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Tenderloin Turnaround

The challenge lies in improving a neighborhood without destroying its community By Michael Stabile San Francisco's legendary Tenderloin district is a neighborhood in transition. Surrounded by better dressed landmarks like Union Square, Nob Hill and the Civic Center, it is home to 25,000 residents. In the 1970s, the troubled neighborhood was boosted by an influx of Southeast Asian immigrants , many of them families with children. The '80s, however, visited the Biblical-scale plagues of crack, AIDS and homelessness upon its streets. Today, its commercial spaces contain a disproportionate share of the city's massage parlors, strip joints and liquor stores; aggressive panhandlers, East Bay drug dealers and the mentally ill all manage to find their way here. A concentration of 200 social service agencies, from detox centers and methadone clinics to job training programs, maintain facilities in the Tenderloin. And while they help address some of the social ills, they also serve as a magnet for the troubled. There are signs, however, that the Tenderloin could soon join once-blighted neighborhoods like SoMA and the Mission as San Francisco hot spots, a phenomenon that is a mixed blessing in a city that is becoming increasingly unaffordable to inhabitants of modest means. Boutique hotels such as the Bijou and Metropolis are joining residential inns on the TL's streets. In September, the Board of Supervisors voted 10-0 to restrict massage parlors. Crime is down, rents have soared and community groups are working to revitalize the business climate while maintaining some semblance of affordable housing. While dismissing the notion of a land rush, many Tenderloin-watchers are cautiously optimistic about its prospects. "Clearly there is more commercial activity," confirms Jivaka Candappa, administrative director for the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp., an advocate for affordable housing. "Some of it we think is good." Candappa believes that façade improvements and more small businesses will help make the Tenderloin a better place for families and kids, while gentrification and rising rents place the community at risk. Issues such as these are addressed in the neighborhood's Tenderloin 2000 plan, which maps out a vision of improving the district without turning it into another yuppie enclave. An idealistic notion, to be sure. Anna B. Arguello of Adopt-a-Block says her group is working "to improve the appearance and safety of blocks in the Tenderloin" through community-based crime prevention and beautification efforts. And while it is still economically depressed, Arguello is enthusiastic about the North of Market area's prospects for becoming "a thriving, viable neighborhood." Among the believers are the owners of Polly Esther's, part of a national group of like-named retro-themed dance clubs that recently took over the former Club 181. Co-owner Mark Deroze says he and his partners sank three-quarters of a million dollars into renovating the club, which is attracting a young, stylish crowd from around the Bay Area. "The Tenderloin is up and coming," he enthuses. "We believe this part of town will be on the upswing." [ San Francisco | MetroActive Central | Archives ]