
to paint an entire wall, a specific elevat ion of the
wall, a neat rectang le, or a blob covering just the
tagged area. The surface itself often changes the
resulting look, whether it is coarse or smooth, solid or
permeab le. In some cases, it seems that the patcher
got creative in the process. How else to explain the
irreg ular mix of colors and patterns?
t1 Yellow PanelingOctavia Boulevard at Haight Street
III Gunk Divisadero Stree t between
Hayes and Fell Streets
THE URBANI ST
II
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Ii TwoStorefrontsBroadway between 17th and 19t h
Streets, Oakland
THE URBANI ST OC TOBER 20 12 15
URBAN FIELD NOTES
mBillboardHayes between Divisadero and
Scott Streets
IJ Liquor Store21st and Valencia St reets
iii Pastelson BrickHyde between Geary and Post
B RitualOctav ia and Hayes Street
Sergio Ruiz isatransportation planner
for theCalifornia Department of
Transportation andisSPUR'sphotography
intern.
16 OCTOBER 2012 THE URBANIST
CITY NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE
UrbanDrift
Cana FontSpurUrban Growth?The process of bestowing a
metropolis with a recognizable
identity is much like branding a
consumer goo d: Cities have to
work at it. They need to sell them
selves, too . Logos and typefaces
are a good place to start. In Chat
tano oga, Tenn., a team of young
graphic desig ners decided to give
their cit y a font that could be used
for all Chat tanooga-related com
munication and messaging .
Wit h recent investment in cut ting
edge broadband infrastru cture,
the city is on an upswing, aiming
to att ract entrepreneurs and art
ists who can bring vita lity to the
local economy and culture - and
now Chattanoog a can promote all
of its effo rts w ith one unified sty le
called Chatype . The Kickstarter
funded project didn't cost taxpay
ers a dime . Already, says one of
the four designers, James Dooley,
"the visitor s bureau is using it for
an ad campaign thro ughout the
South to publ icize the city, and the
libra ry system has comprehen
sively rebranded themselves with
the font ."
"HowChattanoogaCreated ItsOwn Font to Spur
Urban Growth: ' by Sarah C.Rich.
Smithsonianmag.com, August 29. 2012
THE URBAN IST
It's YourMoveVisual artist Flavio Trevisan has
created an art piece/board game
designed to introduces its players
to the excit ing wor ld of urban
renewal. Each player assumes a
role, vary ing from city councilor
and developer to man-en-the
st reet and skyscraper Enthusiast.
Part icipants can demolish a failed
urban experiment and start again
from the groun d up to realize their
ambition s and build the ideal city .
"The Game of Urban Renewal" was
part of an exhibition of Trevisan's
work, Museum of the Represented
City. (Visitors could buy the game
in the exhibit's gif t shop.) The To
ronto- based artist was putting the
whole concept together around
the tim e that infamously anti- ur
ban mayor Rob Ford was elected.
" I was really upset with that whole
process and who we got," Trevisan
says. "A lot of my cynicism started
coming through as I was writing
these instructions."
"TheUrban RenewalBoardGame," by Jeroen Seek
mans,Popupcityne t, August11, 2012
TurnYourCity Into a GymArne Schonewald sees the urban
environme nt as the ultimate DIY
gym for the everyman, and he
wants you to see it that way, too .
A born-and-raised Berliner, pre
ventative and rehab ilitative sports
scientist and ath letic trai ner, he
explains, "A good ninety percent
of peop le don't exercise regu larly.
My goal is to get exact ly these
peop le, who haven't been exercis
ing for a long time, and to act ivate
them with creative approaches...
Berlin does have a lot of opt ions,
with parks and lakes and forests,
but you have to go a bit out of the
city to get there. My idea is to do
it differently, to find opportuniti es
for movement in the city center."
In Berlin, Schonewa ld ran the
Weekend Warr iors fitness pro
gram, transform ing the lab and the
surrounding urban enviro nment
into a hardcore outdoor gym. On
any given weekend, one could find
Schonewald bark ing out orders
as parti cipants did pull-up s from
tree branches and bike racks and
shadowboxed their way thr ough
obstac le courses of rope strung
throug h trees. Schonewald hopes
people will take the idea of city-as
gym into their everyday lives.
"Turn YourCity Into YourGym:A DIY Guide," by
ChristineMcla ren, BMWGuggenheim Lab's"LAB
log: ' August 23. 2012
The PigeonWants a Paint JobAt th e Venice Biennale thi s sum
mer, artists Juli an Charriere and
Julius von Bismarck airbrushed
pigeons in multi ple hues for the
site-speci fic art pro ject, "Some
Pigeo ns Are More Equal Than
Others ." (The arti sts assure us
no pigeo ns were harmed). www.
[ulian-charriere.net/some -pi geon s-are-more-equa l-others
Scentand the CityIf you're nosta lgic for the smell
of your city (or are just worry ing
that your planet will run out of
air), photographer Kirill Rudenko
has the perfect antidote: canned
air. Culled from cit ies like New
York, Paris, Berlin and Singapore,
canned air costs $9.99 before
shipp ing and, it s creator explains,
"relieves stress, cures homesick
ness and helps fighting nostalgia."
Each can has a list of ingredients
- New York, for instance, contains
20 percent each of Empire State
Building and Statue of Liberty and
10 percent each of Grand Central
Terminal, Chrysler Buildin g, Litt le
Italy and Chinatown, Brooklyn
Bridg e, Times Square and Central
Park, plus possible traces of th e
Bronx, Brook lyn, Queens and
Staten Island . The Paris air bears
the caut ionary note "May contain
traces of libert e, egalite and frater
nite,' and the Singapore air warns
against opening it in pub lic places,
as th is carries a $25,000 fine.
"Now YouCanBuyOrganic Air ina Can," by Jess
Zimmerman.Grist.orq, August 15.2012
BeyondZuccotti ParkNew York Times architec ture crit ic
Michael Kimm elman asks, "Where
are th e spaces in which we act
as a community? Who governs
th em? Who decides on their
design? Their use? And should we
blur the controls, the boundaries,
the authority, and the th resholds
betwee n public and pr ivate space,
between stree ts and side-
walks?" The Occupy Wall Street
movement has challenged the
physica l manifestation of the First
Amendment right to freedom of
assembly. In a new book, 41 social
scient ists, planners, archi tect s and
civil liberties exper ts - includin g
Saskia Sassen and Michael Sorkin
- explore the defini tio n, use, role
and imp ortance of publi c space
for the exercise of our democratic
rights to free expression.
OCTOBER 2012 17
MEMBER PROF ILE
In San Jose, aPassion for PlanningAsha Weinstein AgrawalA love for ex p lo ring cit ies on foot has t ranslated into
a career researching car-free alternatives.
Images (from top): Asha Weinstein
Agrawal, and aselection ofshots showing
San Jose urbanism atitsbest.
I
ity needs. We caught up with Agrawal as she was
prepa ring for the new schoo l year and asked "What
are stude nts of urbanism most interested in learnin g
abou t these days?"
"The Master of Urban Planning program at SJSU is
designed to prepare a diverse student population to
become leaders in rapid ly changing urban environ
ment s, wi th special emphasis on skills for working
with wide-ranging const ituencies and a commitment
towa rd lifelong professional developm ent," she re
plied, "Our students all share a dream of jobs thr ough
which they cont ribute to bui lding great communit ies,
but they are a diverse bunch who work in every as
pect of planning, from designing vibrant public spaces
to building affordable housing to managing efficien t
and environmenta lly sustai nable infrastructure."
Asha Weinstein Agrawal is busy. Not only is she
the di recto r of the Mineta Transportati on Institu te's
(MTI) National Transportation Finance Center, she is
also chair and associate professor of San Jose State
Univers ity's Department of Urban and Regiona l Plan
ning. How did she become so enthralled with all things
urba n? " I loved to explore cit ies on foo t," explains
Agrawal. "That early passion for urban wandering
morphed into a career in urban planning with a focus
on tran sportation ."
Ag rawal's research focuses on cut t ing-e dge prac
tices in surface t ransportation finance. She explores
such issues as pub lic percepti ons of transportati on
taxes and fees, the challenges low-income residents
face in coveri ng their t ransport at ion costs and how
those costs impact their ability to meet basic mobil-
Asyou know, SPUR openedanoffice in SanJoseearlier thisyear. Gladto seeSPUR in yourhometown?I'm a longtime admirer of SPUR's
wo rk educating the public about
both urba n po licy questions and
also the fun and beauty of livi ng
in the San Francisco Bay Area . I
was delighted to see SPUR create
its new San Jose office . San Jose
needs more community-wide civic
institut ions like SPUR to support
it s urban developm ent.
Assomeoneseeminglyimmersedin cities24/7, what's yourfavorite...
Urbanview:San Francisco, city
and bay, as seen from the East
Bay hills. The view is gorgeo us in
every season and time of day. For
18 OCTOBER 20 12
example, fog pourin g thr ough the
Golden Gate and over the Marin
hills on a late afte rnoon, or the glit
tering lights on a clear night.
Favoritebuilding(urbanor not):The zen temples in Kyoto. I visited
many of them 20 years ago, and
the di fferen t temples have merged
in my mind into a single image of
calmness within a chaot ic cit y.
Favoritecity:Paris. Whil e these
may be cliches, I have had few bet
ter exper iences than sto pping in a
public park bursting with flowers
to eat a f reshly baked croissant,
watc hing the crowd stro ll by as
I drink a coffee at a cafe. What
makes Paris so specia l is also very
much the govern ment support for
convenient and well-mainta ined
publi c services and inf rast ructure,
public art and general quality of
life.
Best-loved urbanist? Wil-
liam Whyte. He used br illiantl y
st raightforward research designs
to illuminate the ways people actu
ally use public spaces, thus givi ng
us concre te tools to make those
spaces better.
Favorite film about cities: Nighton Earth - a 1991Jim Jarmusch
fi lm that tells stories about taxi
drivers in Los Angeles, New York,
Paris, Rome and Helsinki.
Andfinally,what should peopleknowabout yourcity that theymightnot otherwise? That they
can see a panoramic view of the
city from th e top floor of the Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Libr ary. •
THE URBANIST
NEW MEMBERS
NewBusiness Members Cristelle Blackford Sadie Guthrie Daniel Langford Stan Parkford Alexander Spilger
Jessica Brown Maryam Haj Vanessa Lauf Christopher Pederson Doug Steeke
LECET Southwest Leslie & Buzz Burlock Diana Halliday Cecilia Lavelle Mia Perkins Alex Steffen
Paramount Group, Inc. Brandi Campbe ll Alan Hart Dan Leavitt Benjamin Petersen Elliot Stein
Steinberg Arch itects Joel Campos Alice Hart ley So-Jung Lee Phillip Pierce Josh Steinman
Ella Carney Robin Havens Drew Lehman Carlos Principe Kim Swanson
Gina Centoni Joseph Headley Ross Levy Jackson Rabinowi tsh Hiromi Tabei
G.Cha n Caley Heekin Jaxon Love Steven Rajninger Karr ie TamNewMembers Emmanuel Coloma Rod Henmi Matthew Mahan Liesl Ramsay Michelle Tang
Anna Corbett Gabriel Heywoo d Suzette Mahr Craig Raphael Dana TinioSina Alavi Tim Cornwe ll Sarabelle Hitchner Bridget Maley John Redw ine Stephan ie TsaiPatri cia Algara Kelly Costa Bonnie Hulkower Julia Mandell Mark A. Rhoades Jack TseVictor Amoo Gray Doughert y Meredith Hutcheson Lillian Mano Adam Rogers Chin Pang TungRhiannon Bailard Megan K Edwards Barbara Inaba Phil Martien Gabrielle Rubin Shivam VohraBrian Balise Anthony Esposito Garrett Jacobs Timoth y McCormi ck Maddy Russell-Shapiro Kelvin VuElijah Ball Brendan Finney Elizabeth Johnson Jason McDaniel Deren Salgado Tom WalkerMary Barensfeld Cecilia Fisher Karee JuVette Mary (Molly) Mehaffy Norma Schroder Margaret WeadickAlly Beasley Danielle Fisher Meghana Kamdar Lucien Muir Caylie See Brian W iedenmeierSiobann Bellinger Amie Flemin g Carrie Kao Jessica Nguyen Alex Sicular Danny YadegarKaren Ben-Moshe Brooke Fotheringham Nina Kilham Ellena Ochoa Devin Silverna il Howard P. YoungDoug & Sally Bentz- Dennis Gale Tamara Knox Jennifer Pahlka Jagan Singh Victoria YuLybeck Mathias Gibson Deborah Knuckey Julian Pancoast Ryan Smit h John ZappettiniBriana Bergstrom Edwin Gonzales Michelle Krumland J.J. Panzer Michael Song Eugene ZhuLeendert Bikker Boaz Gurdin Tara Lamont James Pappas Ann Spencer
OSPURLEGACY SOCI ETY
Shape the future of San Franciscoand broader Bay Area
SPUR graciously thanks Florence McCormack Scarlett
and Samuel Lloyd Scarlett. M.D. whose generous bequest
will provide core support to promote good planning
and good government through research . education
and advocacy - helping SPUR shape the future of San
Francisco and broader Bay Area. Samuel passed away in
November of 2011 at the age of 96. and was a loyal donor
to SPUR during his lifetime.
spur.org/legacySPURis a 501(c)(3) non-profit org anization with tax ID# 94-1498232 . All contributions to SPURaretax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
SPUR LEGACY SOCIETY
We are grateful to Samuel and Flor ence Scarl ett,
and to everyone who rememb ers SPUR through
a bequest, lif e income plan, or oth er type of
planned gift. Your suppor t st rengt hens and
ensures the future of SPUR and the Urban Cent er.
Legacy Soci ety members are inv ited to an
exclusive annual gath ering and becom e part
of the Urban Leaders Forum - our majo r do nor
society - which gathers several t imes a year
to hear from noted experts about urbanism,
planning and the futu re of ou r region.
We hope you'll tell us when you have named the
SPUR in your will. We wo uld very much like the
opportuni ty to thank you for your generosity.
ENSURING YOUR LEGACY
For mo re info rmation about how to include SPUR
in your esta te plans in a way that best f its your
needs tod ay please contact SPUR's development
direct or at 415-644-4281 or don ate@spu r.org.
. ' .
Richa rd C. Blum
John & Guss ieSte wa rt
11 BANKN,WEST~COMM ERCIAL BANKING
BNP PARIBAS GROUP
FORESfCITY
FORESfCITY
A nonymous
SPIRE SPO NSORS
Recept ion: 10:30 A M - 12:0 0 PMLunc heon & Awards: 12:0 0 - 1:30 PM
Mosco ne Center SouthEsp lanade Ballroom
Larry BaerPresident and CEO { ,San Francisco Giants S H 0 R E )S T El N
KEYSTON E SPONSORS
A ECOM • Arup • California Pacific Medical Center/Sutter West · Degenkolb Eng ineers· Dignity Heath ·
EHDD • Emerald Fund, Inc.• Gen sler · Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP • Golden Gate University •
Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co. • The John Stewart Company · JPMorgan Chase · KMD Architects ·
Lennar Urban · McKesson · Parkmerced • Recology • Bill & Dewey Rosetti · San Francisco International
Airport • San Francisco Waterfront Partners, LLC • Steinberg Architects · Roselyne C. Swig • Union Bank •
Webcor Builders · Westfield San Francisco Centre · Wilson Meany
Tickets and sponsorship opportunities available at spur.org/silverspur
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
EVE NT CHA IR
Thank you to our 2012 Sponsors
2012 Silver SPUR Awards Luncheon
Claudine Cheng ' Paul a R. Colli ns' Greg Dalt on' Patri cia Klitgaa rd • Marc Madden' Toby & Sally Rosenblatt· Janet & Michael Smit h-Helrner > Michael Teit z, Ph.D.
.san,1lf'ranci~co QLI)ronicle ISFGate com
Stephe n S. Pearce, D.O., Ph.D.Senior rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El.promoter of interf ait h communi tydialogue and engagement
John K. Stewa rtReal estate develo pment and co mmu nityleader and a powerful advocate forafforda b le housing at a regiona l andnat iona l level
BllsYhessTimes(Somcast.
Edward A. Chow, M. D.
Cofounder of Chinese Hospital'snatio nwid e model for cult urallyco mpete nt healt h care and lon g ti mepu bl ic servant
Mildred HowardAcclaimed mi xed-media andinstallat ion ar tis t and educato r ofat -r isk communi ties w ho has shapedour expe rie nce of t he pu bli c realm
Join more t han 2,0 0 0 fe llow cit izens as we pay tribute to a selec t group of indiv idua ls
w hose goa ls and achievements have mad e San Franc isco and the Bay Area a better
p lace to live, work and play.
PILLAR SPONSORS
Archstone • Atkins · Andy & Sara Barn es · BAR A rchitects · BRE Properties · Buch alter Nem er · Cahill Contracto rs ·Californ ia Academy of Sciences· Cannon Constructors Nort h. Inc. • Carmel Partn ers · Char les Salte r & Assoc iates ·Coblentz, Patch , Duffy & Bass, LLP • Comcast • Commune Hotels & Resort s · Cox Cast le & Nich ol son , LLP • The Coult er/Weeks Charitable Foundat ion · Dav id Baker + Part ners. A rch itects· Farella Braun + Martel LLP • Fine Ar t s Museums ofSan Franc isco · Linda Jo Fit z • FME Architecture + Design · David Friedman & Paulette Meyer · Gerson Bakar &Associat es · Gould Evans · Anne Halsted & Wells Whitney · Hanson Brid get t LLP • David & Jane Hart ley · Jackson Paci f icVentures · John & Marci a Goldman Phil anth ropic Fund· Lend Lease · Richard Lon erg an · macys.com • MBH Architects ·McKenna Long & Ald ridge, LLP • Terry Micheau & Rob Evans · MJM Managem ent Group · Lar ry Nibbi • Sergio Nibbi •Nib bi Bro thers General Cont ractors · No rthern California Carp ente rs Reg io nal Cou ncil · Perkins + Will · PIER 39/Blue and Gold Fleet · Pillsbu ry Winthrop Shaw Pittma n LL P • Pol aris Gro up · Port of San Franc isco · The Prad o Gro up ·Proje ct Manag ement Adv isors . Inc. • Relat ed Californ ia .• Reube n & Junius. LLP • ROMA Desig n Gro up· Sack Properti es ·Saint Franc is Memorial Hospita l · San Francisco Foundation · San Fran cisco State Universit y · San Franc isco TravelAssoci at io n · Sedgw ick, LLP • Lynn & Paul Sed way • Elizab eth Seifel Fund/Seife l Con sulting Inc. • Sheppard. Mul lin.Richter & Hampton LLP • Skidmore, Ow ings & Merrill . LLP • Solomon Cord well Buenz • The Sw ig Company·Sw inerton Builders · Tishman Speyer· V. Fei Tsen & China town CDC· TMG Partners/Avant Housing · Tom Elio t Fisch ·Turnstone Cons ulting · UCSF • Unio n Square Business Im provement Dist rict · Uni versa l Paragon Corporation ·Uni versit y of San Franci sco · U.S. Bank North ern Californ ia · Dede W ilsey · W SP Flack + Kurtz
CAPSTON E SPONSO RS
CO RNE RSTO NE SPO NSORSA. R. Sanchez-Corea & Associates' Bay West Showplace ' Valli Benesch & Bob Tandl er • Buro Happold Consulti ng Eng ineers, Inc. •Cathedra l Hill Plaza. an ADCO company ' CH2MHILL • Jim Chappell· CMG Lands cape Architecture' Daniel Solomon Design Partners·Equi t y Community Builde rs· Jean Frase r & Geoffrey Gordon-Creed' Handel Ar chit ects , LLP • Rut h & A lf red Heller ' Stanley Herzstein •HKS Architects, Inc. • Vince & Amanda Hoenigman • Hunt Construction Group · Jo nes Hall , Bever ly Mills · Missio n Bay DevelopmentGroup ' NicholsBooth A rchi tects. Inc.• Pfau Long Architect ure. Ltd . • Plant Const ruct io n Company ' Presidi o Bank, Public FinancialManagement, Inc. • N. Teresa Rea ' SKS Investments, LLC • W ilbu r-E ll is Company' Woods Bagot A rchitects
MEDIA SPONSORS
Sponsor list as of 09.74.72
INTERN SPOTLIGHT
New Faces at SPUR
JamesBakerJames grad uated fro m the University
of Iowa with a BA in political
science, studied in Washingt on,
D.C., and Hong Kong, lived and
worked in Lond on and completed
his MA in international affairs at
the New Schoo l before arriving in
San Francisco. SPUR's pub lic policy
inte rn declares he is "proud to
be part of SPUR's city wide urb an
advocacy efforts."
Sean BoltonSean studied business and philoso
phy at San Francisco State Univer
isty and desig n at Califo rnia
College of the Arts. (On the side,
he taught himself compute r pro
gramming) . Af ter deciding to take
a year off, he exp lains that he came
to SPUR because of his "curiosity
abou t how comp lex systems like cit
ies and governme nt (and non-prof
its like SPUR itself) are organized."
22 OCTOBER 2012
JohnDacyA recent graduate in urban stud ies
at th e University of California,
Berkeley, John is interested in
transport at ion, regional planning
and civ ic engagement and is
excited to be part of a dynamic
organization like SPUR.
Hilary FinckSPUR'ssustainable po licy intern
is a graduate student at San
Francisco State University working
toward her MA in geog raphy, with
a concentration in environmental
plann ing and resource
management. When not geeking
out about esoteric things like
sto rmwater mitigation too ls. Hilary
enjoys explo ring San Francisco's
many t reasures by foot or bike.
AnnaGoreAnna came to SPUR after earning
her master's in enviro nmental
design and planning from the
University of Georgia. Her interest
in planning stems from her interest
in sustainable built and natural
environments and her passion
fo r nonmot orized transportat ion
planning. Anna bring s a
background in media produ cti on
and GIS (geographic information
systems) mapping to her posit ion
as SPUR's GIS intern.
JuliaGrebensteinSPUR'spublic programs intern
is a Nort hern California native.
a graduate of the community
developm ent program at Portl and
State University and a return ed
Peace Corps volunteer (youth
development, Ukraine, 2010-2012).
THE URBANIST
Cody HicksCody is in his last year at San
Francisco State University,
majoring in environmental studies
and minoring in urban planning. He
is most interested in sustainable
development and transportation
policy and is enjoyi ng being a part
of SPUR's development team.
HalieKampmanHalie is a Bay Area nativ e who
recently return ed to San Francisco
with the goal of promot ing
good planning locally. With a
background in interna tional
development and filmmaking,
she is interested in the power of
media advocacy. She is SPUR's
video volunteer, documenti ng and
promo ting SPUR happeni ngs and
events.
THE URBAN IST
Josephine LauJosephine recent ly graduated
from the University of California,
Berkeley, with a dual degree in
urban studies and society and
environment. She's interested
in t ransportation planning, in
parti cular bicycle and pedestri an
planning . In her spare tim e, she
likes to play basketball, bike and
read.
MollySchremmerSPUR's publ ications and
communications intern graduated
from Clark University with a BA in
geography in 2009. Growing up in
Maine, Molly developed an interest in
smart urban growth as she watched
her region grow from rural to
suburban. When she is not exploring
her career opt ions in the urban
planning f ield, Molly climbs indoors
and nerds out about craft beer.
SergioRuizSergio Ruiz, SPUR's Photography
Intern is an avid photographer who
has cont ributed numerous images
to The Urbanist th is year. His "day
job" includes bicycle and pedest rian
transportati on planning and he is a
st rong proponent of smart growth.
oJanVisayaD Jan graduated from St. Mary 's
College with a BS in economic s
and business administ rat ion. It
was a course on the growth and
development of Cont ra Costa
County that fir st got him interested
in planning. Having served as an
AmeriCorp s VISTAand a Peace
Corps volunteer, he is now act ively
pursing a career in urban and
community development.
OCTOBER 2012 23
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