The Revolving Door of SoMa

The loft is 2100 sq. feet with large windows and bamboo color wood floors. The look of his furniture is minimal, sleek and impeccably pristine. Just like a typical bachelor’s pad the smell of leather and cologne exudes independence and wealth.

Kreisler Ng, 28, a business consultant lives in the new lofts on 5^th Street and Folsom Street and commutes to San Jose for work.

“ I’ve lived in the Sunset and San Jose and I just wanted to live in SoMa because it’s much more lively.”

He admits that living behind 1015 Nightclub can become a nuisance when club goers roam around the streets inebriated but says for the most part the noise doesn’t bother him.

“ I feel very fortunate to live here and to be able to afford to live here” Ng said.

Ng is a representation of the new face of SoMa and what could become the majority.The young, the rich, and the educated.

South of Market over the decades served as a transient neighborhood that housed many people from all walks of life.

The ever evolving neighborhood was once home to struggling artists, punk musicians and immigrants from Mexico and the Philippines.

In 1990, Filipinos comprised 30 percent of the population and became the largest ethnic group in South of Market. Today they are currently 5 percent of the population living in SoMa whom most are working in the district in hotels, restaurants, and commercial businesses.

MC Canlas, 50, lived in South of Market for 8 years said that everyone has credited Daly City as the center of the Filipino community but SoMa has always been the true stomping grounds.

As Canlas sits in his office at the Bayanihan Community Center, on Mission and 6^th Street, he said “ SoMa is where we struggled, so it just makes sense that the driving center is here.”

The struggle Canlas is referring to occurred in 1977 when 50 Filipino and Chinese immigrants received eviction notices to move out of their one bedroom home at the International Hotel which unofficially was considered “Manilatown”. Many of those who were evicted were in their 70’s and 60’s relocated to SoMa.

Gentrification is nothing new to San Francisco let alone in SoMa. Every year in SoMa a new apartment complex springs up and affordable housing becomes one of many challenges plaguing this neighborhood.

Jim Meko, chairman of The Western Task Force primary goal is to “ preserve and enchance” SoMa.

Meko has lived in South of Market for 32 years and can recall what it was like during the 1970’s.

“There was a series of murders the first year I was here and quite a few muggings. It was scary but there was an incredible sense of freedom and community too” Meko said.

The amount of good stories Meko shared out numbered the bad. Which explains why he still lives in the “Seedy” district and also explains why he is running for a seat on the board of supervisor for District 6 this upcoming election.

Meko’s fondest memory his past were Friday afternoons at the Ambush.

“ The Ambush was a neighborhood bar that was a real focal point for the community. A real "Cheers" kind of bar with a beloved cast of regulars” said Meko.

He adds, “I found an apartment that was practically next door. Started a business there a few years later. As independent entrepreneurs, we chose to close at noon every Friday so we could meet a couple friends at the Ambush and play pinball all afternoon. The bar is gone and the friends have moved on but we still close at noon on Fridays.”

Change is inevitable. Bars and businesses have come and gone throughout the years. Churches and schools are also not exempt for foreclosure especially in tough economic times.

More recently this past June, Catholic Charities CYO which runs the Children’s Village Child Development Center, announced they will be closing it’s location on 10^th Street between Howard and Folsom “due to re-structuring of the agency” said Gabrielle Slanina, communications cfficer of Catholic Charities CYO.

The prekindergarten school will close June of 2010, leaving parents and students with no alternate location for child care.

Slanina said “ We are working with parents to help with the transition.”

The closure of the school affects the parents who now have to find other locations outside of SoMa. But more importantly in the long term, the closure will affect the district’s demographic as a whole.

Currently, the neighborhood isn’t ideal for families and without institutions for child care or service catering to their everyday needs, SoMa will continue to shape into a domain for singles.

While Ng who lives a mere walking distance from bars and night clubs occasionally enjoy a night out every week with friends and co-workers.

Ng said, “ I don’t really have any idea of what I want SoMa to be because I don’t plan to settle here. It’s just fine for me for right now.”

North Beach, ti amo

Fire Eater!

Took my aunt to the Haight-Ashbury district and came across this group at the intersection of Haight & Masonic Streets.

Good Deeds Rewarded

As you all know I've been spending a great deal of time in the TL these past months getting to know the community. Having the reputation as one of the toughest, if not the toughest neighborhood in San Francisco, I was understandably on high alert every time I would venture to the area. I'm just a long haired white boy who is obviously not from the hood, and probably just as obviously not even from San Francisco. Needless to say, I stand out like a sore thumb over there. Having a camera with me at all times and writing notes on the same corners where dope dealers make their living only gives people in the area more reason to look at me and not trust me. On top of seeing the homeless, the drug dealers and prostitutes first hand, I had to investigate the crime and statistics of the area, which only reinforced the stigma associated with the Tenderloin as a crime ridden neighborhood.

As time has gone on I've felt more and more comfortable spending time in the area. I've made a point to walk up to the scariest looking people, who I know for a fact are involved in shady activities, and talk to them. I let them know why I'm there and what I'm doing, assuring them that I'm in no way a threat to them. This has helped alleviate some of the mad-dog stares I was receiving from the head dope dealers and pimps in the area. Granted, some of them still didn't want me around or care to talk to me in the least bit, but some of them were actually quite supportive. I've been given a few pep talks about how it's great that I'm in school and how I have to stick with it so I don't end up in situations like they're in. Some guys have professed to me how they wish they had pursued school, and photography in particular in some cases, which I happen to be biased towards. So now when I walk the streets of the TL I get the head nod from some of the locals and looks of understanding opposed to the "you better get out of here before I stab you " looks.

Getting to know the locals and having the community know what I'm up to, I've felt as though the community kind of has my back to some degree. At least to the point where the people I've talked to just let me be to do what I've got to do. Unfortunately something happened a couple weeks ago that's negated a large portion of the safety I've been feeling.

One of the artists I've been covering for the Art in Storefronts project, Chor Boogie, had a run-in with some hoodlums two weeks ago. Apparently Boogie was adding to his mural painting on Market Street when four kids approached the two enormous bins filled with spray pain cans he has been using for the piece. The kids proceeded to take the spray cans and stuff them in their pockets. Boogie has been around and is no chump. He's not about to let some random kids just take his stuff. So he approached the kids and told them to stop what they were doing. Exactly what happened after that I can't say, but I do know that at the end of the conversation Boogie ended up with two stab wounds and a trip to the hospital. The incident even made the news that night. So here's a guy that has grow up in the bay area, is admittedly tougher than me, was contributing a public service by creating something beautiful in an otherwise dreary neighborhood, and ends up getting stabbed by a few locals just for trying to defend what is his. That kind of scares me.

 

Chor Boogie

Olympic Swimming Pool

A few weeks ago, when I did my interview, Seiko Fujimoto took me to Japantown’s merchant meeting. In that meeting, merchants expressed their concerns. Two experts in marketing also attended the meeting. These experts taught the merchants about how to brand and market their products.

The merchants discussed about the need to bring younger crowd and other customers to spend more time in Japantown. To achieve the goal, the merchants wanted more parks and playgrounds for the family. The owner of Japantown also started to decorate Japantown. For example, the talk of the month was the new “Olympic swimming pool” in front of Murata’s Café Hana. The merchants said the swimming-pool-like fountain was weird. Fujimoto said she did not know what that thing was. It seemed the business owner was quite desperate to save their businesses.




Before this semester, I did not pay that much attention to Japantown. I did not even realize if Japantown was actually trying so hard to stay afloat. It was like a sinking ship. At the merchant’s meeting, many of the merchants said they had a decline in sales. One merchant even said last month was a month of no sales and it never happened before. This was definitely an alarming thing. My question: as many ethnic-based neighborhood decreasing in sizes, will Japantown be gone too (especially if the “rejuvenating” plan called Japantown Better Neighborhood takes place)?

On my ride home from school yesterday I decided to stop in Noe Valley to get some ideas for a my blog. As I drove down 24th st I noticed that there was crowd on the corner of Sanchez. Excellent!

The new location of the local chain La Boulange Bakery was having it's grand opening party, and inviting the neighborhood in for free food. It was apparent that I wasn't the only person who was either hungry or curious. A crowd of almost 40 people had began to gather in front of the store and was anxiously waiting for the 4pm opening, it was 4:06. As soon as the the door began to open the crowd began to rush forward blocking the employee from being able to open the door which swung outwards. I immediately felt as if everyone was visitors to Willie Wonka's chocolate factory and instead of candy there were tables full delicious savory breads, cheeses, and desserts of all kinds. This illusion soon faded as I realized the store was completely full of people and I was being pushed and shoved so that people could get in on the deliciousness. What started out as a good thing turned really ugly as I watched people hoard multiple plates full of food leaving not much behind for others. The atmosphere in the room was very lively as the store became more crowded with people and the only way to walk move throughout the room was to shuffle.

Despite the greediness and crowdedness, the food was great! They served red, white, and sparkling wine as well as hot cider. I spoke with several people, including Yvonne Daly, who were excited that the store was opening and that they thought the food was delicious.

This it the 11th location of the Boulange in the bay area.

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Weapons

If you want to put faces to some of the characters in In Cold Blood, there are some super old photos on this WebSite. There is some pretty graphic stuff in some of these shots. I think it's better that Capote describes things like the murder scenes and evidence in his style. It's way better than seeing pictures of them. He describes them so well that when you see the photo, it's sort of anticlimactic. Imagining a bloody footprint is completely different from seeing an actual photograph of one.

The purpose for them being taken was so they could be used as evidence. If the killers would have smudged their footprints or used a mop and bucket, could they have gotten away with it?

There are portraits of the Clutter family and mug shots of Hickock and Smith. I totally imagined what they all looked like while reading, and when I saw what they actually looked like I was pretty surprised. Kenyon looks like a pretty big guy. It's seems hard to understand how they were all tied up without a fight, but with a .12 gauge shotgun in your face, it's not very easy to stand up for yourself.

When I was 15 or so, one of my best friends held a knife to me and I was totally trembling. My entire body would not stop shaking no matter how hard I tried to settle down. I was just not in control and that feeling is one of the most frustrating things to deal with. If she was carrying a shotgun, I probably would have shit my pants. It's a really long story, and I'll tell you about it in person if you really want to know.