Mission district

Details of distant place (mission district)

• Location: A neighbourhood in eastern San Francisco, CA, bordered by Route 101 and the Bay Area

• Locale:

• Sense of place

• Endogenous factors

• Exogenous factors

How and why have the demographic and cultural characteristics of the mission district changed?

• Arrival of Spanish missionaries marked the beginning of the end of the Yelamu culture

• The Indian population at Mission Dolores dropped from 400 to 50 between 1833 - 1841

• In the decades after the gold rush housing was built for working class immigrants largely German, Irish and Italian

• During the 1940s-1960s, a large number of Mexican immigrants moved into the area giving the Mission a heavily Chicano/latino character

• In the 1980s and 1990s, the neighbourhood received a higher influx of refugees from Central America, south America, Middle East and Philippines

• During the dot com boom, young, urban professionals moved into the area

• More middle classed young people moved in and the existing LGBTQ+ Latin population

• Population increased by 6706 between 1980-2018

• 10% decrease in Hispanic population between 1980-2018

• 14% decrease in families from 1980-2018

• From 2003-2013 there was a decrease of 100 drug offences and 650 fewer prostitution offences

How has the character of the mission district been shaped by shifting flows of resources, money and investment at different scales?

Global

• Latino immigrants- high concentration of them travelling into San Francisco, particularly the Mission District

• Shifting flows of people due to the mission being predominantly catholic and vast amount of people speaking Spanish

• Originally the mission had affordable housing

• High concentration of Salvadoranm, Guatemalan and Nicaraguan restaurants

Local/Regional

• Demographic changes- since 1980s- significant shifts on racial composition, occupancy, educational attainment and median income- tension growing among groups with interest in the fate of The Mission: lower-income Latino residents, tech sector employees- work in Silicon Valley

• Overall decrease in population from 2000-2013- linked to steady decrease of family households since 19080

• Share of family households dropped to 38% in 2013 from 52% in 1980 - decrease in family households is accompanied by a decrease in the Latino population, shifting from 44% in 1980 to 38% in 2013 while white population increased from 36% to 43%

• Dot-com boom of mid to late 1990s saw intense acceleration of mission gentrification because Mission District was chosen as a place for higher income white tech workers

• The Ellis act- evicting long term residents- state law passed in 1985 allowing landlords to evict tenants building-wide by removing the building from rental market entirely- further changing the socio economic and cultural characteristics of The Mission

How has The Mission District been Shaped by Past and Present connections regionally/nationally/ globally?

• Spanish missionaries arrive, shapes mission district as it attracted Latino immigrants and now has high population + catholics

• Post gold rush 1900s, developing industry and infrastructure attracted immigrants = diverse population

• 1906 SF earthquake, mission remained largely intact, businesses moved there= more industrial

• Immigration 1960-70s, increase in immigration from other countries increased bringing in Latino culture and LGBT+ community, diverse restaurants and shops

• 1970, growth of artists and murals around the mission, making it well known for its bright and lively atmosphere

• 1990s-now→ 1985 gentrification by young tech workers, raising rent and displacing long-term residents, creating conflict (dot com boom)

• Ellis act, allows for landlords to evict long-term tenants

• MAP2020, to make Mission a healthy and safe community for everyone living there and for affordable housing (SF government)

How has the character of The Mission District been impacted by the external force of Multinational corporations / government policy

Global (dot com boom)

• Dot com boom 1995-2001- wealthy, young, white tech people moving- increase the cost of living- higher rent- median is $930,000 in 2018- 9x higher than 1980, more restaurants suited towards them e.g. oyster bar, cheese stores, nightlife, population increase of 6706 between 1980-2018

• Ellis act 1985- CA Government allowed landlords to evict tenants by removing the building from the rental market- long time Latino residents are being evicted and can’t afford to live in the mission- removing the character of the people

• Tenant buyouts- landlords lure current tenants out the home with cash- then renovate into expensive homes for the wealthy new residents to move into that don’t connect with the community and the area

• Maximum real estate 1979- buying whole blocks (then making inclusive apartments- laundry, meals etc)- removing the character within the architecture- building basic blocks of apartments. Also the residents moving in aren’t going to be connected to the community- wealthy tech from Palo Alto and Silicon Valley, reduce the diversity of residents- 10% decrease of Hispanics between 1980-2018

Overall, the character of the Mission District in San Francisco has been impacted a lot by external forces due to the economic shift in wealth moving in, gentrifying the place along w gov allowing policies to enable gentrification and MNCs constructing properties that are out of budget for local Latino residents

How do humans perceive, engage with and form attachments to the Mission District?

• An old resident of the mission (Dan Tasso) shows his attachment of the mission district has formed as he grew up in his house and stayed with his wife for many years in the house, so has formed an attachment to the house, therefore he refuses to leave, even when new residents attempt to buy him out

• There is a high population of Latino/Latina residents, as there is a rich Hispanic culture of food, music and art, which forms a sense of place in the mission

How do they present and represent The Mission District to others?

• Nowadays, some of the Mission District’s residents have lost their sense of place as they are being evicted from their homes, due to Ellis Act of 1985, leading to new residents, e.g. British Tech worker who recently moved to the Mission District. He is apart of the new age of tech workers, due to the dotcom boom in Silicon Valley. Controversial as they are taking homes from older residents

How are the meanings of The Mission District bound up with different identities, perspective and experiences?

• Isabella Peneda: long-time resident of the mission district, unable to speak English as she moved from El Salvador to the Mission District. She’s formed a strong place attachment as its so rich in Hispanic culture, she doesn’t’t want to leave, given $5000 to move, very scared of the new changes given the tech workers

How are external agencies attempting to influence or create specific place meanings and shape the actions and behaviours of others

• SF travel association- corporate body- vision is to ensure that San Francisco is the most compelling destination in the world- improving representation of the Mission District, encouraging tourism into the area

• SF gov- “invest in neighbourhoods campaign”- small business will have support, advice and grants to help with their development, improve economic conditions for local businesses despite high rents and pressure on housing / retail space

• SF gov- Mission action plan 2020 MAP2020 → “vision of a thriving mission district” - improving local community for residents in that area, local businesses and organisations aswell

• People organising to demand environmental and economic justice PONDER - community group - create solutions to problems facing low income Latino immigrants and other communities of colour. (Advances in public health, available of affordable housing and accountable gov)

• Mission Anti- displacement coalition- local action group - fight displacement brought upon mission neighbourhoods by tech-start ups and evictions of the dot com boom in late 1990s- busily affordable new properties to support local residents and stop evictions under the Ellis act of long term residents

• Ellis act- state gov - allows landlords to evict residential tenants in order to “go out of the rental business” in spite of desires by local gov to compel them to continue providing rental housing at affordable rates, once landlords evict they can sell to increase income

How is the Mission District represented by different forms of media?

• Tourist agency → represents mission as trendy, cultural, green, variety, historical, positive, local specialities, place for bucket list

• La Mission (film) 2009 drama → shown in multiple festivals including sundance film festival. Represents Mission life to be challenging as it quotes ‘have to be tough to survive’

• 16th and Valencia poem → written by Alejandro Murguia who lives in SF and teachers at SFSU. Represents the mission negatively- Anger themes- platform to be seen and heard. Highlights need for change as ‘tired of living on the scraps of others’

• Murals → art has phrases such as ‘ill’ and ‘defend’- crime and danger → mission as dangerous and worrying for people who visit or live there

• ‘We got that in the Mission’ (rap) → Gangsta Flea- high crime, uneducated area bc lots of explicit language

How does media give contrasting images to that presented formally or statistically?

Statistical data describes the Mission district: 42% white population, 40% Hispanic

Median house price= $930,000 and median salary = $76,000 52% college educated and 14% high school diploma crime rate of 500 burglaries in 2013

Contrasts with rap song and poems presenting it negatively

What are the past processes of development in the Mission District?

• california gold rush 1848-1855 → mission lands were developed and subdivided - the grid system was established, housing plots of working class immigrants

• post gold rush to early 1900s developing industry and infrastructure was attractive and created a population with white elites

• 1906 SF earthquake → displaced businesses and residents

• after ww2 mexican immigration → moved for labour

• 1960s-70s immigration → diverse multicultural community attracted young middle class people (gay and lesibans)

• 1970s → music and mural industry

• 1908s-90d → immigration from Central America

How have they influenced the social and economic characteristics of The Mission District and therefore its present meaning?

• strong latino community → 40% of population in 2013

• diverse and multicultural, very progressive and accepting community

What are the present processes of development in The Mission District?

• late 1990s - present → dot com boom → young, rich, urban professionals from the bigger tech industry moved into the district

• 1979 → maximums real estate partners wanted to develop 290 new rental appartments and 41 affordable → said that people wanted cool, hip place to live and don’t want to earn and they want services

How are they influencing the social and economic characteristics of The Mission District and therefore its present meaning

• pressure group Plaza 16

• California gov Ellis act