Case Study: The Mission District
The Mission District exemplifies San Francisco’s economic shifts over time, up through the contemporary threat of uniformity through gentrification. It was originally founded when housing developed close to the Spanish Mission Dolores, making “the Mission” one of the oldest city neighborhoods. Sitting south of the Financial District, the Mission District became a big commercial area after the 1906 earthquake [22]. While the area had always been ethnically diverse, “white flight” around the 1960s gave way to large Latino presence [26]. The dot-com brought intense, fleeting development to the Mission District—development that was not sustained when the boom was over. This period did raise rents dramatically, however, which brought a higher income presence back to the neighborhood. As a result, two very different socioeconomic classes are competing for space in the district, which has resulted in much social conflict, and occasional violence [24]. In a Los Angeles Times article from 2011, Lee Romney says: “about half of the neighborhood is gang territory,” while the other half has undergone “hipsterfication,” [24]. While this may be a simplification of the divisions that economic changes in the Mission District have produced, an overall threat of privileged homogenization exists. Many do not want the neighborhood’s economy to completely turn over to chain retailers, or even local retailers that cater to an exclusively wealthier demographic.
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An iconic building in the Mission District today. (Source: Bloomingrock.com)
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Click below to see full maps of the Mission District.