The U.S. Department of the Treasury awarded $60 million in tax credits to support San Francisco’s nonprofit organizations and projects in underserved neighborhoods, city officials said Monday.

The New Markets Tax Credits will be distributed to the San Francisco Community Investment Fund, a nonprofit tasked to help fund projects with community benefits in low-income San Francisco neighborhoods, Mayor London Breed’s office said in a news release.

“Our non-profits and small businesses are at the core of community and neighborhoods across our city,” Breed said in a statement. 

“This federal support comes at a time when so many of our businesses and community organizations are still recovering, but we know there is much more work ahead. I want to thank the U.S. Treasury for including San Francisco in this allocation and supporting our city’s recovery.”

The tax credits will help local businesses and nonprofits to use underutilized buildings in San Francisco’s low-income neighborhoods, create jobs and investment, and provide sustainable community services, the mayor’s office said.

The SFCIF has supported 15 projects across eight neighborhoods in the city, created over 1,000 construction jobs, and deployed $216.5 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations, according to city officials.

Previous tax incentives have boosted the construction of projects such as the Meals on Wheels San Francisco food distribution center in the Bayview District, the Community Music Center and Hamilton Families buildings in the Mission District, the community and childcare center in the Sunnydale HOPE SF public housing development, the renovation of the Geneva Car Barn in the Excelsior district, and the 447 Minna cultural hub and the West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center in the South of Market neighborhood, the mayor’s office said.

Those interested in the San Francisco Community Investment Fund can visit www.SFCIF.org. Applications are received and reviewed on a rolling basis, according to city officials.

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In most parts of San Francisco, consumer spending isn’t close to where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, but for three neighborhoods in the city, this is no longer the case. 

Citywide, San Francisco brought in 25% less sales tax revenue in the first quarter of 2023 than it did in 2019, even after accounting for inflation. Nearly all neighborhoods generated less revenue over this period, except for the Western Addition, Japantown and the Presidio, which saw 36%, 9% and 5% increases, respectively. 

Meanwhile, downtown neighborhoods have been hit hardest, like the Financial District (-32%), South of Market (-36%) and Tenderloin (-59%). 

Although sales tax isn’t a major source of revenue for the city, given that most earnings go to the state, it paints a picture of geographic consumer spending patterns. 

Ted Egan, San Francisco’s chief economist, said certain neighborhoods are seeing growth not because they’re the “hot new place” to be in San Francisco, but rather, “they seem to just specialize in areas of the economy that have recovered a lot coming out of the pandemic in terms of consumer spending.”

The over 30% growth in Western Addition is almost entirely due to new car sales from dealerships in the area, according to Egan. New motor vehicle dealers were the biggest source of sales tax revenue in the Western Addition in early 2023 at almost 70% of all sales, according to data from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. 

Car sales are a major contribution to sales tax, according to Egan, and with car prices — for both new and used cars — still at elevated levels, this has been a major boon to businesses in Western Addition.

Citywide, new car sales saw the second highest increase in revenue at 30% from the first quarter of 2019 to 2023, just behind jewelry stores at 41%. 

Japantown saw the second highest increase in sales tax revenue since 2019 at 9%. According to Egan, this jump is due to growth in the restaurant sector — a mix of new business openings and the recovery of customer demand. 

Sales tax data suggests that Japantown has a higher concentration of restaurants than other neighborhoods, Egan said, allowing the neighborhood to “ride the restaurant boom.” Indeed, over half of total sales tax revenue in early 2023 came from casual and fine-dining businesses, according to the CDTFA. 

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Additionally, the introduction of more parklets since the pandemic allowed restaurants in the area to increase their capacity, said Patti Mangan, executive director of the Fillmore Merchants Association.

Japantown’s positive sales tax revenue growth is a reflection of restaurant recovery citywide, which the Controller’s Office has highlighted as a bright spot in the city’s economic recovery. 

“Restaurants were so badly beaten down in 2020 that a lot of the growth of the last two years is just the reopening,” Egan said. “But there’s also been significant growth just from early 2022 to 2023 and there wasn’t much reopening then — that’s just the recovery of people wanting to go out to restaurants.”

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Egan attributes the Presidio’s 5% growth to new business openings in the area.

While certain parts of the city are recovering faster than others as a result of current economic trends like car sales and restaurant recovery, other industries in San Francisco, like retail, are still struggling to make a comeback. 

“(Recovery) isn’t just a downtown problem, it’s a citywide loss of population and loss of retail problem,” Egan said. “But there are definitely some bright areas.”

Reach Adriana Rezal: adriana.rezal@sfchronicle.com

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Ask The Standard addresses the common questions about homelessness in San Francisco.

Which neighborhoods in San Francisco have the most homeless people?

The 2022 census found that more than 7,750 people were homeless in San Francisco and that nearly half — 3,848 — lived in the custodial district where the tenderloin was located. (The boundaries of the oversight districts changed last April after the survey was conducted.)

The second most homeless district, with 1,115 homeless residents, included Bayview, Potrero Hill and parts of the Outer Mission.

Significantly fewer homeless people live in the western parts of the city. The counties that included the Sunset, Richmond, and Lake Merced neighborhoods had a total of 465 homeless people, just 6% of the city’s total.

Across the street from San Francisco City Hall, plazas have been painted as temporary sanctioned camps for the homeless amid the coronavirus epidemic, seen May 28, 2020. | Liu Guanguan/China News Service via Getty Images

How much money does San Francisco spend on homelessness?

The city’s Department of Homelessness and Assisted Living had a budget of $672 million for fiscal year 2023, which ends June 30. More than 60% of the money goes to housing, while 20% goes to shelters and the rest goes to prevention, outreach, etc. Staffing.

But that’s not the only money the city is spending on homelessness. Other departments — including the Department of Emergency Management, the Fire Department, the Police Department, the Department of Public Health and the Human Services Agency — also invest some of their resources in homeless services by responding to street crises, clearing camps and conducting street outreach, and providing financial ones Support.

Cindy Stubbs, who was recently attacked by another homeless man, is moving her sleeping quarters before SFPD and Public Works arrive on June 3, 2022 to clear the camp in front of the San Francisco Ferry Building. | Camille Cohen/The Standard

Who is homeless in San Francisco?

Of the estimated 7,754 homeless people in the city, as of the 2022 point-in-time census, about 1,100 are under the age of 18 and about 600 are veterans. Around 35% of them have been homeless for at least a year or repeatedly without a home.

Black people — who make up just 6% of the city’s population — make up 38% of homeless residents. In contrast, whites make up more than half of the total population, but make up only 43% of the city’s homeless population. Asians make up 37% of San Francisco residents, but only 6% of the homeless. In a separate question on ethnicity, the survey found that nearly a third of homeless San Franciscans identified as Hispanic or Latino.

The majority of the homeless population is male (62%), while 34% are female, 3% are transgender and 1% identify as gender non-conforming.

A significant portion of the population is homeless later in life. About a quarter of the city’s homeless population is over 51 years old, and around 20% are between 18 and 24 years old.

Elizabeth Lima, 34, watches her daughter Robyn Lima, 3, during drawing class at the Hamilton Families Shelter, 260 Golden Gate Ave, on August 6, 2019. in San Francisco, painting. The drawing course is hosted by DrawBridge. a group that teaches art in homeless shelters. | Yalonda M. James/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Which homeless people get shelter in San Francisco?

When deciding who receives shelter or other assistance, the city considers factors such as income or whether the person cares for children, has a substance use disorder, has a criminal record, or has suffered trauma in the past.

Homeless people answer a survey about their story, the hurdles they faced in finding a home, and what might happen to them if they had to live on the streets.

Some have criticized the process as confusing, slow and unreliable as it relies on self-reported data. The Department for Homelessness and Supportive Housing is working on an overhaul of the process based on recommendations from a working group.

Access to shelters can be similarly difficult, as people are typically only admitted under the city’s de-encampment process, which responds to homeless camps on an ad hoc basis – often in response to complaints from neighbors – and ostensibly provides residents with shelter.

Light fills a shared sink during a press tour of the 711 Post St. emergency shelter in San Francisco July 19, 2022. | Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard

How many people live in city shelters and shelters?

According to the latest report, the city is currently making 12,413 permanent assistance and housing vouchers housing units available to former homeless people, but 825 of those units remain vacant.

The city had difficulty relocating people to vacant rooms either because the housing units were in poor condition or because of problems with the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing’s prioritization system. The department says it is streamlining the process of moving people to available units.

Considered the city’s most worthy form of public housing, many of the city’s permanent housing units are located in the Tenderloin, SoMa, and Lower Nob Hill neighborhoods. But many of the older buildings housing permanent assisted living have had their problems: customers have complained of rodent infestations, broken elevators that sometimes lock people in their rooms, and a lack of services to combat widespread drug use and mental illness.

The city also has 3,169 emergency shelter beds, which work at 90% occupancy to make room for emergency departments from hospitals and prisons.

Accommodation types range from sites for vehicles and tents to tiny houses and warehouse-style facilities with hundreds of beds in relatively limited space.

Navigation centers, a special type of temporary accommodation, aim to eventually transfer guests to permanent accommodation.

Motivated by the pandemic and with the promise of state and federal refunds, the city began renting private hotels in April 2020 to accommodate those living on the streets. At the peak of the program, the city provided 2,288 rooms in 25 hotels. But the program failed and it ultimately cost the city tens of millions in property damage. However, many advocates have argued that the program has been a success as it has helped 1,667 people make the transition to permanent housing, and some groups are now urging the city to rent more hotels.

Gigi Whitley, a staffer at the Department of Homelessness and Assisted Living, marks a tally as Gregory Clark is in a wheelchair Thursday, January 26, 2017 in San Francisco. | Lea Suzuki/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

How many people are homeless in San Francisco?

Each night, about 3,400 people sleep in San Francisco’s homeless shelters while about 4,400 sleep on the city’s streets, according to the city’s most recent single night count in February 2022. That’s nearly 7,800 in total.

Data is collected every two years as part of the Department of Homelessness and Assisted Living’s point-in-time census, which is required for the department to receive funding from the federal government.

The census is being conducted by a group of people who travel every block of the city in a single night, counting those who appear to be homeless. The One Night Tally is the primary source of data on the size of the city’s homeless population. Later, the city conducts interviews to get a better understanding of the demographics and backstories of San Francisco’s homeless.

According to the census, overall homelessness has decreased by 3.5% since 2019, although it is still 13% higher than in 2017. Historical data shows that the number of homeless people peaked in 2002, when about 8,600 people lived in the country Street or city shelters lived, which is 11% more than today’s numbers.

The city estimates that more than 20,000 local people become homeless over the course of a year, many for short periods.

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(Bloomberg) – Miami’s Star Island has long lived up to its name. From Shaquille O’Neal to Rosie O’Donnell, the exclusive enclave, accessible only by a closed bridge, has attracted the rich and famous for decades.

And yet Ken Griffin’s move south from Chicago has transposed the neighborhood into a new stratosphere, transforming it into a microcosm of shifting US demographic and residential trends.

See also: Where the world’s richest 1% are getting rich the fastest

A typical home on the island is valued at $40 million, up from $23.5 million in December 2019 — making the area America’s most expensive neighborhood, according to Zillow Group Inc. data. The gulf has never been wider between its closest competition: Port Royal in Naples, Florida, and Beverly Hills, the star-studded Californian oasis.

Some of this is a direct result of Griffin, the founder of hedge fund powerhouse Citadel. He bought five properties on the island for a total of $194 million.

Related: NYC’s wealthiest flock to Florida even as Covid rages

Griffin’s machinations are part of a broader shift among America’s ultra-rich and powerful in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Their moves away from places like New York’s Upper East Side and San Francisco’s Nob Hill to warmer, less dense regions of Florida and Texas have pushed up real estate prices in some places while leaving other neighborhoods behind. And when wealthy executives bring their businesses with them, so do the simply rich.

A Bloomberg analysis of home values ​​in the country’s most expensive areas highlights some of these changes. While a broader housing boom drove up prices nationwide and added an estimated $12 trillion in new U.S. housing wealth since the pandemic, the Miami area more than doubled its million-dollar zip code count from late 2019 through 2022 . It’s a similar story in places like Park City, Utah, or Flagstaff, Arizona, with house price increases of more than 90% in some affluent neighborhoods.

While parts of New York and California, traditional hubs of wealth, still top the list of most expensive areas, values ​​in some boroughs have actually fallen since 2019, Zillow data shows.

Even as rising interest rates slow the nationwide housing boom, the changes represent a broader reset for America’s most expensive home as state and local officials grapple with how to restore the allure of hollowed-out cities. Some of the ultra-rich – including Griffin – are raising concerns about rising crime. Others are lured elsewhere by lower taxes. Regardless of the rationale, these patterns and the corresponding increases in housing costs are changing regions, changing business decisions and contributing to affordability challenges for underprivileged residents.

“The pandemic really has been like a tectonic plate shift,” said Maria Elena Lagomasino, chief executive officer of WE Family Offices, which works with ultra-high net worth families. It operates in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, an area so financially heavy it’s dubbed Wall Street South. For them, migration of wealthy people to the area is only “in the early innings”.

Read more: Citadel’s Ken Griffin Raises Billions to Make Miami Wall Street South

Florida — a pandemic destination due to its sunny climate, relatively lax Covid rules and no state income tax — is home to 38 of the $50 million U.S. neighborhoods with the largest percentage price increases over the past three years, Zillow data shows. These areas have all more than doubled home values.

That’s no surprise to Dina Goldentayer, who has been a luxury real estate agent in Miami Beach for nearly two decades. During a tour of the area’s most expensive neighborhoods, she said the vibe had changed since she arrived in her early 20s, lured by the party atmosphere and work as a cocktail waitress in South Beach.

“Miami Beach used to be where you would come for a few days to party, sunbathe and get out,” said Goldentayer, executive director of sales at Douglas Elliman. “Now it is the place to live. It’s the lifestyle, the weather, the economic policies, the political policies. Everyone wants to come here.”

Her business is still thriving, though it’s not as hectic as it was at the height of the pandemic, when super-rich buyers – “whales,” as she calls them – got a call to decide if they wanted a property or not. Last year, her home sales were about $475 million, compared to about $750 million in 2021 — but before the pandemic, a good year would be $100 million to $200 million.

“There used to be a whale in town every other week who wanted to buy something; now there’s one every day of the week,” she said. “And when states like California impose their mansion tax or Massachusetts impose a millionaire tax, that just means more business for me.”

Star Island has always been one of the nation’s most expensive neighborhoods, a gated community where all homes overlook the ocean, with spacious mansions that attract celebrities and billionaires. But the generosity has spread to other neighborhoods that meet different needs.

The Venetian Islands — a chain of six man-made islands connected by the Venetian Causeway, including the islands of Di Lido, Rivo Alto and San Marino — have turned into “the land of the rich bachelors,” Goldentayer said. Within a short walk (or scooter ride), the affluent can visit one of 10 different nearby gyms (including a Barry’s) and then grab a bowl of acai (Pura Vida is a popular spot). For families looking for bigger homes but don’t have the budget of a Ken Griffin, there are places like Palm Island with an average home value just under $10 million.

The gains have been varied, not only in the ultra-elite areas like Star Island, but also in parts of Florida not traditionally known as havens of wealth. Prior to the pandemic, there were no zip codes in the Tampa area, where the median home listing price exceeded $1 million. Now it’s four.

Bruce Ring, who specializes in the sale of waterfront homes for Lenson Realty Inc. in Palm Beach County, says the market rebounded in late 2020 as properties sold for double what they fetched just a few years earlier had. He said his clients have relocated because of newfound openness to remote work and changes in state and local tax deductions.

“One guy told me that the taxes he doesn’t pay in Massachusetts are essentially being paid on his new home in Florida,” Ring said. “For them, not doing it would cost them more than doing it.”

The shifts have political implications as wealthy residents bring their dollars and donations to new areas. Griffin, for example, was once one of Illinois’ top political donors before moving Citadel from Chicago. He has provided financial backing to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential Republican presidential nominee for 2024. The nation’s growing culture wars have also come into play; DeSantis said “people vote with their feet” in a reelection campaign last year and has since blasted states like New York and Illinois for being soft on crime. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, ran political ads in Florida to promote his state as a haven from restrictive Conservative politics.

California continues to be home to some of America’s most affluent neighborhoods, with the Silicon Valley town of Atherton being the most expensive ZIP code in the country, with an average home value of $7.4, according to Zillow. But that’s actually down about 3% over the past year — a reflection of a tech boom that has created spectacular fortunes but is now simmering.

San Francisco itself, meanwhile, is struggling to recover from the pandemic as tech companies enable flexible working and hollow out the downtown area, while an ongoing homelessness crisis and headlines about rising crime dull some of its appeal. Property values ​​in neighborhoods like Cathedral Hill, Mission Dolores, South of Market, Nob Hill, Lower Haight and Mission are down more than 10% since 2019, Zillow data shows. The average homeowner in these neighborhoods has seen their property fall in value by more than $280,000.

New York faces similar challenges. A Quinnipiac University survey released this month found that four in 10 residents do not feel safe in the city, while the shift to hybrid work has left downtown office towers partially empty. It is also home to one of the highest income tax rates among US states, and progressive state legislators have proposed a unique wealth tax.

Also Read: Remote Work Costs Manhattan More Than $12 Billion A Year

In Manhattan’s Upper East Side in particular, the number of homes for sale has increased since the pandemic, said Brian Meier, associate broker at Christie’s International Real Estate NYC. According to Zillow, values ​​in this neighborhood are down 8.8% over the past three years.

The city continues to be home to strong demand for luxury real estate — the townhouse market in Brooklyn, for example, is thriving because people want more outdoor space and a neighborhood vibe, Meier said. Basically, wealthy people will always feel the need to be in the financial center of the world.

“It’s the cultural capital of America and one of the cultural capitals of the world,” Meier said. “I speak to a lot of buyers who left New York in 2020 and they’re already talking about coming back, whether it’s a second home or a primary home.”

Still, newcomers keep coming to Florida, said Tim Savage, owner of Gulf Coast International Properties, a luxury real estate firm in Naples. The city, where values ​​in neighborhoods like Royal Harbour, Coquina Sands and Old Naples have more than doubled in the last three years, used to be particularly popular with Midwesterners, but now people from all over the US flock to he said.

Savage is selling a $99 million beachfront property within walking distance to downtown. It is a high price for the Naples market and the buyer could convert the property into various lots or one large house. He said he had received two offers for it by the end of January.

“I don’t see the underlying fundamentals of why we’ve seen shoppers coming here despite the easing of Covid restrictions,” he said. “Once that switch was flipped, I don’t know how you put it back in the box.”

To contact the authors of this story:
Alexandre Tanzi in Washington [email protected]

Felipe Marques in Miami [email protected]

Michael Sasso in Atlanta [email protected]

Amanda Albright in New York [email protected]

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Residential towers will be an increasingly common part of South San Francisco’s skyline in the city’s Lindenville neighborhood, El Camino Real corridor and a pocket east of Highway 101, per new plans reviewed by the City Council last week.

The plans within the zoning ordinance were released this month and, in addition to indicating what type of buildings will go where, include policy to streamline project approval. The ordinance is part of the city’s general plan, a comprehensive document outlining future development that the city has been working to update since 2019.

Among the biggest changes, buildings up to 85 feet tall (generally a seven-story structure) are called for along much of El Camino Real and in the south of downtown Lindenville neighborhood. A southern area east of the highway would have a cap on overall building density but not height, potentially producing structures significantly taller.

The increased heights are a key part of the city’s plan to nearly double its housing stock by 2040. The general plan calls for 17,800 new units in the span to cope with tens of thousands of jobs planned also to pour into the area, largely in the booming biotech sector.

And Mayor Mark Nagales indicated he would like to explore further density, both expanding the proposed east of Highway 101 residential zone further north and allowing taller buildings along El Camino Real.

“It looks like we might have to build up,” he said, pointing to state laws requiring residential development in line with job growth. Such laws call for more than 4,000 homes to be added in the city just in the next eight years. “I don’t want to restrict us because it might hurt us in the long run.”

Offering a glimpse of the transformation set for the east of Highway 101 area, two residential developments set to replace low-lying industrial buildings near the highway were already approved this year. Those projects will be eight and seven stories, one with two buildings boasting 480 units and another with 292 units.

Those developments each have a “floor area ratio” under 5, well below the maximum 8 proposed in the area in the new zoning ordinance.

Another major factor likely to up the rate of new construction, also in line with state law, the zoning ordinance is set to streamline the city’s review process for large residential projects, something that could cut bureaucratic red tape that often clogs the development pipeline.

The city’s current process entails at least six meetings with various city committees and groups, a number that often balloons for larger projects that require changes based on city input.

But Senate Bill 330, a law that became effective this year, imposes a five-meeting cap. It also requires cities adopt objective design standards for developers to adhere to, reducing the discretionary review process in which city officials often request changes that can range from exterior color to building height. The law requires cities to approve projects that meet the standards.

Those standards proposed in the zoning ordinance relate to facade articulation, art requirements for blank walls, open space minimums and landscaping and height transitions to meld with nearby buildings.

Nagales and Councilmember Mark Addiego expressed concern related to the review process changes. The plan suggests cutting both the Housing Standing Committee and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee from the process, in addition to giving final approval authority to the Planning Commission, removing the City Council from the role. A meeting to gather neighborhood input would also be eliminated.

“There needs to be an opportunity for the public to review and to have their say, in terms of what comes to South San Francisco,” Nagales said. “As much as I like to build housing, I also am concerned about … now limiting the number of meetings because there are projects that we have had that we needed multiple meetings.”

He said the City Council should retain the final say, a point with which Addiego agreed.

“The Legislature is doing their best to write us out of the process,” Addiego said. He added that the council was “quite often … chastised” by some members of the public who felt they had not been adequately informed of new developments, and retaining neighborhood meetings could alleviate that.

City Manager Mike Futrell, however, warned that though the City Council could elect to retain certain meetings, “for a project that completely complies with the rules, if it gets to the City Council, there’s nothing you can do except vote yes.”

“Under state law, so much authority has been removed from the City Council that, residents may come and may be frustrated, but you’re really left with little power to do anything about it,” he said.

City staff will amend the zoning ordinance based on the council’s input. The City Council plans to adopt the complete general plan later this year.

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TIBURON (CBS SF) — Marin County authorities have joined law enforcement agencies across the San Francisco Bay Area in a hunt for the source of anti-Semitic hate flyers that have been delivered to homes from Tiburon to Palo Alto.

In joint announcement, the Marin County District Attorney Office and the county’s police chiefs association said flyers have showed in Tiburon and the unincorporated Wildhorse Valley neighborhood of western Novato.

READ MORE: Fatal Crash With Vehicle In San Bruno Slows Caltrain Morning Commute

“The flyers were usually in a plastic bag with rice and thrown on driveways from a moving vehicle,” the joint statement said. “In addition to listing the names of prominent national health care officials, the flyers implied a connection between people of Jewish faith and the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Marin County District Attorney Lori E. Frugoli called the flyers “infuriating and repugnant.”

“We reject this hateful behavior,” she said. “The DA’s Office remains committed to working with our community, law enforcement and Not in Our Town to track and prosecute these crimes when we are able.”

Over the last weekend, dozens of anti-Semitic flyers were discovered in several Palo Alto neighborhoods. The Palo Alto Police Department said they were searching for the source of the flyers that were found on Feb. 20. and were “similar to those found in other communities in recent months.”

The flyers listed numerous federal government officials, identifying them as Jewish.

“The flyers directed people to a website with various videos espousing certain viewpoints, many on topics of political nature,” Palo Alto Police said.

READ MORE: UPDATE: San Francisco Firefighters Rescue Four Residents From Western Addition Blaze

Police Chief Robert Jonsen said that his department was currently determining if criminal charges can be brought forward to the District Attorney for review.

“These types of acts are a reminder to all of us that hate crimes and hate incidents are serious and are taken seriously by the personnel of the Palo Alto Police Department,” he said.

Authorities in Berkeley reported a similar incident on the same day when hundreds of residents of the Berkeley hills complained about getting plastic bags left on their doorsteps with anti-Semitic messages over the weekend.

The Berkeley Police and City Council issued a joint statement condemning the action.

Investigators said the messages were delivered at random in Berkeley to a neighborhood by “a small, fringe White Supremacist extremist group that targets Jewish communities as well as other minority groups throughout the Bay Area.”

The release noted that multiple cities across the US have “been hit with identical anti-Semitic screeds blaming the COVID pandemic on the Jewish people.”

“As the center of the free-speech movement, Berkeley has always supported people’s rights under the first amendment. But let’s be clear — the Berkeley City Council and our community soundly reject and condemn ANY hate filled messages and any inference to discrimination of any kind to any person or group,” the statement read.

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It went on to assure Berkeley’s Jewish residents that the community would stand together “to reject anti-Semitic messages and all forms of hate speech.”

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Tucked away in the southeastern quadrant of San Francisco is a historic neighborhood that many residents believe has been overlooked for far too long.

Just steps from Daly City may be one of the reasons the Visitacion Valley – also known as the Vis Valley – often features in everything from historical recognition to the city’s investment in services stayed the track. And over the years it has built a reputation for being one of the neighborhoods least known to SF residents.

“In a way … I like this well-kept secret,” said Edie Epps, a lifelong resident and co-founder of the Visitacion Valley History Project, which reminds newcomers that the neighborhood is spelled with a “c” rather than a second. T. “Together with colleagues from the history project and other city representatives, Epps has worked to ensure that the Vis Valley finally receives the attention it deserves in his opinion.

A woman is crossing Schweriner Strasse in San Francisco, California on Saturday, October 22, 2021.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

But despite the isolation from the crowded streets and the gentrification of many neighborhoods of San Francisco, locals also say the reluctance of the area had real downsides for the historically lower-income community – most notably, that the city neglected it for decades, making promises and interest to give up on things like more residential and retail development, including one more grocery store.

And while neighborhood advocates say it’s a treasure trove of historic structures and eclectic architecture, Visitacion Valley doesn’t have any designated historic landmarks or long-established shops. Notable structures to be demolished include a trio of early 20th-century commercial buildings.

“It’s one of the most overlooked neighborhoods in the city,” said Kerri Young, program manager for the San Francisco Heritage nonprofit, which spent October promoting the neighborhood for its program on underrepresented parts of San Francisco. “There are great buildings and great sights. It’s just that they are no longer officially recognized. “

The neighborhood has defied itself over the years – especially in the context of historical recognition – in part because there weren’t always advocates who advocate it, said Diane Matsuda, president of the city’s heritage protection commission, through the more than 230 sights and attractions eleven historic districts were taken over.

“To be completely, completely honest, historical preservation has really focused on pretty buildings, and pretty buildings belong to a lot of wealthy whites,” said Matsuda, adding that the commission passed a resolution in 2019 to promote social and racial justice to create priority in the choice of structures.

“Only … only recently have we started to look at monument preservation from a much broader perspective.”

In contrast to the stately or grandiose buildings that are often considered landmarks in neighborhoods like Pacific Heights or the Financial District, the structures worth mentioning in the Visitacion Valley are more humble and more closely linked to working class communities, proponents say.

An expansive view of the Visitation Valley will be offered by Opal Bolsega on Saturday, October 22, 2021 in San Francisco, California.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

The area has long been a place where low-income populations have found homes due to their remote location and major employers in the factory and railroad industries. According to 2010 census data, the median household income was $ 47,760, compared with the San Francisco median total of $ 78,710.

Fifty percent of the Vis Valley’s population is made up of Asian and Pacific islanders, with Hispanic / Latino, Black and White making up 25, 9 and 14 percent, respectively. In comparison, 49% of the population of San Francisco is white, 34% Asian, 6% black, and 15% Hispanic / Latin, according to the census data.

Throughout October, the history project carried out hiking tours to show hidden historical gems in the Vis Valley, from forgotten street houses to the former Schlage lock factory – an important employer for the residents of the Vis Valley – and Little Hollywood, a micro-district that Known for its Spanish Casas -style detached houses.

Here are some of the landmarks that proponents say showcase the neighborhood’s unique – and somewhat buried – history.

St. James Presbyterian Church

One of the most famous structures in the area, the Arts and Crafts-meets-Mission Revival-style church, was founded in 1906. It was redesigned in 1923 by the famous Bay Area architect Julia Morgan. The stained glass windows – depicting the parable of the sower – are from an abandoned church in a ghost town in Nevada that was stolen by the St. James communities, who happened to know it was abandoned. The structure is among the many buildings the neighborhood community – and proponents of SF Heritage – are looking to consider for landmark status.

St. James, with its mostly Filipino community, is one of the many churches in the Vis Valley that reflect the diversity of the region. A Catholic church, the Church of the Visitacion, sits on the estate of first California governor Peter Burnett and the city’s first motel, Auto Camp.

St. James Presbyterian Church can be seen during a walking tour hosted by the Visitacion Valley History Project on Saturday, October 22, 2021 in San Francisco, California.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Homes on Schweriner St. can be viewed on a walking tour hosted by the Visitacion Valley History Project on Saturday, October 22, 2021 in San Francisco, California.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Schwerin Street

Schweriner Straße is just around the corner from the Jakobsweg, where different living styles testify to the architectural diversity of the region. The Art Deco-inspired Visitacion Valley Elementary School, completed in 1937, stands directly across from an Eclectic-meets-Storybook-style house, right next to a Streamline Moderne house. And the eastern portion of the Vis Valley is a collection of homes that hailed from Southern California: palm-fringed Mediterranean and mission-style bungalows and artisans that make up the Little Hollywood neighborhood.

Geneva terraces

For a town with few Eichlers, it may surprise some that there are a few and relatively affordable ones in the Vis Valley. These so-called Geneva Terrace Townhouses are part of the neighborhood’s long history of turmoil – and inequalities – related to home security.

In the 1960s, Eichler planned to develop luxury apartments in two high-rise buildings in the row house complex, but changed plans to secure federal funding and make the towers more accessible to the bourgeois population. After the Eichler Corporation went bankrupt in 1967, the San Francisco Housing Authority stepped in to subsidize rents, and eventually the project was converted to Federal Area 8 Housing.

Over the years, residents have complained of mismanagement, poor maintenance and inhumane living conditions in the towers. The complex became notorious for crime and the US Housing and Urban Development Department called the entire neighborhood “a neglected urban backwater of 18,000 with rampant crime, horrific schools, and a deplorable housing project called Geneva Towers,” according to SF Heritage.

In 1998, many people watched (some wept, others cheered) as the towers were destroyed in a controlled demolition led by redevelopment plans by the HUD and an elected residents’ council. They have been replaced by low-income townhouses called heritage homes, and they remain one of the few affordable housing developments in the city.

A house made of mud bricks, hidden in a cul-de-sac on the hillside

Like so many San Francisco residents, Opal Bolsega had never heard of Visitacion Valley in her 15 years living in the city. But 30 years ago, when her agent was looking for a down payment with only $ 20,000, she found a house on Delta Street – a cul-de-sac overlooking the Cow Palace and San Bruno Mountain. She fell in love.

The multi-story house, painted by a group of graffiti wall painters about 20 years ago, is an unusual example of an adobe house in the Vis Valley, and in other ways the neighborhood may look more like a warmer part of California.

Local historians have told Bolsega that the house was built before 1895, and their own research suggests it is one of the oldest properties in the neighborhood, but the official timeline is still unclear.

Opal Bolsega of Visitation Valley speaks to The Chronicle at their home in San Francisco, California on Saturday, October 22, 2021.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

A (welcomed) demographic change

To the locals, the Vis Valley sometimes feels more like a small town than a metropolitan area. And so many have chosen to stay for their entire life sometimes. Epps, 70, raised four generations in her parents’ home, a small craft that her Italian parents bought after her father started working for the Southern Pacific Railroad, a major employer in the region at the time.

Another member of the history project, Betty Parshall, 86, lived her entire life on Wilde Ave; she owns both the house she grew up in and the one next door. And although vintage cars are widespread, more and more younger people and families in particular are moving in, a trend that has undoubtedly played with its home values. They have increased by 8% in the last year.

But Vis Valley is still more affordable than many other parts of San Francisco, and it has a kind of anachronistic calm that can be felt by a world far removed from the urban vibe of the city. There’s a charm, say the locals, that just can’t be painted over – and maybe can’t be painted over either.

“There’s Noe Valley, all these other valleys,” said Epps. “And that’s great, but we are the Valley. … And its story … it just stays in you. “

Annie Vainshtein is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annievain

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Sometimes it is difficult to keep up with the New York Times position on San Francisco.

When I read this newspaper I’m never sure if I should worry about San Francisco because The City is inundated with tech people, or because it is losing tech companies to other cities, because The City is too crowded, or because people leave because it was adopted by the extreme left or because San Francisco is not as progressive as San Franciscans like to think.

So I was surprised to see on October 11th that New York Times newsletter writer Soumya Karlamangla not only took the time to write about one of my favorite streets in The City, but that she got it more or less right has made . Karlamangla described Clement Street as a great example of the “15-minute town” where residents can get almost all of their daily needs and more within a few blocks in an otherwise common residential area. She also explained why this has helped the neighborhood weather the COVID pandemic relatively well.

The bigger history of San Francisco and one big advantage over other cities is that we have a lot of Clement Streets.

There may not be a Green Apple Book or Good Luck Dim Sum on every street in San Francisco, but there are numerous streets like Clement that have great and sometimes affordable shopping, restaurants, and useful little shops all in one compact, walkable block are found in an otherwise residential area. A mile or two west of that strip of Clement Street is a similar looking business district on Balboa Street around 35th Avenue. Noe Valley residents know that 24th Street serves a similar role in their community. From Chestnut Street in the Marina to Third Street in Bayview-Hunter’s Point, The City is dotted with these local highways. Of course, San Francisco also has large shopping streets that are less accessible to pedestrians, as well as a handful of malls, but these walkable shopping streets in the heart of residential areas have proven to be surprisingly resilient.

It turns out that some of the habits we developed during COVID – like strolling to Balboa or Clement streets, which are much more desirable.

This seems obvious to the San Franciscans, but it is still true that we have organically evolved what city planners around the world want to create.

That there are so many of these streets that form the backbone of so many neighborhoods may be due to the hills that make it difficult to walk long distances. Outside of some parts of the city, walking 20 blocks in San Francisco is much more daunting than in New York, Chicago, or Boston. Ironically, the chronically inadequate public transportation and the difficulty of finding parking spaces in so many parts of the city – including Clement Street, Chestnut Street, and Columbus Avenue – are also incentives for people to stay in their neighborhood.

These little shopping streets may have helped San Francisco weather the COVID pandemic, reduce reliance on Amazon and other services that thrived during the crisis, and keep people safe as vaccination rates are so high in San Francisco but they should also be central to building a post-COVID San ​​Francisco.

It’s always been great to live in a city just blocks from a neighborhood institution like Clement Street, but as we move from the skillet of COVID to the accelerated fire of climate change, those institutions may become more important and attractive .

This also has a potential downside that cannot be overlooked. San Francisco has long been a city of neighborhoods, but that has often cut in more than one direction. In a city as diverse as San Francisco, divisions, even if at first glance benign, harden when we spend less time outside our neighborhood. If you live, work at home, shop and dine on Clement Street in Inner Richmond, you are unaware of the diverse economic and health effects that the pandemic has had on several other neighborhoods just a few miles away. On the whole, the 15 minute neighborhood is extremely convenient and enjoyable, but it isolates communities from one another and makes us believe that what we experience every day is what all San Franciscans experience. But that doesn’t apply to any of us.

Another danger is that roads like Clement exist in middle-class and affluent communities but cannot easily survive in areas with less money. It cannot be overlooked, for example, that there are more boarded shops on Third Street than in Chestnut. This reflects both the different economic circumstances of these communities, but it also means that low-income residents of Bayview-Hunter’s Point do not benefit from the quality of life and health benefits of 15-minute neighborhoods.

If only the middle class and the rich have access to roads like Clement, and if they are so coveted that only the rich can afford to live near them, as we see in other Bay Area counties, then we are as a city failed.

It has become a cliché to say that the pandemic and recovery exposed our deep inequalities, but it’s also true. To overcome the pandemic, we need to build a city with accessible, vibrant urban communities in all neighborhoods. It’s nice to see Clement Street get a good report in the New York Times, and it’s a good model for post-pandemic San Francisco, but it’s also a reminder that neighborhoods remain the driving force behind San Francisco and good public order should seek to maintain more roads, like the Clement section, which may not attract the Gray Lady’s attention, but are nonetheless indispensable to so many San Franciscans.

Lincoln Mitchell has written numerous books and articles on The City and the Giants. Visit lincolnmitchell.com or follow him on Twitter @LincolnMitchell.

Columnist San Francisco

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A mountain lion was seen on the streets of San Francisco Tuesday morning, the city’s animal welfare agency reported.

The initial viewing on home surveillance video showed the lion walking past a row of houses on the 300 block of Gaven Street in the Portola neighborhood, southwest of intersection 280/101 at 3:50 a.m.

Later that morning, a person reported seeing a lion – believed to be the same – near Bernal Heights Park, on the other side of Interstate 280, about half a mile from Gaven Street.

San Francisco Animal Care and Control spokeswoman Deb Campbell said there were no plans to capture the animal.

“Either it’s under a bush waiting to leave town, or it’s already gone,” she said. “Mountain lions are pretty hard to pin down. You don’t want to annoy people. “

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