SPUR and urban living

SPUR without signage yet

Loungy interiors - not a loungy crowd...

Opening day

I attended the opening party for the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) at their brand spanking new building on 654 Mission St. (thanks Steven for the invite!) The space seemed smaller than I expected, though that may be due to the packed masses of urban planning enthusiasts and city developers jammed into the modest square footage.

I support alot of their program goals, especially making SF a more livable and transit friendly city. Having lived in one of the most livable cities in the world (Vancouver, BC) and now living in one of the most expensive cities in the US, I have high expectations about spending so much of my income just to stay here. I continually weigh the pros and cons of urban life in SF. Could I find a comparable lifestyle in Seattle or Toronto, which are somewhat more reasonable financially? I know I still want to stay near a vital downtown, and SF has one of the most populated and popular downtowns of any city in the States. It also has great cultural venues, museums, restaurants, gay culture galore, mild climate and scenic vistas everywhere you look. BUT...it's also very expensive, dirty, druggy, politically retarded, has inconsistent public transit at best (a real hell hole at worst), precious little green space (despite wearing environmentalism like a boy scout medal) and just plain full of itself.

The SPUR center has a board with cards indicating "what's the first thing you would like to do if you were mayor of SF?". Where to start?