FoundSF - User contributions [en]

Homeless policy failure

2016-10-26T16:16:52Z

Roryc:

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:housing1$homeless-sofa.jpg]] 
'''San Francisco homeless policy in action'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" |

'''A Comprehensive timeline of The City's Anti- Homeless measures, extracted from The Colation On Homelessness' report "Punishing the Poorest: How the Criminalization of Homelessness Perpetuates Poverty in San Francisco . ''Originally printed in Street Sheet vol.27 no.13 on July 1st, 2015'' '''
|}

'''San Francisco homeless policy in action '''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

<h4>'''Feinstein Administration'''</h4>

'''1980'''

City replaced old sit/lie law with sidewalk obstruction ordinance

'''1981'''

Ordinance passes banking sleeping in parks between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.

'''1984'''

ordinance passes banning habitation in Vehicles

<h4>'''Agnos Administration''' </h4>

'''1988'''

Sweeps in Golden Gate Park, Civic Center and Cole Valley

'''1989'''

Mayor Art Agnos orders police chief Frank Jordan to sweep Civic Center Plaza if the 60-100 people living there.

<h4>'''Jordan Administration'''</h4>

'''1992'''

Between 1988 and 1995 Food Not /bombs is arrested over 1,000 times for Sharing food.

After the passing of prop 1, The City outlaws aggressive panhandling.

Alford Lake (Part of Golden Gate Park) was closed during evenings.

'''1993'''

The Matrix program begins. Between August and December 5th, 602 citations are issued to homeless people for “quality of life” offenses. More citations for sleeping and camping in parks, drinking in public, obstructing the sidewalk and sleeping in doorways were issued in the first month of Matrix than in the five previous years combined. The Transbay Bus Terminal, home to more than 100 homeless people, lock its doors to them. A program serving many of the Terminal’s severely mentally ill residents is shut down.

Virtually every city park is closed at night by the Recreation and Parks commission.

'''1994'''

“No parking from 2:00am to 6:00 am” signs are put up by the Port Authority on a street in China Basin where most of the city’s mobile residents reside.

Mayor Jordan declared to the media that armed criminals posing as homeless people are using shopping carts to transport weapons. He ordered the SFPD to arrest people in possession of shopping carts. The people of San Francisco openly express their outrage at this proposal and no one is arrested.

Sit/lie ordinance fails to pass as proposition

11,562 “quality of life” citations are issued.

'''1995'''

In August, Mayor Jordan plans Matrix II, “Take back our parks:” a multi-departmental intensive sweep of Golden Gate Park, and uses it as a media moment in his mayoral campaign. Homeless people lose property and are displaced.

14,276: quality of life” citations issued

<h4>'''Brown Administration'''</h4>

'''1996'''

50 homeless people are evicted from a lot in Bayview referred to as “Land of the Lost.” The City settles out of court.

SFPD forms “Operation Park.” 2-6 police officers on each shift are assigned to roust and cite homeless people in the streets if their districts.

17,532 “quality of life” citations issued. More citations issued after the highly unpopular “Matrix Program.”

'''1997'''

Massive sweeps of Golden Gate Park begin. Mayor Brown asks to borrow the Oakland Police Department night vision - equipped helicopter to locate homeless people illegally sleeping in the park, but is denied. Homeless people lose property are displaced. A special crew of Recreation and Park employees is formed specifically to maintain and identify and destroy encampments across the City.

Caltrans creates a special unit that sweeps homeless people and their property from under bridges and highways.

15,671 “quality of life citations” issued.

'''1998'''

“No loitering or sleeping” signs are placed in public parks around the City.

Civic Center plaza is remodeled. The fountain is removed, two children playgrounds are added, and the park is cleared of homeless people. A police officer was assigned to monitor the park.

In a 2015 chronicle article, Brown admits the primary motivation was to rid the area of homeless people.

Board of Supervisors makes it illegal to drink in parks where poor people congregate.

Board of Supervisors passes ordinance making it possible for police to cite people for camping or sleeping in UN and Halide Plazas.

18,590 "quality of life' citations issued.

'''1999'''

SFPD officers take photos of homeless people claiming they were "creating a scrapbook." They distribute copies to local merchants ordering them not to sell alcohol to anyone in the pictures because they are "habitual drunkards." City settles lawsuit out of court.

Anti-Panhandling legislation, called "Pedestrian Safety Act" fails to pass

Mayor Brown orders homeless people to be charged with felonies if found in possession of shopping cart. After a week of bad press, he never orders it.

23,871 "quality of life" citations are issued.

'''2000'''

City attorney begins prosecuting homeless people in traffic court for "quality of life" offenses. Program costs $250,000 and falls in its stated purpose to connect homeless people with services they supposedly reduce.

Ordinance banning camping in parks passes.

17,954 "quality of life" citations issued.

'''2001'''

Ordinance banning loitering near public toilets passes.
Benches are moved from UN Plaza in a midnight attack, costing City $24,000 in overtime

Large encampment under Ceasar Chavez Circle overpass is swept by DPW. Property belonging to homeless residents was videotaped being thrown into garbage truck. After the story aired on local news, Mayor Brown claims homeless advocates staged the incident and that the homeless person interviewed by news crews was an actor. 75 homeless people were displaced and many lost property. A fence is erected by Caltrans.

DA starts prosecuting California Penal Code 647 (J), a misdemeanor that makes it illegal; to lodge on public or private property. Homeless people begin to spend more time in jail.
9,134 "quality of life" citations issued.

'''2002'''

A large encampment is swept from Berry Street. 100 homeless people are displaced and a fence is erected by DPW. City spends $13,644 on this sweep, not including costs for extensive police presence on the day of the sweep.

DPW starts "Operation Scrubdown" targeting downtown streets and alleys. Workers move on encampments, and then hose them down with nasty chemicals making it impossible to return to that spot. DPW estimates that the operation cost the city $11,000 every day.

Board of Supervisors passes new law prohibiting urinating and defecation in public, but no new public bathrooms are opened.

6,957 "quality of life" citations issued

'''2003'''

"No habituating in your vehicle between 10pm-6am" sings are put up in China Basin and Bayview Districts

Ordinance banning aggressive panhandling passes to include areas around check cashing operations and motor vehicles

Homeless people living and caring for the property behind Laguna Honda hospital are relocated

10,000+ "quality of life" citations issued

<h4>'''Newsom Administration'''</h4>

Anti-Panhandling ordinance championed by Newsom, and passed as a ballot initiative comes into effect. Newson claims criminalization will push violators into substance abuse or mental health treatment. Instead the treatment remains grossly underfunded, and the result is fines and arrest.

SF Coalition discovers thats it costs San Francisco more than $10,000 to prosecute a single CPC 647(j) case ("that's illegal lodging" to the uninitiated), which was being charged as a misdemeanor at the time.

SFPD launches "Operation Outreach" and begins assigning special units of officers to addressing 911 calls regarding homelessness.

Camping citations triple from 436 in 2003 to 1114 in 2004

'''2005'''

District Attorney grants amnesty to thousands of homeless people with "nuisance" citations

'''2006'''

San Francisco is named the 11th meanest city in the nation to its homeless according to a National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless, based on an index of anti-homeless laws and severity of penalties among other indicators.

City creates "focused enforcement" program to target quality of life infractions including sleeping in public, while city loses 300 shelter beds over the past 18 months.

'''2007'''

Eight days after the Chronicle runs a story about Homelessness in Golden Gate Park, police raid camps at the park at 4:30 am. After, seven workers are hire to work full time to remove encampments.

Newsom proposes new park code to expand the definition of camping to prohibit modifying "the landscape in any way in order to create a shelter or accommodate household furniture or appliances or construction debris in any park

'''2008'''

Panhandler shot dead by officers who were trying to give him a citation for begging, when the man pulled a knife out as he was trying to escape.

'''2009'''

San Francisco is named the 7th meanest city in the nation to its homeless according to a National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless. A move up from #11 three years earlier.

San Francisco launches the Community Justice Center, which focuses on low-level crimes in the Tenderloin. Although the court's diversion of these cases from jail time may be seen as a step towards de-criminalization- lowering punishments and reducing jail costs - some scholars and critics also see this as a further legitimation of dealing with sleeping and drug use through a punitive court system, rather than simply expanding social services. In its first year, the most common crime tried is misdemeanor sleeping followed by possession of a crack pipe. In the same year, shelters and resources for substance abuse are cut in the city budget.

'''2010'''

In a replay of the 1993 Transbay terminal sweep, the state closes the terminal were roughly 140 San Franciscans lived, a large portion among the most disabled in the city. Newson was quick to boast about the work the city was doing in housing people, but an investigation of the coalition found that the services being offered were merely a couple dozen already- existing shelter beds taken from other homeless people, and a handful of stabilization rooms.

Sit/lie ordinance is enacted through voter passed proposition and championed by newsroom. A blitz media campaign funded largely by Pacific Heights Moguls ultimately outspent opponents by roughly $400,000.

<h4>'''Lee Administration'''</h4>

'''2011'''

317 homeless people found in San Francisco's jail in the Point in Time Count, the first time the count included counting those in jail. This amounted to roughly 25% of the entire jail population and represented 5% of the homeless people counted that night.

'''2012'''

Oversized vehicle ban ordinance passes through the board of supervisors. MTA begins plastering signs throughout the entire city, which continues to this day, narrowing the legal spaces homeless people may park their vehicles.

Benches removed from Harvey Milk Plaza by the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District.

'''2013'''

Supervisors pass a park closure ordinance, making it illegal for those with out shelters to sleep form 12am-5am.

'''2014'''

BART begins displacing, citing and arresting homeless people resting inside stations.

[[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:2010s]]
[[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:Golden Gate Park]] [[category:Homeless]] [[category:newspapers]] [[category:parks]] [[category:public health]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]]

Homeless policy failure

2016-10-26T16:05:42Z

Roryc:

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:housing1$homeless-sofa.jpg]] 
'''San Francisco homeless policy in action'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" |

'''A Comprehensive timeline of The City's Anti- Homeless measures, extracted from The Colation On Homelessness' report "Punishing the Poorest: How the Criminalization of Homelessness Perpetuates Poverty in San Francisco . Originally printed '''
|}

'''San Francisco homeless policy in action '''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

<h4>'''Feinstein Administration'''</h4>

'''1980'''

City replaced old sit/lie law with sidewalk obstruction ordinance

'''1981'''

Ordinance passes banking sleeping in parks between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.

'''1984'''

ordinance passes banning habitation in Vehicles

<h4>'''Agnos Administration''' </h4>

'''1988'''

Sweeps in Golden Gate Park, Civic Center and Cole Valley

'''1989'''

Mayor Art Agnos orders police chief Frank Jordan to sweep Civic Center Plaza if the 60-100 people living there.

<h4>'''Jordan Administration'''</h4>

'''1992'''

Between 1988 and 1995 Food Not /bombs is arrested over 1,000 times for Sharing food.

After the passing of prop 1, The City outlaws aggressive panhandling.

Alford Lake (Part of Golden Gate Park) was closed during evenings.

'''1993'''

The Matrix program begins. Between August and December 5th, 602 citations are issued to homeless people for “quality of life” offenses. More citations for sleeping and camping in parks, drinking in public, obstructing the sidewalk and sleeping in doorways were issued in the first month of Matrix than in the five previous years combined. The Transbay Bus Terminal, home to more than 100 homeless people, lock its doors to them. A program serving many of the Terminal’s severely mentally ill residents is shut down.

Virtually every city park is closed at night by the Recreation and Parks commission.

'''1994'''

“No parking from 2:00am to 6:00 am” signs are put up by the Port Authority on a street in China Basin where most of the city’s mobile residents reside.

Mayor Jordan declared to the media that armed criminals posing as homeless people are using shopping carts to transport weapons. He ordered the SFPD to arrest people in possession of shopping carts. The people of San Francisco openly express their outrage at this proposal and no one is arrested.

Sit/lie ordinance fails to pass as proposition

11,562 “quality of life” citations are issued.

'''1995'''

In August, Mayor Jordan plans Matrix II, “Take back our parks:” a multi-departmental intensive sweep of Golden Gate Park, and uses it as a media moment in his mayoral campaign. Homeless people lose property and are displaced.

14,276: quality of life” citations issued

<h4>'''Brown Administration'''</h4>

'''1996'''

50 homeless people are evicted from a lot in Bayview referred to as “Land of the Lost.” The City settles out of court.

SFPD forms “Operation Park.” 2-6 police officers on each shift are assigned to roust and cite homeless people in the streets if their districts.

17,532 “quality of life” citations issued. More citations issued after the highly unpopular “Matrix Program.”

'''1997'''

Massive sweeps of Golden Gate Park begin. Mayor Brown asks to borrow the Oakland Police Department night vision - equipped helicopter to locate homeless people illegally sleeping in the park, but is denied. Homeless people lose property are displaced. A special crew of Recreation and Park employees is formed specifically to maintain and identify and destroy encampments across the City.

Caltrans creates a special unit that sweeps homeless people and their property from under bridges and highways.

15,671 “quality of life citations” issued.

'''1998'''

“No loitering or sleeping” signs are placed in public parks around the City.

Civic Center plaza is remodeled. The fountain is removed, two children playgrounds are added, and the park is cleared of homeless people. A police officer was assigned to monitor the park.

In a 2015 chronicle article, Brown admits the primary motivation was to rid the area of homeless people.

Board of Supervisors makes it illegal to drink in parks where poor people congregate.

Board of Supervisors passes ordinance making it possible for police to cite people for camping or sleeping in UN and Halide Plazas.

18,590 "quality of life' citations issued.

'''1999'''

SFPD officers take photos of homeless people claiming they were "creating a scrapbook." They distribute copies to local merchants ordering them not to sell alcohol to anyone in the pictures because they are "habitual drunkards." City settles lawsuit out of court.

Anti-Panhandling legislation, called "Pedestrian Safety Act" fails to pass

Mayor Brown orders homeless people to be charged with felonies if found in possession of shopping cart. After a week of bad press, he never orders it.

23,871 "quality of life" citations are issued.

'''2000'''

City attorney begins prosecuting homeless people in traffic court for "quality of life" offenses. Program costs $250,000 and falls in its stated purpose to connect homeless people with services they supposedly reduce.

Ordinance banning camping in parks passes.

17,954 "quality of life" citations issued.

'''2001'''

Ordinance banning loitering near public toilets passes.
Benches are moved from UN Plaza in a midnight attack, costing City $24,000 in overtime

Large encampment under Ceasar Chavez Circle overpass is swept by DPW. Property belonging to homeless residents was videotaped being thrown into garbage truck. After the story aired on local news, Mayor Brown claims homeless advocates staged the incident and that the homeless person interviewed by news crews was an actor. 75 homeless people were displaced and many lost property. A fence is erected by Caltrans.

DA starts prosecuting California Penal Code 647 (J), a misdemeanor that makes it illegal; to lodge on public or private property. Homeless people begin to spend more time in jail.
9,134 "quality of life" citations issued.

'''2002'''

A large encampment is swept from Berry Street. 100 homeless people are displaced and a fence is erected by DPW. City spends $13,644 on this sweep, not including costs for extensive police presence on the day of the sweep.

DPW starts "Operation Scrubdown" targeting downtown streets and alleys. Workers move on encampments, and then hose them down with nasty chemicals making it impossible to return to that spot. DPW estimates that the operation cost the city $11,000 every day.

Board of Supervisors passes new law prohibiting urinating and defecation in public, but no new public bathrooms are opened.

6,957 "quality of life" citations issued

'''2003'''

"No habituating in your vehicle between 10pm-6am" sings are put up in China Basin and Bayview Districts

Ordinance banning aggressive panhandling passes to include areas around check cashing operations and motor vehicles

Homeless people living and caring for the property behind Laguna Honda hospital are relocated

10,000+ "quality of life" citations issued

<h4>'''Newsom Administration'''</h4>

Anti-Panhandling ordinance championed by Newsom, and passed as a ballot initiative comes into effect. Newson claims criminalization will push violators into substance abuse or mental health treatment. Instead the treatment remains grossly underfunded, and the result is fines and arrest.

SF Coalition discovers thats it costs San Francisco more than $10,000 to prosecute a single CPC 647(j) case ("that's illegal lodging" to the uninitiated), which was being charged as a misdemeanor at the time.

SFPD launches "Operation Outreach" and begins assigning special units of officers to addressing 911 calls regarding homelessness.

Camping citations triple from 436 in 2003 to 1114 in 2004

'''2005'''

District Attorney grants amnesty to thousands of homeless people with "nuisance" citations

'''2006'''

San Francisco is named the 11th meanest city in the nation to its homeless according to a National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless, based on an index of anti-homeless laws and severity of penalties among other indicators.

City creates "focused enforcement" program to target quality of life infractions including sleeping in public, while city loses 300 shelter beds over the past 18 months.

'''2007'''

Eight days after the Chronicle runs a story about Homelessness in Golden Gate Park, police raid camps at the park at 4:30 am. After, seven workers are hire to work full time to remove encampments.

Newsom proposes new park code to expand the definition of camping to prohibit modifying "the landscape in any way in order to create a shelter or accommodate household furniture or appliances or construction debris in any park

'''2008'''

Panhandler shot dead by officers who were trying to give him a citation for begging, when the man pulled a knife out as he was trying to escape.

'''2009'''

San Francisco is named the 7th meanest city in the nation to its homeless according to a National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless. A move up from #11 three years earlier.

San Francisco launches the Community Justice Center, which focuses on low-level crimes in the Tenderloin. Although the court's diversion of these cases from jail time may be seen as a step towards de-criminalization- lowering punishments and reducing jail costs - some scholars and critics also see this as a further legitimation of dealing with sleeping and drug use through a punitive court system, rather than simply expanding social services. In its first year, the most common crime tried is misdemeanor sleeping followed by possession of a crack pipe. In the same year, shelters and resources for substance abuse are cut in the city budget.

'''2010'''

In a replay of the 1993 Transbay terminal sweep, the state closes the terminal were roughly 140 San Franciscans lived, a large portion among the most disabled in the city. Newson was quick to boast about the work the city was doing in housing people, but an investigation of the coalition found that the services being offered were merely a couple dozen already- existing shelter beds taken from other homeless people, and a handful of stabilization rooms.

Sit/lie ordinance is enacted through voter passed proposition and championed by newsroom. A blitz media campaign funded largely by Pacific Heights Moguls ultimately outspent opponents by roughly $400,000.

<h4>'''Lee Administration'''</h4>

'''2011'''

317 homeless people found in San Francisco's jail in the Point in Time Count, the first time the count included counting those in jail. This amounted to roughly 25% of the entire jail population and represented 5% of the homeless people counted that night.

'''2012'''

Oversized vehicle ban ordinance passes through the board of supervisors. MTA begins plastering signs throughout the entire city, which continues to this day, narrowing the legal spaces homeless people may park their vehicles.

Benches removed from Harvey Milk Plaza by the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District.

'''2013'''

Supervisors pass a park closure ordinance, making it illegal for those with out shelters to sleep form 12am-5am.

'''2014'''

BART begins displacing, citing and arresting homeless people resting inside stations.

[[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:2010s]]
[[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:Golden Gate Park]]

Homeless policy failure

2016-10-25T20:22:34Z

Roryc:

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:housing1$homeless-sofa.jpg]] 
'''San Francisco homeless policy in action'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" |

'''A Comprehensive timeline of The City's Anti- Homeless measures, extracted from The Colation On Homelessness' report "Punishing the Poorest: How the Criminalization of Homelessness Perpetuates Poverty in San Francisco . Originally printed '''
|}

'''San Francisco homeless policy in action '''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

<h4>'''Feinstein Administration'''</h4>

'''1980'''

City replaced old sit/lie law with sidewalk obstruction ordinance

'''1981'''

Ordinance passes banking sleeping in parks between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.

'''1984'''

ordinance passes banning habitation in Vehicles

<h4>'''Agnos Administration''' </h4>

'''1988'''

Sweeps in Golden Gate Park, Civic Center and Cole Valley

'''1989'''

Mayor Art Agnos orders police chief Frank Jordan to sweep Civic Center Plaza if the 60-100 people living there.

<h4>'''Jordan Administration'''</h4>

'''1992'''

Between 1988 and 1995 Food Not /bombs is arrested over 1,000 times for Sharing food.

After the passing of prop 1, The City outlaws aggressive panhandling.

Alford Lake (Part of Golden Gate Park) was closed during evenings.

'''1993'''

The Matrix program begins. Between August and December 5th, 602 citations are issued to homeless people for “quality of life” offenses. More citations for sleeping and camping in parks, drinking in public, obstructing the sidewalk and sleeping in doorways were issued in the first month of Matrix than in the five previous years combined. The Transbay Bus Terminal, home to more than 100 homeless people, lock its doors to them. A program serving many of the Terminal’s severely mentally ill residents is shut down.

Virtually every city park is closed at night by the Recreation and Parks commission.

'''1994'''

“No parking from 2:00am to 6:00 am” signs are put up by the Port Authority on a street in China Basin where most of the city’s mobile residents reside.

Mayor Jordan declared to the media that armed criminals posing as homeless people are using shopping carts to transport weapons. He ordered the SFPD to arrest people in possession of shopping carts. The people of San Francisco openly express their outrage at this proposal and no one is arrested.

Sit/lie ordinance fails to pass as proposition

11,562 “quality of life” citations are issued.

'''1995'''

In August, Mayor Jordan plans Matrix II, “Take back our parks:” a multi-departmental intensive sweep of Golden Gate Park, and uses it as a media moment in his mayoral campaign. Homeless people lose property and are displaced.

14,276: quality of life” citations issued

<h4>'''Brown Administration'''</h4>

'''1996'''

50 homeless people are evicted from a lot in Bayview referred to as “Land of the Lost.” The City settles out of court.

SFPD forms “Operation Park.” 2-6 police officers on each shift are assigned to roust and cite homeless people in the streets if their districts.

17,532 “quality of life” citations issued. More citations issued after the highly unpopular “Matrix Program.”

'''1997'''

Massive sweeps of Golden Gate Park begin. Mayor Brown asks to borrow the Oakland Police Department night vision - equipped helicopter to locate homeless people illegally sleeping in the park, but is denied. Homeless people lose property are displaced. A special crew of Recreation and Park employees is formed specifically to maintain and identify and destroy encampments across the City.

Caltrans creates a special unit that sweeps homeless people and their property from under bridges and highways.

15,671 “quality of life citations” issued.

'''1998'''

“No loitering or sleeping” signs are placed in public parks around the City.

Civic Center plaza is remodeled. The fountain is removed, two children playgrounds are added, and the park is cleared of homeless people. A police officer was assigned to monitor the park.

In a 2015 chronicle article, Brown admits the primary motivation was to rid the area of homeless people.

Board of Supervisors makes it illegal to drink in parks where poor people congregate.

Board of Supervisors passes ordinance making it possible for police to cite people for camping or sleeping in UN and Halide Plazas.

18,590 "quality of life' citations issued.

'''1999'''

SFPD officers take photos of homeless people claiming they were "creating a scrapbook." They distribute copies to local merchants ordering them not to sell alcohol to anyone in the pictures because they are "habitual drunkards." City settles lawsuit out of court.

Anti-Panhandling legislation, called "Pedestrian Safety Act" fails to pass

Mayor Brown orders homeless people to be charged with felonies if found in possession of shopping cart. After a week of bad press, he never orders it.

23,871 "quality of life" citations are issued.

'''2000'''

City attorney begins prosecuting homeless people in traffic court for "quality of life" offenses. Program costs $250,000 and falls in its stated purpose to connect homeless people with services they supposedly reduce.

Ordinance banning camping in parks passes.

17,954 "quality of life" citations issued.

'''2001'''

Ordinance banning loitering near public toilets passes.
Benches are moved from UN Plaza in a midnight attack, costing City $24,000 in overtime

Large encampment under Ceasar Chavez Circle overpass is swept by DPW. Property belonging to homeless residents was videotaped being thrown into garbage truck. After the story aired on local news, Mayor Brown claims homeless advocates staged the incident and that the homeless person interviewed by news crews was an actor. 75 homeless people were displaced and many lost property. A fence is erected by Caltrans.

DA starts prosecuting California Penal Code 647 (J), a misdemeanor that makes it illegal; to lodge on public or private property. Homeless people begin to spend more time in jail.
9,134 "quality of life" citations issued.

'''2002'''

A large encampment is swept from Berry Street. 100 homeless people are displaced and a fence is erected by DPW. City spends $13,644 on this sweep, not including costs for extensive police presence on the day of the sweep.

DPW starts "Operation Scrubdown" targeting downtown streets and alleys. Workers move on encampments, and then hose them down with nasty chemicals making it impossible to return to that spot. DPW estimates that the operation cost the city $11,000 every day.

Board of Supervisors passes new law prohibiting urinating and defecation in public, but no new public bathrooms are opened.

6,957 "quality of life" citations issued

'''2003'''

"No habituating in your vehicle between 10pm-6am" sings are put up in China Basin and Bayview Districts

Ordinance banning aggressive panhandling passes to include areas around check cashing operations and motor vehicles

Homeless people living and caring for the property behind Laguna Honda hospital are relocated

10,000+ "quality of life" citations issued

<h4>'''Newsom Administration'''</h4>

Anti-Panhandling ordinance championed by Newsom, and passed as a ballot initiative comes into effect. Newson claims criminalization will push violators into substance abuse or mental health treatment. Instead the treatment remains grossly underfunded, and the result is fines and arrest.

SF Coalition discovers thats it costs San Francisco more than $10,000 to prosecute a single CPC 647(j) case ("that's illegal lodging" to the uninitiated), which was being charged as a misdemeanor at the time.

SFPD launches "Operation Outreach" and begins assigning special units of officers to addressing 911 calls regarding homelessness.

Camping citations triple from 436 in 2003 to 1114 in 2004

'''2005'''

District Attorney grants amnesty to thousands of homeless people with "nuisance" citations

'''2006'''

San Francisco is named the 11th meanest city in the nation to its homeless according to a National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless, based on an index of anti-homeless laws and severity of penalties among other indicators.

City creates "focused enforcement" program to target quality of life infractions including sleeping in public, while city loses 300 shelter beds over the past 18 months.

'''2007'''

Eight days after the Chronicle runs a story about Homelessness in Golden Gate Park, police raid camps at the park at 4:30 am. After, seven workers are hire to work full time to remove encampments.

Newsom proposes new park code to expand the definition of camping to prohibit modifying "the landscape in any way in order to create a shelter or accommodate household furniture or appliances or construction debris in any park

'''2008'''

Panhandler shot dead by officers who were trying to give him a citation for begging, when the man pulled a knife out as he was trying to escape.

'''2009'''

San Francisco is named the 7th meanest city in the nation to its homeless according to a National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless. A move up from #11 three years earlier.

San Francisco launches the Community Justice Center, which focuses on low-level crimes in the Tenderloin. Although the court's diversion of these cases from jail time may be seen as a step towards de-criminalization- lowering punishments and reducing jail costs - some scholars and critics also see this as a further legitimation of dealing with sleeping and drug use through a punitive court system, rather than simply expanding social services. In its first year, the most common crime tried is misdemeanor sleeping followed by possession of a crack pipe. In the same year, shelters and resources for substance abuse are cut in the city budget.

'''2010'''

In a replay of the 1993 Transbay terminal sweep, the state closes the terminal were roughly 140 San Franciscans lived, a large portion among the most disabled in the city. Newson was quick to boast about the work the city was doing in housing people, but an investigation of the coalition found that the services being offered were merely a couple dozen already- existing shelter beds taken from other homeless people, and a handful of stabilization rooms.

Sit/lie ordinance is enacted through voter passed proposition and championed by newsroom. A blitz media campaign funded largely by Pacific Heights Moguls ultimately outspent opponents by roughly $400,000.

<h4>'''Lee Administration'''</h4>

'''2011'''

317 homeless people found in San Francisco's jail in the Point in Time Count, the first time the count included counting those in jail. This amounted to roughly 25% of the entire jail population and represented 5% of the homeless people counted that night.

'''2012'''

Oversized vehicle ban ordinance passes through the board of supervisors. MTA begins plastering signs throughout the entire city, which continues to this day, narrowing the legal spaces homeless people may park their vehicles.

Benches removed from Harvey Milk Plaza by the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District.

'''2013'''

Supervisors pass a park closure ordinance, making it illegal for those with out shelters to sleep form 12am-5am.

'''2014'''

BART begins displacing, citing and arresting homeless people resting inside stations.

[[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:2010s]]

Homeless policy failure

2016-10-25T20:18:24Z

Roryc:

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:housing1$homeless-sofa.jpg]] 
'''San Francisco homeless policy in action'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" |

'''A Comprehensive timeline of The City's Anti- Homeless measures, extracted from The Colation On Homelessness' report "Punishing the Poorest: How the Criminalization of Homelessness Perpetuates Poverty in San Francisco . Originally printed '''
|}

'''San Francisco homeless policy in action '''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

<h4>'''Feinstein Administration'''</h4>

'''1980'''

City replaced old sit/lie law with sidewalk obstruction ordinance

'''1981'''

Ordinance passes banking sleeping in parks between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.

'''1984'''

ordinance passes banning habitation in Vehicles

<h4>'''Agnos Administration''' </h4>

'''1988'''

Sweeps in Golden Gate Park, Civic Center and Cole Valley

'''1989'''

Mayor Art Agnos orders police chief Frank Jordan to sweep Civic Center Plaza if the 60-100 people living there.

<h4>'''Jordan Administration'''</h4>

'''1992'''

Between 1988 and 1995 Food Not /bombs is arrested over 1,000 times for Sharing food.

After the passing of prop 1, The City outlaws aggressive panhandling.

Alford Lake (Part of Golden Gate Park) was closed during evenings.

'''1993'''

The Matrix program begins. Between August and December 5th, 602 citations are issued to homeless people for “quality of life” offenses. More citations for sleeping and camping in parks, drinking in public, obstructing the sidewalk and sleeping in doorways were issued in the first month of Matrix than in the five previous years combined. The Transbay Bus Terminal, home to more than 100 homeless people, lock its doors to them. A program serving many of the Terminal’s severely mentally ill residents is shut down.

Virtually every city park is closed at night by the Recreation and Parks commission.

'''1994'''

“No parking from 2:00am to 6:00 am” signs are put up by the Port Authority on a street in China Basin where most of the city’s mobile residents reside.

Mayor Jordan declared to the media that armed criminals posing as homeless people are using shopping carts to transport weapons. He ordered the SFPD to arrest people in possession of shopping carts. The people of San Francisco openly express their outrage at this proposal and no one is arrested.

Sit/lie ordinance fails to pass as proposition

11,562 “quality of life” citations are issued.

'''1995'''

In August, Mayor Jordan plans Matrix II, “Take back our parks:” a multi-departmental intensive sweep of Golden Gate Park, and uses it as a media moment in his mayoral campaign. Homeless people lose property and are displaced.

14,276: quality of life” citations issued

<h4>'''Brown Administration'''</h4>

'''1996'''

50 homeless people are evicted from a lot in Bayview referred to as “Land of the Lost.” The City settles out of court.

SFPD forms “Operation Park.” 2-6 police officers on each shift are assigned to roust and cite homeless people in the streets if their districts.

17,532 “quality of life” citations issued. More citations issued after the highly unpopular “Matrix Program.”

'''1997'''

Massive sweeps of Golden Gate Park begin. Mayor Brown asks to borrow the Oakland Police Department night vision - equipped helicopter to locate homeless people illegally sleeping in the park, but is denied. Homeless people lose property are displaced. A special crew of Recreation and Park employees is formed specifically to maintain and identify and destroy encampments across the City.

Caltrans creates a special unit that sweeps homeless people and their property from under bridges and highways.

15,671 “quality of life citations” issued.

'''1998'''

“No loitering or sleeping” signs are placed in public parks around the City.

Civic Center plaza is remodeled. The fountain is removed, two children playgrounds are added, and the park is cleared of homeless people. A police officer was assigned to monitor the park.

In a 2015 chronicle article, Brown admits the primary motivation was to rid the area of homeless people.

Board of Supervisors makes it illegal to drink in parks where poor people congregate.

Board of Supervisors passes ordinance making it possible for police to cite people for camping or sleeping in UN and Halide Plazas.

18,590 "quality of life' citations issued.

'''1999'''

SFPD officers take photos of homeless people claiming they were "creating a scrapbook." They distribute copies to local merchants ordering them not to sell alcohol to anyone in the pictures because they are "habitual drunkards." City settles lawsuit out of court.

Anti-Panhandling legislation, called "Pedestrian Safety Act" fails to pass

Mayor Brown orders homeless people to be charged with felonies if found in possession of shopping cart. After a week of bad press, he never orders it.

23,871 "quality of life" citations are issued.

'''2000'''

City attorney begins prosecuting homeless people in traffic court for "quality of life" offenses. Program costs $250,000 and falls in its stated purpose to connect homeless people with services they supposedly reduce.

Ordinance banning camping in parks passes.

17,954 "quality of life" citations issued.

'''2001'''

Ordinance banning loitering near public toilets passes.
Benches are moved from UN Plaza in a midnight attack, costing City $24,000 in overtime

Large encampment under Ceasar Chavez Circle overpass is swept by DPW. Property belonging to homeless residents was videotaped being thrown into garbage truck. After the story aired on local news, Mayor Brown claims homeless advocates staged the incident and that the homeless person interviewed by news crews was an actor. 75 homeless people were displaced and many lost property. A fence is erected by Caltrans.

DA starts prosecuting California Penal Code 647 (J), a misdemeanor that makes it illegal; to lodge on public or private property. Homeless people begin to spend more time in jail.
9,134 "quality of life" citations issued.

'''2002'''

A large encampment is swept from Berry Street. 100 homeless people are displaced and a fence is erected by DPW. City spends $13,644 on this sweep, not including costs for extensive police presence on the day of the sweep.

DPW starts "Operation Scrubdown" targeting downtown streets and alleys. Workers move on encampments, and then hose them down with nasty chemicals making it impossible to return to that spot. DPW estimates that the operation cost the city $11,000 every day.

Board of Supervisors passes new law prohibiting urinating and defecation in public, but no new public bathrooms are opened.

6,957 "quality of life" citations issued

'''2003'''

"No habituating in your vehicle between 10pm-6am" sings are put up in China Basin and Bayview Districts

Ordinance banning aggressive panhandling passes to include areas around check cashing operations and motor vehicles

Homeless people living and caring for the property behind Laguna Honda hospital are relocated

10,000+ "quality of life" citations issued

<h4>'''Newsom Administration'''</h4>

Anti-Panhandling ordinance championed by Newsom, and passed as a ballot initiative comes into effect. Newson claims criminalization will push violators into substance abuse or mental health treatment. Instead the treatment remains grossly underfunded, and the result is fines and arrest.

SF Coalition discovers thats it costs San Francisco more than $10,000 to prosecute a single CPC 647(j) case ("that's illegal lodging" to the uninitiated), which was being charged as a misdemeanor at the time.

SFPD launches "Operation Outreach" and begins assigning special units of officers to addressing 911 calls regarding homelessness.

Camping citations triple from 436 in 2003 to 1114 in 2004

'''2005'''

District Attorney grants amnesty to thousands of homeless people with "nuisance" citations

'''2006'''

San Francisco is named the 11th meanest city in the nation to its homeless according to a National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless, based on an index of anti-homeless laws and severity of penalties among other indicators.

City creates "focused enforcement" program to target quality of life infractions including sleeping in public, while city loses 300 shelter beds over the past 18 months.

'''2007'''

Eight days after the Chronicle runs a story about Homelessness in Golden Gate Park, police raid camps at the park at 4:30 am. After, seven workers are hire to work full time to remove encampments.

Newsom proposes new park code to expand the definition of camping to prohibit modifying "the landscape in any way in order to create a shelter or accommodate household furniture or appliances or construction debris in any park

'''2008'''

Panhandler shot dead by officers who were trying to give him a citation for begging, when the man pulled a knife out as he was trying to escape.

'''2009'''

San Francisco is named the 7th meanest city in the nation to its homeless according to a National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless. A move up from #11 three years earlier.

San Francisco launches the Community Justice Center, which focuses on low-level crimes in the Tenderloin. Although the court's diversion of these cases from jail time may be seen as a step towards de-criminalization- lowering punishments and reducing jail costs - some scholars and critics also see this as a further legitimation of dealing with sleeping and drug use through a punitive court system, rather than simply expanding social services. In its first year, the most common crime tried is misdemeanor sleeping followed by possession of a crack pipe. In the same year, shelters and resources for substance abuse are cut in the city budget.

'''2010'''

In a replay of the 1993 Transbay terminal sweep, the state closes the terminal were roughly 140 San Franciscans lived, a large portion among the most disabled in the city. Newson was quick to boast about the work the city was doing in housing people, but an investigation of the coalition found that the services being offered were merely a couple dozen already- existing shelter beds taken from other homeless people, and a handful of stabilization rooms.

Sit/lie ordinance is enacted through voter passed proposition and championed by newsroom. A blitz media campaign funded largely by Pacific Heights Moguls ultimately outspent opponents by roughly $400,000.

<h4>'''Lee Administration'''</h4>

'''2011'''

317 homeless people found in San Francisco's jail in the Point in Time Count, the first time the count included counting those in jail. This amounted to roughly 25% of the entire jail population and represented 5% of the homeless people counted that night.

'''2012'''

Oversized vehicle ban ordinance passes through the board of supervisors. MTA begins plastering signs throughout the entire city, which continues to this day, narrowing the legal spaces homeless people may park their vehicles.

Benches removed from Harvey Milk Plaza by the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District.

'''2013'''

Supervisors pass a park closure ordinance, making it illegal for those with out shelters to sleep form 12am-5am.

'''2014'''

BART begins displacing, citing and arresting homeless people resting inside stations.

Homeless policy failure

2016-10-18T22:42:57Z

Roryc:

Homeless policy failure

2016-10-18T21:02:22Z

Roryc:

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:housing1$homeless-sofa.jpg]]

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''A Comprehensive timeline of The City's Anti- Homeless measures, extracted from The Colation On Homelessness' report "Punishing the Poorest: How the Criminalization of Homelessness Perpetuates Poverty in San Francisco '''
|}

'''San Francisco homeless policy in action'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

'''Feinstien Administration'''

''1980'' City replaced old sit/lie law with sidewalk obstruction ordinance

''1981'' Ordinance passes banking sleeping in parks between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.

''1984'' ordinance passes banning habitation in Vehicles

'''Agnos Administration'''

''1988'' Sweeps in Golden Gate Park, Civic Center and Cole Valley

''1989'' Mayor Agnos orders police chief Frank Jordan to sweep Civic Center Plaza of the 60-100 people living there

'''Jordan Administration'''

''1992'' Between 1988 and 1995 Food Not /bombs is arrested over 1,000 times for Sharing food.

After the passing of prop 1, The City outlaws aggressive panhandling.

Alford Lake (Part of Golden Gate Park) was closed during evenings.

''1993'' The Matrix program begins. Between August and December 5th, 602 citations are issued to homeless people for “quality of life” offenses. More citations for sleeping and camping in parks, drinking in public, obstructing the sidewalk and sleeping in doorways were issued in the first month of Matrix than in the five previous years combined. The Transbay Bus Terminal, home to more than 100 homeless people, lock its doors to them. A program serving many of the Terminal’s severely mentally ill residents is shut down.

Virtually every city park is closed at night by the Recreation and Parks commission.

''1994'' “No parking from 2:00am to 6:00 am” signs are put up by the Port Authority on a street in China Basin where most of the city’s mobile residents reside.

Mayor Jordan declared to the media that armed criminals posing as homeless people are using shopping carts to transport weapons. He ordered the SFPD to arrest people in possession of shopping carts. The people of San Francisco openly express their outrage at this proposal and no one is arrested.

Sit/lie ordinance fails to pass as proposition

11,562 “quality of life” citations are issued.

''1995'' In August, Mayor Jordan plans Matrix II, “Take back our parks:” a multi-departmental intensive sweep of Golden Gate Park, and uses it as a media moment in his mayoral campaign. Homeless people lose property and are displaced.

14,276: quality of life” citations issued

'''Brown Administration'''

''1996'' 50 homeless people are evicted from a lot in Bayview referred to as “Land of the Lost.” The City settles out of court.

SFPD forms “Operation Park.” 2-6 police officers on each shift are assigned to roust and cite homeless people in the streets if their districts.

17,532 “quality of life” citations issued. More citations issued after the highly unpopular “Matrix Program.”

''1997'' Massive sweeps of Golden Gate Park begin. Mayor Brown asks to borrow the Oakland Police Department night vision - equipped helicopter to locate homeless people illegally sleeping in the park, but is denied. Homeless people lose property are displaced. A special crew of Recreation and Park employees is formed specifically to maintain and identify and destroy encampments across the City.

Caltrans creates a special unit that sweeps homeless people and their property from under bridges and highways.

15,671 “quality of life citations” issued.

''1998'' “No loitering or sleeping” signs are placed in public parks around the City.

Civic Center plaza is remodeled. The fountain is removed, two children playgrounds are added, and the park is cleared of homeless people. A police officer was assigned to monitor the park.

In a 2015 chronicle article, Brown admits the primary motivation was to rid the area of homeless people.

Board of Supervisors makes it illegal to drink in parks where poor people congregate.

Board of Supervisors passes ordinance making it possible for police to cite people for camping or sleeping in UN and Halide Plazas.

18,590 "quality of life' citations issued.

''1999'' SFPD officers take photos of homeless people claiming they were "creating a scrapbook." They distribute copies to local merchants ordering them not to sell alcohol to anyone in the pictures because they are "habitual drunkards." City settles lawsuit out of court.

Anti-Panhandling legislation, called "Pedestrian Safety Act" fails to pass

Mayor Brown orders homeless people to be charged with felonies if found in possession of shopping cart. After a week of bad press, he never orders it.

23,871 "quality of life" citations are issued.

''2000'' City attorney begins prosecuting homeless people in traffic court for "quality of life" offenses. Program costs $250,000 and falls in its stated purpose to connect homeless people with services they supposedly reduce.

Ordinance banning camping in parks passes.

17,954 "quality of life" citations issued.

''2001'' Ordinance banning loitering near public toilets passes.
Benches are moved from UN Plaza in a midnight attack, costing City $24,000 in overtime

Large encampment under Ceasar Chavez Circle overpass is swept by DPW. Property belonging to homeless residents was videotaped being thrown into garbage truck. After the story aired on local news, Mayor Brown claims homeless advocates staged the incident and that the homeless person interviewed by news crews was an actor. 75 homeless people were displaced and many lost property. A fence is erected by Caltrans.

DA starts prosecuting California Penal Code 647 (J), a misdemeanor that makes it illegal; to lodge on public or private property. Homeless people begin to spend more time in jail.
9,134 "quality of life" citations issued.

''2002'' A large encampment is swept from Berry Street. 100 homeless people are displaced and a fence is erected by DPW. City spends $13,644 on this sweep, not including costs for extensive police presence on the day of the sweep.

DPW starts "Operation Scrubdown" targeting downtown streets and alleys. Workers move on encampments, and then hose them down with nasty chemicals making it impossible to return to that spot. DPW estimates that the operation cost the city $11,000 every day.

Board of Supervisors passes new law prohibiting urinating and defecation in public, but no new public bathrooms are opened.

Homeless policy failure

2016-10-18T20:29:53Z

Roryc: Created page with "''' Unfinished History ''' Image:housing1$homeless-sofa.jpg '''San Francisco homeless..."

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:housing1$homeless-sofa.jpg]]

'''San Francisco homeless policy in action'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

'''Feinstien Administration'''

''1980'' City replaced old sit/lie law with sidewalk obstruction ordinance
''1981'' Ordinance passes banking sleeping in parks between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
''1984'' ordinance passes banning habitation in Vehicles
'''Agnos Administration'''

''1988'' Sweeps in Golden Gate Park, Civic Center and Cole Valley
''1989'' Mayor Agnos orders police chief Frank Jordan to sweep Civic Center Plaza of the 60-100 people living there

'''Jordan Administration'''

''1992'' Between 1988 and 1995 Food Not /bombs is arrested over 1,000 times for Sharing food
After the passing of prop 1, The City outlaws aggressive panhandling.
Alford Lake (Part of Golden Gate Park) was closed during evenings.
''1993'' The Matrix program begins. Between August and December 5th, 602 citations are issued to homeless people for “quality of life” offenses. More citations for sleeping and camping in parks, drinking in public, obstructing the sidewalk and sleeping in doorways were issued in the first month of Matrix than in the five previous years combined. The Transbay Bus Terminal, home to more than 100 homeless people, lock its doors to them. A program serving many of the Terminal’s severely mentally ill residents is shut down.
Virtually every city park is closed at night by the Recreation and Parks commission.

''1994'' “No parking from 2:00am to 6:00 am” signs are put up by the Port Authority on a street in China Basin where most of the city’s mobile residents reside.
Mayor Jordan declared to the media that armed criminals posing as homeless people are using shopping carts to transport weapons. He ordered the SFPD to arrest people in possession of shopping carts. The people of San Francisco openly express their outrage at this proposal and no one is arrested.
Sit/lie ordinance fails to pass as proposition
11,562 “quality of life” citations are issued.

''1995'' In August, Mayor Jordan plans Matrix II, “Take back our parks:” a multi-departmental intensive sweep of Golden Gate Park, and uses it as a media moment in his mayoral campaign. Homeless people lose property and are displaced.
14,276: quality of life” citations issued

'''Brown Administration'''

''1996'' 50 homeless people are evicted from a lot in Bayview referred to as “Land of the Lost.” The City settles out of court
SFPD forms “Operation Park.” 2-6 police officers on each shift are assigned to roust and cite homeless people in the streets if their districts.
17,532 “quality of life” citations issued. More citations issued after the highly unpopular “Matrix Program.”

''1997'' Massive sweeps of Golden Gate Park begin. Mayor Brown asks to borrow the Oakland Police Department night vision - equipped helicopter to locate homeless people illegally sleeping in the park, but is denied. Homeless people lose property are displaced. A special crew of Recreation and Park employees is formed specifically to maintain and identify and destroy encampments across the City.
Caltrans creates a special unit that sweeps homeless people and their property from under bridges and highways.
15,671 “quality of life citations” issued.

''1998'' “No loitering or sleeping” signs are placed in public parks around the City.
Civic Center plaza is remodeled. The fountain is removed, two children playgrounds are added, and the park is cleared of homeless people. A police officer was assigned to monitor the park. In a 2015 chronicle article, Brown admits the primary motivation was to rid the area of homeless people.

EXOTIC DANCERS' ALLIANCE

2016-10-18T20:27:22Z

Roryc:

''' "I was there..." '''

''Interview with Dawn Passar by Siobhan Brooks ''

[[Image:wimmin$ofarrell-workers.jpg]]

'''from the [[Mitchell Brothers|O'Farrell Theater]]'''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''First person account by an exotic dancer who was present in the strip club scene of the 1980s. Along with a light background of the industry in San Francisco, Siobhan Brooks interviews Dawn Passer as she explains how her experience fighting alongside other dancers for their rights as workers led to her being blacklisted from the city’s strip clubs and her transition into activism. Her experiences gives her a unique insight into the mindset of exotic dancers and the health problems and risks they face, working in the industry. '''
|}

Dawn Passar is one of the co-founders of EDA (Exotic Dancer's Alliance) along with Johanna Breyer. She was born in Thailand and has worked in the sex industry in the United States for ten years. She works at the Asian AIDS Project in San Francisco where she does outreach to clients. In this interview Dawn gives an account of her experiences in the sex industry and her political activism.

'''Siobhan Brooks:''' Why did you start doing work in the sex industry?

'''Dawn Passar:''' When I first came to San Francisco, it was in 1982. I was living in Rhode Island for nearly eight years with my ex-husband, I came alone and that's when I starting stripping. I used do also dance in Thailand.

'''SB:''' What was the first club you danced at?

'''DP: '''I danced at the Penthouse on Broadway, the Roaring 20's, the peep-shows. After that I went to the [[Mitchell Brothers | Mitchell Brothers]]'. In 1982 the Mitchell Brothers' was the only lap dancing stage show theater in town. The rest of the clubs were topless and the customers would buy the girls drinks. On Broadway the girls would make minimum wage an hour and tips. We would split more than 50% of our tips with the bartender, the waitress, and the doorman. When I went to the Mitchell Brothers' they hired me right away, I worked there for five and a half years. I was making minimum wage an hour. I worked there until 1987 until I was laid off. I asked the management why I was laid off and they told me it was a matter of turning over new faces.

Around this time the Market Street Cinema was another live nude theater with lap dancing. The difference between Market Street Cinema and the Mitchell Brothers' was that the Cinema didn't have wages, and didn't pay the dancers, but you got to keep all your tips from lap dancing. After I was laid off at Mitchell Brothers' the theater stopped paying dancers wages, and the dancers had to pay to go to work. The paying of stage fees started at the Mitchell Brothers' and the trend trickled down to other theaters. Soon after that the Market Street Cinema adopted the system of not paying dancers wages and charging dancers to work. This system is snowballed nationwide and in most clubs in San Francisco.

'''SB: '''What were some of the problems that you noticed at the Market Street Cinema that lead you and Johanna to organize EDA?

'''DP: '''I remember when the Cinema implemented a ten dollar stage fee. We would all complain because according to the law we didn't have to pay at all, and now we have to. But then we were all like, "Okay, fine ten dollars, no big deal." Three to four months later the stage fee was fifteen dollars, then twenty. In less than a year the stage fee went up to twenty-five dollars. We began to organize because we felt that the stage fee would continue to go up if we didn't do something. We gathered a bunch of women and had our first meeting at a nearby restaurant. We also invited the manager to come--which wasn't easy. At the second meeting is when certain women were singled out as being "trouble-makers".

One of my co-workers felt she had a good clique with the management, and by herself she told the management what she felt was wrong with the theater . Shortly after she was fired. Most women wanted to organize, but only a few were at the forefront. For many women that was the only job they had, and they didn't want to lose it. But many women took a risk by providing support for the women who were at the forefront. Johanna and I along with a few other women were at the forefront of the organizing.

We had a series of organized meetings, we wrote a letter to the management, and we got recommendations from other dancers. We sent the letter to the owner of the club asking him to reduce the stage fee to fifteen dollars. At that time no one was making enough money to come up with twenty-five dollars. We calculated the expenses of the women with kids, and the cost for baby-sitters. We also asked the management to improve their scheduling. A single mother with kids will pay a baby-sitter and come to work, only to get turned down. The manager might tell her that there are too many girls working, or that she came to the club too late, or that they didn't like the way she styled her hair that day--I'm going to send you home. That woman lost money because she already paid a baby-sitter to watch her child. Those were the kind of situations we asked management to take into consideration. The management never responded to our letter, they said that they would not reduce the stage fee. The son of the owner attended one of our meetings. I spoke to him after the meetings and he told me that his father would never reduce the stage fee. We had tried all the necessary steps: speaking to the management, holding meetings, writing letters. The outcome was not favorable to us, so we took the matter outside of the club and filed a complaint to the Labor Board.

'''SB''': How did that process go?

'''DP: '''At first it wasn't easy because when we were looking for a consultant we called up the Labor Commissar to find out our rights, and when we told the people that we were strippers, they hung up on us. They asked us if we were in a union or part of some type of organization, and if we were employed. But that's why we called because we weren't sure if we were employed. This was one of the main reasons EDA was started, so that when we were asked by people at the Labor Commissar if we are part of an organization, we could say that we're part of the Exotic Dancer's Alliance organization. That way these people will listen to us and not hang up on us. You only need two people to have an organization, so the two people were me and Johanna.

We then went to CAL-OSHA which is a occupational safety organization in California that oversees health, safety, and cleanness in the work place. We went there and told them and told them about the two bathrooms without doors at the Cinema. We felt that the man who works there would use the bathroom in the dressing room, which we felt was only for the women. Even though we performed naked on stage, the dressing room was our privacy. The people from CAL-OSHA came and gave the owner a citation ordering him to put doors on the bathroom. That was the first victory for us; having someone order the owner to do something for us. It was a small victory, but still a victory.

'''SB: '''Can you talk about the process you went through of getting out of the sex industry?

'''DP: '''Well, I was blacklisted from dancing at any club in San Francisco, so I had to get out. I can never dance anywhere in this city again. I can't go to a club and say the name Dawn Passar. All the clubs in San Francisco are pretty well connected with one another. I worked from 1982 to 1992 in the sex industry. After I was blacklisted I became an activist because I didn't have any other type of job. I had prepared myself to lose my job when I began organizing. When I left the Mitchell Brothers' after working there for five and a half years, I realized that this is not the kind of job you can do forever. I was also a single parent at the time. During the time of the organizing at Market Street Cinema I had begun going to school. I got grants and scholarships to pay for school, that really helped me since I was a immigrant who couldn't read or write English that well and had no other vocational skills. That's why I was in the sex industry. That was the turning point in my life, and I was still dancing because I couldn't just stop totally. Once you start dancing it's something that you're used to in your daily life.

I went to school and completed my Master's Degree, and graduated in 1992. As I was becoming educated, I realized that my working conditions were different from those of other people. It was the first time I stepped out of my daily life of being at home taking care of the kids and my work activities. I realized that people get different treatment at other jobs and that's what inspired me to get an education and find out more about my rights. After I graduated I was doing organizing work that lead up to me getting the job I have now.

'''SB: '''You said you danced in Thailand, what was your experience doing that?

'''DP: '''Well, this was in the early '70s and the Vietnam War was still going on, but coming to an end. The sex industry was probably a repercussion of the Vietnam War. During that time there were several different American GI bases in Thailand. In different cities in Thailand American GIs roamed the country. They were looking for women, so bars and nightclubs were springing up, and I was one of those women. Well, girl I would say since I was fourteen. At that time Thailand had go-go clubs, but without the nudity it has now. Women than just wore thigh high boots and a bikini. When the war ended sometime in 1975 I believe it left women used to the easy money bar life, and the Rent-A-Wife life. In Thailand they don't call it prostitution, but Rent-A-Wife. Rent-A-Wife is when a woman stays with a GI for however long he's there, and he pays you for your time. Everyday she cooks and cleans but without obligation to marriage.

Prostitution was always illegal in Thailand, but you can go to the red light district and everything is pretty much in the open. It's different now because life is harder. Women have to do a lot more for less money. There's more nudity now in the clubs, which is against the law, but the law isn't enforced. All this is due to corruption, hierarchy, and classism.

'''SB: '''Do you know what's going on in terms of activism around sex worker issues?

'''DP: '''There is an organization called EMPOWER. They do HIV prevention training and education. They're doing a pretty good job, the organization has existed for about ten years. But the sex industry is still a big problem in Thailand. There you have the very rich or very poor. In America you have racism, in Thailand you have classism since most people have the same color of skin.

'''SB: '''Did you feel poor growing up in Thailand?

'''DP: '''I think poor has different definitions. I would say I was poor, but never hungry. We always had food. Maybe I was poor in the sense of material things. If you live in America you have a car, a TV. In Thailand I didn't have those things, but we didn't need them. The word "poor" has different connotations for different people. So, perhaps I was never poor.

'''SB: '''While you were organizing was there ever a time when you felt your life was threatened by the managers?

'''DP: '''Sure because there were rumors that all the owners were part of the Mafia, big in size with lots of money. Those were only rumors which I took with precaution, I also made a point of going to the media. One of the protections anyone who does organizing has is the media, it's good to come straight forward to the media. However, the worries are always there, they never go away. People told me that I could end up in a trunk never to be found again, that they could suit us down and we would never be heard, all those things.

'''SB: '''Why don't you talk a bit about your job at the Asian AIDS Project?

'''DP: '''When I got blacklisted from the sex industry--the stripping industry--I became an activist and I gave talks to different women's gatherings. I was giving a talk at a gathering with Carol Leigh from C.O.Y.O.T.E and I announced in the audience that I didn't have a job, and I asked people if they knew of a job. One of the men from the Asian AIDS Project told me to apply for a job there. At that time I was like, "Well, that's nice." I never called him back, three months later he called me back asking if I was still interested. I never called him back because I thought it was just an office job and that I didn't even read and write English that well. I could write and read English by the time I graduated school, but the idea of working in an office was too scary. After a year and a half without a job I thought I would give this job a try. I applied and got the job I have now. I've found that I have a lot of support from people who work here, they knew that I could do the job, they helped me with different trainings. Come to think of it, it's not that different from being a sex worker.

My job requires outreach, case management, advocacy, and training. The idea of the HIV prevention education is to bring the service to the community, which is women in massage parlors. People are not going to come out and say that they need to learn more about HIV and AIDS. They won't take time to do that or they feel that their family comes first and they won't think about themselves. They are thinking about work, taking care of the kids and the family. But their health comes last. We are the first ones in the whole nation to do outreach to the massage parlor people. Every big city has a massage parlor or a Chinatown: New York, L.A. Other agencies have tried but we have giving trainings and shared information with them. It takes a different level of togetherness to reach people successfully. When I say successfully I mean people who can get successfully into the massage parlor, and earn the trust of the manager, the owners, and the workers there. We let them know that you are providing health education and HIV testing.

'''SB: '''How did you function being a stripper in a society based on filling out forms, doing your taxes, getting credit, or renting an apartment?

'''DP: '''Well, I didn't have any credit (Laughs). I had two kids, and I remember I was trying to get on welfare because I needed it. I didn't have any ID or a birth certificate. I was still functioning as if I was in Thailand when it came to doing paper work. I felt that doing paper work was unnecessary. When I signed for my kids to go to school I had to fill out papers stating that I was the parent/guardian of my kids. My occupation on those forms was a cashier.

At the time being a cashier at the dirty movie theater would give me more credit than if I filled out on the form that I was a stripper. The reason why the occupation of a cashier came up was because my kids were used to seeing me come home with cash, and they would go, "Oh, Mom! You're a cashier, ah?" This is when they were young, like three and in half years old. So, I was like, "Okay, I'm a cashier." But when they got a little bit older I told them that I was a stripper. I told them that the money that was feeding you, the money that brought you toys was stripper money. I wouldn't tell the schoolteacher, but I told my kids and I told them to be careful who they told. I told them that the parents of some of their friends may not like this.

'''SB: '''What did your kids think about you stripping?

'''DP: '''Well, when they were younger they didn't understand what it was. All they cared about was the fact that I could buy them toys, and take care of them. When they got older they understood what my job meant. I remember one of their friend's mother at a PTA meeting was asking another parent that I knew if she knew I was a stripper. The woman was like, "How could she do that? That's so bad!" The other parent said that I wasn't a bad person, and that she didn't even know me.

'''SB: '''In my experience being younger than you, and stripping in an era where working in the sex industry is a little more acceptable, I want to know how did you actively encounter those negative views?

'''DP: '''Yes, it was viewed as a negative job. When I first came here I had a job as a dishwasher in a Thai restaurant. I had enough to pay the rent, but then I got really sick and I was in the hospital. When I got out I lost my job and I couldn't pay my rent right away. I was dating someone who was a manager of a strip club who said, "Oh, come and dance. You'll make money right away." And sure enough I made cash that night. I thought to myself that this was really a bad job compared to "normal" jobs, I'll just do it for two weeks and get enough money in the bank and leave this job. When I got into it I didn't think it was bad, money was good at the time, cash flow was every night. It was good money because with a different kind of job you had to wait two weeks to get your paycheck. I got to know the women in the industry, and I realized that life is what you make of it. If you make it bad then it will be bad, I believed that I could make my life good. I refused to go back to dishwashing.

'''SB: '''Do you think there is a cultural stigma to sex workers?

'''DP: '''Well, white men have stereotypes of Asian women being quiet and cooking and cleaning for them. I get that, and I was one of those women who for years never talked back and cooked and cleaned for my husband. I think that knowledge is power and people get older and change their lives. In relation to my own community I haven't experienced a stigma. I'm pretty open in my community about what I do. I think in my culture the attitude is be the best at what you do.

'''SB: '''What is your definition of a feminist?

'''DP: '''I think it comes back to the choices one makes in life. I think the choices that women make need to be supported by everyone. Being a sex worker, some feminist would say, "How could you do that? You're being exploited." I think the problem is that I would need them to support me, not condemn me. We should be looking at how to make the sex industry safer to work in. But by telling me to stop doing what I chose to do for a living is not empowering. I find it disempowering to be around people who are quick to judge me; people like that are neo-Nazi feminist. We need to support one another.

'''SB: '''Where did you go to school?

'''DP: '''I went to San Francisco Art Institute, and I got my Master's from the California College of Arts and Crafts. I was always a visual person and I come from an artist background; my uncle is an artist. When I thought about going to school I was thinking in terms of traditional education---writing and reading, all the things school requires. But I realized I could take pictures, so I was majoring in photography and film making which didn't requiring reading and writing.

The Merit Fellowship and the Fourth Foundation liked my work and gave me scholarships which helped my self-esteem and made me believe that I was good at something. When I reached my senior year I realized that I had to write a thesis, three to five-thousand words. I was a student at the Adult Literacy Program at the Berkeley Read Program. My skills in writing and reading English improved. Thanks to Miss Audrea Folley, my tutor.

'''SB: '''What are some of the main mental health problems with women in the sex industry?

'''DP: '''The suicide rates, substance abuse, and sexual harassment exist at the work place. In professional work settings companies usually offer health care or counseling to their employees. That doesn't exist in the sex industry. The sex industry should offer this kind of health care coverage for their workers. When women do get sick, they have to relay on the City and County and taxpayers' money to pay for their medical expenses. This should be the responsibility of the employer. In terms of psychological problems that I have seen: suicide, drug overdose, and domestic violence are the leading cause of death among sex workers. Currently, there are not any health outreach workers providing safe-sex information and health education in strip clubs. More young women are seeking this kind of work because it seems glamorous, and a way to make easy money. I mean all of that is there, but other shit comes with the job. Emotional abuse is very high within the job.

I remember there was this student who came from U.C. Davis. She never drank, smoke, or did any drugs. She was going to school and she just wanted to make extra money, and she did. The first three months she was fine, she was new, everyone liked her and she made a lot of money. I saw her a year later and she was on the street on every type of drug she could get---she was unemployed and homeless. If she was an "employee" rather than an "independent contractor" at the strip club she was working in, she would be entitled to health benefits. These kinds of situations are not uncommon to women in the sex industry.

'''SB: '''How do you think the situation for exotic dancers can be improved?

'''DP: '''The dancers need to be well-informed about their labor rights, in relation to employee status, and work together at having an organized work force. The dancers can get together and have a co-op strip club---that way working conditions can be improved.

''photo and design by Chris Carlsson''

'''Don't Swear. Don't Slouch. When in Doubt, Smile'''

''--from Queens of The Tenderloin ''

That's what one of the signs at Centerfolds says. Yes, I'm a showgirl at San Francisco's newest club owned by, surprise Sam Conti. It seems Sam owns the Cinema, New Century and Regal even though his name isn't listed as proprietor of Happy or Popular Properties, the private owned corporations operating these adult theaters. Women who make the ill-fated decision to audition at Centerfolds can't happily grind away at these clubs unless they agree to work at Centerfolds. List of women's names appear at the Cinema and New Century the week that Centerfolds opened- these women will be denied shifts until they talk to Isabella. It seemed strange to me that I was essentially being forced to be a showgirl when I was content to remain a sleazy lap dancing queen. When I auditioned, I thought it would be a nice change- none of us, I'm sure will mourn the day we stop lap dancing. Then I attended two mandatory meetings and a dress rehearsal the night before the club opened. During those meetings and dress rehearsal, I got to know Sam Conti a bit no, I didn't speak with him one on one--I listened to him ramble for hours and occasionally insult a dancer if she asked a question. No thanks, I thought. I thought that, because I am an "independent contractor, I could choose where I work in this town" ha ha ha ha heh he ha ha.

'''A Little History '''

A year ago Sam Conti applied for a license from the San Francisco Police department for his dream club, Centerfolds. Because Centerfolds serves alcohol and food, it is considered a cabaret. Back when Diane Feinstein was mayor, cabarets and adult theaters were both required to obtain licenses from the police department. On Friday, January 25, 1985 at 4 PM "...the Market Street Cinema was raided. Eleven women were arrested and charged with lewd conduct because they would take money to sit in a customer's lap where they would gyrate in mock-intercourse." the police report said. (oh my!) The court order issued against the cinema prohibited any performer from leaving the stage area to contact or mingle with the patrons or customers." On February 1, 1985, five days after the Cinema bust, Marilyn Chambers was charged with soliciting prostitution and engaging in lewd conduct at The Mitchell Brothers. Coincidentally (Ha ha ha) the Board of Supervisors was soon to vote on an ordinance that would end the licensing of adult theaters. Four days after vice cops raided Mitchell Brothers, the Supervisors voted 8-3 to abolish license requirements for adult theaters and instead, require adult theater operators to acquire a permit (which is very different from a license) from the Fire Department. unlike the police codes specific and explicit regulations on "entertainment," the Fire Department's Place of Public Assembly Public Assembly Permit has no specific regulations about what an "entertainer" may do it mostly has regulations about how far apart the seats have to be and how wide the aisles should be, etc.

The police codes regulating the "entertainment" prohibit a number of activities. For example, Section 1060.9 of the police code states "No professional entertainer or employee may dance with any customer on the premises in any place of entertainment." When the Century opened in 1989, the ''Chronicle'' did a story on it and of the lap dancing part-owner James Caruba said, "Last time I looked, it was still legal." Where did he look? It seems the regulation of adult theaters hinges upon the owners relationship to vide police officers and the fire department. Fire fighters are given free admittance to Mitchell Brothers and we've all dealt with drooling uniformed policeman checking us out, not to mention undercovers propositioning loudly. I guess all this distresses me because I can get busted if the political climate changes, if I unwittingly say in dollars how much I want for doing a lap dance, if my pimps (the club owners) don't grease the right palms. They create the conditions we work under. They advertise, promote and profit off an activity that's most-likely-illegal, we could get arrested for- and that's fucked up.

Maybe lap dancing is quasi legal, but calling us independent contractors against the law. To determine whether or not a person is an independent contractor or an employee, California uses the "right to control" test. Every woman who is threatened termination if she doesn't work at Centerfolds has a winnable case before the labor commissioner because this coercion proves that she's treated as an employee and denied the bargaining power of an independent contractor. The contract we sign at the Cinema says the performers "markets his or herself as a professional entertainer, available to provide performances and does, in fact, provide performances at other locations without restriction, supervision, or control by the theater. Employers are warned not to destroy the independent contractor status ,"by exercising control over the means of accomplishing the work." "EMPLOYERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT DAMAGES AND PENALTIES CAN EXTEND TO TAX WITHHOLDING, UNEMPLOYMENT, INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS, WORKERS COMPNSATION CONTRIBUTIONS, OVERTIME, MINIMUM WAGE, ETC. " I, myself, could use two plus years of minimum wage and a refund for my stage fees, and a reimbursement for half the taxes I paid on my tips.

But I'm chicken. So I'll anonymously grip for a while longer until I win the lottery and can afford to legally challenge my indentured slavery from all the clubs in town. A new policy is that "showgirls" who are caught allowing men to touch them will be fined ten bucks per infraction. Okay--there is nothing worse than being exploited by somebody stupid--it sounds like a sure fire pimping and pandering bust--we can only hope.

<hr>

[[Image:Tours-labor.gif|link=TOM MOONEY]] [[TOM MOONEY| Continue Labor History Tour]]

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[[category:Women]] [[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:Labor]]

Attack on City College SF

2016-10-18T20:22:49Z

Roryc:

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Molly Hankwitz, September 24, 2013''

[[File:City_College_protest.jpg]]

'''Students and faculty members rallied at City College of San Francisco’s Ocean campus on Nov. 15 against the consolidation of diversity studies programs.'''
''Photo: Shane Menez''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''City College, long known for its diversity, activism, inclusiveness and reputation for quality low cost education fell victim to the widespread state mandated budget cuts of 2008. With an enrollment of 85,000 and a large well payed staff the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges forced CCSF to make cuts that the community saw as too drastic and unfair to a beloved city institution. Seen as more of a civil rights issue than an education topic, students, faculty and San Franciscans made their voices heard. '''
|}

'''WE, THE PEOPLE'''

The times they are a-changing. Assessment of City College of San Francisco's accreditation and threat of closure in July 2014 came as an unwarranted attack on the San Francisco community. The ACCJC marched in and took over. The move is still having repercussions as students, faculty and staff struggle to hold on to their college.

CCSF is a diverse, educated, inclusive, intellectual and progressive, nearly socialist, place where anyone can register, take a class; get a low-cost education. How is it possible, then, that CCSF is not meeting standards when it is so widely valued? What would closure do to the exceptional multicultural and educated workforce of SF? How has the College fought back and what is the educational responsibility of the State of California to poor and minority residents?

2008 budget cuts affected California's higher educational institutions through reduced enrollment and loss of services. They took a toll upon CCSF. Pressure on the school now to change its ways or close is harsh after the budget cuts.

Approximately 85,000 students are now currently enrolled at CCSF. It is a democratic institution working to deliver quality education and certification. Many of CCSFs best students are from under-served communities; newcomer, transitional, or older adult residents including indigenous, veterans, seniors, poor women, undocumented workers and newly arrived immigrants.

CCSF is also a robust employer, paying its faculty some of the highest salaries and benefits for public workers anywhere in the nation. State budget cuts affected the CCSF experience despite successful efforts to preserve faculty salaries and many student services. Now, the faculty's pay has been cut. CCSF wore the difficulties of budget cuts and now the ACCJC is being "tough." CCSF is being made to scramble, on its new budget, to fulfill requirements.

[[File:CCSF mission campus.JPG]]

'''Entrance with mosaic at CCSF's new Mission Campus building.'''
''Photo: Molly Hankwitz''

'''MORE CONTEXT'''

Judgments of CCSF may have appeared fair and rigorous due to the authority of the ACCJC and mainstream news reporting. It would all appear an assertive official effort to "clean up" a faltering and unworthy urban institution. But, it's easy these days to send morality plays through the news when education is being debated and reformed as hotly as it is in this country presently. "Crisis" makes for dramatic reading. More astute thinking, however, cannot separate one act of large-scale political indifference from another. These are divisive times politically. From the Tea Party forcing government shutdown to evictions and foreclosures plaguing neighbhorhoods. One must read the swashbuckling neo-liberal moves to destabilize cities, land, economies,and communities as having divisive and conservative ''similarities.''

For one, the CCSF attack is consistent with other backlash targeting minority and lower-income Americans. The Supreme Court's decision on the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Trayvon Martin verdict, the Tea Party's blockade of Obamacare, corporate and right-wing efforts to push in "states' rights", and the secret, nighttime addition (by Republicans) of limitations to birth control in health care are clear-cut efforts to curtail liberty and equity for all.

Poor countries have been strangled by destabilization. Economies have fallen to enforced "austerity" measures, heavily militarized police action, censorship and violence. Privatization of public assets, the pervasive argument that there is no money without corporate management, has proven extremely successful. In league with media outlets convincing the public that assets must be privately managed and controlled and other economic justifications is relatively simple. We have heard these arguments in K-12 public education, parks and recreation, public transportation and regarding the removal of community-governed farms, libraries and gardens. It started with Bush's "bail out" transaction paid from the tax-payer funded US Treasury and continues with the push towards privatization of higher education.

'''LAYING BLAME, TAKING ACTION'''

Interests behind frequently clandestine initiatives, like those used to discredit and restructure CCSF, must be profoundly resisted. Their work undermines progress towards a open, democratic civil society; above all our capacity for free thought and the right to self-representation of populations.

In a singularly well-worded lawsuit, City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera's office has proceeded against the ACCJC for “using the accreditation process to squelch debate with respect to education reform in Sacramento”.(LA Times,2013) Their move sheds light upon the agency's agenda for including CCSF in its already overly-punitive track record of punishing California's community colleges. This commendable insight into the political practices of the ACCJC across the state comes as some welcome relief to an else-wise silent or "on side" City Hall.

'''RESISTANCE, PROTESTS, SPEAK OUTS'''

Efforts to resist the attack in the community are vigorous. (See links below.) CCSF has been working to stay open despite the imposition of the ACCJC and its effects upon enrollment. Declining enrollment means more State funding lost. Loss of accreditation would only make that situation worse. This is how the ACCJC's attack is punitive and counter-productive to a school already beset with budget cuts. CCSF needs money to function at anywhere near its past or present level of good. It is being pushed down by the ACCJC. It has been undermined. One Trustee has been appointed to dictate. Held unduly responsible for the State's budget crisis, and the heavy-handed methods of the ACCJC, CCSF needs its students and its support to survive.

[[Image:CC is now open sign.JPG]]

'''Thousands are working to keep CCSF open.'''

''Photo: Molly Hankwitz''

'''MORALE KILLING'''

Ways in which the attack on CCSF has played out across the community, fall into camps belonging to the neo-liberalized, capitalist media "speak" which has assailed CCSF over and over as fiscally irresponsible and failing to maintain standards. Implications are that CCSF is behind the times, but this argument is transparent. It is an "old and new" argument, preparing for a future of "real" change designated from above, as it were, which will be more up to date. There is no mitigating circumstance or community voice. Public radio and the ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'',however, reliably left wing, promoted community voice, and published how elements of Obama administration rhetoric are to blame for the maneuvering around state and national education. (Bay Guardian editorial, 2013)

Measures to disrupt CCSF's community have hurt. Faculty received eleven percent pay cuts. This was to be prevented by Prop. A. San Franciscan voters wholeheartedly supported Prop. A. Long term teachers' course loads were reduced. Their classes have been renamed and syllabi handed over to younger colleagues with the excuse that attrition rates were at fault. These contract-breaking tactics hold faculty responsible. It is not the faculty's fault or that of a school under financial pressures from State bungling, that enrollment is in decline.

'''CONFUSION AND UNDERMINING'''

Threat of closure has felt like robbery, an out and out heist of a public asset by private sector interests, starting with the ACCJC. Ultimately, it's self-representation v. "top down" distanced management with an undisclosed and harmful agenda.

When locks were suddenly changed in classroom buildings without notifying Faculty and staff, the message was clear. The CCSF workforce had come and gone freely for years. In one case a native plant garden, carefully tended by a Native American gardener, was ordered removed to be replaced, the gardener was told, with less overtly cultural landscaping.

The disappearance of departmental chairs, faculty pay cuts, “downsizing“ of student services, and commercialization of the bookstore all happened so quickly, that there was little time to understand, except to understand. It has been as if CCSF is slated for intellectual demolition. Visions of the campuses falling silent dismay a public familiar with San Francisco land grabs and rapid gentrifying elements. The neo-liberal attack, even if the college stays open. It has already disturbed the coherence of the school.

CCSF is not only important to San Francisco but to the Bay Area. Radio talk shows about CCSF's accreditation have callers angry over the effects upon community. One ESL teacher from the East Bay ended a righteous rant about the war on minority students with, ”Oakland has no more adult public higher education.” It was chilling.

'''CIVIL RIGHTS AND EDUCATIONAL EQUITY ARE A NATIONAL ISSUE'''

National events in Washington, Florida and elsewhere this year have targeted the public sector, particularly, people of color and the poor. The New York Times reports that 1 in 5 children live in poverty in the United States. (NY Times, 10/1/2013) Income discrepencies show people of color significantly poorer and more unemployed overall than similarly aged white people; approximately 50% of people of color, both African American and Latino, to a mere nine percent of whites. These numbers lend backdrop to the climate of deprivation surrounding dis-accreditation and the threat to CCSF. The school has helped thousands of poorer and minority students, those most likely to use its services, to gain social and political ground through higher education. Where will these students go and what will their future prospects be in a system oppresses them further? Conservative attacks on affirmative action of the 90s have already shown how short sighted some can be when it comes to addressing equity. Is the tactic this time to bleed important institutions dry financially, then attack them further, and force them to close?

'''SERIES OF ATTACKS'''

Starting from the top, is the Supreme Court's decision to take down important parts of the 1965 Voters' Rights Act on the thinly laid argument that the racial discrimination leading to this seminal legislation is no longer operative. To be clear, the Voter's Rights Act is a piece of law protecting minorities from discrimination at the polls. Just as Roe v. Wade is a piece of law that enables women to lead their own lives with the right of privacy over their own bodies, the Voter Rights Act protects minority voters' rights to participate in elections. Yet within hours of the Court's decision, racially-divided states set about re-zoning voting districts and drawing boundaries which would substantially affect voter turnout in the future. It is an historic fact and feature of his election that President Obama won states where voter turn out for minority and poor populations was especially high. Has fear of the career success of President Obama helped turned the tables on civil rights from voting to higher education?

The not-guilty verdict in the Trayvon Martin shooting ricocheted across the nation. Fatal wounding of young people of color by those armed and sanctioned to use weapons is being legally protected by the judicial system. This sets a dangerous precedent and constitutes another link in a chain of racist backlash being glossed over in the mainstream media by such ideals as the “Martinizing” of the Obama presidency with its high profile marches on Washington in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. As Smiley and West have pointed out, sentimentality towards King does little but put frosting on a situation which King himself would have regarded as abhorrent---that is the trading of civil rights laws for ineffectual "feel good" histories as easily forgotten as they are enjoyed. President Obama, while he may be an advocate for affordable health care is no King after all. Martin Luther King was a pacifist, deeply against the Vietnam War, and an activist in that capacity.

What is real, however, is the shape-shifting of top courts and justices, legal maneuveuring legislating inequality, creating new laws around voters' rights, womens' rights, use of lethal weapons, the closing of borders, and the de-waging and under valuation of poor citizens on the basis of race, gender, and income. Where does this growing systemic inequality best take root? Arguably, in attacks on cultures of accessible, affordable education for all. It is here that populations stand to lose the most ground in terms of their access to opportunity, personal growth, prosperity and identity.

'''THE TOLL'''

Beleagurement of the other is but one pernicious outcome of chauvanistic ruling power. It is observed in the widespread modeling and adoption of “Stop and Frisk” police methods in New York and Oakland, in the problem of Oscar Grant's shooting death going all but excused, and of “inner city” hatred emerging as far back as the Nixon and Reagan administrations when many urban policing laws were put in place and more disenfranchised people started living in the street.

If you are a person of color and poor, today — even with a half Black president — you can be screwed out of your vote, stopped and frisked without a warrant, and are as likely in 2013 to be the target of police brutality or "acceptable levels" of violence from someone wearing a badge than you ever have been before.

Unfortunately, to my mind, the destruction of CCSF due to a financial explanation and showing little faith in its sustained purpose or public good, is a heartless account fitting right into the current, reactionary cycle of governmental shutdown/control and domination. Most importantly, the attack is a disavowal of the importance of political difference, as Herrera's lawsuit amplifies, of multiple cultures and expressions of culture which make San Francisco and the US, great. It is nearly tantamount, instead, to an act of blind, cultural warfare supported through the justifications of power in a manner similar to that described by Hardt and Negri as the growth of "just wars" under empire.

'''DOE'''

In 2009, the Department of Education swept the country with educational imperatives in hand. They held multiple public meetings on minority education in public and charter schools in numerous states including our own at the Main Library in Civic Center. In the Bay Area, attendees, including myself, heard from young Oakland activists of color about the state of Oakland's schools, which when moved from being public to Charter status under the DOE's plans for educational reform, frequently became more whitened and were no longer seen as serving or belonging to minority populations. The activists cited in particular the American Indian Middle School, which “went charter” and lost its community character. Actions such as the people's sit-in at Lakeview Elementary in Oakland 2012, underscore further, the degree of struggle being undertaken to protect public schools from outside "takeover". This is in the context, too, of neighborhoods being gentrified and of the extensive publicity of crime rates and participation in crime from Oakland's black youth. At the same time, it is very important to respond to the fact that if it had not been for the African American press, the Oscar Grant story would probably have disappeared altogether.

'''SUSTAINABILITY NOT GENTRIFICATION'''

In the modern history of the United States, the quality of life, and open, free-wheeling civic participation of community in city politics have been progressive values embodied by the city of San Francisco. Residents here, after all, helped to build a radical movement against the Vietnam War in the 1960s, against the invasion of the Gulf in the nineties and Iraq in the 2000s. We have been the first to implement many critical chapters in the history of womens' rights, gay rights, and AIDS research. Occupy SF was a vibrant and challenging chapter in the city's recent political history. Part of this progressive tradition has been the building of CCSF as a deeply engaged institution providing quality low-cost higher education to the lumpen mass without student loan debt.

[[Image:CC mural.JPG]]

'''Copernicus and the Aztecs as inspiration. Muralist: Emanuel Paniagua'''

''Photo: Molly Hankwitz''

The point here is to lay bare the consistency of neo-liberal attack strategies, the connection between depriving populations of public assets and other forms of oppression now emerging in the local and national political landscape. Above all, it is to point out the pointlessness of destroying something proven to be an effective resource beneficial to San Francisco residents--an sanctuary for the poor---when with a better set of ideas, it could be prevented.

All citizens deserve the right to higher education! What the responsibility of California's cities is to their populations under seige, regarding this issue in the future, remains to be seen. CCSF should be preserved as the amazing institution it is. It should be saved. It needs our support. It is our College! Our city!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

''The author wishes to thank Richard Baum for his camaraderie and factual assistance, and Walter Alter for his correspondence and research. She is the initiator of The City College of San Francisco Community History Project (continually being added to Found SF) and seeks to collect stories, photographs, and details about CCSF from the community of San Francisco. She is working on a video installation about City College and urban education for the masses for ATA's window gallery on Valencia Street. ''

''For more information, please contact: mollyhankwitz [at] gmail [dot] com''

----
Notes
/
[http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/city-college-of-san-francisco-loses-accreditation-faces-closure/Content?oid=2496026 City Attorney Files Suit]

[http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-sf-college-20130823,0,801093.story San Francisco sues Panel over City College Accreditation]

[http://www.saveourcitycollege.com/ Save Our City College]

Here's Real History in the Making: [http://mlyon01.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/heres-real-history-in-the-making-fighting-to-save-sf-city-college/ Fighting to Save City College]

[[Pan-American Unity | Diego Rivera mural at CCSF]]

[[category:Schools]] [[category:Dissent]] [[category:Immigration]] [[category:2010s]]
[[category:Mission]] [[category:OMI/Ingleside]] [[category:Murals]] [[category:African-American]]

AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE TENDERLOIN

2016-10-18T20:21:25Z

Roryc:

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Rob Waters and Wade Hudson''

[[Image:housing1$jones-st-.jpg]]

'''Jones between Golden Gate and McAllister, 1997.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''
{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''The Tenderloin as been a hub of activism since the 1950s and the need for affordable housing along with appropriate dispersing of resources for its residents has continued to be a main issue. With problems that every other major American city faces: jobs, housing, extreme poverty, the Tenderloin sees these problems personified in the faces of immigrants and locals alike trying to take advantage of limited state and government assistance through a number of charities and non profit organizations that have the will but lack the funds to achieve the way out of the constant cycle. '''
|}

Perhaps no corner in the Tenderloin better symbolizes what has--and has not--changed in this neighborhood over the past twenty years than Jones and Golden Gate. One side seems almost like a time capsule, the site of a an endlessly repeating ritual that's been acted out each day since St. Anthony's served its first meal in 1950. These days, the dining room's staff and volunteers are serving more meals than ever, nearly 2,000 hot lunches to some 1,200 people, most of them homeless or with incomes so low they can't afford their own food. They are people like Eugea Shaw, a 47-year-old African American who's lived or worked in the Tenderloin for nineteen years. Or "Granny Gear," as she gives her name, an unemployed former secretary and bartender who ate her first meal at St. Anthony's in 1970. Gear, 50 and nearly toothless, survives today on the $340 a month she gets from the city's General Assistance program and lives in a small hotel room. Lately, she says, she's been eating at St. Anthony's every day. "I don't have a refrigerator," she explains, "so it's hard for me to make my food stamps last."

Across the street, the building at 111 Jones, built and run by an arm of the Catholic Church known as Mercy Services, is also a sanctuary for the poor, but the feeling could not be more different. The tasteful construction and quiet ambiance creates a sense of peace and serenity for the 108 families lucky enough to live there. "When you come inside this building," says resident Kira Slobodnik, "you forget about everything outside." Slobodnik, 62, and her husband fled the growing anti-Semitism of her native Ukraine and came to San Francisco in 1992. A university graduate and former Russian teacher in Kiev, Slobodnik shares her home with other immigrants and refugees from Russia, China, or Vietnam, along with a few native-born Americans like long-time Tenderloin resident Joe Kaufman, a burly activist and poet who's been involved in community organizing campaigns since he moved to the Tenderloin in the late 1970s. More than 3,500 people applied to move into the building's 108 units before it opened in 1993. When a lottery was held to choose among the applicants, the Slobodniks and Kaufman hit their number. Eugea Upshaw, the regular diner and former employee of St. Anthony's Dining Room, did not.

The shifting fortunes of Kira Slobodnik, Joe Kaufman and Eugea Upshaw over the past twenty years illustrate the changes that have taken place in the Tenderloin and point up the challenges facing those who grapple with the seemingly intractable problems of poverty, housing and jobs in America today. Impassioned activists, long-time Tenderloin residents, newly arrived immigrants, and caring providers of social services have spent the last two decades struggling to improve the community and to make it a more livable place. Their work, which reached its peak of potency in the mid-1980s, prevented the neighborhood from being devoured by the forces of development and gentrification and preserved the Tenderloin as a low-income community.

But the limitations of their work are also clear. For every Kira Slobodnik and Joe Kaufman who managed to get a place in the sun in a building like 111 Jones, there are scores of Eugea Upshaws and Granny Gears who wait in soup lines for their meals and spend their nights in cheap welfare hotels or sleep in doorways on the street.

Tenderloin activists succeeded in awakening and mobilizing their community, but no neighborhood can make a revolution within its own borders. The Tenderloin, more than most neighborhoods, is buffeted by developments across the ocean and policy shifts across the country. Even the lucky lottery winners who got into the oasis at 111 Jones Street may find their new residence to be less stable than they might have thought.

One source of racial tension is visible at the corner of Golden Gate and Jones, where Granny Gear and Eugea Upshaw stand in line at St. Anthony's, across from the castle at 111 Jones. In many ways, that building, and the other nonprofit housing in the neighborhood, is a product of the community mobilization of the 1980s. Neighborhood activists put non-profit housing on the agenda as a way to house the Tenderloin's poor, and to ensure that they would continue to be able to live in their neighborhood. Yet few previous residents of the Tenderloin actually live in the 108 units at 111 Jones, and only three African-American families. The same is true of a new building developed by Network Ministries on Ellis Street.

The agencies that developed these buildings point out that because they were using government funds to buy the land and construct the buildings, they could not restrict the applicants to neighborhood residents, nor could they establish quotas to ensure that the racial breakdown of the building reflected that of the neighborhood. Their only option was to run a lottery, open to all who earned enough money to afford to pay the rents--around $375 for a one-bedroom apartment--but not so high as to be above federal definitions of low income. The result is a strange twist on gentrification: People who get General Assistance (locally-provided welfare for single people) can't afford to live there, but people getting higher federal disability benefits can.

These non-profit developers were faced with a decision: They could play by government rules and provide housing mostly for immigrants, most of whom who had not lived in the Tenderloin and had not been part of the neighborhood's struggles, or they could refuse and not build the housing at all. Given these choices, their decision is certainly defensible, but it plays into racial division and perpetuates troublesome notions about the deserving and the undeserving poor.

In the Tenderloin, Southeast Asian families with children are seen as deserving, and a number of agencies are working effectively on their behalf. The Bay Area Women's and Children's Center, for instance, has led the crucial and successful fight to establish a Tenderloin grade school, a campaign that received a great deal of favorable media attention. But efforts to start up a drop-in center for crack-addicted women with children, primarily African-Americans, has met with fierce opposition from other Tenderloin groups fearful that such a program would bring more drug addicts into the neighborhood.

At one time, such disputes would have been hashed out within the neighborhood. The Planning Coalition would have discussed it in a board meeting; the [[The Tenderloin|''Tenderloin Times'']] would have covered the debate in a story. But today, there is no community-wide forum, no group that can really perform the function of bringing neighborhood groups and people together to discuss ideas and conflicts. Instead, there is an increasing sense of competition and infighting among neighborhood organizations. But beyond the neighborhood's own mistakes and failings, it is suffering from forces that are way beyond its control.

''--Rob Waters and Wade Hudson '' (excerpted from "The Tenderloin: What Makes a Neighborhood" in ''Reclaiming San Francisco: History Politics and Culture'', City Lights Books 1998)

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[[category:housing]] [[category:gentrification]] [[category:homeless]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:TenderNob]] [[category:African-American]]

A VISIT TO THE BAY AREA IN 1835

2016-10-18T17:23:16Z

Roryc: abstract moved to below picture by Rory Coyne

''' "I was there..." '''

''by Richard Henry Dana''

[[Image:transit1$merchant-ship-photo.jpg]]

'''19th century merchant ship under sail.'''

''Photo: San Francisco Maritime Museum ''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''An excerpt from Richard Henry Dana’s work “Two Years Before The Mast.” in which the author describes his first experiences entering San Francisco bay as a sailor on the Boston trading rig Alert. Dana’s retelling of he and his crew’s arrival includes arriving with hopes to trade hide and tallow up and down the coast with the natives as well as his experiences and opinions regarding traders from “Russian America.” Dana’s account is a useful tool in grasping the ideas regarding the physical landscape of the area at the time as well as Northern California’s early potential as a center for trade and migration. '''
|}

''Richard Henry Dana (1815-1882) sailed into San Francisco Bay in December 1835. He was a sailor aboard the brig '''Alert''' which carried hide and tallow trade along the California Coast. The trading of animal hides and tallow (animal fat used to make candles, soap and lubricant) between the Indians and East Coast merchants was the dominant commercial activity along the California Coast from the 1820s to the 1840s. The '''Alert''' anchored in the bay for a three week period to gather supplies and to trade in hides as the missions of "San Jose, Santa Clara, and others, situated on large creeks or rivers which run into the bay, do a greater business in hides than any in California."

''After returning to his hometown, Boston, Dana wrote about his travel experiences in "Two Years Before the Mast," a book which encountered great success and is still in print today. In this excerpt, Dana remembers meeting the crew of a Russian vessel, which came down to San Francisco Bay from Russian California to gather supplies of tallow and grain. Among other things, he also recalls spending two long, rainy nights in an open boat gathering wood on an island he and his mates called Wood Island, an island known today as [[The Curious Ruins of Angel Island | Angel Island]]. The opening statement that Sir Francis Drake discovered the bay is erroneous and can be traced back to the common belief that San Francisco's Bay could be entered through Drakes Bay (the bay west of Point Reyes, discovered by Drake in 1579). The Bay of San Francisco was actually [[ The Discovery of San Francisco Bay (1542-1769) | first sighted]] by Europeans during a land expedition led by Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola in 1769.

''This excerpt is valuable for its description of the natural landscape and the commercial activity of the San Francisco Bay Area at that period in time. Particularly noteworthy are also Dana's prophetic comments regarding the future of the region as the great metropolis of California. In Dana's 1835 assessment: "If California ever becomes a prosperous country, this bay will be the centre of its prosperity."

'''Excerpt '''

Friday, December 4th, after a passage of twenty days, we arrived at the mouth of the bay of San Francisco.

Our place of destination had been Monterey, but as we were to the northward of it when the wind hauled a-head, we made a fair wind for San Francisco. This large bay, which lies in latitude 37 deg. 58', was discovered by Sir Francis Drake, and by him represented to be (as indeed it is) a magnificent bay, containing several good harbors, great depth of water, and surrounded by a fertile and finely wooded country. About thirty miles from the mouth of the bay, and on the south-east side, is a high point, upon which the presidio is built. Behind this, is the harbor in which trading vessels anchor, and near it, the mission of San Francisco, and a newly begun settlement, mostly of Yankee Californians, called [[Yerba Buena-Good Herb | Yerba Buena]], which promises well.

Here, at anchor, and the only vessel, was a brig under Russian colors, from Asitka, in Russian America, which had come down to winter, and to take in a supply of tallow and grain, great quantities of which latter article are raised in the missions at the head of the bay. The second day after our arrival, we went on board the brig, it being Sunday, as a matter of curiosity; and there was enough there to gratify it. Though no larger than the Pilgrim, she had five or six officers, and a crew of between twenty and thirty; and such a stupid and greasy-looking set, I certainly never saw before. Although it was quite comfortable weather, and we had nothing on but straw hats, shirts, and duck trowsers, and were barefooted, they had, every man of them, doublesoled boots, coming up to the knees, and well greased; thick woolen trowsers, frocks, waistcoats, pea-jackets, woolen caps, and everything in true Nova Zembla rig; and in the warmest days they made no change. The clothing of one of these men would weigh nearly as much as that of half our crew. They had brutish faces, looked like the antipodes of sailors, and apparently dealt in nothing but grease. They lived upon grease; eat it, drank it, slept in the midst of it, and their clothes were covered with it. To a Russian, grease is the greatest luxury. They looked with greedy eyes upon the tallow-bags as they were taken into the vessel, and, no doubt, would have eaten one up whole, had not the officer kept watch over it. The grease seemed actually coming through their pores, and out in their hair, and on their faces. It seems as if it were this saturation which makes them stand cold and rain so well. If they were to go into a warm climate, they would all die of the scurvy.

The vessel was no better than the crew. Everything was in the oldest and most inconvenient fashion possible; running trusses on the yards, and large hawser cables, coiled all over the decks, and served and parcelled in all directions. The topmasts, top-gallant masts and studding-sail booms were nearly black for want of scraping, and the decks would have turned the stomach of a man-of-war's-man. The galley was down in the forecastle; and there the crew lived, in the midst of the steam and grease of the cooking, in a place as hot as an oven, and as dirty as a piggy. Five minutes in the forecastle was enough for us, and we were glad to get into the open air. We made some trade with them, buying Indian curiosities, of which they had a great number; such as bead-work, feathers of birds, fur moccasins, etc. I purchased a large robe, made of the skins of some animals, dried and sewed nicely together, and covered all over on the outside with thick downy feathers, taken from the breasts of various birds, and arranged with their different colors, so as to make a brilliant show.

A few days after our arrival, the rainy season set in, and, for three weeks, it rained almost every hour, without cessation. This was bad for our trade, for the collecting of hides is managed differently in this port from what it is in any other on the coast. The mission of San Francisco near the anchorage, has no trade at all, but those of San Jose, Santa Clara, and others, situated on large creeks or rivers which run into the bay, and distant between fifteen and forty miles from the anchorage, do a greater business in hides than any in California. Large boats, manned by Indians, and capable of carrying nearly a thousand hides apiece, are attached to the missions, and sent down to the vessels with hides, to bring away goods in return. Some of the crews of the vessels are obliged to go and come in the boats, to look out for the hides and goods. These are favorite expeditions with the sailors, in fine weather; but now to be gone three or four days, in open boats, in constant rain, without any shelter, and with cold food, was hard service. Two of our men went up to Santa Clara in one of these boats, and were gone three days, during all which time they had a constant rain, and did not sleep a wink, but passed three long nights, walking fore and aft the boat, in the open air. When they got on board, they were completely exhausted, and took a watch below of twelve hours. All the hides, too, that came down in the boats, were soaked with water, and unfit to put below, so that we were obliged to trice them up to dry, in the intervals of sunshine or wind, upon all parts of the vessel. We got up tricing-lines from the jib-boom-end to each arm of the fore yard, and thence to the main and cross-jack yard-arms. Between the tops, too, and the mast-heads, from the fore to the main swifters, and thence to the mizen rigging, and in all directions athwartships, tricing-lines were run, and strung with hides. The head stays and guys, and the spritsail-yard, were lined, and, having still more, we got out the swinging booms, and strung them and the forward and after guys, with hides. The rail, fore and aft, the windlass, capstan, the sides of the ship, and every vacant place on deck, were covered with wet hides, on the least sign of an interval for drying. Our ship was nothing but a mass of hides, from the cat-harpins to the water's edge, and from the jib-boom-end to the taffrail.

One cold, rainy evening, about eight o'clock, I received orders to get ready to start for San Jose at four the next morning, in one of these Indian boats, with four days' provisions. I got my oil-cloth clothes, south-wester, and thick boots all ready, and turned into my hammock early, determined to get some sleep in advance, as the boat was to be alongside before daybreak. I slept on till all hands were called in the morning; for, fortunately for me, the Indians, intentionally, or from mistaking their orders, had gone off alone in the night, and were far out of sight. Thus I escaped three or four days of very uncomfortable service.

Four of our men, a few days afterwards, went up in one of the quarter-boats to Santa Clara, to carry the agent, and remained out all night in a drenching rain, in the small boat, where there was not room for them to turn round; the agent having gone up to the mission and left the men to their fate, making no provision for their accommodation, and not even sending them anything to eat. After this, they had to pull thirty miles, and when they got on board, were so stiff that they could not come up the gangway ladder. This filled up the measure of the agent's unpopularity, and never after this could he get anything done by any of the crew; and many a delay and vexation, and many a good ducking in the surf, did he get to pay up old scores, or "square the yards with the bloody quill-driver."

''--Richard Henry Dana'''

<hr>

[[Image:Tours-transit.gif|link= Shanghaiing]] [[Shanghaiing| Continue Transit History Tour]]

[[Key System and March of Progress |Prev. Document]] [[Pacific Mail Steampship Company |Next Document]]

[[category:Transit]] [[category:1823-1846]] [[category:Famous characters]]

The Heyday of Horsecars

2016-10-18T17:20:17Z

Roryc: Abstract added by Rory Coyne

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Foot-of-market-1907.jpg]]

'''In 1907 the horse was still a major part of the transportation picture, but the horsecars that dominated the 19th century were being replaced.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''
Public demand called for an end to walking through the dirt and mud of San Francisco’s early streets, thus, in the late 1840s the horsecar made its way out west after growing in popularity on the east coast. As one of the first forms of urban public transit the horsecars were quickly popular and could be seen all over the city by the 1860s. Along with changing the commute of many San Franciscans in the 1800s, it was a catalyst for many other social and economic changes of the time.'''
|}

After walking through the mud and sand of early San Francisco, locals were ready for other kinds of transportation. A brisk business began as soon as roads could be laid out, relying on horse-drawn omnibuses and hacks (stagecoaches and carriages). The breakthrough came quickly, when the horsecar made it to San Francisco after sweeping the market in eastern cities in the late 1840s.

Unlike the omnibus ride, the horsecar was smoother and went a reliable 6 mph on its steel rails, making regular stops and providing straps for standing passengers to hang on to. As the horsecar regularized urban inner city transit, it helped usher in zoned fare systems and ringing bells for passengers to signal a stop. Not that it was accepted without resistance. Interesting to note, during these days of challenging the dominance of the private automobile over urban space, how at a much earlier juncture in transportation evolution citizens fought the new-fangled horsecars too.

[[Image:Ferry-bldg-w-horse-drawn-omnibuses-1875.jpg]]

'''Horsecars line up at Ferry building in San Francisco, 1875.'''

''Photo: Bancroft Library''

In the 1956 book ''Trolley Car Treasury'', Frank Rowsome, Jr. describes the attitude that confronted the horsecar advocates:

<blockquote>“Iron-track cars were radically new and very probably dangerous to the established order. The metal strips in the streets would likely cause carriages to turn over. It was felt that property value along such streets would be injured, trade in stores would fall off, and car-riding would cause the lower social orders to become still more contentious.”</blockquote>

The horsecars gained acceptance pretty quickly though. It helped that local merchants usually had a big increase in trade after the start of a new horsecar line on the street in front of their establishments. Not that it was an altogether pleasing experience. The smell tended to stick in your mind. Rowsome describes a “special horsecar smell, blending the odors of smoky coal-oil lamps, sweating horses, and the pungency that came when the straw on the floor was dampened with many a dollop of tobacco juice.”

In San Francisco horsecar lines were crisscrossing the city by the 1860s. Here’s one of the first lines at Market and Post on its way to [[Woodward's Gardens, c. 1860s|Woodward’s Gardens]]:

[[Image:Woodwards-Gardens-no-14-horsecar-at-Post-and-Market-1860s.jpg]]

'''Horsecar #14 pauses at Post and Market on its way to Woodward's Gardens, c. 1860s.'''

''Photo: Bancroft Library''

In the 1880 Census there were 233,959 San Franciscans and an estimated 23,000 horses. Just a few years later the horsecar peaked in 1886 when there were 525 horse railways in 300 cities in the U.S. One hundred thousand horses provided the “horse power” to make those carriages go. By then, a generation had adapted to their use and urban development patterns had already begun to change. Instead of having to find housing in dark and dingy tenements next to a factory, a workman could commute 5 or more miles a day on a horsecar, which allowed a growing dispersion and separation of residential from commercial land uses.

But horses need fuel too. A typical streetcar horse ate 30 pounds of grain and hay a day, meaning in 1880 there was demand for about 350 tons a DAY of hay and feed. A booming business brought hay to San Francisco along Channel Street, not far from today's [[Pac Bell Ballpark|Willie Mays Field]]. Back in the 19th century [[Mission Creek|Mission Creek]] was a bustling industrial port handling tons of hay, lumber, and other goods every week.

[[Image:Annie-l-hay-scow.jpg]]

'''In the mid-1880s San Francisco needed 350 tons a day of hay and grain to feed its 23,000+ horses. Pictured here, the ''Annie L'', a scow schooner typical of the era.'''

''Photo: San Francisco National Maritime Museum, A12.5,017pl''

We can only imagine how bad it smelled. The Brannan Street Wharf was one of the outflow points for San Francisco’s raw sewage, much of which would wash back up Mission Creek and settle on the mudflats at low tide. Shit was a big problem in those days (it still is, we just don’t notice as much!).

How to manage all the horseshit falling on city streets and in the horsecar company stables? San Francisco was lucky since from the mid-1870s on as much horseshit as possible was deposited on the sand dunes that became Golden Gate Park. In eastern cities they had more of a problem with storing it until it could be carted off. A few companies tried to persuade neighbors that an enormous shit pile was not a hazard to public health but a benefit of fine germicidal properties. Snake oil came in a wide variety of forms in those days!

[[Image:Power-horse-grooming-system.jpg]]

'''Capitalist rationalization was applied to horse grooming in those early industrial days.'''

''Image: Bancroft Library''

According to Rowsome,

<blockquote>The most crucial decision was when to sell off horses in services. (The tannery or glue factory was only a last resort, and meant that someone had miscalculated; most ex-streetcar horses returned to farm life for their last few years.) Horsecar horses led highly regulated lives. They were stabled for nineteen or twenty hours a day, in stalls specified by industry standards as not less than 4 feet wide and 9 feet long. Their workdays were measured in miles, not hours (they were expected to make it 12-15 miles a day).</blockquote>

Like transit systems right up to the present day, social struggles erupted on the horsecars too. In an curious near-coincidence of dates, April 17, 1863 (43 years and a day before the great Quake and Fire of April 18, 1906) is the date [http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aaw/brown-charlotte-l Charlotte L. Brown] was ordered off an Omnibus Railroad car by the conductor because she wasn’t white.

The story is well-told in a new book [http://www.wherevertheresafight.com/excerpts/under_color_of_law_the_fight_for_racial_equality ''Wherever There’s a Fight'']:

<blockquote>Brown sued the company for two hundred dollars. In response to the lawsuit, Omnibus Railroad justified its conductor's action by arguing that racial segregation was necessary to protect white women and children who might be fearful of riding side by side with an African American, an argument that was commonly used to justify segregation. But in November 1863, a San Francisco superior court judge rejected this reasoning and awarded Brown damages of five cents (the streetcar fare) plus legal costs.</blockquote>

Her success in court, though, did not immediately translate into change. Within days of the judgment, another streetcar conductor forced Brown and her father from a car. The tenacious Brown brought another lawsuit. And in October 1864, District Court Judge C. C. Pratt ruled that San Francisco streetcar segregation was illegal. He stated:

<blockquote>''It has been already quite too long tolerated by the dominant race to see with indifference the negro or mulatto treated as a brute, insulted, wronged, enslaved, made to wear a yoke, to tremble before white men, to serve him as a tool, to hold property and life at his will, to surrender to him his intellect and conscience, and to seal his lips and belie his thought through dread of the white man's power.''</blockquote>

Unfortunately the local transit systems, often privately owned and quite local to a block or a few, continued to refuse service to African Americans. Three years later, in 1866, [[Mary_Ellen_Pleasant|Mary Ellen Pleasant]] filed another suit, this time against the North Beach Municipal Railroad. She, like Brown, was an independent African American woman, and determined to gain her rights; they were also both well known activists in the Abolition movement, Pleasant having been instrumental in establishing the west coast terminus of the Underground Railroad in the 1850s. She won her case and was awarded $500, though the award was overturned by a State Supreme Court appeal even while they affirmed the illegality of enforcing segregation on transit systems. It wasn’t until 1893 that the state of California passed a statewide prohibition on transit segregation.

The last horse-drawn streetcar in San Francisco rolled up Market Street in 1913, but mostly horsecars had been abandoned by the turn of the century. In San Francisco an aggressive capitalist consolidator and modernizer named Patrick Calhoun purchased every independent streetcar line in 1901 and merged them into his United Railroads. An early project was to make uniform the rolling stock and track gauges, which led to the abandonment of the last four miles of horsecars that had been the backbone of transportation just a generation earlier. The cars were already being sold in the mid-1890s to anyone who wanted one, $20 with seats, and $10 without. Famously a number of them ended up in the sand dunes near the beach just south of Golden Gate Park in an odd village that came to be known as [[CARVILLE:_Suburban_Bohemia_in_Fin_de_Siecle_San_Francisco|Carville by the Sea]].

[[Image:sunset$carville-resident.jpg]]

'''A resident of Carville.'''

''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco''

<hr>

[[Image:Tours-transit.gif|link=Harrison Street Industrial Corridor]] [[Harrison Street Industrial Corridor| Continue Transit History Tour]]

[[category:Transit]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:1880s]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:ecology]]

San Francisco's Victory Gardens

2016-10-18T17:16:09Z

Roryc:

''' Historical Essay '''

''by John Brucato''

[[Image:Sfcityhall garden.jpg]]

'''Victory Garden in front of City Hall, 1943''' ''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''
An excerpt from John Brucato’s memoir, "A Sicilian in America," where he describes his role in the birth of San Francisco’s “Victory Garden” movement during World War II. With food looked at as a weapon of war and the government telling the public to ration or grow their own food as to leave more opportunities to feed allies and troops, Brucato teamed with the local afternoon paper ''The San Francisco News'', to give San Franciscans an informed lesson on how to grow successful victory gardens for their families and neighborhoods. With the help of civic leaders, Brucato formed the San Francisco Victory Garden Council. With small gardens in backyards and large city funded projects scattered throughout San Francisco, Brucato’s brainchild flourished and was a model for cities across the nation.'''
|}

'''70,000 Victory Gardens'''

Commitment and civic involvement has had much meaning to me. To work without commitment renders no satisfaction or pride of achievement. Not to contribute to society is an ungrateful way to go through life.

I remember how important this thought meant to me during the period of World War II. Food was considered one of the most important weapons of war. There was a shortage of food nationwide. Everyone was on rations and conditions were not improving. We were not only feeding ourselves, but our allies as well.

In the winter of 1941, a series of articles appeared in the ''San Francisco News'', a then-prominent afternoon newspaper owned by the Scripps Howard newspaper empire. These articles appeared daily and concerned the growing of vegetables in your backyard or vacant lot. They were good articles, but the timing of their appearance was wrong. The stories advocated planting tomatoes, zucchini, stringbeans, and other warm weather crops that grew only during the summer months. It happened to be December.

This caught my immediate attention. How in Heaven's name can a responsible newspaper print such misinformation? I could have let it go and continued to take care of my winery business. I decided to call the city editor who turned out to be Charles Massey. I explained my feelings to him and he said, "Why don't you come in to see me so we can talk about it?" I accepted and was in his office at the old San Francisco News the following day.

Massey was rather impressed by our meeting, particularly with my knowledge and agricultural education and background. Charlie, as he was called, suggested that I write a series of articles on "Victory Gardens." To this, I replied, "Give me a few days and we go." The series was entitled, "A Victory Garden Guide for San Francisco." It ran for six consecutive days with the response so great that Charlie suggested I get together with Louise Weick, the garden editor. That's how it all started. As a result, a War Garden Committee was formed to publicize the raising of vegetables in San Francisco.

In the meantime, I continued my writings with another series of articles describing the problems facing farmers raising food for the war effort. It was entitled, "War Comes to the Farmlands," and ran for five consecutive days in the ''News''. These articles attracted wide attention and it did make it rather easy to form a good representative committee.

I heard from Clarence Lindner, publisher of the ''San Francisco Examiner''. He offered the resources of his newspaper and assigned his garden editor, Oliver Kehrlein, to work with me. That was great. My brothers encouraged me to get involved.

Frank Clarvoe, managing editor of the ''News'', called to say that the pages of his newspapers were available. His last words were, "Let's get going." I wanted a sponsor. I thought of Bill Carroll, the county agricultural commissioner, but he was too busy because he was shorthanded. It was suggested that perhaps the San Francisco Junior College, which had a horticultural division, could be of some help. This is where I met Harry Nelson, who was head of the horticultural division and had, at various times, written articles on growing vegetables at home. Harry and I hit it off immediately. We had much in common and spoke the same language - food.

Harry Nelson suggested that the president of San Francisco Junior College (later it became the City College of San Francisco), Archie Cloud, might be interested. In this respect, I believe I met one of the most fascinating and lovable persons ever. He was about six feet, six inches; I was five feet, eight inches. He had recently written a book telling how he stole the coveted axe from the Stanford University campus prior to the annual Big Game with the University of California at Berkeley. It became quite an issue between the two rival universities.

Dr. Cloud, without hesitation, agreed to sponsor the San Francisco Victory Garden Council. The headquarters was to be at the college and all the facilities, particularly the horticultural division with Harry Nelson, was to be at our disposal. He immediately named me chairman of the council.

We invited representatives of all the city's garden clubs, organizational service groups, labor groups, and any others willing to participate. At the meeting, they unanimously approved my chairmanship. We went to work and the garden editors were our outlets to reach the public.

Henry Budde, Sr., owner of the vast chain of neighborhood newspapers (later known as the ''San Francisco Progress''), became one of our biggest backers. He was also on the Park Commission, and his influence, political and otherwise, played a large part in the success of the program.

The general feeling was that raising vegetables in San Francisco was not feasible. There was too much fog, sand, the summers were too cool, and many other objections. That was the challenge.

Since it was wartime, we became a part of the Civilian Defense Program. In this respect, I was to become associated with the city's leading politicians, educators, bankers, socialites, and people who were the acknowledged leaders of the Bay Area communities. Mrs. Alfred Ghirardelli, representing the Red Cross, Mrs. Clarence Coonan from the American Women's Voluntary Service, and many others offered their services. They were Max Leonard, agricultural commissioner from San Mateo County, agricultural editors from Sunset Magazine, and legions of interested people from every walk of life who became part of my team.

While in the process of formation, I was faced with my first major problem. I was to speak before the Utile Dulce Club at the Palace Hotel and had never addressed a group of more than ten people before this lightning bolt struck. The president of this prominent club told me that there would be an attendance of about 150 members, all women and civic leaders. Needless to say, I spent a long, sleepless night trying to put my thoughts together. After a few brief announcements, I was introduced as the speaker of the day. The president, Hilda Richardson, noticed my nervousness and quietly whispered to me, "Mr. Brucato, you know your subject. Don't try to make a speech. Just talk to them about what you are trying to do." At any rate, I stood up and viewed the audience (it seemed like there was a million people out there), and looked at the chairperson who immediately smiled and said something like “Let them have it, John.”

I remember funbling a line or two. (I spoke from notes, but didn't dare look at them.) I suddenly found myself saying things that came clearly to me. By the time I finished my 40-minute talk, I began to feel like a veteran. Evidently, whatever I said was well-received, and I was invited to speak to four other groups.

We immediately set up goals. Harry Nelson trained a large number of City College instructors to go out into the neighborhoods to teach and advise homeowners on the same idea as the 12 Apostles spreading the faith. They concentrated on vacant lots. There were many during that period before San Francisco became a wall-to-wall community. We eventually had family gardens in Golden Gate Park, Laguna Honda, and at the Civic Center.

The first big project was Golden Gate Park where Julius Girod was the superintendent. With his advice and assistance we developed 400 plots of 20' x 20' gardens. One section was on Ninth Avenue and South Drive; the other at the entrance of Fourteenth Avenue and Main Drive. San Franciscans became excited. The 400 plots were assigned in three days to 400 families.

The Park Commission, thanks to Commissioner Harry Budde, Sr., provided the amateur gardeners with free water, fertilizers, insecticides, utensils, seeds, and many plants. It was a fun project which brought people together. They had common problems, vegetables that is, and many a long relationship resulted.

The American Women's Voluntary Service (AWVS), a group of volunteer women in uniforms involved in great depth with providing many wartime services, jumped into the program in a big way. We arranged with the city's Public Utilities Commission to turn over to the AWVS the vast 30-acre future reservoir site on O'Shaughnessy Boulevard and Portola Drive below Twin Peaks known as the Glen Park Reservoir Site.

Over 350 gardens blossomed in this area overlooking the city. It was rather a windy site; nevertheless, the vegetables flourished. As the food shortage became acute, more people turned to the land. They called it the' 'Backyard Revolution."

Our program became a model and was copied on a nationwide basis. The Department of Agriculture told us that we were the best organized county in the western states, and perhaps in the country. It was no time to rest on our laurels. On the contrary, we redoubled our efforts to do something bigger, better and unusual.

[[Image:Sunset%24sunset-victory-gardens-1943.jpg]]

'''Victory Gardens off 7th Avenue beneath Laguna Honda, 1943.'''

''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''

The Laguna Honda Project became the largest community-sponsored project in the state, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Laguna Honda was a county-operated hospital and contained a vast area of grassy, gentle slopes. The council secured from the city their approval to farm the two sides of this hospital complex on the Seventh Avenue slope and the Portola Avenue side. It was a gigantic undertaking and was successful because everyone helped. The city's park department plowed the land and agricultural experts set out the garden plots. Each plot contained 900 square feet, a rather sizable garden.

Lots were drawn and the first 400 families to qualify received a parcel of land, free and clean. We also provided picnic tables so that families, particularly on weekends, could farm their plots and enjoy a picnic lunch as though they had traveled many miles. It was one of the joyful aspects in our grim war for survival that seemed to be getting worse with each passing day.

The honorablejudge, William O'Brien, was our philosopher who added color to his project. As one of the gardeners put it, "He who has his fingers in the soil, is close to God."

Victory Gardeners exchanged their crops so that those who had too much of one vegetable traded with others who were short of that item and heavy in another. They also shared in the exchange of seeds, tools, and also, help.

One day, one of our Laguna Honda gardeners noted a white gopher or albino gopher enjoying one of his choice carrots. (Today, white gophers are a rarity.) I was advised by experts from the University of California that an albino gopher represents one in ten million gophers.

Art Caylor, a writer for the San Francisco News, and other columnists had a field day with the' 'Albino Gophers of Laguna Honda." Caylor visited the project to get a first-hand idea of what was going on. As a coincidence, one of the gardeners had just trapped a second albino gopher. Much to his delight, other gardeners told him that a total of four albino gophers had been caught. 'laking the University of California's figures of one albino to ten million, Caylor wrote the following in his column in the San Francisco News: "According to the learned projections of the university experts, there should be a total population of 48 million gophers." We sure had a lot of gophers to contend with and hoped that the remainder of the 48 million were very far away, like in Texas.

One of our big triumphs was the California State Garden Club Conference in San Francisco. The main order of business was the Victory Garden. Lo and behold, I was selected to chair the meeting at the Fairmont Hotel. There were 32 garden clubs involved, meaning that each group was scheduled to make a report. How do you control a meeting where there would be 32 reports to be made? And all by women? I called my brain trust together to discuss a possible solution.

The notice of this important conference received widespread publicity, particularly in the garden pages of all the local newspapers. Norvelle Gillespie, well-known garden editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, noted, "John Brucato is prepared to chair this meeting and is planning to see it through the weekend. John has stated that everyone will be given an opportunity to speak. Good luck, John."

The clubs' representatives were informed that each report would be limited to three minutes, which was to be controlled by a large-size hourglass. It was referred to as a three-minute egg timer. No one objected. It was to be quite an experiment. Some doubted the possibility of limiting a woman down to just three minutes. Well, everything turned out fine. No one lasted the full three minutes since many were able to complete their reports in just two minutes. Everyone was quite pleased and I received a standing ovation for my efforts. Although I was prepared to leave town in a hurry, I was sure relieved with the outcome.

The next project was to get special, reduced water rates for the Victory Gardeners. We had to go before the city's Public Utilities Commission, which was now headed by a tough general manager named Ed Cahill. He practically threw me out of his office when I proposed the special rates for the gardeners. I urged him to consider the important need for this assistance, but to no avail. I also curtly informed him that he would soon be able to get a bird's eye view of a thriving Victory Garden in the Civic Center just by looking out his window.

I went to see Henry Budde, who at that time was president of the Park Commission and hadjurisdiction of the Civic Center Park. He lost no time in the planting of a model garden. As a matter of fact, it was fully planted in three weeks. I was quite sure that Cahill must have seen this masterpiece each time he came to the window.

Several weeks went by and the best I got from Ed Cahill was that "he had the proposal under study." Having had some experience in city procedures, I figured that perhaps the decision would be made in six months, one year, or more. It seemed that we always came up with solutions when we hit a stone wall or a hardplace. The newspapers and radio stations were the answer. Editorials appeared in all the four dailies, the San Francisco Progress, neighborhood papers, and practically all of the radio stations. They all urged the need for reduced water rates in order to grow food for the war effort. This all happened in late November of 1942. As a typical politician susceptible to the spotlight, Ed Cahill and the Public Utilities Commission shined.

I was expecting a call from the city hall. Cahill invited me to his office, remarked how very much impressed he was with the success of the Victory Garden program, and offered his help. The following week, he presented a resolution to the PUC recommending their approval of the reduced rates for the Victory Gardens. After many flowery speeches by the commissioners, the water department was motivated to come up with a reduced rate that would be acceptable for all parties concerned.

The interesting part of this story was that I had taken a civil service examination and passed in the top position for superintendent of the water department's agricultural and land division. In other words, I had some apprehension as to my future status, whereas I was at this time actually engaged in a battle for the Victory Gardens. Cahill was to be my boss when I assumed my new position. (As it turned out, he and I became good friends.)

Our original goal of 60,000 Victory Gardens was almost an accomplishment. We were out to plant every square foot available. The program was now going full blast.

Experts from the colleges, farm advisors and farmers assisted in conducting neighborhood clinics, not only in the care and growing of vegetables, but in canning and preserving the surplus grown. Like "Schnozzle" Durante would have said, “Everyone was getting into the act."

The State Department of Agriculture issued a bulletin stating that the value of the vegetable crops grown in the San Francisco Victory Gardens was over $1,750,000. (There was no inflation in those days. That was real hard cash.) The city provided patrols to guard against sabotage or pilfering. The Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance containing heavy penalties to protect the city farmers from those who stole their produce.

Pest control teams were formed to assist gardeners with the ever-increasing problem of insect and plant disease control. The more we planted, the more the problem. The biggest of all seemed to be the garden snail.

The snail has an interesting history. Sometime in 1890, there was a French importer of snails in North Beach who supplied the many flourishing French and Italian restaurants with edible snails. The French called them escargot while the Italians referred to them as crastune. It seemed that one day, the good monsieur importer forgot to cover his six cases of snails, which just arrived from France. There was no doubt that there were hundreds of these luscious creatures in those crates. Seeing the light, they crawled out and disappeared into the sunset. Since that auspicious moment of freedom, the snails just spread out in every direction; first to the truck farms of the Bay Area, and eventually into every corner of our heavy producing agricultural state of California.

All kinds of controls were used. You might say that the controls were temporary with little success as to extermination. A snail lays a minimum of 300 eggs, which hatch and spread. They are quite prolific. Again, we called the brain trust together. What was the solution? There were no new answers. Being of Italian origin, a bolt of lightning struck me with such a suddenness that I wondered why we did not think of it before. I was sure that the California garden snail, being of French origin as previously stated, was edible. Many oldtimers in North Beach's Italian and French colonies assured me that the snails were just as good, if not better (because they were fresh), than the imports from the Mediterranean countries.

I talked to my father who was a retired importer from New York. He gave me the name of a reputable snail importer for the New York market and other areas where people of Latin backgrounds were his customers. We wrote a letter to the Anthony Puca Company, importers of snails and cipollini in New York City. Puca replied by stating that he certainly was interested inasmuch as there was a scarcity of crastune, because of the ongoing war which cut off his Mediterranean suppliers. He gave us packaging and shipping instructions.

There was widespread publicity as to this turn of events. The local press headlined, "Snails in Your Garden? Don't Worry. . . Eat 'Em!" People reacted by saying, " Oh, the slimy things." It had to be explained that the snail was a clean morsel of food. It only ate vegetation, unlike the crabs, lobsters, or other crustacean, which were actually' 'low down scavengers."

In conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce, we issued a bulletin with instructions on how to prepare the snails. This is how it appeared in our dailies:

"How to gather, cook and serve the common brown snail for human consumption," was the subject of a fine point list of instructions issued by the Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

'Snails are a delicacy that have been enjoyed by Orientals and people of mediterranean extraction for centuries,' the Chamber said in offering this list of suggestions.

1. Gather only live snails.

2. Place snails in covered containers allowing air. Put in either corn meal, bran or grated stale bread for the snails to eat. The 'feeding' or curing period requires fifteen days and then they are ready to boil alive.

3. Boil in water for ten minutes.

4. Change the water and boil another ten minutes, season and serve.

Thus, we added a new source of food, a plentiful source.

We never went into the snail business. The demand would have been to supply 5,000 pounds per week. The war came to an end and Antonio Puca resumed the importing of snails from France, Italy, Spain, Algeria, and other Mediterranean sources. We gradually expanded from food production to food conservation. The army was taking more and more food from every possible source in order to maintain a well-fed force. All of a sudden, another crisis hit the farmlands - a shortage of harvest labor.

A serious situation developed in the Colma, San Bruno, Daly City, and Half Moon Bay coastside areas. There were 4,600 acres of heavy intensive truck crops growing in this important vegetable area. (This took place before Henry Doelger and other developers pushed the growers out and raised houses and people instead.)

Vegetables were quickly maturing and decaying on the ground. Many farmers, unable to harvest their lettuce, cauliflower, artichokes, cabbage and other perishable crops, began to plow them under to at least get some fertilizer out of their efforts.

Max Leonard, agricultural commissioner of San Mateo County, called the matter to my attention. We publicized what was going on in hopes of getting volunteer harvest labor. Not everyone could work in the fields, especially doing stoop labor and under sometimes-unfavorable conditions. We were able to strike a good source of labor when we asked our Board of Supervisors to make it possible to release 200 prisoners at the San Bruno Prison, which was owned by San Francisco. The suggestion worked out exceedingly well. Under supervision and "on their honor," the prisoners went to work, were paid for their labor, and helped out in a big way. Since the army wanted the vegetables, they were asked and supplied some manpower as well.

The spirit of cooperation was everywhere. The vegetable crops were instantly saved, the farmers were happy, and the Victory Garden Council added one more notch to its long list of achievements. We had passed our goal of 60,000 Victory Gardens. Dr. Archie Cloud, using the facilities of the City College of San Francisco, conducted an intensive survey. His official figures documented that San Francisco had over 70,000 Victory Gardens.

Those closest to me in our program were active civic leaders and people who devoted a lot of their time and effort. This group remained with me and eventually became the executive committee when we founded the Farmers' Market the following year. The members of the original executive committee of the Victory Garden Council were:

• John G. Brucato, chairman (retired; manager, agricultural and land division, San Francisco Water Department) 
• Edgar Brownstone (past president, Polk-Van Ness Larkin Merchants Association) 
• Charles "Scotty" Butterworth (San Francisco Juvenile Court) 
• Dr. Archie Cloud (past president, City College of San Francisco) 
• Herbert Dalton (California Farm Bureau) 
• Philip Dindia (past president, Bernal Heights Association) 
• Ann Dippel, Jr. (past president, City and County Federation of Women's Clubs) 
• Frank Helbing, vice chairman (past president, San Francisco Apartment House Association) 
• Evelyn La Place (past president, Central Council of Civic Clubs) 
• Carroll Newburgh (past president, County Grand Jurors Association) 
• Russell Powell (past president, Parkside Improvement Club) 

When we practically reached the saturation point in the successful Victory Garden program, we were asked by the War Services Committee to see what could be done in the food conservation section. Thus, ended an interesting era that brought many people together in a common cause they called the "Backyard Revolution."

''--John Brucato, excerpted from his memoir "A Sicilian in America"'' (Green Hills Publishing Co, Millbrae, CA)

[[Image:Victory-garden-w-city-hall-aug-08 3695.jpg]]

'''[http://www.futurefarmers.com/victorygardens/what.html Victory Garden] in front of San Francisco City Hall, August 2008.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

''SF Victory Gardens was featured on Dec. 26, 2008 in an hour-long KPFA 'Full Circle' Radio piece. Produced and Co-Hosted by Ali Budner, the show examines the historical WWI and WWII Victory Garden programs, as well as San Francisco's contemporary Victory Garden program, [http://kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=30132 SF Victory Gardens].

''In the first half, Ali and her co-host discover Victory Gardens through a conversation with Victory Garden Historian Rose Hayden-Smith. In the second half, Ali speaks with SF Victory Gardeners Brooke Budner and Blair Randall.

[[Image:Victory-garden-aug-08-corn 3696.jpg]]

'''Corn flourishes in 6-month Victory Garden in front of City Hall, August 2008.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

<hr>

[[Image:Tours-food.gif|link=SF's Farmer's Market]] [[SF's Farmer's Market| Continue Food Tour]]

[[San Francisco's Community Gardens|Prev. Document]] [[Sewerage | Next Document]]

[[category:Ecology]] [[category:food]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:Civic Center]] [[category:Sunset]]

1984 War Chest Tours II

2016-10-18T17:12:59Z

Roryc: added abstract. Rory Coyne

''' "I was there..." '''

''by David Solnit''

[[Image:Die-In-Corporte-Warchest-Tour SF-March-1984-by-Keith-Holmes.jpg]]

''Photo by Keith Holmes''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''
A first had account from a participant in 1982 Warchest tour during Walter Mondale’s appearance at the Democratic National convention taking place at the Moscone Center. The Warchest Tours were a nonviolent protest movement directed towards corporations who funded the Democratic Party while also being involved in nuclear weapons research and military interventions around the world. With a month long campaign to clean up the streets aimed towards homeless people, punks, street performers and any other groups deemed not appropriate for a national focus during the convention, tensions were high downtown. David Solnit tells his story as a member of the Warchest Tour during the convention and what he and his colleagues faced because of their involvement. '''
|}

'''The form of a Warchest tour was taken from the [[Hall of Shame Tour 1982|"Hall of Shame" tours]] which were mobile protest tours that stopped at the corporations behind the nuclear industry in the spring of '82. They were organized by anarchists in the anti-nuclear power/weapons movement.'''

The Democrats had chosen San Francisco for their every-four-year National Convention in 1984. Walter Mondale was being nominated as Democratic Party presidential candidate a few blocks away at Moscone Convention Center, while hundreds of us were being arrested, dragged onto buses headed for jail and beaten in front of the Hall of Justice. A couple thousand of us had marched on the Hall of Justice after the police surrounded a Financial District street, arresting nearly a hundred people who were participating in the Democratic Warchest Tours. I was twenty years old, part of the collective that planned the Warchest Tours, and active in both the punk scene and the anti-nuclear direct-action movement.

The Warchest Tours were a roving guerrilla-theater nonviolent direct action that confronted the corporations that fund and control the Democratic Party and are involved in nuclear weapons and military intervention. The Warchest Tours attempted to tear off the democratic mask of U.S. elections and confront the destructive corporate power behind both political parties. While most of the left opposition in the Bay Area were either supporting the Democrats or keeping silent, 455 of us were arrested and many beaten by the San Francisco police under Mayor (now Senator) [[Mayor Dianne Feinstein|Dianne Feinstein]]. Mayor Feinstein and the S.F. Police waged a campaign of repression to clean up and assert control over the city for the Convention: attacking demonstrations; harassing homeless people, prostitutes, punks and people who live in their vehicles; attempting to close gay bathhouses; requiring permits for street musicians; and licensing many cabs in opposition to the [[THE MAYOR, THE CABBIES and the 84 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION |Taxi Drivers Alliance]]. A month before the convention an ad-hoc coalition of prostitutes, homeless people, cab drivers, street musicians and activists were clubbed off the steps of City Hall after a protest and press conference against the clampdown and clean-up.

18,000 politicians, delegates, and corporate leaders, thousands of cops, security forces, agents and spies, and 14,000 media personnel descended on San Francisco for the Convention. Documents obtained by the ACLU years later showed that police undercover agents had attended planning meetings for demonstrations during the Convention.

Much of the Bay Area left/progressive scene spent the Spring figuring out how to relate to the Convention. Among the result were events implicitly endorsing the Democrats: supporting Jesse Jackson's bid for Democratic presidential candidate or [[Central America 1988 |CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador)]] and the Nuclear Weapons Freeze's "Vote Peace '84" Rally.

Radical elements of the anti-nuclear movement, activist punks, a leftist cab driver, and people from the dormant anarchist scene formed a collective to plan actions during the Democratic Convention that would confront the destructive corporate power behind the Democrats' (and Republicans') mask of democracy. We produced an eight page handbook that included detailed research on the wretched pro-corporate, militarist records of the Democratic presidential hopefulls, including Jesse Jackson. It also detailed how the corporations "pull the strings" of the Democrats through contributions and closely interlocking leadership.

There was also a small squatter punk/anarchist scene that had taken over a vacant warehouse-- the old Hotel Owners Laundry Company Warehouse [[The Hotel Owners Laundry Company (HOLC) Squat: 1984 | (HOLC)]] at 935 Folsom-- and had thirty people living in it. The Warchest Tours created a vehicle for hundreds of young punks to collectively take their politics out of underground shows and into public space.

The Warchest Tours were also a living critique of the left's forms of protest: monitors controlling and moving people like cattle, tactical leaders with bullhorns repeating monotonous chants, and even anti-nuclear sit-down-and-wait -for-the police-to-arrest-you civil disobedience that felt too much on the terms of the police. The Warchest Tours Collective encouraged avoiding arrest, nonviolent direct action, guerrilla theater, creative protest and fun. We advertised "NO MONITORS," refused to ask or negotiate permission from the police, and chose not to pursue corporate media coverage. We planned three "Warchest Tours" during the Democratic Convention week.

The [[1984 War Chest Tours|first Warchest Tour]] began in the plaza of Bank of America world headquarters on the first day-- Monday-- of the Convention. Two hundred of us gathered and listened to one of the Warchest Tour collectives explain how the Democrats and B of A are involved with each other and B of A's investments in South Africa, Poland, etc. We then counted down "10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1!" and dropped to the ground screaming and writhing and then still. After a minute we got up crossed the street and gathered on the steps of Diamond Shamrock, producers of Agent Orange (used in the Vietnam War to defoliate Viet Nam and poison Vietnamese people and U.S. service people), the subject of a lawsuit by Agent Orange-sickened Vietnam Vets and major contributors to the Democrats. As the information about Diamond Shamrock was being read, a line of fifty helmeted, club-wielding riot cops marched up Kearny St. in front of us and before we realized it had surrounded the demonstration. The Police captain notified us with a bullhorn that we were under arrest for "felony conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor." With no way out, we sat down and chanted "democracy in action." A large crowd of financial district workers gathered. A group of people who had avoided being surrounded moved into the intersection of Kearny and California, counted down to ten, and died. They blocked a cable car and shut down traffic in the intersection. Moments later about a dozen large men in jeans, plaid shirts and baseball caps emerged from the crowd and began to grab those who had just died in, tackling and punching people who tried to get away. They were plainclothes cops who would continue to follow us through the week. It was clear from the felony charges, for which one can't as easily get out, that the local authorities wanted to keep us off the streets in jail during much of the week of the Convention. A movement lawyer, however, found a judge who signed an order releasing us on our "own recognizance." We were let out in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Most of the corporate media coverage of the Warchest Tour arrest called it a punk protest and described some people's "punk" appearance, but did not utter a word about our purpose of challenging the Democrats.

The second Warchest Tour was on Wednesday, July 18th. We decided to invite and speak to the media in the hope their presence would discourage the police from arresting us and in an effort to get our political point across, so we sent out a press release and made a statement before the Tour. The media showed up in force as did about 500 supporters, many who were upset about the arrest two days before. Most of the corporations we stopped at locked their doors when we neared. B of A world headquarters had a sign in its glass door saying "closed due to protest". On several occasions riot police tried to push us away from the corporations, but each time the media would rush to the front to film it, providing a safety buffer. No one was arrested that day.

On Thursday July 19th, the last day of the convention, we held the final Warchest Tour. It started at a [[PUNK ROCK |Rock Against Racism/Reagan concert]] on Mission St., near the Moscone Center protest Zone in the vacant lot that had once been low-income housing and later became Yerba Buena Center. The concert featured well-liked punk bands, including MDC (Millions of Dead Cops) and the Dead Kennedys. The Democratic Convention was held at Moscone Center and authorities set up a "free speech" area across a giant empty lot a stone's throw and a temporary tree-barrier away from the Convention. The tour left with four hundred people as the concert began. After tour stops at several corporations, we left the B of A world headquarters (closed for protest again) and headed up Kearny Street. A line of mounted police blocked the end of the sidewalk and street as another line of police blocked us from behind. More than half of the tour ran away through a parking lot or made it through police lines. The police continued to grab people in the area. A forty-year-old high school teacher was grabbed by four undercover police who twisted his arm back audibly breaking his elbow at two places. When he asked them to stop one cop called him a "sissy." A group of us who got away returned to the Concert, which had grown to about 2,000 people. The concert organizers let us on stage to tell people what had happened and we asked everyone there to join in marching on the Hall of Justice to demand the Warchest Tour arrestees' immediate release. When the concert concluded, the entire audience joined us, taking the streets and marching to the Hall of Justice. A satirical giant [[THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION COMES TO TOWN | Trojan donkey]] (which ate mock tax dollars and shat out weapons) on wheels joined the march. The police had closed off the streets in the area, shut down the nearby highway off ramp, and followed our march with a helicopter overhead. When we arrived yelling "set them free," there was an army of helmeted police with clubs spread shoulder to shoulder along the top steps of the Hall of Justice and in the street in front of us. The police declared us an "unlawful assembly," as they still do in San Francisco when they don't feel in control, and ordered us to disperse. Several hundred of us in the front sat down to both hold our ground and to de-escalate the imminent threat of police violence/riot. A line of police came from behind us and began to seal off the block. Most of the marchers quickly got behind the police line, while about two hundred people sat-in in the street in front of the Hall of Justice. The police and sheriffs moved in numerous buses and began to walk and drag onto them those of us seated, taking Polaroid mug shots on the way. Meanwhile mounted police were chasing and dispersing those who had gotten away and a gang of plainclothes cops were tackling and arresting people. Joren, a sixteen-year-old punk in my affinity group, was intentionally trampled by a mounted cop and received a fractured skull as she lay in the street. Another man I met in jail had been grabbed by plainclothes cops and his shoulder was raw from being dragged and his face was bruised from being slapped across the face with a gun. Walter Mondale, as expected, was being nominated Democratic Party presidential candidate. The nearly three hundred arrested were held in a temporary detention facility at Potrero Middle School.

[[Image:polbhem1$1984-hall-of-shame-map.jpg]]

[[Image:polbhem1$hall-of-shame-cover.jpg]]

'''Map and Cover of the 1984 Hall of Shame Nuclear Tour Guide.'''

<hr>

[[Image:Foundsf-anti-war-icon.gif|link=USS Missouri and San Francisco]] [[USS Missouri and San Francisco| Continue Anti-War Tour]]

<hr>

[[Image:Tours-dissent.gif|link=Central America 1988]] [[Central America 1988| Continue Dissent Tour]]

[[IS THIS AN OIL WAR? |Prev. Document]] [[Central America 1988 |Next Document]]

[[category:Dissent]] [[category:Downtown]] [[category:Power and Money]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:anti-war]]

Sutro Baths (ruins)

2016-10-18T17:05:45Z

Roryc:

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Annalee Newitz, excerpted from In Search of Adolph Sutro in the'' "San Francisco Bay Guardian"'', January 13, 1999.''

[[Image:Sutro Baths AAC-0236.jpg|720px|thumb]]

'''Sutro Baths, 1940s.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:The-Sutro-Baths-at-49th-Ave.-and-Point-Lobus-Lobos-Ave.-or-at-the-Cliff-House-in-1921.-Weidner,-photo.jpg]]

'''Sutro Baths, 1921.'''

''Photo: Jesse Brown Cook collection, [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf129005j4;developer=local;style=oac4;doc.view=items online archive of California] Weidner, photo. I0049475A''

[[Image:Sutro baths 5 1 1896.jpg]]

'''Sutro Baths, 1896.'''

''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''

[[Image:SUTRo-BaTHS.jpg]]

'''Interior of the Sutro Baths.'''

''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''

[[Image:Richmond$sutro-baths-exterior.jpg]]

'''Sutro Baths exterior, before 1906. Cliff House is in the background.'''

''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''

[[Image:Sutro-ruins-2013 1829.jpg]]

'''Sutro Ruins'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''
Built in 1896 by former mayor and eccentric mining tycoon Adolph Sutro, the Sutro Baths were a wonder of their time. The biggest indoor natatorium of its kind, the Baths used sea water from adjacent Ocean Beach to fill six saltwater pools, and featured one freshwater pool, hundreds of dressing rooms, slides, springboards, a large amphitheater, and later an ice rink. Sutro died while the Baths were successful, and the attraction continued in popularity until it fell into disuse during the hard economic times of the 1920s and 30s. Planned development along the oceanfront property and multiple fires meant the Baths’ demise in 1966. The Baths remain a centerpiece of the west side of the city’s history and its ruins are still explored by locals and tourists alike today.'''
|}

Following a steep dirt road down to the place that a faded sign refers to as Sutro's Baths, I became smitten by the idea of someone building a bath house so vast in what was at that time a relatively deserted part of the City. I couldn't wrap my mind around what the thing would have looked like. On a second visit, I brought my archaeologist friend Alison Boles along, and she immediately began sifting through the rubble, looking for layers. The more we found, the more information we wanted about what we saw: an intriguingly huge stone pool; a smaller oval pool; a decaying grand stairway of cement; twisted and rusted metal hooks all along the edges of the pool; an odd square room divided up into small cells; a tunnel blasted through the rocks which fills with water during high tide; and dozens of incomprehensible remains of wooden doors, water traps, and pipes that looked like something out of Terry Gilliam's industrial nightmare film ''Brazil''.

Sutro's Baths, as Alison and I discovered over several months of sporadic research, were in fact Adolph Sutro's idea of a solution to the industrial nightmare of late nineteenth century working life, corporate greed, and economic depression. But the history of his Baths is, ironically, the history of how San Francisco came to forget about one of its greatest benefactors and Progressives, a wealthy property owner whose successful mayoral campaign in 1894 nevertheless boasted the anti-big business slogan, "The Octopus Must Be Destroyed!" [[The Octopus and the Big Four|The Octopus]] as readers of turn-of-the-century San Francisco rabble-rouser and novelist Frank Norris already know, was populist shorthand for huge, monopolistic corporations like the Southern Pacific Railway (owned, in part, by magnates Leland Stanford and Mark Hopkins). One of Sutro's lifelong projects was defeating the monopoly that the Octopus-like Southern Pacific Railway held over U.S. railroad systems and the trains in San Francisco itself.

While the Octopus squeezed local businesses and raised fares, Sutro imagined that his Baths would do the opposite by providing the masses with healthy, safe, low-cost entertainment. Having already turned his home at [[The Mysterious Buried Statues of Sutro Park|Sutro Heights]] into a free public park, he believed that his Baths would continue a tradition of what he called in his will the public resort or park. When Sutro discovered that Southern Pacific wouldn't give SF train riders transfers--forcing them to pay two five-cent fares to cross the City and get to Sutro Heights--he built his own [[Public Transportation for Everyone|railway lines]] and public transportation and charged the flat five cent rate. Because a typical clerk in the 1890s made roughly twelve dollars a week, twenty cents just for a round-trip train ride was in fact rather pricey.

Like his Baths, however, Sutro's Railroads on Greenwich and Clement Streets are now long gone. These days, its hard to imagine someone spending their own money to build cheap transportation and entertainment for the masses. And there's no denying that the scope and complexity of the Baths were geared to masses. When they opened in April 1896, the three-acre Baths housed three restaurants; a museum; five large, salt-water bathing pools of varying temperatures which were filled and drained by the tides coming in through a tunnel hollowed out of the adjoining rocks (visitors today can walk inside this tunnel); a huge outdoor tidepool (the u-shaped contour of which you can still see, full of seawater and plants); bleachers to seat several thousand; a house band; and attractions such as the haunted swing and the panorama of the world.

Up to 25,000 bathers could fit into the Baths on a given day, and more than 1600 could be accommodated in the 517 private dressing rooms (conveniently, there were 40,000 towels available for rent). The entire establishment was constructed inside an enormous three-peaked glass enclosure. According to visitors' reports, a great deal of the structure was made from stained glass, and the baths below were frequently dappled with rainbow colors from the sun shining down through the roof. Sutro placed dozens of display cases full of his memorabilia from trips around the world--including, weirdly enough, a mummy--all throughout the halls to make his attraction educational too. The place almost sounds like a direct ancestor of the sumptuous discos and raves for which San Francisco is still famous.

[[Image:Sutro-Baths-vestibule.jpg|720px]]

'''Sutro Baths vestibule.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

Although the Baths were wildly popular for the last months of Adolph Sutro's life in 1898, they fell into disuse during the twenties and Depression-plagued thirties. Landscape architect Elliott Insley writes that by 1937, income from the Baths was so minimal that Sutro's grandson converted the largest swim tank into an ice rink; a later owner removed all the swim tanks to make way for one giant ice rink and museum. Then, inevitably, the historic structure was threatened by condos. Robert Fraser bought the decayed ice rink in 1964 and planned to raze it so he could build some seaside properties. The last remnants of the Baths were finally destroyed by arson as Fraser was demolishing them in 1966 (hence the melted look of some of the steel and glass fragments you can find near the tanks). Luckily, the condos never materialized, and the National Park Service bought the beach and Bath ruins in 1980. Although the Baths today are dotted with a few danger signs, nothing has been done to change them since that time. What remains are some large tanks, a battered chunk of the pump house (this is the square structure divided into several small cells), the tunnel mechanism which allowed the tides to fill and empty the swimming pools, and outlines of the bleachers and grand entrance stair. People are allowed to climb all over the crumbling stones unhindered, which has unfortunately led to some vandalism.

----
''by Dr. Weirde''

Next to the [[C L I F F H O U S E | Cliff House]] at Great Highway and Point Lobos. The baths, built by legendary local weirdo [[Adolph Sutro |Adolph Sutro]] must have been a sight to behold: six huge indoor pools filled with ocean-water, surrounded by seats for 7,000 spectators. The baths were replete with statuary and plant conservatories featuring palms and real Egyptian relics, like something out of Norma Desmond's wettest dream. The baths also housed several restaurants, a museum, trapezes, and water-slides. But like so many of San Francisco's magnificently weird landmarks --- [[Fleischacker Pool 1925-84|Fleishacker Pool]], [[Playland|Playland at the Beach]], the Fox Theater--the Sutro Baths were too good to last. By the 1950's, the baths were no longer profitable; they were finally turned into an ice-skating rink. But even that lost money, and by 1966 the owners were about to go bankrupt.

On June 26th, 1966, just as a wrecking ball was poised to begin smashing in the walls of the legendary Baths (and two weeks before the bankruptcy that would have ruined the owners) a mysterious fire broke out and burned the whole place to the ground. It turned out that the building was heavily insured; the owners collected their massive settlement and quickly left town, leaving many suspicions but no tangible evidence of fraud and arson. The ruins of the baths still linger as one of the most mysterious sites of San Francisco.

Beneath the ruins of the Sutro Baths winds an elaborate labyrinth of caverns and tunnels. Over the years, a few intrepid explorers have ventured into these mysterious passages; whether all have ventured back out into the light of day is another question. Many wild rumors have circulated in San Francisco's occult underworld concerning the nature of the creature(s) beneath the Sutro Baths. LaVey has expressed the opinion that the creatures are like unto the entities which populate the tales of H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft, a member of America's unholy trinity of great horror writers (the other two are Poe and San Francisco's own Ambrose Bierce), wrote about mysterious, malignant entities that enter our world by way of mysterious "doorways" to other dimensions. According to Lovecraft, spells of black magic, like those in the legendary Necronomicon of the Mad Arab Abdul Alhazred, may be used to summon these creatures.

[[Image:Sutro-Baths-c-1900s.jpg|720px|thumb]]

<hr>

[[Image:Tours-shoreline.gif|link=The Tide's Weird Music]] [[The Tide's Weird Music| Continue Shoreline Tour]]

[[The Gizmo that Revolutionized Western Art |Prev. Document]] [[The Mysterious Buried Statues of Sutro Park |Next Document]]

[[category:Richmond District]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1910s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1960s]]

The GARTLAND FIRE!

2016-10-18T16:36:35Z

Roryc:

[[Image:06.gif|64px|left]] [[Image:Bending-over-backwards-icon.jpg|100px|right]] '''Listen to an audio description of the Gartland Hotel fire and displacement in the 1970s, part of the "Bending Over Backwards" walking tour:'''

<iframe src="http://archive.org/embed/Stop616th.AndHoff" width="500" height="30" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[http://archive.org/download/Stop616th.AndHoff/Stop%206-%2016th.%20and%20Hoff.mp3 mp3]

''voice: Patrick Simms''

[[Harrison Street from Dunes to Trains|Back to First Stop on "Bending Over Backwards" tour]]

<hr>

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Brian Doohan, from his 1981 pamphlet, '''Fire and Gold'''''

[[Image:Gartland-apts-1958.jpg]]

'''Gartland Apartments, Valencia and 16th Street, 1958. Burned by landlord arson, 1975.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.''

[[Image:View E on 16th Street toward Valencia 1918 AAB-5926.jpg]]

'''The same corner in 1918. Note the canvas-topped autos, women's long skirts and boys' knickers, popular in those days.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library, AAB-5926''

[[Image:Shaping-SF Valencia-16th-kathleen yago 2013.jpg]]

'''Intersection of 16th and Valencia as it looks in 2013.'''

''Photo: Kathleen Yago''

[[Image:Gartland-fire-pit041.jpg]]

'''The Gartland Pit [[Urbanrats|garnished]] with the proverbial "writing on the wall."'''

''Photo: Susan Greene''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" | '''On December 12, 1975, the Gartland apartments at the intersection of Valencia and 16th erupted in flames causing 12 deaths in the worst case of arson fatalities in the city since 1944. In a time of relative optimism following George Moscone’s narrow mayoral race victory things looked good locally, but all that optimism went up in flames on that December morning at the already condemned Gartland Apartments, leading to years of speculation concerning a trend of the times of developer corruption and an aging landlady with a sketchy history. Survivors and the media were outraged and the case went to trial with no conviction.'''
|}

Shortly after three the morning of December 12, 1975, a person or persons unknown entered the [[Slumlords and Terror|Gartland apartments]] at 495 Valencia Street near 16th, mounted five flights of stairs and poured gasoline across the landing. Trailing a stream of deadly petrochemicals, they retreated down again and, at the bottom of the steps, a match was struck. The arsonist sauntered out the front door.

At 3:43 AM, the Gartland burned.

Two weeks before Christmas ten years ago, the City seemed a better place for low and middle income renters. A few hours before the fire, George Moscone had won a runoff victory over realtor John Barbagelata, becoming San Francisco's thirty-seventh mayor. In a deepening climate of racial, economic and geographic polarization, Moscone's 90% margin in parts of the Fillmore, Hunters Point and Bayview had overcome his challenger's 70% tally in many southern and western precincts. Watching from the sidelines was then-supervisor Dianne Feinstein, who had trailed badly in the first election and, in the opinion of political observers, was considering a career in the private sector.

[[Image:housing1$gartland-grafitti-n-billboard.jpg|left|260px|thumb|Photo: Susan Greene]] Developers, who had turned to Barbagelata after Feinstein's stumble were, by 3:43, sleeping the sleep of the dead as were the victors, fresh new faces such as Moscone-backer Alan Wofsy and the new mayor's law partner, Charles O. Morgan. And while the movers and shakers dreamt of castles, sugarplums and HUD block grants and losers schemed of campaigns yet to come... Herb Caen would be touting mayors-in-waiting Keven Starr and Fred Furth within the week... ordinary people dreamed their dreams of jobs and families and maybe better times to come in a nation moving slowly out of the corrosive stench of Watergate and still-smoldering hell of Vietnam.

Good Gerald Ford lacked some of JFK's charisma and the tortured majesty of Lincoln, but he wasn't Nixon either. Two assassinettes had missed the lucky President. Trails were in progress. And F. Lee Bailey, lawyer for the Hearst pup who had robbed her daddy's rival's bank explained the violence and cynicism in his proud exterminator's logic, sweeping the decade and its corruptions into the dust like so many dead cockroaches.

Physical coercion, Bailey thundered. Threat and fear of death. That will be our defense to the robbery of the Hibernia Bank.

And at the Golden Gate, Clint Eastwood was serving up a double dose of threat and fear in Magnum Force and Dirty Harry while at the Roxie, diagonal to the Gartland, Anna Karenina by the Bolshoi delighted the eggheads (no subtitles!). And there were Russians coming in the flesh... gymnasts Olga Korbut and her crew. Detente!

The first place Warriors, behind Jamaal Wilkes and Rick Barry had trounced Portland to move a game up on the hated Lakers. Hamburger on sale for $.69 a pound.

Good times.

And sparkling new studios at the Fox Plaza rented for under two hundred dollars. A three bedroom flat in Pacific Heights would set you back a princely $425, but at least they threw in a living AND a dining room. And for the less wealthy there were places like the Gartland... $115 up studio. Fun clientele. 495 Valencia Street. (SF Chron, 12/10/75)

Barbara Davis, part of that fun clientele, had had some trouble sleeping Thursday night and sat up into Friday morning in the kitchen, smoking cigarettes and pondering the funny ways of life. With an infant in the house, one adjusts to inconsistent hours. That inconsistency would save both their lives.

"I saw black smoke coming through the front door," she told reporters hours later. "There was a fire. I figured we wouldn't be able to make it out.

"I grabbed the baby and then I picked up the radio. I don't know why."

"Those lucky enough to rise made for their doors, windows, ultimately the roof. We watched the living room burn up around us while we waited for the firemen," said one survivor, Randy Bates.

Rodney Hilton watched the burning from the Valencia Hotel across the street. Gertrude McGrath waited at her fourth floor corner window for help that never arrived. "The flames just shot into her room," Hilton said, "and I didn't see her anymore. She just burst into flames."

The Gartland's sole fire escape fronted a common hallway, in which vicinity the gasoline had been ignited and the flames were at their fiercest.

Lieutenant Sylvester Moon Cutter, transferred from his usual position at the Stonestown fire station due to a manpower shortage, finished the last shift of his career before retirement in the hospital, face and hands hideously burned. In all, eleven firemen and three residents would be injured by the fire. Twelve would die... officially... seven women, four men and 21 month old Christopher Lee.

It would be the worst incineration in the city since twenty two pensioners burned to cinders at the Thomas Hotel, 971 Mission, on January 6, 1971... the worst confirmed arson murder since twenty two predominantly elderly tenants perished on March 28, 1944 at the New Amsterdam Hotel, 273 Fourth Street.

Throughout the morning and into Friday afternoon, the ruins were exhumed. A temporary morgue was established on the sidewalk fronting the Wells Fargo Bank across 16th Street.

It may have been murder, Baron Muller suggested in the ''Examiner. ''

Soon, the papers had a suspect and a motive. '''Hate Filled Man Sought In Blaze!''' they screamed, citing a police inspector, one Ernest Capper, who on further reading, hadn't exactly found the perpetrator, or even arrested suspects. No, Capper had been merely theorizing that a deranged arsonist seething with spite and blind hate either had a key or was let into the building.

And if this did not exactly assuage the expectations of the readers, it did shed some faint light on the Gartland's security, one of many problems that beset its fun clientele.

As it would turn out, a minimum of twelve apartments were officially vacant. Not a few Gartland keys were afloat in the neighborhood and then, as now, transients, former tenants and people with no money for rent but with a buddy who knew someone with a key. And whether they hated (blind or not), or merely slept, the Gartland's blazing harvest was conservatively accounted. Raised to an unofficial minimum of fourteen, local estimates averaged at least ten more.

The survivors called for justice.

"How else could it happen?" declared Harry Nanos, owner of the Sanitary market on the ground floor. "Arsonists? Hang them!"

The owner of the Gartland was one Beatrice Presant, a resident of Ingleside who had purchased the building in 1958 from Northern Counties Title Co., successor to the firm of DLZ Realty, one of many corporate entities fashioned by Gerald Dowd, David Levy and Arthur Zanello. A piddling landlady, by San Francisco standards, Presant was experiencing some financial stress attributable, after a which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg-fashion to vacancies in the Gartland and her other properties; 441 Ellis, 110 Frederick, and 1860 Jackson.

Presant's troubled empire was the subject of an October, 1973 article in the North Mission News, detailing a history of bills unpaid, properties condemned and fires. Most significantly, the Gartland had been condemned for over two years since a fire on September 23, 1973. Fires in 1975 alone had occurred on January 28, February 23, August 14 and 19 and September 27.

The first issue of that periodical stated:

Following an inspection on January 18, 1972, the Gartland was cited for 38 code violations, including a lack of sprinklers in the basement and hazardous wiring. On September 29th, 1972, the Department of Public Works (DPW) issued a report outlining these violations... In August of 1975, the City Attorney moved to advance the matter to court, and in November a trial date was set for January 26, 1976.

Violations at the Gartland at the time of the fire included missing fire hoses and extinguishers, no fire alarm system and at least 19 code offenses. In all, twenty fires occurred in Presant buildings in the two years before the fire.

Only one property owned by Presant's Summit Realty escaped the cycle of neglect, 895 O'Farrell, which benefitted from a stable tenancy. . . the Mitchell Brothers' Theatre.

Weighed against this history was Beatrice Presant herself, a widow, seriously injured in a fall several years earlier and confined to a wheelchair. Even as Mayor-elect Moscone made a graveside plea for an investigation, her attorney Charles O. Morgan set into being a campaign to whitewash Presant as a confused and pitiable victim of circumstances.

Presant was never indicted, convicted, or even called to account by the daily media. By the time Morgan had worked his magic, one would almost want to sent a Christmas basket to the poor old landlady.

Yes, that Charles O. Morgan. [[Mayor George Moscone|Mayor Moscone]]'s partner.

[[Image:housing1$gartland-pit-memorial.jpg|720px]]

'''The [[Urbanrats|Gartland Pit]] in the Mission.'''

''Photo: Susan Greene''

[[The Hotel Owners Laundry Company (HOLC) Squat: 1984 | Prev. Document]] [[A FORCED MARCH TO NOWHERE | Next Document]]

[[category:housing]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:gentrification]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:crime]] [[category:real estate]]

File:Housing1$homeless-sofa.jpg

2016-10-18T04:00:47Z

Roryc: Roryc uploaded a new version of File:Housing1$homeless-sofa.jpg

Laguna Honda Hospital

2016-10-05T20:25:12Z

Roryc: changed credit '''East at Laguna Honda Blvd. and Dewey Blvd. with Laguna Honda Hospital on hill above, Feb. 23, 1936.''' photo which came from CR collection

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Dr. Victoria Sweet, excerpted with permission from ''God's Hotel: A Doctor, A Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine

[[Image:East-at-Laguna-Honda-and-Dewey-Blvd-w-Laguna-Honda-Hospital-Feb-230-1936-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''East at Laguna Honda Blvd. and Dewey Blvd. with Laguna Honda Hospital on hill above, Feb. 23, 1936.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

I was just starting to write ''God’s Hotel'' when workmen began demolishing the century-old Clarendon Hall.

They started with its west and south wings, harvesting windows and window frames, faucets and sinks; then they moved to the East Wing. They took Clarendon Hall apart the way termites take things apart, leaving the outside intact until the end. Then they disconnected the water, gas, and electricity. It reminded me of what happens when a patient is declared brain-dead: The healthy organs are harvested, then the oxygen is disconnected, the IV taken out, and the EKG turned off. After that, the workmen began on the outside, taking away copper pipe and clay tiles, sculptural elements, landscape. Finally Clarendon Hall was ready.

[[Image:Almshouse 10in 1890s wnp15.jpg]]

'''The old Almshouse that was replaced by Laguna Honda Hospital, seen here c. 1890.'''

''Photo: Private collector and [http://openhistorysf.org openhistorysf.org]''

[[Image:Alms-house-1890s.jpg]]

'''Alms House, 1890s.'''

''Photo: courtesy Victoria Sweet''

Since I'd missed the barbecue for the blowing-up of the bridge that once connected Clarendon to the main building, I made sure to be present for its demolition. When the day came, I walked over. From the outside, the building still looked as elegant as ever, an Edwardian one hundred years old.

With a few others, I stood behind the wire fence and watched. The greenery around the building had been taken away; and in the dirt that remained was a machine that looked like a praying mantis made out of metal. It lumbered with neck jutting out and jaws open until it came to a corner of the building. It stopped, took a bite out of the tiled roof, tore a piece off with a little jerk, and threw it on the ground. Then it lumbered to its next position, took another bite, and threw the next piece on the ground. It went all round the building like this, and the insides of Clarendon were gradually exposed. It was a tough old building, though, and pieces of cement and old steel rebar stuck out of its walls for quite a while. But bit by bit it diminished. By the end of the day; Clarendon Hall was rubble; by the next week, the rubble had been cleared, the foundation filled in, and the ground made ready for whatever would come next.

Two weeks later, Sister Miriam resigned. She did not go gentle into her good night, however. Instead, she wrote an article for the local newspaper about how it broke her heart to say good-bye to the beautiful spirit of Clarendon. It was a symbol of the unique and warm atmosphere of Laguna Honda that for so long had served the city's most vulnerable population, she wrote. And she warned: Draconian cuts were being made to the hospital, though oh-so-quietly. The number of patients had already been cut by a third; the hospice chaplain laid off; the day program terminated—all due to the "budget crisis." Yet there was still enough money to hire Wide Angle Communications—the mayor's communication consultant—to support "the hospital's journey from institution to community." Citizens should keep a close eye on what was going on at Laguna Honda, she ended.

In addition to her article, Sister Miriam nominated her successor, Sister Margaret. In appearance, Sister Margaret was as different from Sister Miriam as she could be. Black skin, black hair, dark eyes, lilting Jamaican accent, small blue and white veil perched modestly on her head. But in temperament, they were just alike, as administration would soon discover.

[[Image:Laguna-Honda-old-front-1060759.jpg]]

'''Front of Laguna Honda hospital, February 2016.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Laguna Honda front 1926 AAD-0129.jpg]]

'''Same facade, 1926.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

Meanwhile, Mr. Conley was working on next year's budget. It would be different from any other budget the hospital had ever had, he thought, because, with the next year's move to the new facility; it would have to fund both new and old hospitals at the same time. He was wrong about the move, but right about the budget. It would be different from any other budget the hospital had ever had because, for the first time, the budget would be cut.

Now a budget crisis came every year and had a pattern. It would begin with terrifying predictions of immense deficits, which would increase as the unions negotiated their contracts and politicians jockeyed for staff. There would be demonstrations against proposed cuts, and a deeper projected deficit would be announced, followed by pleading and compromise. Then, along about May, there would be the stunning discovery of millions of dollars of revenue that the controller had somehow overlooked, with reconciliation, smiles, and a budget bigger than the year before.

But this year the budget crisis was different. Times were, in fact, bad. People would, in fact, be laid off, and public health services would, in fact, be cut. The only question was: Which ones?

The medical department was in a particularly bad position. Dr. Stein did not like us and would not save us from any cuts. Dr. Dan had already laid off the night and weekend doctors, and we had no administrative staff whose positions he could merge and rename. Plus, in preparation for the move, the number of our patients was going to be decreased by 20 percent. So it was hard for Dr. Dan to get around the fact that he would have to cut his doctors by that same amount.

Except that the doctors did generate revenue when we saw patients and Dr. Dan reasoned that if he could show Mr. Conley that the medical department paid for itself, at least partially, it would decrease the number of doctors he would have to lay of£ So Dr. Dan began collecting data on each physician's services. Since this was not on any computer, it meant that he had to go around to every ward and look at every chart, and keep an account of what each of his doctors produced. Soon his "Productivity Reports" began to appear in our wooden mailboxes, proving how much we earned every month for the city, in theory. Although not in practice, because the billing department had no idea how much it billed for our services or any other services, nor how much it received. However, according to his accounting, the medical department earned one-half of its budget, and Dr. Dan hoped for a happy result to his efforts.

Which made me conclude that Dr. Dan was a closet idealist. Because his figures did not matter to Mr. Conley, and Dr. Dan still had to cut five physicians from his budget.

Whom would he cut? What criteria would he use? Dr. Dan spent a weekend reflecting. He would use seniority, he decided, but not mainly; he wanted young blood as well as old, energy as well as experience. He would look at board certification, comfort in doing procedures, willingness to work full-time, and other unspecified characteristics. He sketched out a form, printed it out, and called a meeting of the medical staff.

It was a short meeting. Dr. Dan explained the budget problem and handed out his forms. We looked at them. Were they mandatory?

No, they were voluntary. Although it would be easier for him to make his decision if everyone filled out a form. If someone didn't fill out a form—well, he would just have to fill it out himself

After the meeting, a big sign appeared in Jerrie's office reminding us to fill in the forms, and there was a folder below the sign that stayed almost empty.

[[Image:Laguna-Honda-exterior-of-former-wings-1060773.jpg]]

'''Old hospital wings, doomed to destruction.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Laguna Honda ward 1959 AAD-0145.jpg]]

'''Laguna Honda ward, 1959.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Laguna Honda ceramics class 1954 AAD-0172.jpg]]

'''Laguna Honda ceramics class, 1956.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

Then Dr. Dan called another meeting.

The budget had taken a turn for the worse, he announced, and Dr. Stein was demanding that in addition to the five doctors to be laid off in the next budget, four additional doctors had to be laid off this year. He would let us know who they would be the next week. And now Mr. Conley had a few things to tell us.

Then Mr. Conley came into the room. He looked tired. His red hair was thinner and grayer and so was his beard; his eyes were weary, and his voice was hoarse. He wanted to let us know that marketing had presented its branding campaign, and we now had a tagline and a value statement. Our new tagline was: "Laguna Honda—A Community of Care," which, he was sure we would agree, was a good description of the place. Our new value statement was: "Our Residents Come First." Marketing was still working on our new logo, our new mission, and our new name.

At this, the medical staff came to life. Heads came up from charts, journals, and tabletops. Mr. Conley was taken aback by the sudden attention.

Yes, a new name. Laguna Honda had to be repositioned and rebranded; it would not do for the new facility to be seen as an old-fashioned almshouse for the poor. The new Laguna Honda was going to be a Center of Excellence, focusing on health, wellness, and rehabilitation; and marketing had decided, therefore, that "Hospital" should be taken out of our name.

Mr. Conley looked around. Everyone was staring at him. No one spoke. And then everyone spoke at once.

If Laguna Honda was not a hospital, we asked, then who were those sick, demented, frail, one- or no-legged, coughing, yellow people we took care of every day? In their wheelchairs, gurneys, and beds? "With their IVs, feeding tubes, catheters, casts, oxygen, and tracheotomies? What were they doing here? Where would they be in the new, nohospital Laguna Honda? Would they be elsewhere?

Mr. Conley didn't hang his head exactly, but he did stop and stare into space for a moment. A vision went past his tired blue eyes. Those patients. The ones whose beds he sat on, whose hands he, even he, Mr. Conley, BS, MPH, executive administrator, held.

"Hospital" stayed in our name.

<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/NewOldParadigmsInMedicineFeb102016" width="500" height="30" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

'''A discussion on "New (Old) Paradigms in Medicine" held on Feb. 10, 2016 as part of the Shaping San Francisco Public Talks series. (apx. 2 hours)'''

[[Image:Florence-Nightingale-statue-1060762.jpg]]

[[Image:Florence-Nightingale-plaque-1060763.jpg]]

'''Statue and plaque in front of main entrance to Laguna Honda, created by WPA.'''

''Photos: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Fire-mural-by-Glenn-Wessels-1934 -1060767.jpg|left|330px|thumb|'''Fire''']] [[Image:Earth-mural-by-Glenn-Wessels-1934 -1060768.jpg|right|330px|thumb|'''Earth''']]

[[Image:Water-mural-by-Glenn-Wessels-1934 -1060769.jpg|left|330px|thumb|'''Water''']] [[Image:Air-mural-by-Glenn-Wessels-1934 -1060770.jpg|right|330px|thumb|'''Air''']]

'''Four elements, murals by Glenn Wessels, 1934.'''

<hr>

[[Image:Gods-hotel-cover.jpg|left]] ''from [http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/306891/gods-hotel-by-victoria-sweet/9781594486548 ''God's Hotel: A Doctor, A Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine''] by Victoria Sweet, copyright © 2012 by Victoria Sweet. Used by permission of Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.''

[[category:Twin Peaks]] [[category:Public Health]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1950s]]

Naming of Haight Street, Part I: The Men

2016-10-05T20:23:07Z

Roryc: changed credit on Market and Haight intersection, c. 1900. Mint Hill still prominent on north side of Market at top of hill.''' photo which came from CR collection

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Angus MacFarlane''

''The greatest enemy of truth is often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.''
:::::—John F. Kennedy

Stretching from Gough Street on the east to Stanyan Street on the west, our internationally famous Haight Street is 1.7 miles long and intersects 21 streets. The origins of the names of those streets are known, but Haight Street itself is problematic. Various sources cite three possible candidates for the honor: Henry W. Haight (a banker); Henry H. Haight (a lawyer and Governor of California); and Fletcher Haight (a lawyer and later a judge). The reasoning behind each of these possibilities seems to simply be that they are conveniently named Haight.

[[Image:Market-and-Haight-w-Mint-Hill-and-Twin-Peaks-c-1900-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Market and Haight intersection, c. 1900. Mint Hill still prominent on north side of Market at top of hill.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

These gentlemen are related. Fletcher Haight and Henry W. Haight (the banker) were brothers, and Henry H. Haight (the Governor) was Fletcher’s son. The Henrys arrived in San Francisco in 1850. Fletcher was the last to arrive in 1854. But another member of the Haight clan had been in San Francisco for three years before his relatives arrived: Samuel W. Haight.

The Haights of San Francisco can be traced to New York and Samuel S. Haight, the son of Stephen and Margaret Haight. Samuel Haight was born in Greene County in upstate New York on September 17, 1778. During the War of 1812 he was a Major General in the New York Militia. After the war he started a law practice in Allegany County in western New York, eventually becoming Judge of the Allegany County Court. In January of 1799 he married Sarah Mathews and between 1799 and 1822 the couple had nine children, five boys and four girls. Among the boys were the eldest child, Fletcher Haight (born December 1799), Henry Welles Haight (born October 14, 1820) and Samuel Welles Haight, the youngest child, born September 13, 1822. (1)

In 1824 Fletcher moved to Rochester, N.Y., where hung out his law shingle and began a family. (2) Fletcher’s son, Henry Huntley Haight (California’s future tenth governor), was born there on May 20, 1825.

In 1834 General Haight, now a widower, moved to Rochester with his two youngest sons, 13-year- old Henry Welles and 11-year-old Samuel Welles. The boys grew into adulthood and became established in the community—Henry becoming a banker at the Bank of Monroe County (3) and Samuel a wholesale and retail hardware merchant.

In May, 1841 Fletcher (now 40 years old) and Samuel (19 years old) briefly formed a mercantile partnership in Rochester doing business as S. W. Haight & Co. In July Fletcher sold his interest to brother Robert (26 years old) who became Samuel’s partner. (4) S. W. Haight & Co. continued through at least 1845. (5)

[[Image:Henry-Haight.jpg|330px|thumb|left|'''Henry H. Haight, 1877;''' ''Source: Wikipedia'']] Fletcher’s son, Henry H., graduated from Yale in 1844 and returned to Rochester to join his father’s law practice, becoming the third generation of lawyers in the Haight line. By 1846 Fletcher, the two Henrys, and Samuel decided that Rochester wasn’t big enough for them. That year Fletcher and his son Henry H. moved to St. Louis where they began another law practice. (6)

In 1847 Henry W., who had married Weltha Ann Buell of Rochester in 1845, left the Bank of Monroe County to join the prestigious St. Louis banking house of Page, Bacon & Co. (7)

The United States declared war on Mexico on April 25, 1846. On September 26, Samuel Haight, now 24-years-old, was one of 770 men under the command of Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson who undertook a six-month, one-way ocean voyage from New York to California to establish a western front in the Mexican-American War. This was Stevenson’s Regiment, also known as the First New York Volunteers.

Before Samuel began his journey, the pueblo of Yerba Buena had been “captured” by a detachment of sailors and marines from the USS Portsmouth under the command of Captain John Montgomery on July 9, 1846. It was renamed San Francisco by Montgomery’s lieutenant, Washington A. Bartlett, in January, 1847.

Stevenson’s three transport ships arrived separately on March 6, 19, and 26, 1847. When the last man came ashore the regiment outnumbered the few hundred souls of the cove-side settlement. (8)

On March 10, 1847, General Stephen Kearny, the Military Governor of California, “grant[ed] to the town of San Francisco right, title and interest to the beach and water lots on the east front of the town of San Francisco included between the points known as Rincon and Fort Montgomery” which were to be surveyed and sold at auction to raise money to finance the operation of the town. This was east of today’s Sansome Street between the low- and high-water marks. (9) The day after Stevenson’s last ship dropped anchor, ads appeared in California’s two newspapers, the ''Californian'' (published in Monterey) and the ''California Star'' (published in San Francisco), that the water lots would be auctioned on June 29.

Stevenson’s ten companies were deployed by April 2. Two companies (about 154 men) remained in San Francisco, and a third company (about 77 men) was sent to Sonoma. The largest number, four companies including Stevenson and his regimental staff, was posted to Monterey. The final three companies went to Santa Barbara. (10)

It’s not recorded where Samuel went. The young hardware merchant from New York was not a soldier but a sutler, an archaic military term for a civilian contracted by the Army to provide the soldiers non-essentials, i.e. non-military items. (11) Whether he remained in San Francisco or followed the largest number of men who would have had the greatest needs for his sutler services to Monterey, both places had advantages for the ambitious young man.

Because it took Jaspar O’Farrell longer than expected to survey the 444 water lots, the auction was delayed to July 20, 1847. Over a three-day period, the well-attended auction brought prices ranging from $50 to $600 per lot. The ''California Star'' accurately predicted that this would be beyond question the most valuable property in town. (12)

When he shipped out of New York, Samuel knew that California was not a bustling hub of commerce, so he must have brought his sutler wares with him along with a substantial financial grubstake, probably from liquidating his hardware store’s inventory and assets. Although he was not a lawyer, as were his three older brothers who lived to adulthood, this did not mean that Samuel was the underachiever of the Haight family. Being a businessman from a young age, Samuel was undoubtedly aware of California’s limitless potential, so it wasn’t just patriotic fervor that motivated him to join Stevenson’s expedition and endure a six-month sea voyage.

Given that he came to California to seek his fortune with a military expedition intent on seizing land for the United States, it makes sense that Samuel had his own ideas of claiming some of California for himself. Fate could not have been kinder, bringing him to San Francisco just as the opportunity of a lifetime presented itself in the water lots auction. Although no records exist of the water lot sales, newspaper accounts from December, 1849 refer to property that Samuel owned at the foot of Jackson Street. This was water lot property.

Additionally on December 9, 1847 Samuel bought Rancho Atascadero from William Breck. This was one square league of land (about seven square miles) in present-day Atascadero in San Luis Obispo County. (13)

Under the terms of their enlistment the men of Stevenson’s Regiment would be discharged from their military obligation at the end of hostilities, though they were expected to remain in California to settle the land that the United States intended to seize as a prize of war from Mexico. The war ended on February 2, 1848, nine days after gold had been discovered. However, word of peace did not reach California until August. By October all the men of Stevenson’s Regiment, even those who had gone AWOL to the diggings, were mustered out.

After his discharge Samuel didn’t go to the mines. Instead he was in San Francisco where, on September 30, 1848, he entered into a business partnership with pioneer Californian Thomas Larkin, investing $10,000 to purchase merchandise in Mexico “on the most advantageous terms . . . [then] to be sold in such manner as may seem best in the opinion of the parties concerned.” This partnership lasted until at least February 1849. (14)

In July, 1849 Samuel went into the exchange brokerage and banking business with his assistant sutler, James Wadsworth. Along with Stephen A. Wright, and John Thompson they formed Wright & Co. with offices at the northwest corner of Washington and Kearny Streets. Their “building” reflected the price of doing business in San Francisco at the height of the Gold Rush. Costing $76,000 per year in rent, it was described as “half the size of a New York fire house” (15) and “a small building which might have made a stable for half a dozen horses.” (16) Also known as the Miners’ Bank of Savings of Alta California, they began with $100,000 cash capital. Within three months they had doubled their capitalization. Wright was president of the company and Samuel was the cashier. (17)

Although by now California was awash in gold dust and gold nuggets, there was a critical shortage of gold coins which created problems for business and commerce. Large financial transactions needed something more portable and standardized than gold dust or nuggets. On August 7, 1849 Wright & Co. sought permission to mint $5 and $10 gold coins. By October, before receiving permission to do so, they were minting coins using the time-honored method of sledgehammer striking, since no coin press was available. The Miners Bank ten- dollar gold piece was one of the earliest private gold issues of the California Gold Rush. But their request was subsequently rejected and the minting ceased. (18)

Adding to The Miners’ Bank problems, one of the many fires that plagued early San Francisco severely damaged their building on Christmas Day, 1849. On January 14, 1850 the partnership was dissolved amid charges and counter-charges of fraud between the partners. Wright and Thompson sued Samuel and Wadsworth but an examination of the books by court-appointed experts exonerated Samuel and Wadsworth and the plaintiffs were ordered to pay all costs. (19)

Not long after the dissolution of Wright & Co., Samuel and James Wadsworth were in business on Clay Street near Kearny as Haight & Wadsworth. (20)

Samuel also took a brief fling at politics in 1849, running for delegate to the California Constitutional Convention in August, (21) and for California treasurer in December, (22) losing both times.

On January 20, 1850, Samuel’s nephew, Henry Huntley Haight, arrived in San Francisco and set up a law practice. (23)

On June 21, 1850, two men from St. Louis disembarked from the steamship Tennessee, intent on establishing a San Francisco branch of Page, Bacon & Co: Samuel’s older brother Henry Welles Haight and Francis W. Page of the banking family. (24) Within a week PB & Co. had an office on Clay Street between Kearny and Montgomery and was advertising prominently in the newspapers.

Although married and the father of a young child, Henry W. Haight came west by himself. Samuel and Henry H. were still bachelors. Three years after Samuel Haight came ashore in San Francisco, the Haights were together for the first time since 1846 when they all lived in Rochester.

Fletcher Haight did not arrive in San Francisco till 1854 and is irrelevant to this history. (25)

Notes:

<blockquote>1. Dwight, Benjamin W, ''The History Of The Descendants Of Elder John Strong, Of Northampton, Mass.'', published by Joel Munsell, 1871, Albany, New York; pgs. 656-670. 
2. ibid, pages. 665-666. 
3. ''San Francisco Bulletin'', March 25, 1869, page 3: “Death of Henry Haight”. 
4. Reports of Cases in Law and Equity Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, vol. 2, Banks & Brothers, Law Publishers, Albany, New York, page 551. 
5. Rochester City Directory, 1845, page 88. 
6. Dwight, pages 665, 666. 
7. Dwight, page 670. 
8. Biggs, Donald C., ''Conquer And Colonize'', Presidio Press, San Rafael, Cal. 1977 p. 91. 
9. ''California Star'', March 20, 1847, page 4. 
10. Biggs, p. 98. 
11. Giffen, Guy; ''California Expedition: Stevenson’s Expedition of First New York Volunteers'', Biobooks, Oakland, Cal., 1951, page 50. 
12. ''California Star'', July 24, 1847 page 2 column 2 & September 4, 1847, page 2 column 3. 
13. ''The United States VS. Henry Haight, Case No. 113'', Southern District, Atascadero Grant, page 5. (At Bancroft Library.) On September 24, 1851 Samuel sold the land to Henry Haight. No middle name or initial is provided in the documents, so it’s uncertain which Henry. 
14. Larkin, Thomas O.; Larkin Papers vol. VII (1847-1848), page 368, edited by George P. Hammond, & Vol. VIII (1848-1851) page 126. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1960. 
15. Taylor, Bayard; ''El Dorado, Adventures in the Pat of Empire'', Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, 2000, p. 47. 
16. Soule, Frank; Gihon, John; Nisbet, James; ''The Annals of San Francisco'', Berkeley Hills Books, Berkeley, Calif. 1999, page 254. 
17. http://coins.ha.com/itm/territorial-gold/territorial-and-fractional-gold/-1849-10-miners-bank-ten-dollar-au58-ngc-cac-k-1-r6/a/1215-3467.s 
18. ibid. 
19. ''Daily Alta California'', February 15, 1850 Page 2 column 3. 
20. ''Daily Alta California'', March 4, 1850, page 3 column 3. 
21. ''Daily Alta California'', August 2,1849, page 1, column 1. 
22. ''Daily Alta California'', December 28, 1849, page 2, column 1. 
23. ''Sacramento Daily Union'', September 3, 1878, page 2, column 2. 
24. Rasmussen, Louis J., San Francisco Ship Passenger Lists, Vol. 2 Page 2, San Francisco Historic Records, Colma, 1966. 
25. The Municipal Record, March 16 1916, pages 86 and 87, gives the origin of a number of San Francisco Street names. The compiler, Zoeth S. Eldredge, gives the origin of Haight Street as: “Fletcher M. Haight, a prominent lawyer of San Francisco and later a United States district judge for the Southern District of California.” He does not provide any reason, explanation, or citation for this. </blockquote>

[[Naming of Haight Street, Part 2: The Maps|Continue reading Part 2 of the Naming of Haight Street]]

[[category:Haight-Ashbury]] [[category:Roads]] [[category:1850s]] [[category:1840s]] [[category:Famous characters]]

Larkin Street at Chestnut

2016-10-05T20:20:46Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Larkin Street looking north from Chestnut, c. 1920.''' photo which came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Larking-north-from-Chestnut-c-1920-SFDPW 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Larkin Street looking north from Chestnut, c. 1920.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. Collection''

[[Image:Larkin-north-from-Chestnut-2014 121956.jpg]]

'''Larkin Street looking north from Chestnut, October 2014.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[category:1920s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:Russian Hill]] [[category:roads]]

Inner Sunset Streetcars

2016-10-05T20:19:47Z

Roryc: changed credit on 3 photos which came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Streetcar-122-N-Line-Front---October-18-1940---A6596---Horace-Chaffee-Board-of-Public-Works-Photographer.jpg]]

'''N-Judah streetcar, Oct. 18 1940'''

''Photo: SFMTA (Horace Chaffee, Board of Public Works photographer)''

[[Image:H-Streetcar-House-between-13th-and-14th-aves-Aug-23-1907.jpg|720px]]

'''H-Streetcar storage area between 13th and 14th Avenues, Lincoln and Irving, Aug. 23, 1907.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:H Street Car House between 13th and 14th Avenue AAC-8301.jpg]]

'''H Street Car House between 13th and 14th Avenues, 1907.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Streetcar-148-at-H-Street-Yard-on-Lincoln-Way---September-11-1919.jpg]]

'''Streetcar 148 at H Street Year on Lincoln Way, Sept. 11, 1919.'''

''Photo: SFMTA''

[[Image:Market-Street-railway-boneyard-March-1944 MTA.jpg]]

'''Market Street Railway boneyard at Funston off Lincoln, March 1944.'''

''Photo: SFMTA''

[[Image:1947-6th-Judah-6-streetcar.jpg]]

'''6-streetcar at Judah and 6th Avenue, 1947.'''

''Photo: Private Collection''

[[Image:N-Judah-at-Cals-coffeeshop-nd.jpg|720px]]

'''N-Judah accident at Cal's coffeeshop.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Lincoln-West-at-9th-Ave-1929-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Lincoln Avenue looking west at 9th Avenue, 1929.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[category:Transit]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1910s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:Sunset]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:roads]]

Auto Row on Van Ness

2016-10-05T20:15:15Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Van Ness Avenue south at Eddy Street, with Auto Row well established in this 1929" photo which came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

Automobiles [[Automobiles Take Over San Francisco Streets|poured into]] San Francisco and California during the first decades of the 20th century. In 1915, Ford already had a [[Harrison Street Industrial Corridor|factory at 21st and Harrison]] in the Mission making Model-T’s, and by the mid-1920s, the new car business was fully ensconced along Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco:

[[Image:Van-Ness-Ave-south-at-Eddy-Auto-Row-1929-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Van Ness Avenue south at Eddy Street, with Auto Row well established in this 1929 photo.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Chevrolet dealership at Van Ness Avenue and Sacramento Street 1933 AAD-4649.jpg]]

'''Chevrolet dealer at Van Ness and Sacramento, 1933.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Avenue Rambler dealership August 1964 AAD-4645.jpg]]

'''Rambler dealer, Van Ness Avenue, August 1964.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Interior of Don Lee automobile showroom at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street 1929 AAD-4656.jpg]]

'''Interior of Don Lee Cadillac showroom (now AMC Theaters).'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Don Lee automobile dealership at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street 1928 AAD-4657.jpg]]

'''Don Lee Cadillac dealership, Van Ness and O'Farrell, 1928.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:tendrnob$van-ness-1930.jpg]]

'''Van Ness and Sacramento, 1930'''

''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''

[[Image:Van-Ness-south-at-California-w-Auto-Row-and-H-streetcar-1936-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Van Ness Avenue south at California Street, with an H-streetcar making its way through "auto row" in 1936.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

Interesting to recall that while 30,000 citizens were mobilized to [[The Freeway Revolt|stop freeway building]] in San Francisco (the very same elevated, pedestrian-free streets McClintock had come to endorse as an industry flack) thousands more, mostly African American and white youth, staged a vigorous [[Segregation_and_the_Civil_Rights_Movement_in_San_Francisco|civil rights campaign]] along auto row, demanding that blacks be given equal treatment in hiring by auto dealers, especially Don Lee’s Cadillac dealership.

[[Image:Crowd cheering settlement with auto dealers 1964 AAK-0884.jpg]]

'''Crowd cheering civil rights employment settlement with auto dealers, 1964.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[category:Civic Center]] [[category:Roads]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:Transit]] [[category:Polk Gulch]]

Auto Row on Van Ness

2016-10-05T20:14:16Z

Roryc: changed credit on "San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library" photo which came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

Automobiles [[Automobiles Take Over San Francisco Streets|poured into]] San Francisco and California during the first decades of the 20th century. In 1915, Ford already had a [[Harrison Street Industrial Corridor|factory at 21st and Harrison]] in the Mission making Model-T’s, and by the mid-1920s, the new car business was fully ensconced along Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco:

[[Image:Van-Ness-Ave-south-at-Eddy-Auto-Row-1929-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Van Ness Avenue south at Eddy Street, with Auto Row well established in this 1929 photo.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy Charles Ruiz collection''

[[Image:Chevrolet dealership at Van Ness Avenue and Sacramento Street 1933 AAD-4649.jpg]]

'''Chevrolet dealer at Van Ness and Sacramento, 1933.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Avenue Rambler dealership August 1964 AAD-4645.jpg]]

'''Rambler dealer, Van Ness Avenue, August 1964.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Interior of Don Lee automobile showroom at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street 1929 AAD-4656.jpg]]

'''Interior of Don Lee Cadillac showroom (now AMC Theaters).'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Don Lee automobile dealership at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street 1928 AAD-4657.jpg]]

'''Don Lee Cadillac dealership, Van Ness and O'Farrell, 1928.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:tendrnob$van-ness-1930.jpg]]

'''Van Ness and Sacramento, 1930'''

''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''

[[Image:Van-Ness-south-at-California-w-Auto-Row-and-H-streetcar-1936-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Van Ness Avenue south at California Street, with an H-streetcar making its way through "auto row" in 1936.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

Interesting to recall that while 30,000 citizens were mobilized to [[The Freeway Revolt|stop freeway building]] in San Francisco (the very same elevated, pedestrian-free streets McClintock had come to endorse as an industry flack) thousands more, mostly African American and white youth, staged a vigorous [[Segregation_and_the_Civil_Rights_Movement_in_San_Francisco|civil rights campaign]] along auto row, demanding that blacks be given equal treatment in hiring by auto dealers, especially Don Lee’s Cadillac dealership.

[[Image:Crowd cheering settlement with auto dealers 1964 AAK-0884.jpg]]

'''Crowd cheering civil rights employment settlement with auto dealers, 1964.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[category:Civic Center]] [[category:Roads]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:Transit]] [[category:Polk Gulch]]

Downtown Scenes Early 20th Century

2016-10-05T20:11:11Z

Roryc: changed credit on all photos which all came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Mission-Street-at-1st-St-c-1910.jpg|720px]]

'''Mission Street at 1st, c. 1910.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:First-Street-south-from-Market-nd-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''First Street looking south from Market, c. 1928.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Sansome-and-Market-streetcar-crash-c-1929.jpg|720px]]

'''Sansome and Market streetcar crash, c. 1929.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Southeast-across-Market-from-Battery-to-First-Street-Nov-10-1936-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''Southeast view across Market from Battery, looking down First Street, November 10, 1936.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:New-Montgomery-south-at-Market-Nov-10-1936.jpg|720px]]

'''New Montgomery south from Market Street, November 10, 1936.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Geary-west-at-Grant-w-streetcars-A-B-C-and-D-Union-Square-and-St-Francis-Hotel-c-1929-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Geary Blvd. looking west at Grant, Union Square and St. Francis Hotel visible in distance, c. 1929.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Streetcar-No-6-off-rails-on-Market-near-Powell-c-1940s.jpg|720px]]

'''Streetcar Number 6 has gone off the rails on Market near Powell, c. 1940.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[category:downtown]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1910s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:roads]] [[category:Transit]]

Turk Street Between the Wars

2016-10-04T21:02:57Z

Roryc: changed credit on all photos which all came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Turk-st-east-at-Laguna-Jefferson-Square-at-left-1930-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Turk Street east at Laguna with Jefferson Square at left, 1930.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Turk-St-west-at-Broderick-w-Anza-Vista-Heights-at-right-Sept-27-1927.jpg|720px]]

'''Turk Street west at Broderick Street, with today's Anza Vista Heights at right, Sept. 27, 1927.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Turk-St-west-from-Masonic-Lone-Mtn-College-at-right-Nov-1-1927-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''Turk Street west from Masonic. Lone Mountain College at right, Nov. 1, 1927.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[category:Western Addition]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:roads]]

Interurban Streetcars South

2016-10-04T21:01:53Z

Roryc: changed credit on all photos which all came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Interurban-streetcar-south-of-SB-Mtn-in-San-Mateo-c-1940s.jpg|720px]]

'''Interurban streetcar south of San Bruno Mountain in San Mateo, c. 1940s.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Granada-San-Mateo-Co-station-of-the-Ocean-Shore-RR-nd-1910s.jpg|720px]]

'''Granada, San Mateo county station of the Ocean Shore Railroad, early 20th century.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Market-and-5th-interurban-streetcar-1905.jpg|720px]]

'''Interurban [[United Railroads|United Railroads]] streetcar at Market and 5th Streets, 1905.'''

''Photo: C.R.collection''

[[Image:Maybe-Colma-Cemetery-streetcars-all-lined-up-nd-maybe-late-1910s.jpg|720px]]

'''On the occasion of the Kelly-Nelson prize fight in 1903, this lineup of more than 20 streetcars on School Street in Colma is next to the Colma Boxing Arena. The two private cars at the head of the train were probably used to transport the fighters officials of the area and other dignitaries. (''Charles Smallwood'')'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Cemeteries-streetcars-in-Daly-City-at-Grand-View-Theatre-near-Union-Park-c-1910.jpg|720px]]

'''Streetcars to Colma cemeteries in Daly City at Grand View Theatre near Union Park, c. 1910.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Funeral-streetcar-at-cemetery-yard-nd.jpg|720px]]

'''Funeral streetcar parked at cemetery, no date.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[category:transit]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1910s]] [[category:San Francisco outside the city]] [[category:cemeteries]]

Poly High on Frederick Street

2016-10-04T21:00:13Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Polytechnic High School on south side of Frederick Street in 1928, while Kezar Stadium was being built up at right.''' photo which came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Frederick-St-Polytechnic-HS-and-Kezar-Stadium-being-expanded-1928-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Polytechnic High School on south side of Frederick Street in 1928, while Kezar Stadium was being built up at right.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Frederick-Street-2014 20140727 174618.jpg]]

'''Same stretch of Frederick in summer 2014 late in the day. The old Poly High gyms were retained after the school was torn down to make way for affordable housing built in the 1980s.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[category:Haight-Ashbury]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:schools]] [[category:Sunset]]

Powell and Market Changes Through the Years

2016-10-04T20:54:50Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Flood Building at Powell and Market, 1908.''' and '''Powell, Eddy, and Market Streets, c.1920s, when this corner was the entry point to the Tenderloin.''' which came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Powell-from-Market-1856.jpg]]

'''This image taken in 1866 looking north on Powell is just fifteen years after the area was [[Powell and Market 1851|still largely sand dunes]] covered in scrub. Note Temple Emanu-el in distance, a block north of Union Square.'''

''Photo: Private collection''

[[Image:Baldwin-Hotel-Market-and-Powell-Sts-w-cable-cars-and-pedestrians-c-1880s.jpg|720px]]

'''[[Pre-Quake Tenderloin Hotels|Baldwin Hotel]] at Market and Powell in the late 1880s.'''

''Photo: Private collection''

[[Image:Flood-Bldg-c-1908.jpg|720px]]

'''Flood Building at Powell and Market, 1908.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Powell-and-market-techau-tavern-c-1910s.jpg]]

'''Powell and Market, c. 1910.'''

''Photo: Private collection''

[[Image:Market-and-powell-techau-tavern-c-1910.jpg]]

'''Flood Building across from Techau Tavern at Powell and Market, c. 1910.'''

''Photo: Private collection''

[[Image:Powell-Eddy-and-Market-c-1920s.jpg|720px]]

'''Powell, Eddy, and Market Streets, c.1920s, when this corner was the entry point to the Tenderloin.'''

''Photo: C.R.collection''

[[Image:Man-gazing-at-cable-car-turnaround-Eddy-and-Powell-c-1940s.jpg]]

'''Man standing under awning of Owl Drugs on ground floor of Flood Building at Powell and Eddy and Market Streets, c. 1940s.'''

''Photo: Private collection''

[[Image:Cable-car-turnaround-Eddy-and-Powell-c-1940s.jpg]]

'''[[Cable Cars|Cable car]] turnaround at Eddy/Powell and Market Streets, c. 1940s.'''

''Photo: Private collection''

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aXO3ll24334" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

'''Erased Landscape'''

''Video: Glenn Lym''

[[category:downtown]] [[category:1880s]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:roads]] [[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:1850s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1910s]]

Duboce Park

2016-10-04T20:52:43Z

Roryc: changed credit on'''East across Duboce Park where the east portal of the Sunset Tunnel is now, May 11, 1925.''' which came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:East-across-Duboce-Park-where-east-portal-of-Sunset-Tunnel-is-now-May-11-1925-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''East across Duboce Park where the east portal of the Sunset Tunnel is now, May 11, 1925.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[category:Lower Haight]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:parks]]

Eastern SOMA Early 20th Century

2016-10-04T20:51:59Z

Roryc: changed credit on'''Folsom Street east from 3rd Street, May 26, 1937.''' which came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Folsom-NE-from-3rd-May-26-1937-SFDPW 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Folsom Street east from 3rd Street, May 26, 1937.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:East-on-Townsend-St.-from-4th-St.-Aug.jpg]]

'''East on Townsend Street from 4th Street, August 1925.'''

''Photo: Jesse Brown Cook collection, [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf129005j4;developer=local;style=oac4;doc.view=items online archive of California] I0050719A''

[[category:SOMA]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:roads]]

Outer Mission

2016-10-04T20:51:16Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Mission Street north from Precita, 1926.''' which came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

Mission Street from Cesar Chavez to the hilltop that straddles the east side of the [[Bernal Cut|Bernal Cut]] is one of the boundaries of the area dubbed [[La Lengua, 1907|La Lengua]] by our friend [http://burritojustice.com/ Burrito Justice], but has long been referred to as the "outer Mission" by locals.

[[Image:Mission-north-from-Precita-1926-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Mission Street north from Precita, 1926.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Mission-St.-South-from-30th-St.,-1920.jpg]]

'''Mission Street south from 30th St., 1920.'''

''Photo: Private Collection''

[[Image:North-on-Mission-St.-from-Cortland-Ave.-Sept.-1925.jpg]]

'''North on Mission from Cortland Avenue, September 1925.'''

''Photo: Private Collection''

[[Image:North-on-Mission-St.-from-Army-St.-Aug.-1927.jpg]]

'''North on Mission Street from (then) Army Street, August 1927.'''

''Photo: Private Collection''

[[Image:North-on-Mission-from-Highland-Ave.-Oct-12-1922.jpg]]

'''North on Mission from Highland Avenue, October 12, 1922.'''

''Photo: Private Collection''

[[category:1920s]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:Bernal Heights]] [[category:Noe Valley]]

Fillmore and Haight

2016-10-04T20:49:28Z

Roryc: changed credit on'''Fillmore north at Haight Street, 1928.''' which came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Fillmore-no-at-Haight-1928-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Fillmore north at Haight Street, 1928.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R.collection''

[[Image:Haight-at-fillmore-2013 0205.jpg]]

'''East on Haight Street from Fillmore, 2013.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[category:Haight-Ashbury]] [[category:Western Addition]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:2010s]]

Kearny Street North Beach

2016-10-04T20:48:36Z

Roryc: changed credit on all pictures which all came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Kearny-south-from-Vallejo-c-1920-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Kearny Street south from Vallejo, looking towards downtown, c. 1920.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Kearny-north-from-Jackson-March-10-1924-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Kearny Street north from Jackson, March 10, 1924.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R.collection''

[[Image:Kearny-north-from-Jackson-on-street-level-March-11-1926-SFDPW 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Kearny Street north from Jackson at street level, March 11, 1926. Note the [[The Sentinel Building|Sentinel Building]] at right.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Kearny-north-from-Post-towards-Sutter-March-11-1926-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''Kearny Street in downtown, seen here looking north from Post towards Sutter, March 11, 1926.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:Roads]] [[category:Downtown]]

Mason and Market Streets

2016-10-04T20:47:16Z

Roryc: changed credit on'''Native Sons monument at Mason, Turk, and Market Streets, August 6, 1928 and '''Market Street east from Mason. Native Sons monument sits at intersection of Mason, Turk, and Market Streets in this Sept. which came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Mason-north-from-Market-pre-quake.jpg]]

'''Mason Street north from Market, c. 1890s.'''

''Photo: Private Collection''

[[Image:Native-Sons-monument-at-Market-Mason-and-Turk-Aug-6-1928-SFDPW.jpg|550px]]

'''Native Sons monument at Mason, Turk, and Market Streets, August 6, 1928 (today it is on the northeast corner of the intersection of Market and Montgomery).'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Market-St-east-from-above-Mason-w-Native-Sons-monument-sept-29-1927-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''Market Street east from Mason. Native Sons monument sits at intersection of Mason, Turk, and Market Streets in this Sept. 29, 1927 photo.

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[category:1920s]] [[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:Downtown]]

Golden Gate Theater

2016-10-04T20:45:31Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''6th Street north from Mission, RKO Golden Gate Theater in distance at corner of Market, Taylor, and Golden Gate, March 31, 1937.'''which came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Intersection of Golden Gate Avenue, Talyor Street and Market Street May 23 1930 AAB-3835.jpg]]

'''Golden Gate Theater at corner of Golden Gate, Taylor and Market, May 23, 1930.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Taylor-Market-and-Golden-Gate-RKO-Golden-Gate-Theater-April-9-1937.jpg|720px]]

'''RKO Golden Gate Theater, April 9, 1937, at corner of Taylor, Market and Golden Gate.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:6th-St-north-at-Mission-March-31-1937-SFDPW 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''[[Sixth Street (Part Two)|6th Street]] north from Mission, RKO Golden Gate Theater in distance at corner of Market, Taylor, and Golden Gate, March 31, 1937.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[category:SOMA]] [[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:Theaters]]

Brotherhood Way

2016-10-04T20:44:28Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Brotherhood Way (then Stanley Drive) viewed from Junipero Serra looking westward towards Lake Merced, 1934.''' and '''Brotherhood Way (then Stanley Drive) being built" which came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Stanley-Drive-(Brotherhood-Way)-east-near-Park-Merced-Junipero-Serra-crosses-in-distance-(white-railing)-WPA-Project-1934-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Brotherhood Way (then Stanley Drive) being built by the [[W.P.A. Construction in San Francisco (1935-1942)|Works Project Administration (WPA)]] in 1934, connecting Junipero Serra Blvd. with Lake Merced Drive, looking east towards Junipero Serra (white railing in distance at right).'''

''Photo: C.R.collection''

[[Image:Stanley-Drive-construction-(now-Brotherhood-Way)-west-from-Junipero-Serra-WPA-project-March-19-1935-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''Brotherhood Way (then Stanley Drive) viewed from Junipero Serra looking westward towards Lake Merced, 1934.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:1938-Brotherhood-Way-Harrison-Ryker-west-w-Lake-Merced-5852132.jpg|720px]]

'''Aerial shot in 1938 looking down on Brotherhood Way where it connects to Lake Merced Drive, photo by Harrison Ryker.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library, courtesy DavidRumsey.com''

[[Image:1861-Wackenruder-map-Brotherhood-Way-area-detail-3867000.jpg|720px]]

'''1861 Wackenruder map of gully that later becomes Brotherhood Way.'''

''Map: courtesy DavidRumsey.com''

[[Image:1929-Board-of-Public-Works-OShaughnessy-map-w-contours-and-streets-Brotherhood-Way-detail-5289000.jpg|720px]]

'''1929 Board of Public Works map showing gully that five years later was altered by WPA project to create Brotherhood Way.'''

''Map: courtesy DavidRumsey.com''

[[Image:Stanley Drive linking Alemany and Lake Merced Boulevard April 2 1953 AAB-5366.jpg]]

'''Stanley Drive (later Brotherhood Way) linking Alemany and Lake Merced Blvds., April 2, 1953.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:Brotherhood Way between Junipero Serra and Lake Merced boulevards June 10 1961 AAB-2981.jpg]]

'''Brotherhood Way between Junipero Serra and Lake Merced boulevards, June 10, 1961.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:Brotherhood-Way 2834.jpg]]

'''Brotherhood Way looking west from Chumasero Drive, 2014.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Brotherhod-Way-from-Junipero-Serra 2835.jpg]]

'''Brotherhood Way at intersection with Charles Avenue, Junipero Serra crossing on overpass in distance (looking westward), 2014.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Bufano-Peace 2851.jpg|420px]]

'''One of many [[Beniamino Bufano on Public Art|Beniamino Bufano]] sculptures around San Francisco, this one on his favorite topic: Peace, installed along Brotherhood Way.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Hawk-on-Brotherhood-Way 2840.jpg]]

'''Amidst what was once sand dunes and a creek gulley, today are many Monterey Pines and other introduced tree species, which in turn have attracted wildlife that didn't have much habitat in this area once upon a time.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[category:SFSU]] [[category:OMI/Ingleside]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:roads]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:ecology]]

13th Street mid-20th century

2016-10-03T19:46:45Z

Roryc: changed credit on "13th-St-east-from-Mission-during-Central-Freeway-construction-"came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:East-on-13th-St.-from-Folsom-St.-Aug.-1927.jpg]]

'''East on 13th Street from Folsom, August 1927.'''

''Photo: Shaping San Francisco''

[[Image:13th and Duboce 1951 AAB-3408.jpg|720px]]

'''13th and Duboce, 1951.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:13th-St-east-from-Mission-during-Central-Freeway-construction-July-17-1953 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''13th Street east from Mission during [[Second Freeway Revolt|Central Freeway]] construction, July 17, 1953, [[16th and Potrero-Seals Stadium|Seals Stadium]] and Rainier Brewery in background.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[category:roads]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1950s]]

North on Kearny from Market

2016-09-30T21:08:53Z

Roryc: changed credit on all of pages photos which all came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:North-across-Market-to-Kearny-from-3rd-1868-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''1868 northerly view across Market to Kearny from 3rd Street.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:North-across-Marekt-into-Kearny-c-1905-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''1905 northerly view across Market into Kearny.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:NW-across-Geary-Kearny-and-Market-March-31-1906-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Northwesterly view at Geary/Kearny from Market, just three weeks before the big earthquake, March 31, 1906.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Kearny-from-3rd-across-Market-1910-SFPL.jpg]]

'''Kearny from 3rd, looking north across Market in 1910. The top of [[Lotta's Fountain|Lotta's Fountain]] is visible just right of Kearny across Market.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R.collection''

[[category:Downtown]] [[category:1910s]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1860s]]

Mission District 1920s

2016-09-30T21:06:56Z

Roryc: changed credit on 3 photos which came from the CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Mission-north-at-16th-1925 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Mission Street north at 16th St., 1925.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:East-side-of-Mission-St.-bet.-23rd-&-24th.-Sept.jpg]]

'''Mission Street east side between 23rd and 24th Streets, September 1926.'''

''Photo: Jesse Brown Cook collection, [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf129005j4;developer=local;style=oac4;doc.view=items online archive of California] I0051287A''

[[Image:Guerrero-north-at-14th-Bldg-Trades-at-left-corner-1928-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Guerrero Street looking north at 14th Street. Building Trades building at left corner, 1928.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:North-on-Bartlett-St.-from-24th-St.-Jany.-1926.jpg]]

'''North on Bartlett Street from 24th Street, January 1926.'''

''Photo: Jesse Brown Cook collection, [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf129005j4;developer=local;style=oac4;doc.view=items online archive of California] I0050793A''

[[Image:Folsom-North-from-14th-Nov-9-1926-SFDPW 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Folsom Street north from 14th Street, November 9, 1926.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:North-on-Mission-St.-from-20th-St.-showing-cor.-19th-&-Mission-St.jpg]]

'''North on Mission Street from 20th, showing corner of 19th and Mission, 1919.'''

''Photo: Jesse Brown Cook collection, [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf129005j4;developer=local;style=oac4;doc.view=items online archive of California] I0050520A ''

[[category:Mission]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1910s]]

Grandview Avenue 1920s

2016-09-30T21:04:08Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Grandview Avenue looking southwest at 22nd Street, soon after cement median was built, October 28, 1927.''' and '''Grandview Avenue south at Upper Market with Alvarado St. at far left, June 13,photos which came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Grandview-sw-at-21st-St-Oct-28-1927 SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Grandview Avenue looking southwest at 22nd Street, soon after cement median was built, October 28, 1927.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection.''

[[Image:Grand-View-and-22nd-St. 2279.jpg]]

'''Grandview Avenue at 22nd Street, 2014.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Grand-View-Ave-south-at-Upper-Market-w-Alvarado-at-far-right-June-13-1921-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Grandview Avenue south at Upper Market with Alvarado St. at far left, June 13, 1921.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection.''

[[category:1920s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:Noe Valley]] [[category:roads]] [[category:Eureka Valley]]

Laguna Honda

2016-09-30T21:02:25Z

Roryc: changed credit on 6 photos which all came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

Laguna Honda was a natural lake before it was dammed and enlarged as a source of the city's water supply a century ago.

[[Image:Laguna-Honda-so-from-7th-Ave-Feb-21-1919-SFDPW 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Laguna Honda looking south along 7th Avenue, Feb 21, 1919.'''

''Photo: SF Dept. of Public Works, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Laguna-Honda-Blvd-at-7th-Ave-1928-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Laguna Honda along 7th Avenue, 1928.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Clarendon-north-nr-Laguna-Honda-8th-Ave-houses-in-distance-Feb-21-1919-SFDPW 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Clarendon north near Laguna Honda; 8th Avenue houses visible in distance, Feb. 21, 1919.'''

''Photo: SF Dept. of Public Works, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Laguna-Honda-from-north 2184.jpg]]

'''View south from north edge of Laguna Honda, 2014.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Laguna-Honda-reservoir-southeast-April-17-1929-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''Laguna Honda reservoir looking southeast, April 17, 1929.'''

''Photo: SF Dept. of Public Works, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Laguna-Honad-nw-from-Clarendon-Nov-26-1921-SFDPW 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Laguna Honda looking northwest from Clarendon, Nov. 26, 1921.'''

''Photo: SF Dept. of Public Works, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:7th-Ave-along-Laguna-Honda 2208.jpg]]

'''North along 7th Avenue, Laguna Honda at right.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

About two hundred yards north of the reservoir, near the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Lawton, there was another natural lake filled in in the early years of the 20th century. It was about the same elevation as Laguna Honda. The stream flowing between them could not have been very swift. And there is no indication of where any substantial stream might have gone. There is no ravine below or any indication of a streambed that would have carried the amount of water necessary to have carved such a cliff (to the west of 7th Avenue). Where the streambed might have been, there is nothing but sand... Conceivably a swift stream could have carved the cliff, then later been dammed by landslides, creating lagoons. (Harold Gilliam, ''The Natural World of San Francisco'', 1967)

[[Image:Laguna-Honda-se-at-Clarendon-SFWD-house-on-corner-April-19-1953-SPDPT 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Laguna Honda southeast at Clarendon, SF Water Dept. house on corner, April 19, 1953.'''

''Photo: SF Dept. of Parking and Traffic, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Clarendon-and-7th-Ave 2216.jpg]]

'''Laguna Honda southeast at Clarendon, 2014.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Laguna-Honda-NW-from-Woodside-Forest-Hill-Stn-at-left-June-1953-SFDPT 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Laguna Honda Blvd. northwest from Woodside with Forest Hill Station at left, June 1953.'''

''Photo: SF Dept. of Parking and Traffic, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Inner Sunset 1870s |Previous Document]] [[Larsen's Chicken Ranch |Next Document]]

[[category:Sunset]] [[category:water]] [[category:geology]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:Public Health]]

Before the I-280 Freeway

2016-09-30T20:59:51Z

Roryc:

''' Unfinished History '''

The Interstate-280 freeway was the last major freeway built in San Francisco, and one of the few to escape the broad opposition that came to be known as [[The Freeway Revolt|the Freeway Revolt]]. The valley through which the freeway runs for much of its San Francisco course was once the [[Islais Creek Covered|Islais Creek]] before it was put into culverts and eventually covered with San Jose Avenue and Alemany Boulevard.

[[Image:San-Jose-Ave-northwest-at-Sickles-SPRR-runs-to-right-now-I-280-1926.jpg|720px]]

'''San Jose Avenue northwest at Sickles Street, Southern Pacific Railroad running down the street, 1926. Interstate-280 now runs along this right of way.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Monterey-Blvd-northeast-at-San-Jose-w-Diamond-at-left-and-Holly-Park-in-distant-center--largebldg-is-Junipero-Serra-Grammar-School-June-1953-SFDPT.jpg|720px]]

'''Monterey Boulevard northeast at San Jose Avenue. Diamond Street enters at left, and Holly Park is in distance--large building is the former Junipero Serra Grammar School, seen here in June 1953.'''

''Photo: SFDPT, courtesy C.R.collection''

[[Image:Southwest-San-Francisco-neighborhood-pre-I-280.jpg|720px]]

'''Glen Park to southwestern Bernal Heights, c. 1940s.'''

''Photo: C.R.collection''

[[Image:Bernal-Ave-(San-Jose-Ave)-sw-at-St-Marys-Ave-SPRR-at-right-1930-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Bernal Avenue (now San Jose Avenue) southwest at St. Mary's Avenue with the Southern Pacific railroad at right, at the southern end of the newly widened [[Bernal Cut|Bernal Cut]], seen here in 1930.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:San-Jose-Ave-southwest-at-St-Marys-Ave-SP-Colma-Line-and-Arlington-St-at-right-Monterey-Blvd-center-distance-opening-day-new-Bernal-Cut-April-16-1930-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''San Jose Avenue southwest at St. Mary's Avenue. Southern Pacific Colma line and Arlington Street at right. Monterey Blvd. in center distance, on opening day of the new Bernal Cut, April 16, 1930.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:San-Jose-Ave-(Bernal-Ave)-sw-at-Diamond-St-far-right-w-Monterey-Blvd-up-hill-at-center-and-Joost-at-right-Feb-22-1936-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Bernal Avenue (now San Jose Avenue) southwest at Diamond Street (far right) with Montery Boulevard up hill at left-center, and Joost St. going uphill from right of center, February 22, 1936.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Mission-south-over-Alemany-viaduct-1926-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Mission Street south over Alemany viaduct, 1926.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:I-280-under-construction-at-Mission-overpass-c1965.jpg|720px]]

'''I-280 freeway under construction at Mission/Alemany viaduct, c. 1965.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[category:transit]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:roads]] [[category:Excelsior]] [[category:Glen Park]]

Before the I-280 Freeway

2016-09-30T20:58:58Z

Roryc: changed credit on every picture which all came from CR collection

''' Unfinished History '''

The Interstate-280 freeway was the last major freeway built in San Francisco, and one of the few to escape the broad opposition that came to be known as [[The Freeway Revolt|the Freeway Revolt]]. The valley through which the freeway runs for much of its San Francisco course was once the [[Islais Creek Covered|Islais Creek]] before it was put into culverts and eventually covered with San Jose Avenue and Alemany Boulevard.

[[Image:San-Jose-Ave-northwest-at-Sickles-SPRR-runs-to-right-now-I-280-1926.jpg|720px]]

'''San Jose Avenue northwest at Sickles Street, Southern Pacific Railroad running down the street, 1926. Interstate-280 now runs along this right of way.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Monterey-Blvd-northeast-at-San-Jose-w-Diamond-at-left-and-Holly-Park-in-distant-center--largebldg-is-Junipero-Serra-Grammar-School-June-1953-SFDPT.jpg|720px]]

'''Monterey Boulevard northeast at San Jose Avenue. Diamond Street enters at left, and Holly Park is in distance--large building is the former Junipero Serra Grammar School, seen here in June 1953.'''

''Photo: SFDPT, courtesy C.R.collection''

[[Image:Southwest-San-Francisco-neighborhood-pre-I-280.jpg|720px]]

'''Glen Park to southwestern Bernal Heights, c. 1940s.'''

''Photo: C.R.collection''

[[Image:Bernal-Ave-(San-Jose-Ave)-sw-at-St-Marys-Ave-SPRR-at-right-1930-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Bernal Avenue (now San Jose Avenue) southwest at St. Mary's Avenue with the Southern Pacific railroad at right, at the southern end of the newly widened [[Bernal Cut|Bernal Cut]], seen here in 1930.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:San-Jose-Ave-southwest-at-St-Marys-Ave-SP-Colma-Line-and-Arlington-St-at-right-Monterey-Blvd-center-distance-opening-day-new-Bernal-Cut-April-16-1930-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''San Jose Avenue southwest at St. Mary's Avenue. Southern Pacific Colma line and Arlington Street at right. Monterey Blvd. in center distance, on opening day of the new Bernal Cut, April 16, 1930.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:San-Jose-Ave-(Bernal-Ave)-sw-at-Diamond-St-far-right-w-Monterey-Blvd-up-hill-at-center-and-Joost-at-right-Feb-22-1936-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Bernal Avenue (now San Jose Avenue) southwest at Diamond Street (far right) with Montery Boulevard up hill at left-center, and Joost St. going uphill from right of center, February 22, 1936.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy Charles Ruiz collection''

[[Image:Mission-south-over-Alemany-viaduct-1926-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Mission Street south over Alemany viaduct, 1926.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:I-280-under-construction-at-Mission-overpass-c1965.jpg|720px]]

'''I-280 freeway under construction at Mission/Alemany viaduct, c. 1965.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[category:transit]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:roads]] [[category:Excelsior]] [[category:Glen Park]]

Market Street Hub Neighborhood

2016-09-30T20:56:18Z

Roryc: changed credit on 8 photos which came from CR collection

''' Historical Essay '''

''by John Horn''

[[Image:Val Market 1945.jpg|720px|thumb]]

'''Valencia and Market, 1945, when the intersection was still the heart of a now-forgotten neighborhood called "The Hub."'''

[[Image:Market-west-at-Valencia-Sept-14-1945-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''Market at Valencia (tracks turn left onto Valencia), Sept. 14, 1945.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R.collection''

[[Image:Hub 40s.jpg]]

'''The Hub, looking east on Market from apx. Octavia, 1940s.'''

[[Image:Market-sw-from-Van-Ness-c-1932 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Market Street west from Van Ness, c. 1932, into the heart of the Hub neighborhood.'''

''Photo: C.R.collection''

[[Image:Market 1883.jpg|720px]]

'''Looking east on Buchanan towards Market, c. 1883.'''

[[Image:Hermann-St-east-fr-Buchanan-towards-Market-and-Laguna-1932-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Hermann Street east from Buchanan towards Market and Laguna, 1932., San Francisco Teachers College (later San Francisco State College) at left.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Market-and-Haight-w-Mint-Hill-and-Twin-Peaks-c-1900-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Market and Haight intersection, c. 1900. Mint Hill still prominent on north side of Market at top of hill.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

For many decades beginning in the 1880s through the 1950s, the intersection of Market, Valencia, Haight and Gough Streets was popularly known as the “Hub,” because no fewer than four streetcar lines converged there either on their way downtown or outbound to outlying neighborhoods. The Municipal Railway and the Market Street Railway ran on four tracks on Market Street; the 9 Valencia ran on Valencia and the 7 Haight on Haight Street. The intersection was a busy [[MUNI History III: Financial Problems--The Depression, War and Merger|transit hub]], with streetcar lines radiating out from it along Market St., Valencia and Haight Streets. Over the course of decades, the intersection and surrounding neighborhood remained a transit hub even as streets were reconfigured and streetcar lines were replaced with buses.

[[Image:Powerhouse.jpg]]

'''The United Railroads Powerhouse at Valencia and Market, 1880s.'''

[[Image:Market-and-Valencia-power-house-after-1906-quake.jpg|720px]]

'''Powerhouse ruins after 1906 earthquake and fire, Haight Street in distance.'''

''Photo: San Francisco MTA''

[[Image:Sanborn Mkt Val 1905.jpg|720px]]

'''Sanborn insurance map, 1905, showing intersection of Valencia and Market and surroundings, with United Railroads powerhouse and carbarn in center.'''

The name “Hub” eventually came to stand for the surrounding neighborhood as well as the intersection and was well-known to residents of the City. By the 1930s the neighborhood was alive with thriving businesses and a surrounding residential population. Many well-known businesses located here because of the ease of public transportation and the central location, including the Hub pharmacy (for many years San Francisco’s only 24-hour pharmacy), Hub Bowling and the McRoskey Mattress Company. McRoskey is the only business from the Hub area that survives to this day.

[[Image:Airflex late-20s.jpg]]

'''McRoskey Mattress Company, 1920s, when Gough Street did not yet go through Market to Mission.'''

''Photo: Courtesy McRoskey Mattress Company''

[[Image:Cars 1939 01.jpg]]

'''Used car lot on Market in 1939 where Gough now crosses through.'''

[[Image:Cars 1939 02.jpg]]

'''Used car lot on Market Street where Gough now runs to Mission Street,circa 1939. Note the sign in background: Hub Bowling, 1675 Market Street.'''

''Photos: Courtesy McRoskey Mattress Company''

[[Image:Gough at Market.jpg|720px]]

'''Gough at Market, c. 1907, temporary structures still abound after quake.'''

''Photo: SFMTA''

[[Image:Reconstruction-Market-Street-May-1931 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Market Street being rebuilt in May 1931.'''

''Photo: C.R collection''

[[Image:Fillmore West at Van Ness and Market 1970 via Isabella Acuña FB.jpg]]

'''The famous Fillmore West at Van Ness and Market in 1970 when the Grateful Dead show was being advertised.'''

''Photo: Isabelle Acuña''

The name faded from public memory after the conversion of the Valencia and Haight street lines to bus service and the removal of two streetcar tracks from Market Street with the dissolution of the Market Street Railway, all in the 1940s. The neighborhood went into decline beginning in the late 1940s.

[[Image:Mkt gough.jpg]]

'''Building the Gough Street extension, 1949.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:So Van Ness.jpg]]

'''Construction linking Market Street with Mission, South Van Ness Extension, 1930s.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:South-Van-Ness-south-from-Mission-and-Otis-Sept-15-1931-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''South Van Ness extension under construction, southerly view from Mission and Otis, Sept. 15, 1931.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:Mission-and-12th-1912 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Mission and 12th Street, 1912.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

Today the reference to the “Hub” is largely forgotten except to history buffs, but a movement to revive the name in reference to a larger area with the intersection as its nexus has begun as the neighborhood becomes a part of the revival of the area in general and a reconfiguration of the intersection under the Market and Octavia Plan. Several landmark structures populate the neighborhood today as it is poised for revival.

[[category:Mission]] [[category:Hayes Valley]] [[category:Civic Center]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1880s]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:transit]] [[category:roads]]
[[category:1960s]]

Automobiles Take Over San Francisco Streets

2016-09-30T20:54:08Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Van Ness Avenue looking south from Sacramento, Auto Row stretching for blocks in 1930, First Presbyterian Church at left.''' photo which came from CR collection

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Chris Carlsson''

Originally published at [http://sf.streetsblog.org/2011/08/09/whose-streets/ sf.streetsblog.org] as '''Whose Streets?'''

[[Image:Market and kearny 1909 w bicyclist AAB-6218.jpg]]

'''Market and Kearny and 3rd Streets, 1909.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

“Whose Streets? OUR Streets!” yell rowdy demonstrators when they surge off the sidewalk and into thoroughfares. True enough, the streets are our public commons, what’s left of it (along with libraries and our diminishing public schools), but most of the time these public avenues are dedicated to the movement of vehicles, mostly privately owned autos. Other uses are frowned upon, discouraged by laws and regulations and what has become our “customary expectations.” Ask any driver who is impeded by anything other than a “normal” traffic jam and they’ll be quick to denounce the inappropriate use or blockage of the street.

Bicyclists have been working to make space on the streets of San Francisco for bicycling, and to do that they’ve been trying to reshape public expectations about how streets are used. Predictably there’s been a pushback from motorists and their allies, who imagine that the norms of mid-20th century American life can be extended indefinitely into the future. But cyclists and their natural allies, pedestrians, can take heart from a lost history that has been illuminated by Peter D. Norton in his recent book [http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11471 ''Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City'']. He skillfully excavates the shift that was engineered in public opinion during the 1920s by the organized forces of what called itself “Motordom.” Their efforts turned pedestrians into scofflaws known as “jaywalkers,” shifted the burden of public safety from speeding motorists to their victims, and reorganized American urban design around providing more roads and more space for private cars.

[[Image:Lottas fountain crowded market street c 1909 AAA-9461.jpg]]

'''Typical street scene in 1909, long before private cars had become a major problem.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Motorland-cover-1927 3043.jpg|150px|right|thumb]] For decades, over 40,000 people have died each year in car crashes on the streets of the United States. This daily carnage is utterly normalized to the point that few of us think about it at all, and if we do, it’s like the weather, just a regular part of our environment. But it wasn’t always this way. Back when the private automobile was first beginning to appear on public streets a large majority of the population, including politicians, police, and business leaders, agreed that cars were interlopers and ought to be regulated and subordinated to pedestrians and streetcars.

It’s almost impossible to imagine the speed with which conditions on urban streets changed at the dawn of the motorized era. Here’s a quote from the California Automobile Association’s ''Motorland'' magazine in August 1927 describing the rapid growth in car ownership:

<blockquote>In 1895 there were four cars registered, in 1905 there were 77,400 in use, in 1915 the total had risen to 2,309,000, and in 1925 there were 17,512,000 passenger automobiles on the highways, and the total is now in excess of 20,000,000.</blockquote>

With over two million cars clogging city streets in 1915, and death and injury tolls rising, cities took various measures to address the problem (quoting from “Fighting Traffic”):

[[Image:Market st pedestrians 1937 AAB-6406.jpg|right|240px|thumb|'''Pedestrians on Market Street, 1937;''' ''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library'']] <blockquote>From 1915 (and especially after 1920), cities tried marking crosswalks with painted lines, but most pedestrians ignored them. A Kansas City safety expert reported that when police tried to keep them out of the roadway, “pedestrians, many of them women” would “demand that police stand aside.” In one case, he reported, “women used their parasols on the policemen.” Police relaxed enforcement.</blockquote>

The common usage of the streets by all was considered sacrosanct and attempts by motordom and/or police to regulate people’s use of the streets was widely resisted. Plenty of police didn’t agree that pedestrian behavior should be criminalized on behalf of motoring:

<blockquote>New York police magistrate Bruce Cobb in 1919 defended the “legal right to the highway” of the “foot passenger,” arguing that “if pedestrians were at their peril confined to street corners or certain designated crossings, it might tend to give selfish drivers too great a sense of proprietorship in the highway.” He assigned the responsibility for the safety of the pedestrian—even one who “darts obliquely across a crowded thorofare”—to drivers… By 1916 “jaywalker” was a feature of “police parlance.” Police use modified the word’s meaning and sparked controversy. “Jaywalker” carried the sting of ridicule, and many objected to branding independent-minded pedestrians with the term… The New York Times objected, calling the word “highly opprobrious” and “a truly shocking name.”</blockquote>

Anti-jaywalking campaigns came to San Francisco too.

<blockquote>In a 1920 safety campaign, San Francisco pedestrians who thought they were minding their own business found themselves pulled into mocked-up outdoor courtrooms. In front of crowds of onlookers they were lectured on the perils of jaywalking.</blockquote>

[[Image:Safety-lesson-no-3-dont-play-w-dynamite-or-jaywalking 3075.jpg]]

'''Typical of auto industry-sponsored advertising shifting the burden for road safety from motorists to the children who had customarily been able to play in the streets safely.''' (''Motorland magazine'')]]

[[Image:Two women jaywalkers on market july 1941 AAB-6257.jpg]]

'''In 1941 jaywalking became a topic of interest in local papers, with several images captured of women jaywalking.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Jaywalkers july 21 1941 AAB-6255.jpg]]

'''Clearly 20 years of anti-jaywalking campaigns in San Francisco and the country as a whole had not convinced people to abandon their customary ways of crossing public streets.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Jaywalkers walk against signal 1942 AAB-6309.jpg]]

'''In 1942 this shot at 5th and Market shows the women walking against the signal.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

As the 1920s continued, more and more cars were being sold, and the streets were both crowded and contested. Streetcar operators blamed cars for clogging thoroughfares and slowing down their lines, causing late runs and generally inconveniencing passengers. Motorists parked everywhere, jamming curbsides two-deep, when they weren’t weaving through chaotic urban streets. Attempts to regulate and standardize traffic patterns began during this era, with lanes, crosswalks, traffic signals, and parking regulations slowly emerging as “solutions” to the problems created by tens of thousands of private cars filling the streets.

[[Image:Automobile traffic at Van Ness Avenue and Fell Street feb 3 1927 AAB-5686.jpg]]

'''February 3, 1927, Van Ness and Fell Streets, with helpful labels to show what motorists are doing wrong.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Automobile traffic at Van Ness Avenue and Fell Street feb 3 1927 AAB-5687.jpg]]

'''More 1927 instructional photography.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

When sales slumped in late 1923 and into 1924, analysts speculated that the market for cars was saturated (at about 7 Americans per car at the time). The car industry consisted of dozens of companies, who began to fail or merge during this first contraction in sales. The industry reorganized its public relations and launched concerted efforts to redefine “saturation”:

<blockquote>There was no “buying-power saturation,” [Motordom] said. The real bridle on the demand for automobiles was not the consumer’s wallet, but street capacity. Traffic congestion deterred the would-be urban car buyer, and congestion was saturation of streets.</blockquote>

By the late 1920s, a young graduate student named Miller McClintock had become the nation’s pre-eminent traffic researcher thanks to his 1925 thesis “Street Traffic Control.” His career is a window into the process of private corruption of public interests that riddles American history up to the present.

<blockquote>In his 1925 graduate thesis Street Traffic Control, the old McClintock had maintained that widening streets would merely attract more vehicles to them, leaving traffic as congested as before. The automobile, he wrote, was a waster of space compared to the streetcar, noting that “the greater economy of the latter is marked.” “It seems desirable,” McClintock wrote, “to give trolley cars the right of way under general conditions, and to place restrictions on motor vehicles in their relations with street cars.” He described the automobile as a “menace to human life” and “the greatest public destroyer of human life.”

Two years later all had changed. McClintock wrote of “the inevitable necessity to provide more room” in the streets. He called for “new streets” and “wider streets.”… In 1925 McClintock virtually ruled out elevated streets as expensive and impractical; two years later he urged that they be considered.</blockquote>

What had happened in the two years between the diametrically opposed advice given by McClintock? He had been hired by Studebaker’s Vice President to head up the new “Albert Russel Erskine Bureau for Street Traffic Research,” which was first placed in Los Angeles where McClintock was teaching at UC, but a year later moved by Studebaker to Harvard University, where the car company continued to fund the ostensibly “independent” institute. As the years went by McClintock became one of the foremost authorities on traffic planning, though his organization dropped the “Albert Russel Erskine” from its name when the chairman of Studebaker Motors committed suicide in 1933!

[[Image:Automobile dealership at Van Ness Avenue and Geary Street apr 18 1923 AAD-4651.jpg]]

'''Auto dealership at Van Ness Avenue and Geary Street, April 18, 1923.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Van-Ness-south-from-Sacramento-Auto-Row-1930 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Van Ness Avenue looking south from Sacramento, Auto Row stretching for blocks in 1930, First Presbyterian Church at left.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

McClintock came to San Francisco early in his career. In the August 1927 Motorland magazine, he penned an article summarizing his research “Curing the Ills of San Francisco Traffic”: “… it is recognized that an ultimate requirement for the solution of street and highway congestion is to be found in the creation of more ample street area.” And sure enough, it was in this exact period that San Francisco embarked on a series of street widenings throughout the city, including for example, Capp Street and [[A Brief History of Cesar Chavez/Army Street|Army Street]] in the Mission District. Interestingly, McClintock’s traffic study shows the predominant car-free life of San Franciscans at the time:

<blockquote>On a typical business day studied by the traffic survey committee, 1,073,963 persons entered and left [the central business] district during a fourteen-hour period from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Vehicles of all types, including streetcars, carried 744,667 people in and out of the district, In addition, 329,296 pedestrians entered and left the district during the same period… In no other city is there such a large pedestrian movement into the central district, nor such a large outrush of people during the noon hour. Both of these conditions may be attributed to the large capacity of apartment houses immediately adjacent to the district…</blockquote>

Incredibly, streetcars were used by 70 percent of the people depending on some kind of transportation to get downtown, while only a quarter used passenger cars, but the latter made up 61 percent of vehicular traffic as compared to 11 percent for the streetcars! What has been poorly understood in the triumphant narrative of the private automobile is how cars benefited from enormous public expenditures, even when they were being used by a relatively small minority of the population. New infrastructure to accommodate motorists far outstripped any public investment in public streetcar service, let alone any subsidies for the privately owned lines. Meanwhile, electric streetcar companies were slowly going bankrupt, with their fares publicly restricted and the public streets on which they operated slowly being taken over by private vehicles.

Traditional use of the streets by pedestrians was being criminalized by new traffic codes. McClintock put forth a new Uniform Traffic Ordinance, adopted by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, which was intended to “legislate jaywalkers off the streets,” crowed a ''Motorland'' magazine editorial. In 1915, Ford already had a [[Harrison Street Industrial Corridor|factory at 21st and Harrison]] in the Mission making Model-T’s, and by the mid-1920s, the [[Auto Row on Van Ness|new car business]] was fully ensconced along Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco.

Miller McClintock continued his work on behalf of the auto industry from his bought-and-paid-for perch at Harvard University.

<blockquote>Miller McClintock [became] the impresario of a new kind of highway road show. In the spring of 1937, the Shell Oil Company combined McClintock’s traffic expertise with the talents of the stage designer Normal Bel Geddes to build a scale model of “the automobile city of tomorrow.”… Others interested in the rebuilding of cities for the motor age adopted Shell’s technique. At the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, United States Steel displayed its vision of San Francisco in 1999, with wider streets, cloverleaf intersections, and an elevated highway.</blockquote>

Overshadowed by the far more successful World’s Fair in New York City, and in particular by the tone-setting “World of Tomorrow” exhibit there built by General Motors, the 1939 US Steel vision of San Francisco in 1999 is worth peeking at:

[[Image:US-Steel-diorama-1939-by-Donald-McLoughlin-16th-St-pier-7-in.jpg]]

'''"San Francisco in 1999" Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939. US Steel financed this diorama, meant to reinvent San Francisco as a Corbusian radial city with a new rationalized and centralized port combining all piers in a single monumental jetty extending from 16th Street.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:US-Steel-diorama-1939-by-Donald-McLoughlin-7th-and-Howard-cu-7-in.jpg]]

'''This close-up from the US Steel 1939 vision of San Francisco in 1999 shows the intersection of 7th and Howard streets with elevated roadways passing under each tower.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

Here’s a description of the exhibit by Richard Reinhart in his book on the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition “Treasure Island: San Francisco’s Exposition Years”

[[Image:Cadillac dealership August 1964 AAD-4658.jpg|220px|right|thumb|'''1964 image of Cadillac dealership;''' ''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library'']] <blockquote>Artist Donald McLoughlin had prepared a dioramic view of San Francisco in 1999 for the US Steel exhibit in the Hall of Mines, Metals and Machinery. This prognostic nightmare showed the city stripped of every vestige of 1939 except Coit Tower, the bridges and Chinatown. All maritime activity had disappeared from the Embarcadero. Shipping was concentrated at a super-pier at the foot of 16th Street.

North of Market Street every block contained a single, identical high-rise apartment house. South of Market, sixty-story office towers of steel and glass alternated with block-square plazas in a vast checkerboard pattern. Elevated freeways ran through the geometric landscape.</blockquote>

McLoughlin correctly anticipated the removal of maritime activity from San Francisco’s waterfront, though his massive modern pier is spread along the Oakland bay shore rather than on a prominent pier jutting out from 16th Street. Visions like this, and the better known version in New York, informed the post-WWII population as it fled cities for the suburbs. Those who remained though, had a different idea of what our cities would become, and thanks to their stopping the highway builders in their tracks in the late 1950s and early 1960s, San Francisco was not crushed in this way.

Interesting to recall that while 30,000 citizens were mobilized to [[The Freeway Revolt|stop freeway building]] in San Francisco (the very same elevated, pedestrian-free streets McClintock had come to endorse as an industry flack) thousands more, mostly African American and white youth, staged a vigorous [[Segregation_and_the_Civil_Rights_Movement_in_San_Francisco|civil rights campaign]] along auto row, demanding that blacks be given equal treatment in hiring by auto dealers, especially Don Lee’s Cadillac dealership.

[[Image:Crowd cheering settlement with auto dealers 1964 AAK-0884.jpg]]

'''Crowd cheering civil rights employment settlement with auto dealers, 1964.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

Contrary to the fervent wishes of today’s motorists, streets have not always been the domain of cars. Clever marketing prior to the Depression led to radical redesign of both the physical streets and our assumptions about how public streets should be used.

[[TRANSIT INTRODUCTION |Prev. Document]] [[Transbay Terminal|Next Document]]

[[category:Transit]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1910s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:roads]] [[category:Polk Gulch]] [[category:Downtown]] [[category:Civic Center]]

The Embarcadero Reborn

2016-09-30T20:51:18Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Embarcadero southeast from about Howard, 1927.'photo which came from CR collection

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Jasper Rubin''

[[Image:East-under-and-through-Embarcadero-Freeway 00020005 Chuck-Gould.jpg]]

'''The view of the waterfront under the Embarcadero Freeway, apx. Pier 5, c. 1966.'''

''Photo: © Chuck Gould, all rights reserved.''

A year before Proposition H was passed in November 1990 [mandating a coherent waterfront planning process], the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake severely damaged the Embarcadero Freeway, thus providing the opportunity to rethink the relationship between the city and its waterfront and to implement policies that had been in place since 1977 as part of the Northeastern Waterfront Plan. Furthermore, the city had for years maintained as official policy that the Embarcadero Freeway [[The Freeway Revolt|should be removed]]. The original concept to carry out these policies was developed during the 1980s as the I-280 Transfer Concept Plan. Elusive financing and jurisdictional issues, especially with the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans), were barriers to its implementation. And in 1986, San Franciscans actually voted against removing the freeway. The watershed moment came with the state's evaluation that the Embarcadero Freeway was too severely damaged by the 1989 quake to repair; it would have to be rebuilt. The city, whose opinion of the freeway had changed in the intervening years, gasped collectively at the thought and [[Mayor Art Agnos|Mayor Agnos]] organized to fight Sacramento. The board of supervisors joined the mayor by adopting an anti-freeway stance, and an unusual sense of common purpose brought various city agencies together. The city prevailed in its demand that the freeway be removed and replaced with surface transportation elements that reflected city policy.(10)

[[Image:Embarcadero-and-Mission-w-streetcar 6719.jpg]]

'''Embarcadero at Mission in 2010, long after the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway and the building of new MUNI facilities, including the F-line running to Fisherman's Wharf.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Embarcadero-se-at-Howard-1927-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Embarcadero southeast from about Howard, 1927.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C.R. collection''

[[Image:CABLe-cars-at-foot-of-Market-1905.jpg|760px]]

'''Looking up Market Street from the Ferry Building, 1905.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

The design for the new Embarcadero roadway included a significant amount of port property, and only a few general policies existed pertaining to its reuse and reconfiguration. So, planning for the new roadway was undertaken in a multiagency effort coordinated by the city's Chief Administrator's Office under the rubric of the Waterfront Transportation Projects Office (WTPO).(11) Then began a ten-year planning effort that involved substantial community input, a citizen's advisory committee for the Embarcadero Project, and many, many consultants, with the design firm ROMA at the forefront. As described by the WTPO, the city had been "presented with an unprecedented opportunity to realize its vision for a tree-lined boulevard with rail, bicycle, pedestrian, and public art amenities along the northeastern waterfront and [to] create a civic plaza that acknowledges the importance of the Ferry Building, the terminus of Market Street, and the city's historic relationship to the waterfront."(12) Funding for the massive project was secured from a variety of federal, state, and local sources. The $700 million collection of projects was immense and immensely complex; it is not possible to address them fully here.

[[Image:Pier-32-rebuild-looking-north-along-embarcadero 1741.jpg]]

'''Pier 36 being rebuilt as a new shoreline park, 2013. Embarcadero roadway with pedestrian promenade and palm trees at left.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

Let it suffice to summarize the main components, all of which were completed by the early 2000s: a new alignment for the Embarcadero boulevard that incorporates bicycle lanes and an exclusive right-of-way for an extension of the F streetcar line from the Ferry Building to Fisherman's Wharf (service started in 2000); a water-side pedestrian promenade that runs from Fisherman's Wharf to China Basin Channel (Herb Caen Way); an extension of MUNI's light-rail system south of Townsend Street along an exclusive right-of- way in the center of the Embarcadero, completed in 1997; an underground MUNI switching yard that was originally to be placed under the elevated freeway; several open-space improvements; and lots of Canary Island palm trees (without dates, so no messy cleanup). The port described the impact of these projects in no uncertain terms: "Together, they singularly changed the character of the northern waterfront from an industrial service corridor to an outdoor living room for San Francisco."(13)

[[Image:Embarcadero-near-ferry-bldg-at-dusk 2802.jpg]]

'''Embarcadero near dusk, at about Howard and the Embarcadero.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Corner-of-Steuart-and-Market-c-1913-National-Maritime-Museum.jpg|720px]]

'''Corner of Steuart and Market, c. 1913, when it was fully connected to the waterfront and maritime industries.'''

''Photo: San Francisco National Maritime Museum''

Of particular interest to the port was a subset of this program, referred to as the Mid-Embarcadero Roadway project, initiated in 1998 and completed in 2000. Its main piece is a large plaza that connects the Ferry Building to the foot of Market Street and the Embarcadero Center. From it jut spiky "light cannons" that beam their lumens into the night sky. The port linked the success of the then-nascent Ferry Building rehabilitation and related Downtown Ferry Terminal projects, mentioned below, to the new open space. The concept had evolved from the larger Embarcadero program, and in 1995, officials were already speaking of it in near-giddy terms. "This is a singular opportunity to make the most important space in the city," enthused the director of the planning department, Lucian Blazej. ROMA's Boris Dramov was broadly categorical in his assertion that "the crossings of people will make this place unlike any other place. . . . The historic city front will be reinstated. People will want to feel it."(14) But these were not necessarily exaggerations. To underscore its public importance the plaza was named for Harry Bridges, famed waterfront labor leader, and was paid for with public funding, including Federal Highway Administration grants and local voter-approved sales taxes earmarked for transportation. However, the plaza design was the subject of an intense battle over whether to put the roadway underground, and then whether to split the north and south bound lanes. Costs and safety concerns led to a surface roadway split around a plaza, making an island of the open space. The end result leaves much to be desired from a physical design perspective, but it involved much compromise and hand-wringing.

[[Image:People-in-plaza-across-from-Ferry-bldg-looking-west 3457.jpg]]

'''Harry Bridges Plaza across 3 lanes of northbound traffic from the Ferry Building, separated by 3 lanes of southbound traffic from the foot of Market Street.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Market-Street-SW-from-Embarcadero-and-Sacramento-Aug-7-1925-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''Market Street looking west from Embarcadero and Sacramento Street, August 7, 1925.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

The overall effect of the Embarcadero projects has been to reunite the city and its waterfront in ways that benefit a wide public. In 1995, before the Mid-Embarcadero project was begun, [[The House That Jack Built: A History of San Francisco Tomorrow|San Francisco Tomorrow]] member Norman Rolfe repeated what was becoming a common refrain, that "the waterfront should not be set off from the public by private clubs, hotels, and highrises. We'd like to see esplanades and maritime uses, things that connect people to the bay and the ocean." His wish, shared by many others, was starting to coming true, and the Waterfront Land Use Plan provided the well into which the public could throw its coins, and not just metaphorically speaking.(15)

'''Notes'''

10. Notably, the board vote was close—six to five. Chinatown merchants and political agitators pushed for the freeway's reconstruction, arguing that tourism and trade would suffer without the easy automobile access. Their fears were never realized. 
11. Planning for the Waterfront Transportation Projects, also called the Embarcadero Transportation Projects, had actually begun before the earthquake, and assumed the presence of the freeway. The earthquake caused a complete reevaluation of the WTP, especially for the mid-Embarcadero segment running from Folsom to Broadway (PSF, ''Waterfront Land Use Plan'', 24). 
12. Mid-Embarcadero Open Space Project, Chief Administrative Officer's Waterfront Transportation Projects Office (San Francisco, 1994), 5. 
13. PSF, "Information Presentation on a Ten-Year Review of the Waterfront Land Use Plan," staff memorandum to the port commission, San Francisco, December 3, 2008, 15. 
14. Dan Levy, "Dean of Renaissance at Ferry Plaza," ''San Francisco Chronicle'', October 9, 1995. 
15. ''Ibid''.

[[A Waterfront Planned: The 1990s and the New Millennium|Preceding essay]] [[The Waterfront Land Use Plan|Continue reading]]

<hr>
[[Image:A-Negotiated-Landscape-book-cover.jpg|200px|left]] Excerpted with permission from [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/N/bo12387078.html ''A Negotiated Landscape''] © 2011 Jasper Rubin and the Center for American Places at Columbia College Chicago

[[category:shoreline]] [[category:downtown]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1910s]]

The Embarcadero Reborn

2016-09-30T20:49:19Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Market Street looking west from Embarcadero and Sacramento Street, August 7, 1925.''' photo which came from CR collection

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Jasper Rubin''

[[Image:East-under-and-through-Embarcadero-Freeway 00020005 Chuck-Gould.jpg]]

'''The view of the waterfront under the Embarcadero Freeway, apx. Pier 5, c. 1966.'''

''Photo: © Chuck Gould, all rights reserved.''

A year before Proposition H was passed in November 1990 [mandating a coherent waterfront planning process], the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake severely damaged the Embarcadero Freeway, thus providing the opportunity to rethink the relationship between the city and its waterfront and to implement policies that had been in place since 1977 as part of the Northeastern Waterfront Plan. Furthermore, the city had for years maintained as official policy that the Embarcadero Freeway [[The Freeway Revolt|should be removed]]. The original concept to carry out these policies was developed during the 1980s as the I-280 Transfer Concept Plan. Elusive financing and jurisdictional issues, especially with the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans), were barriers to its implementation. And in 1986, San Franciscans actually voted against removing the freeway. The watershed moment came with the state's evaluation that the Embarcadero Freeway was too severely damaged by the 1989 quake to repair; it would have to be rebuilt. The city, whose opinion of the freeway had changed in the intervening years, gasped collectively at the thought and [[Mayor Art Agnos|Mayor Agnos]] organized to fight Sacramento. The board of supervisors joined the mayor by adopting an anti-freeway stance, and an unusual sense of common purpose brought various city agencies together. The city prevailed in its demand that the freeway be removed and replaced with surface transportation elements that reflected city policy.(10)

[[Image:Embarcadero-and-Mission-w-streetcar 6719.jpg]]

'''Embarcadero at Mission in 2010, long after the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway and the building of new MUNI facilities, including the F-line running to Fisherman's Wharf.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Embarcadero-se-at-Howard-1927-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Embarcadero southeast from about Howard, 1927.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy Charles Ruiz collection''

[[Image:CABLe-cars-at-foot-of-Market-1905.jpg|760px]]

'''Looking up Market Street from the Ferry Building, 1905.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

The design for the new Embarcadero roadway included a significant amount of port property, and only a few general policies existed pertaining to its reuse and reconfiguration. So, planning for the new roadway was undertaken in a multiagency effort coordinated by the city's Chief Administrator's Office under the rubric of the Waterfront Transportation Projects Office (WTPO).(11) Then began a ten-year planning effort that involved substantial community input, a citizen's advisory committee for the Embarcadero Project, and many, many consultants, with the design firm ROMA at the forefront. As described by the WTPO, the city had been "presented with an unprecedented opportunity to realize its vision for a tree-lined boulevard with rail, bicycle, pedestrian, and public art amenities along the northeastern waterfront and [to] create a civic plaza that acknowledges the importance of the Ferry Building, the terminus of Market Street, and the city's historic relationship to the waterfront."(12) Funding for the massive project was secured from a variety of federal, state, and local sources. The $700 million collection of projects was immense and immensely complex; it is not possible to address them fully here.

[[Image:Pier-32-rebuild-looking-north-along-embarcadero 1741.jpg]]

'''Pier 36 being rebuilt as a new shoreline park, 2013. Embarcadero roadway with pedestrian promenade and palm trees at left.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

Let it suffice to summarize the main components, all of which were completed by the early 2000s: a new alignment for the Embarcadero boulevard that incorporates bicycle lanes and an exclusive right-of-way for an extension of the F streetcar line from the Ferry Building to Fisherman's Wharf (service started in 2000); a water-side pedestrian promenade that runs from Fisherman's Wharf to China Basin Channel (Herb Caen Way); an extension of MUNI's light-rail system south of Townsend Street along an exclusive right-of- way in the center of the Embarcadero, completed in 1997; an underground MUNI switching yard that was originally to be placed under the elevated freeway; several open-space improvements; and lots of Canary Island palm trees (without dates, so no messy cleanup). The port described the impact of these projects in no uncertain terms: "Together, they singularly changed the character of the northern waterfront from an industrial service corridor to an outdoor living room for San Francisco."(13)

[[Image:Embarcadero-near-ferry-bldg-at-dusk 2802.jpg]]

'''Embarcadero near dusk, at about Howard and the Embarcadero.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Corner-of-Steuart-and-Market-c-1913-National-Maritime-Museum.jpg|720px]]

'''Corner of Steuart and Market, c. 1913, when it was fully connected to the waterfront and maritime industries.'''

''Photo: San Francisco National Maritime Museum''

Of particular interest to the port was a subset of this program, referred to as the Mid-Embarcadero Roadway project, initiated in 1998 and completed in 2000. Its main piece is a large plaza that connects the Ferry Building to the foot of Market Street and the Embarcadero Center. From it jut spiky "light cannons" that beam their lumens into the night sky. The port linked the success of the then-nascent Ferry Building rehabilitation and related Downtown Ferry Terminal projects, mentioned below, to the new open space. The concept had evolved from the larger Embarcadero program, and in 1995, officials were already speaking of it in near-giddy terms. "This is a singular opportunity to make the most important space in the city," enthused the director of the planning department, Lucian Blazej. ROMA's Boris Dramov was broadly categorical in his assertion that "the crossings of people will make this place unlike any other place. . . . The historic city front will be reinstated. People will want to feel it."(14) But these were not necessarily exaggerations. To underscore its public importance the plaza was named for Harry Bridges, famed waterfront labor leader, and was paid for with public funding, including Federal Highway Administration grants and local voter-approved sales taxes earmarked for transportation. However, the plaza design was the subject of an intense battle over whether to put the roadway underground, and then whether to split the north and south bound lanes. Costs and safety concerns led to a surface roadway split around a plaza, making an island of the open space. The end result leaves much to be desired from a physical design perspective, but it involved much compromise and hand-wringing.

[[Image:People-in-plaza-across-from-Ferry-bldg-looking-west 3457.jpg]]

'''Harry Bridges Plaza across 3 lanes of northbound traffic from the Ferry Building, separated by 3 lanes of southbound traffic from the foot of Market Street.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Market-Street-SW-from-Embarcadero-and-Sacramento-Aug-7-1925-SFDPW.jpg|720px]]

'''Market Street looking west from Embarcadero and Sacramento Street, August 7, 1925.'''

''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy C.R. collection''

The overall effect of the Embarcadero projects has been to reunite the city and its waterfront in ways that benefit a wide public. In 1995, before the Mid-Embarcadero project was begun, [[The House That Jack Built: A History of San Francisco Tomorrow|San Francisco Tomorrow]] member Norman Rolfe repeated what was becoming a common refrain, that "the waterfront should not be set off from the public by private clubs, hotels, and highrises. We'd like to see esplanades and maritime uses, things that connect people to the bay and the ocean." His wish, shared by many others, was starting to coming true, and the Waterfront Land Use Plan provided the well into which the public could throw its coins, and not just metaphorically speaking.(15)

'''Notes'''

10. Notably, the board vote was close—six to five. Chinatown merchants and political agitators pushed for the freeway's reconstruction, arguing that tourism and trade would suffer without the easy automobile access. Their fears were never realized. 
11. Planning for the Waterfront Transportation Projects, also called the Embarcadero Transportation Projects, had actually begun before the earthquake, and assumed the presence of the freeway. The earthquake caused a complete reevaluation of the WTP, especially for the mid-Embarcadero segment running from Folsom to Broadway (PSF, ''Waterfront Land Use Plan'', 24). 
12. Mid-Embarcadero Open Space Project, Chief Administrative Officer's Waterfront Transportation Projects Office (San Francisco, 1994), 5. 
13. PSF, "Information Presentation on a Ten-Year Review of the Waterfront Land Use Plan," staff memorandum to the port commission, San Francisco, December 3, 2008, 15. 
14. Dan Levy, "Dean of Renaissance at Ferry Plaza," ''San Francisco Chronicle'', October 9, 1995. 
15. ''Ibid''.

[[A Waterfront Planned: The 1990s and the New Millennium|Preceding essay]] [[The Waterfront Land Use Plan|Continue reading]]

<hr>
[[Image:A-Negotiated-Landscape-book-cover.jpg|200px|left]] Excerpted with permission from [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/N/bo12387078.html ''A Negotiated Landscape''] © 2011 Jasper Rubin and the Center for American Places at Columbia College Chicago

[[category:shoreline]] [[category:downtown]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1910s]]

Height Limit Revolt Saves Waterfront Vistas

2016-09-30T20:47:31Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Fontana Spaghetti Factory at North Point and Van Ness, 1940s.''' photo which came from CR collection

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Chris Carlsson''

During the early 1960s San Franciscans rose up to oppose the rampant construction of highrise apartment buildings, offices, hotels, and other commercial projects that would have created a wall along the northern waterfront had they been built. It started when developers proposed building the curving 17-story towers on the site of the old Fontana spaghetti factory just east of Fort Mason. Residents living on Russian Hill, mostly upper-class San Franciscans, organized opposition through their Russian Hill Improvement Association (RHIA). What now can be seen as a curious irony a half century later, the lawyer who represented the RHIA was Casper Weinberger, who went on to be President Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Defense during his infamous [[Let’s Fake a Deal! A History of Arms Control|military build-up and Star Wars fantasies]] of the 1980s.

[[Image:Feb 21 1936 van ness and bay streets AAB-5701.jpg]]

'''Van Ness Avenue and Bay Street, February 21, 1936, old Fontana spaghetti factory is brick building one block north on right.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Van-Ness-and-North-Point-c-1940s.jpg|720px]]

'''Fontana Spaghetti Factory at North Point and Van Ness, 1940s.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Fontana-towers-at-corner 3745.jpg]]

'''Fontana Towers built in 1962 on site of spaghetti factory/warehouse at North Point and Van Ness, seen here in 2014.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Fontana-Towers-cu 1302.jpg]]

'''Fontana Towers, 2012.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

Citizen efforts were helped by a 1960 declaration from then planning director James R. McCarthy where he was one of the first to warn against “Manhattanization.” He said, “San Francisco zoning laws will have to be changed to prevent construction of a ‘Chinese Wall’ of skyscrapers along its waterfront… We want to avoid what has happened in lower Manhattan in New York, where views of the bay are blocked by high rising buildings.” (S.F. Chronicle, Dec. 7, 1960). But the well-heeled denizens of Russian Hill began their campaign too late to stop the Fontana Towers, which were built. These modernist towers are still reviled by most San Franciscans, but their construction helped fuel a broader movement to halt such building along the waterfront from Fishermans’ Wharf to the Bay Bridge.

After the Fontana project was approved, the RHIA and their lawyer Weinberger embraced the idea of a 40-foot height limit (about three or four stories) to protect the waterfront from future such projects. The Planning Commission, under pressure from RHIA and its allies, voted in June 1961 for a two-year temporary 40-foot height limit on a 100-block area of the northern waterfront. Casper Weinberger, who had been a 3-term Republican state assemblymember in the 1950s, argued for a broader political goal to establish a “flexible height limit that will allow progress but not destroy views or the sense of being near the bay… and a city-wide campaign to preserve San Francisco’s waterfront beauty.” (By mid-1962 Weinberger had become state chairman of the California Republican Party, later serving as Governor Reagan’s Finance Director, where he supported the consolidation and permanence of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission which had been created in response to the [[SAVING SAN FRANCISCO BAY|Save the Bay movement]].) A broad coalition consisting of twenty-two improvement groups and neighborhood associations, including the [[The History of Telegraph Hill Dwellers |Telegraph Hill Dwellers]], managed to get 8,000 signatures on a petition supporting the 40-foot height limit.

The San Francisco Real Estate Board, the Building Owners and Managers Association, the Associated General Contractors, and the San Francisco Building Trades Council all moved to fight the 40-foot height limit, arguing that the proponents were only concerned with beauty, overcrowding, sunshine and shadows, and not economics. But Planning Commissioners were not responsive to the narrow interests of real estate developers at this time. After various legislative maneuvers to end the restriction at the Board of Supervisors even the pro-development Mayor Christopher publicly supported a more deliberate process by planning experts. The Planning Department continued to advocate for the height restrictions, and the Board voted 9-0 in favor of the interim controls, endorsing public arguments that such things as enjoyment of nature and views belong to everyone and should not be sacrificed to private real estate interests.

Before the February 1964 vote of the Board of Supervisors overwhelmingly approved permanent 40-foot height limits (voting 9-1 in favor), Casper Weinberger had argued that the law “will preserve for future generations one of the priceless assets of San Francisco, the whole relationship of the city to the Bay… and particularly, the views enjoyed by the public from publicly owned lands, such as [[Coit Tower|Coit Tower]] and other city-owned recreational spaces.” In further testimony he continued “The Master Plan has for years provided that the height of buildings should generally follow the contour of the land, and that low rise buildings should be built on the low lands, such as the northern waterfront, and high rise at the tops of hills so that the loss of views, etc., will be minimized.”

[[Image:Russian-hill-apartment-tower 1304.jpg]]

'''Towers such as this one dominate the upper slopes of Russian Hill, where highrises have been given free reign.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

During those early ‘60s years Weinberger was in the mainstream of the Republican Party, when it still had room for conservationists, once an important part of the Party’s history (going back to Teddy Roosevelt and the early conservationist movement at the turn of the 20th century). Weinberger rode the Reagan train into state and then national power, moving steadily to the right along with the political leader that he followed. The far right’s capture of the Republican Party in the 2000s required the legacy of Reaganism to succeed, but has had to obliterate the actual history of the Republicans that preceded the 1970s. Oddly and ironically for San Francisco, Weinberger’s words were very influential and bolstered a series of social and ecological movements (such as the [[The Freeway Revolt|Freeway Revolt]], the [[SAVING SAN FRANCISCO BAY|Save the Bay movement]], efforts to [[Ecology Emerges 1970s|preserve open space]], etc.) that later became ideological targets of right-wing politicians across the U.S.

<hr>

''This article based on Jasper Rubin’s excellent work “A Negotiated Landscape: The Transformation of San Francisco’s Waterfront Since 1950” (The Center for American Places at Columbia College, Chicago: 2011)''

[[category:1960s]] [[category:Russian Hill]] [[category:architecture]] [[category:Power and Money]] [[category:Real estate]] [[category:Ecology]]

Transbay Terminal

2016-09-30T20:45:00Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''White front streetcar No. 8 at Transbay Terminal, c. 1940s.''' and '''K-streetcar turning from First Street into Transbay Terminal ramp" photos which came from CR collection

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Chris Carlsson''

Originally published at [http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/10/08/natures-unsung-helper/ sf.streetsblog.org] as '''Nature's Unsung Helper'''

[[Image:Key-train-on-First-Street-ramp-April-1939-Dorothea-Lange.jpg]]

'''Key System train on First Street ramp between [[Bay Bridge Artery|Bay Bridge]] and Transbay Terminal, April 1939.'''

''Photo: Dorothea Lange, Library of Congress''

[[Image:Nov 15 1965 transbay terminal southward from up high AAD-6064.jpg]]

'''November 1965 view looking southeast over the Transbay Terminal.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Jan 17 1939 commuters leave at 1st and mission w lawn AAD-6047.jpg]]

'''January 17, 1939, commuters leave Transbay Terminal towards First and Mission.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

Terminal History

San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal was built in 1939 at 1st and Mission Streets as a California Toll Bridge Authority facility in order to facilitate commuter rail travel across the lower portion of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. It was paid for by Bay Bridge tolls, which were then 50 cents per automobile. At the time, the lower deck of the Bay Bridge was not only used for automobile travel, but also hosted two rail tracks on the south side. The rail portion was run principally through the Key System.

The Terminal was designed to handle as many as 35 million people annually with a peak 20-minute rate of 17,000 commuters that were transported in 10-car trains at headways of 63.5 seconds. In its heyday at the end of World War II, the terminal’s rail system was transporting 26 million passengers annually. After the war ended and gas rationing was eliminated, the Terminal’s use began to steadily decline to a rate of four to five million people traveling by rail per year. In 1958, the lower deck of the Bay Bridge was converted to automobile traffic only, the Key System was dismantled, and by 1959, the inter-modal Transbay Terminal was converted into a bus-only facility, which it currently is today. (from the [http://transbaycenter.org/project/terminal-history Transbay Center website])

[[Image:Stephen-obrien 2287.jpg]]

'''Stephen O'Brien, gardener at Transbay Terminal since 1958.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

Stephen O'Brien has been coaxing an oasis out of a most unlikely environment for a long time: the small green patches at either end of the ground level Mission Street frontage of the Transbay Terminal. He started back in 1958, when the old Key System train tracks that used to bring East Bay electric streetcars to the Transbay Terminal were being torn out. The Transbay Terminal in those days was a crucial commuter hub, bringing passengers from all over the East Bay. If you've ever ridden the F bus from Berkeley to San Francisco, you've ridden on the descendant of the same-lettered streetcar that once transported you from downtown Berkeley to downtown San Francisco just a minute longer than BART does today!

O'Brien is having his last day working his gardens at the Transbay Terminal today. His company's contract with Caltrans has ended, and he has been transferred to the State Building or the PUC building grounds. He's almost 80 years old and if he doesn't like his new posting, he'll probably retire soon. It'll be hard to match the half century he's spent cultivating the quiet, almost invisible oases at the Transbay Terminal. I heard about O'Brien from my friend Susanne Zago:

<blockquote>"Every morning I step out of the Transbay Terminal, one of the ugliest places I've ever been, and I notice this small green space as I leave. Sometimes it was completely trashed, but the next day I'd look in and it would be restored to its pristine condition. I looked at the trees, surprisingly mature, wondering what was planned for them as they build the new Transbay Center. I started asking around, and no one knew. One day I met this man who was in the space and it turned out to be Stephen."</blockquote>

[[Image:July 20 1953 train on platform AAD-6051.jpg]]

'''July 20, 1953, [[Key System and March of Progress|Key System train]] awaits on platform in Transbay Terminal. '''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:June 8 1948 passengers boarding AAK-1354.jpg]]

'''Passengers boarding Key System train, June 8, 1948.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Bottlebrush-oasis 2280.jpg]]

'''A natural oasis at 1st and Mission, October 2009.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Flower-stand-and-right-side-park 2298.jpg]]

'''Beneath this 45-year-old pine lies a hidden patch of nature, nurtured for a half century by Stephen O'Brien. 2009.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Green-oasis 2281.jpg]]

'''A garden flourishes in a forgotten corner in 2009.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

Stephen O'Brien knows what's going to happen. His 52 years of nurturing these garden spots will be bulldozed with the rest of the old 1939 Terminal, making way for the new tallest building in San Francisco and a multi-billion dollar transit center. The project has been gestating for years. I once had an office at 37 Clementina, which is only about a block away, and I remember the original plan in the late 1980s to bring Caltrain into the city center at 1st and Mission in order to connect to BART and MUNI, establishing a true regional transit hub. The Caltrain extension was deep-sixed by transit planners. Years went by, during which BART was extended to the airport and MUNI extended its N-Judah by building waterfront tracks around to 4th and Townsend (massively subsidizing the Giants' "privately financed" stadium). Now they've resuscitated the Caltrain extension, in order to bring High-Speed Rail into the center of downtown. The profligate waste of resources is breathtaking. But as long as engineering firms and contractors and building trades workers are all keeping busy, it's good for the economy right?

Anyway, as we go through our daily lives it's easy to not see the little patches of nature struggling to gain a foothold in the aptly named concrete jungle. I spoke to O'Brien on Wednesday and learned a bit about his long service at this deeply layered historical site. He told me when he showed up in 1958 there were just brown patches where today there is dense foliage and tall trees. I went to look for old photos at the Main Library's online collection, and as you can see from these pictures, the spots that Stephen has been maintaining have always been "green," albeit nothing like what he's helped them become.

[[Image:Dec 27 1939 clear view of new terminal AAD-6049.jpg]]

'''In this December 27, 1939 photo taken in the first year of the Transbay Terminal's operation, you can see the two garden spots laid out from the beginning.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:White-Front-streetcar-No-8-at-Transbay-Terminal-c-1940s.jpg|720px]]

'''White front streetcar No. 8 at Transbay Terminal, c. 1940s.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Nd left side of terminal prob 1955 or so AAD-6068.jpg]]

'''This photo of the southwest corner of Mission and Fremont looks like some time in the mid-1950s, but was undated.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Aug 10 1964 left side w terminal AAD-6053.jpg]]

'''By August 10, 1964, Stephen O'Brien had been watering and attending this garden for almost six years.'''

[[Image:Left-side-w-terminal-behind 2291.jpg]]

'''October 8, 2009, just months before demolition.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

O'Brien has an interesting history himself. He's got an Irish name but on his mother's side of the family, he has an English grandfather and a German grandmother. His English grandfather once owned a dairy ranch on the western slopes of Mt. Tamalpais before selling it off for $500! O'Brien grew up in Tomales Bay, and as a young man he jumped at the chance to purchase a lot in the newly subdivided Inverness back in the 1940s: $25 down and $25 a month until he'd paid off the $1,000 price. Today his lot is the only one left in Inverness that hasn't had a house built on it.

He told me about the barber who used to have his business inside the Terminal. After helping him sink his plumbing O'Brien got free haircuts for a long time. There used to be three different restaurants inside too, including the James Gray Company restaurant, and shoeshine and shoe repair were also thriving businesses there. Continental Trailways bus service once used the station in competition with Greyhound, just as other train lines once ran across the Bay Bridge along with the Key System, until the Bay Bridge was converted to motorized vehicles only.

O'Brien was in the basement a few years ago and saw that the vast underground space was still as good as new. Nevertheless, it's all coming down soon. He noted that the rebuilding of the Fremont Street ramps from the Bay Bridge had probably saved his gardens for an extra seven or eight years. The gnarly pine tree closest to First Street was saved from a nearby State Building, when O'Brien transplanted it from a discarded planter. It's grown to be 20 feet tall and while it's oddly shaped there's no denying that is seems to be thriving with its roots in the ground! The twin pines at either end of the Terminal were planted more than 45 years ago and though they've grown rather tall, they're dwarfed by the skyscrapers that have continued the southward march from downtown. O'Brien told me about the various birds, LBB's, gulls, hawks, and pigeons that have made this mini-habitat a resting spot. Varieties of butterflies have found a home here too.

[[Image:Left-side-with-surrounding-glass-bldgs 2300.jpg]]

'''The eastern end of the Terminal plaza.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Pine-and-milennium-tower-on-Fremont-st 2277.jpg]]

'''The Millennium tower dwarfing the 45-year-old pine tree at Fremont and Mission.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Tree-and-bottlebrush-in-front-of-1st-street-highrise 2274.jpg]]

'''To the west, this ungainly monster dominates a hearty pine tree that was saved from a discarded planter by Stephen O'Brien.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Mutantssf.jpg|left]] Who remembers that the highrise in the photo above was built on the site of the old arcade known as "Fun Terminal"? The same "Fun Terminal" that gave its name to the seminal album by local rockers The Mutants back in the early 1980s?...

Stephen was philosophical about losing his half-century's work. It makes him sad, of course. O'Brien's gardens have survived in surprised juxtaposition to the changing neighborhood that surround them. Easy to overlook, his gardens are larger examples of the persistence of nature even in a highly built environment. For those of us who haven't noticed the garden spots as we've scurried by, preoccupied with the day's work or the domestic dramas ahead, their imminent disappearance (they will no longer be maintained, but should stand for a few months more at least) might serve as a cautionary note. Shouldn't we stop and smell the flowers? And shouldn't we honor the essential work of the invisible toilers in our midst, people like Stephen O'Brien who has selflessly and without ulterior motive kept these little patches of urban greenery flourishing for decades?

[[Image:K-streetcar-turning-into-transbay-ramp-with-Fun-Terminal-on-1st-St-behind-c1940s.jpg|720px]]

'''K-streetcar turning from First Street into Transbay Terminal ramp, with Fun Terminal behind on First Street at left, c. 1940s.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:August 6 1953 pigeons AAD-6063.jpg]]

'''In 1953, pigeons had the roost of the lawn...'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''

[[Image:Transbay-terminal-central-view 2303.jpg]]

'''Going, going...'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

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'''Gone! (June, 2011)'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

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[[category:Transit]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:buildings]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:Downtown]]

Brief History of Midtown Terrace

2016-09-26T10:20:55Z

Roryc: changed credit on '''Midtown Terrace, seen ''in situ'' west of Twin Peaks, c. 1960.''' photo which came from CR collection

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Rex Bell''

''Thanks to our friends at the [http://www.outsidelands.org Western Neighborhoods Project] for permission to reprint this article.''

Midtown Terrace has long held a fascination for me. Growing up in the Inner Sunset, I had come to know the neighborhoods of San Francisco to be old, established, and in some cases even a bit run-down. It wasn't until I was 12, that I discovered the gem of a neighborhood known as Midtown Terrace. I discovered it because I had a crush on a girl who lived there. It defied everything I thought I knew about urban San Francisco. In fact, I found it to be a virtual suburban utopia located in the exact geographic center of the city.

[[Image:Twin-peaks-1903.jpg]]

'''Twin Peaks looking north from Mt. Davidson in 1903. The road running left to right is today's Portola Drive. Tower Market stands near the white farmhouse on the left. Midtown Terrace would be built on the southern and western slopes of Twin Peaks.'''

''Courtesy of a private collector''

Even today, many people don't know of its existence. Perhaps that's because within its boundaries, there are no shops, restaurants, or businesses, and no commercial streets. Like a suburban development, it consists entirely of single family residences, a fire station, an elementary school, and a church.

The neighborhood features mid-century modern homes arranged in rows on terraced streets, surrounded by greenbelts, forests, reservoirs, and open space.

In my youth, I saw Midtown Terrace as a true paradise—a place where kids could spend hours exploring thick mysterious forests, hiking to the top of [[Twin Peaks|Twin Peaks]], or playing in quiet streets that were almost free of traffic. "Country living in the heart of San Francisco," is how I once heard it described. And as a 12-year-old, I aspired to live there some day.

The land occupied by Midtown Terrace (approximately 150 acres) was once part of [[Rancho Era|Rancho San Miguel]], a large 4,400-acre parcel originally granted in 1846 to Don Jose de Jesus Noe, the first mayor of Yerba Buena (the pre-cursor to San Francisco). The land then changed hands several times, with ownership eventually being acquired by [[Adolph Sutro|Adolph Sutro]], a prominent engineer and developer and San Francisco's mayor from 1894 to 1896. To transform its "bleak" appearance, Sutro had eucalyptus trees planted on a significant portion of his property, which eventually became Sutro Forest. After Sutro's death in 1898, family squabbles and legal battles ensued over the land. His heirs eventually sold the area to developers and the various West of Twin Peaks neighborhoods began to take shape, being built on the "City Beautiful" concept of landscaped residential parks featuring detached single family homes.

[[Image:Twin-peaks-pc.jpg]]

'''A post card from the 1920s showing the western slopes of Twin Peaks covered with wildflowers. It was on these slopes that Midtown Terrace would later be built.'''

''Courtesy Rex Bell''

By today's standards of ecological preservation, it is in some ways sad to know that such beautiful landscape would eventually be paved with streets and covered with houses.

But the City needed to grow, and development was considered improvement. It is fortunate that despite the pressure to build and expand, there were those individuals who had the foresight to preserve portions of the area (including Twin Peaks, [[Mt Davidson|Mt. Davidson]], and parts of [[Farms, Fire and Forest: Adolph Sutro and Development “West of Twin Peaks”|Sutro Forest]]) in an undeveloped state. In large measure, it is proximity to these preserved areas that gives neighborhoods such as Midtown Terrace, Forest Knolls, and [[Miraloma (1914)|Miraloma Park]] their unique character and beauty.

By the early 1950's, development was in the cards for the area on the western slopes of Twin Peaks. In 1953, the Standard Building Company (owned by the Gellert brothers, Carl and Fred) would begin construction of about 800 modest two- and three-bedroom single-family homes on 150 acres. The building would continue over a period of about six years. Their approach to development would follow the "City Beautiful" concepts of the neighborhoods that came earlier; emphasis was placed on blending the community in with its natural surroundings, and taking full advantage of the incredible views. The new neighborhood would be known as Midtown Terrace.

[[Image:Panorama-drive-1932.jpg]]

'''Dairy cows grazing on what is now Panorama Drive, which today winds through the Midtown Terrace neighborhood. This picture was taken on December 11, 1932, after a rare snowfall. Miraloma Park is in the distance and Mt. Davidson is on the right.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

The following is an article from the ''San Francisco News'', '''March 24, 1954''':

<blockquote>''By Joseph B. Sheridan, San Francisco News'' 

"Ever hear of such San Francisco streets as Skyview, Cityview, Longview, or Knollview? It's not likely since most of them are still just names on the drafting boards of engineers and architects. 

Yet before long, perhaps by the end of the summer, you may be receiving invitations mailed from there for housewarming parties at the new homes of friends in "Midtown Terrace No. 3." Conceivably, if you're a view addict, you might even be throwing such a party yourself in the next year or two or three. 

That's the timetable for ultimate total development of San Francisco's newest subdivision-in-the-making on a spectacular site on Twin Peaks' western slopes.</blockquote>

[[Image:Twin-peaks-1953.jpg]]

'''The first street in Midtown Terrace, Midcrest Drive, takes shape on the southern slope of Twin Peaks, April 13, 1953.''' ''More on the photo above: Home prices started around $13,000. The billboards in the lower left advertise the new Midtown Terrace neighborhood. The telephone poles on the street would later be removed and the utilities under-grounded throughout the neighborhood to enhance the aesthetic. The road with cars in the foreground is Portola Drive.''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

<blockquote>Faces Remade 

Private enterprise has altered drastically the face of those slopes, on rolling acreage which many have considered for years part of a public institution. 

City planners say most folks are surprised, and some a bit chagrined, to learn how much of the whole Twin Peaks area is privately-owned, hence subject to future residential development. 

Along most of Twin Peaks Blvd. itself, over and around the two famous peaks, San Francisco owns only sufficient adjacent strips and sections to preserve the view for motorists and to plan its incorporation, some day, into a sweeping "green belt" to enhance the peaks' beauty and recreational potentialities.</blockquote>

[[Image:2222-19th-Ave.jpg]]

'''Frances J. Tillmany in front of Standard Building Company headquarters at 2222 - 19th Avenue in the 1950s. The company, run by the Gellert brothers, would advertise current subdivisions, in this case Midtown Terrace, on the sign.'''

''Photo: Courtesy of Jack Tillmany''

<blockquote>Biggest Portion 

The 150 acres on which 800 Midtown Terrace homes eventually will be built constitutes the biggest single chunk of land [in San Francisco] to which title is held privately. 

Thus far Standard Building Company has erected only about 40 homes for its associated marketing corporation, Panorama Development Co. and those only on the southern and eastern slopes of the peaks, north of Portola Dr. 

But by summer, according to Carl Gellert, Standard's president, work should be underway on the first 100 to 150 houses on the western side. 

Grading Advanced 

Grading for sites there is about 75% complete, with some 600,000 cubic yards of earth pushed around in the process, and subdivision plans are in the hands of city officials for approval. 

The western slope has been mapped into seven different levels, each designed to accommodate a new street with building lots largely confined to one side of the street, the "down" side, to cash in on the view. 

Curious San Franciscans stopping off to inspect the diggings have had a preview of the vistas the subdivision will boast. 

These will take in such landmarks as Sutro Forest, Laguna Honda Reservoir, Mt. Davidson, St. Francis Wood and Forest Hill, with the glittering Pacific for a backdrop. 

Mayor Robinson's big new home is an incidental part of the skyline, to the north. 

</blockquote>

[[Image:Mt-davidson-1954.jpg]]

'''Looking south at Mt. Davidson and Miraloma Park, March 24, 1954. The street in the foreground is Cityview.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:Midtown-terrace-grading.jpg]]

''Grading the western slopes of Twin Peaks for the new subdivision as it appeared on October 21, 1954. Clarendon Boulevard cuts horizontally across the middle of the picture. The large pit in the middle-right is what will become the covered Sutro Reservoir.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

<blockquote>Builder Confident 

Gellert is confident San Francisco will adjudge the finished product, three or four years hence, an attractive addition to Twin Peaks' natural assets. 

"It won't be an all-at-once type of subdivision," he explained. "We will be feeling our way up there, trying to offer the public the kind of a development home buyers will be proud of, at prices they can afford to pay." 

For the most part they will be dwellings with two and three bedrooms, priced at $13,000 to $16,000—perhaps with a few up to $20,000. All will be detached, with design emphasis concentrated on view possibilities. 

"Tastes of the public as reflected in the first houses offered will largely determine the style and design most acceptable," Gellert explained. 

And Those Slides?

What about slide possibilities, in a grading operation so extensive? 

Gellert and his chief construction engineer, Edward V. Schulhauser, answered almost in chorus that every precaution has been taken since the start of grading last fall to eliminate any such possibility. 

"From the start," said Gellert, "we've had the benefit of continuous consultation with Charles H. Lee, a soils engineer and expert on foundation development." 

"For our own protection, and that of the public, stability of the site has been a predominant consideration as the work has progressed." 

To a considerable degree, Gellert's enthusiasm about the possibilities of the new subdivision are shared by Paul Opperman, city planning director. 

'Tremendous Opportunity' 

Opperman termed it a "tremendous opportunity" to develop a really fine residential district, with the views available serving pretty effectively to outbalance the rough weather the area sometimes experiences." He added: 

"With careful engineering to assure slope stability, and with superior site and architectural planning, it could prove one of San Francisco's most attractive new home developments." 

Opperman said city agencies are "justifiably interested" in Twin Peaks because of its place in San Francisco's official Master Plan. 

'The City Has Its Plans' 

City plans for Twin Peaks include a start this summer on reconstruction of Twin Peaks Blvd. from Clarendon Ave. to the finished section 800 feet north of Portola Dr.
This will include widening, re-alignment, and resurfacing of the road, a $67,000 job already under contract. 

Clarendon Ave. is also scheduled for widening, from Laguna Honda Blvd. on up the hill, and a start is contemplated this year for improvement of [[Portola Observation Pt 1937|Portola Dr.]], from Woodside to Corbett Ave., into a straightened, six-lane divided highway. 

'Green Belt Area' 

The Twin Peaks "green belt" envisioned by park-recreation officials would extend all the way from [[Glen Canyon Natural History|Glen Canyon]], across Portola, up over the peaks and connecting by means of landscaping and hiking trails with areas north of Clarendon Ave. 

"Some day, perhaps," in Opperman's words, "public and private improvements will make possible the full realization of Twin Peaks' enormous potentialities." 

(End of article)</blockquote>

[[Image:Midtown-terrace-1959 youth guidance center.jpg]]

'''SF Youth Guidance Center building in lower left. Twin Peaks on right, February 1959.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:Midtown-terrace-aerial-c-1950s.jpg|720px]]

'''Midtown Terrace, seen ''in situ'' west of Twin Peaks, c. 1960.'''

''Photo: C.R. collection''

[[Image:Midtown-terrace-2010.jpg]]

'''Looking west at a portion of the neighborhood as seen from Twin Peaks, December 27, 2010. The street in the foreground is Aqua Vista Drive. Golden Gate Heights is the tree-topped hill in the distance at upper right. Forest Hill is at upper left.'''

''Photo: Rex Bell''

[[Image:Sunstream homes16.jpg]]

[[Image:Sunstream homes18.jpg]]

'''Ad and photo for Midtown Terrace from Sunstream Homes sales brochure, 1950s.'''

''Courtesy of the [http://www.prelingerlibrary.org Prelinger Library]''

The following article is from the ''San Francisco News'', '''February 25, 1959''':

<blockquote>By Joseph B. Sheridan, ''San Francisco News'' 

Back in March of 1954, a story in The News predicted many San Franciscans within a few years would know intimately a variety of such new street names as Skyview, Cityview, Longview, and Knollview. 

It was a safe enough prediction, since the story described how Standard Building Co. would begin creation of a big new residential development on the western slopes of Twin Peaks. Of all the new residential projects then planned for San Francisco, it was the biggest. By now, 900 of the 1000 homes Standard planned in the area have been completed. And most have been sold almost as quickly as they were finished. Most have gone for $17,200 to $22,950 and a comparatively few with "super" qualities for up to $29,500.
The streets are familiar indeed now to the new residents, their children, and hundreds of tradesmen serving the families and prospective home-buyers inspecting houses still a-building. 

A Muni bus loops through the area on weekdays (and the Midtown Terrace Home Owners Assn. is hoping for Sunday and holiday service, too); ground has been set aside for a new elementary school; and the Recreation-Park Dept. is budgeting $160,000 for a playground atop the covered Sutro Reservoir. 

Just as the builders invite inspection of new view homes "in the heart of San Francisco", the [homeowners'] association is out to make Midtown "a garden spot in the heart of the city", according to its president Mrs. Theodore Jewell of 435 Panorama Way. Admittedly an "eager beaver" in this and other aims, she explained with enthusiasm how the City Planning Commission responded to the association's request for help in planning an extensive landscaping project. 

"They assigned Miss Ruth Jaffe (an associate city planner and landscape architect) and she worked out a whole area plan for us. We're having a meeting on March 3 to request membership approval to go ahead. It would cost about $14,000 altogether, in three stages, and we already have a good sum on hand for a start. The first phase would be trees and taller growth planted between the street levels (there are seven such levels from the bottom of Midtown Terrace proper). The second would be shrubs and medium growth; the third, ground cover, such as ivy and ice plant." 

"Altogether, a garden spot in the heart of the city."</blockquote>

[[Image:Midtown-terrace-billboard.jpg]]

'''Billboard (behind the tree) advertises Midtown Terrace as being "Minutes to Anywhere."'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

Midtown Terrace 2010s

The neighborhood is now well over 50 years old (new by San Francisco's standards), yet it remains a charming and unique place, as its original developers would have intended. While a few of the houses are a little worse for wear, most have been well maintained, reflecting pride of ownership. It is still a solidly middle-class San Francisco neighborhood attracting young families, working couples, and professional single people both straight and gay. Some of the residents, including my next-door neighbor, are original owners having bought their homes when they were brand new in the mid 1950s.

The Midtown Terrace Home Owners' Association is still an active organization, and every homeowner in the neighborhood is a member. The association's bylaws that were developed in 1956 are still in effect and contain rules intended to preserve the charm and character of the neighborhood, including the unique greenbelts running through it.

Since 1974, the neighborhood has been home to the 980 foot-tall Sutro Tower used as a transmitter by Bay Area television stations and the State's Emergency Broadcasting System. The tower has long stirred controversy among neighborhood residents over its unsightliness, questions about its structural integrity, and concerns over possible health effects from radio frequency (RF) radiation that it emits.

Though visually obtrusive, Sutro Tower is now a prominent San Francisco landmark that can be seen from virtually anywhere in the Bay Area and reportedly even as far away as the Sierra Nevada Range on a clear day. Sutro Tower Incorporated (STI), the tower's owner and operator, has assured residents that the structure meets earthquake standards.

[[Image:Midtown-terrace-w-Sutro-Tower-over-Dec-2010 2084.jpg]]

'''Sutro Tower sits over Midtown Terrace, as seen from Twin Peaks, December 2010.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

Although RF remains a concern to some, the tower's operators conduct periodic measurements in and around Midtown Terrace to ensure compliance with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) radio frequency exposure guidelines. All readings are publicly available and have shown RF exposure levels to be orders of magnitude below the FCC's guidelines. (No scientific study has yet connected RF exposures of the type experienced in the neighborhood to any adverse health effects. Nonetheless, STI contributes $3000 per year to the Midtown Terrace Home Owners Association).

[[Image:Sutro-Tower-at-sunset-feb-08 0402.jpg]]

'''Sutro Tower at sunset, February 2008, from Twin Peaks.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

As City planners imagined over half a century ago, the natural areas adjacent to the neighborhood, including Twin Peaks and Sutro Forest, have been preserved and maintained for the public to enjoy.

Twin Peaks, with its spectacular 360 degree views of the Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean, is habitat to rare plants and an endangered species of butterfly found nowhere else in the world. It's also home to wildlife including skunks, raccoons, and even coyotes.

[[Image:Hawk-soars-over-midtown-terrace-2009 1322.jpg]]

'''Redtail Hawk seeks its dinner at edge of Twin Peaks, Midtown Terrace in background.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

Sutro Forest (though consisting predominantly of non-native eucalyptus trees planted by Adolph Sutro well over a century ago) is a lush, green enchanted woodland on the northern side of the neighborhood. Owned and maintained as a nature preserve by UCSF, it features miles of public walking and mountain biking paths that allow you to forget you're in the middle of a densely populated city.

These beautiful places are within walking distance of anywhere in the Midtown Terrace neighborhood.

It's true that there are other San Francisco neighborhoods with more history, larger houses, and more interesting architecture than Midtown Terrace. But everything considered: the beautiful wild surroundings, clean quiet streets, quaint well-maintained mid-century styled homes, convenient location, and small town atmosphere make this neighborhood one of the most unique in the city. It is truly "Country living in the heart of San Francisco."

[[Image:Dellbrook-drive-2010.jpg]]

'''A wooded section of Dellbrook Avenue in Midtown Terrace.'''

''Photo: Rex Bell''

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