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Oral History Center University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Jim Chappell Directing the Resurgence of SPUR & Urban Planning in San Francisco Interviews conducted by Shanna Farrell and Todd Holmes in 2016 Copyright © 2017 by The Regents of the University of California Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley ii Since 1954 the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library, formerly the Regional Oral History Office, has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Jim Chappell dated November 7, 2016. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Jim Chappell, “Jim Chappell: Directing the Resurgence of SPUR & Urban Planning in San Francisco” conducted by Shanna Farrell and Todd Holmes in 2016, Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2017. Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley iii Jim Chappell Photo Credit: SPUR 2009 Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley iv Jim Chappell is an urban planner whose forty-year career focused on intertwining environmental conservation into urban design. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Syracuse and Masters in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. Chappell began his work in urban design and regional ecological planning in Denver during the early 1970s before relocating to San Francisco in 1978. After a three-year stint with the Bechtel Corporation, Chappell began to work exclusively with a host of nonprofit organizations such as the Environmental Design Foundation and, most notably, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), which he joined in 1980. Chappell took over the directorship of SPUR in 1994, and over the next twenty-five years helped steer the organization back to prominence and a more secure foundation. Under Chappell, SPUR addressed of host of planning-related issues in the San Francisco Bay Area, from waterfront development and the construction of Giants Stadium to new transportation and housing projects. Among Chappell’s many achievements is the creation of SPUR’s Urban Center in San Francisco. In this interview, Chappell discusses the many facets of urban design and ecological planning that SPUR addressed on many key issues and projects during his twenty-five year tenure. The interview also documents Chappell’s successful efforts to revitalize this important nonprofit agency that has served the San Francisco Bay Area for over a century. Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley v Table of Contents—Jim Chappell Introduction by Anne Halsted xiv Interview 1: August 4, 2016 Hour 1 1 Birth in 1943 in Rochester, New York — Parents’ background — Middle class childhood in the Rochester suburbs — Lasting impact of the Depression on parents — Choosing a rigorous Jesuit high school — Extracurricular activities: reading, learning opera, summer sports — The last family on the block to get a television — Playing clarinet and saxophone in marching band and orchestra — Family emphasis on education — Scouting, influential teachers — Early interest in architecture and building — Choosing Syracuse University for five-year architecture program — Syracuse University in 1961: all white, only three women in a class of 50 — Influence of roommate Tom Genné and his family: “They helped me change more than anyone else.” — College application process — Rigors of learning in the studio system — Sitting in on Lou Kahn’s studios at University of Pennsylvania — Kevin Lynch’s Image of the City — Travel to Europe with Tom Genné during the summer of 1964 — Rumblings of social change in the US, beginning to question Catholic upbringing — 1966 graduation and joining the Peace Corps against the backdrop of the Vietnam War — Assignment to Iran — Learning about cultural differences and history — Village and city life under the Shah, architecture projects as a Peace Corps volunteer — Travel opportunities Hour 2 16 Decision to go to graduate school in planning, applying from Iran — Acceptance at University of Pennsylvania and starting masters study in 1968 — Draft letter, medical deferment: “That night I remember I got more drunk than I have ever been in my life. This really was something that hung over everybody.” — Embracing the urban experience of Philadelphia and the diversity at Penn — Lou Kahn’s presence on campus — Advisor Dave Wallace, summer 1969 job at Wallace, McHarg, Roberts, and Todd — Landscape architect Ian McHarg — Lessons learned in the public and private sectors — Big environmental legislation in 1969-1980: National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, California Environmental Quality Act and others — Evolving social and racial consciousness — Impact of travel in Europe and Iran Interview 2: August 10, 2016 Hour 1 21 More on graduate training in planning at Penn — Work at Wallace, McHarg, Roberts, and Todd — Ecological study of proposed dam site makes Life — Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley vi Defining “ecological determinism” — Roles of natural scientists in planning — Increasing codification of planning in the 1970s, tension between the art and the laws of planning — 1971 move to Denver — Setting up a new office, work on newly-formed Regional Transportation District — Partnership with Los Angeles- based transportation engineering firm, researching transit systems — Getting settled in Denver, leaving Wallace, McHarg, Roberts, and Todd in 1973 — Finding a philosophical home at the Unitarian church — Helping to form the Shared Center — Elected vice-president of the board of the Unitarian Society — Learning succession planning — Applying lessons to grooming SPUR successor Gabriel Metcalf Hour 2 34 Winning a mural contest in Denver — More on Shared Center — Opting out of licensure — 1977 ski sabbatical cut short by job offer from Stone & Webster in San Francisco — Changing office technology in the 1970s — Setting up an office in San Francisco — Project for PG&E — Six months with Stone & Webster, then move to Bechtel — Hired by Eckbo, Dean, Austin and Williams — Difficulty working with the military: rapid staff turnover — Recreation planning work for the National Park Service and the US Forest Service — Five years at EDAW — AIDS crisis hits San Francisco: “Most of my generation and most of my friends died.” — Fleeing to Europe for a summer — Return and taking over teaching UC Berkeley Extension’s landscape architecture class — Becoming a fellow at the San Francisco Architectural Foundation, work with George Rockrise — Architects in schools program — Peace park project in Tashkent with the American Society of Landscape Architects — 1990 rejoining EDAW for another five years — Running Gays and Lesbians in Planning — The challenge of making new towns attractive to residents — Successful new towns: Reston, VA and Columbia, MD Interview 3: September 2, 2016 Hour 1 47 Joining SPUR and attending events — 1994 dream job opens up as SPUR director Tom Nolan retires — Thoughts on what was going right and wrong in San Francisco planning in 1994 — SPUR’s beginnings in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake and fire — The San Francisco Housing Association founded in 1910, becomes San Francisco Housing and Planning Association in 1940 — The contributions of women in building cities — SPUR founder Dorothy Erskine — On the need for building and planning code — The Blyth-Zellerbach Committee invites planner Aaron Levine to San Francisco in 1959 — San Francisco secures federal urban renewal funds and Mayor Christopher appoints SPUR to head a citizen advisory committee — SPUR’s identity as a citizens’

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