For over 100 years, the Japantown neighborhood has been the cultural heart for the Japanese community of San Francisco and the Bay Area region.  At the same time, Japantown has endured numerous challenges to its physical and economic environment. Over the last four years through San Francisco’s Better Neighborhoods planning process, community stakeholders have articulated their vision for Japantown’s future and recommended cultural and economic strategies to achieve this vision. The Japantown Cultural Resources and Economic Sustainability Strategy (JCHESS) is the result of this process to articulate community concerns, identify cultural resources in the area, and deploy public policies and funding tools to preserve and enhance cultural assets.

The upcoming 1/28/14 SPUR forum will present JCHESS, the first of its kind in the nation. Hear important lessons for other communities within San Francisco and beyond.

Seifel Consulting served as economic consultants assisting the City in creating a compendium of economic and other tools to help support the preservation and enhancement of cultural resources.

Details on the SPUR session located here.

Blogger Markasaurus asks in a recent post, “Why can’t developers build housing in San Francisco for the people who need it most instead of for the rich?” The price of housing in San Francisco is skyrocketing. An upcoming SPUR forum will address the question: why is it so expensive to build housing in San Francisco?

Panelists will examine the component costs of bringing housing to market and discuss how predevelopment costs, delays, and requirements for additional studies and parking factor into the cost equation. The session will conclude with a deliberation on what can be done to drive down land costs and change construction practices, as well as what local government’s role—if any—is in cost reduction.

Architect Mark “Markasaurus” Hogan will present his recent analysis on housing costs. Panelist Libby Seifel will compare housing costs to costs in other communities and present findings from the Inclusionary Housing Financial Analysis Report her firm prepared for the San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office of Housing. Daniel Murphy of Urban Green DevCo and Blair Allison of Cahill Contractors will present developer and contractor perspectives on housing cost. 

Details on SPUR session.