Perspective: SF's Tenderloin district is artistic, quirky, and delightful—lots to “fix,” but “a lot to love”
Mural in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. Image by Jay Galvin
Our friends who haven't visited SF or the Tenderloin neighborhood may see how it's depicted in media (i.e., dirty, dangerous, crime-ridden) and write it off as unredeemable. Not worth reforming. But The Bold Italic's Adriana Roberts has called SF home since 2001—and reminds us, below, why the Tenderloin's worth our hard work and change.
When I returned to San Francisco after a pandemic-induced exile, I moved to the Tenderloin. As a nightlife entertainer who hadn’t worked in over a year, I was understandably on a tight budget. And if one wants to live alone in SF without paying a fortune, yet still be walking distance to, well, practically everything, the TL is pretty much it. …
I’ve lived within a few blocks of the Tenderloin since 2001, but never smack in the heart of it — pun intended. The rental prices here for studio apartments are the lowest you’ll find in San Francisco, and there are definitely gems to be had. For instance, I live in the former Central Towers, built in the 1960s by Joseph Eichler, the influential California developer renown for excellent mid-century modern design.
Late in life, after making his reputation with suburban homes, he wanted to help stop the “white flight” to the suburbs he had inadvertently help cause, and built a pair of well-designed towers with curved balconies as a neighborhood renewal project, hoping to lure young urban professionals back to the urban core. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work.
Sure, my neighborhood has had its share of ups and downs — mostly downs — and nowhere are those stories told better than across the street at the Tenderloin Museum at Eddy and Leavenworth.
There, the exhibits and wall displays tell rich stories of local history and social resistance, such as the 1966 riots at Compton’s Cafeteria, which, despite predating Stonewall by three years, was nearly lost to history. Only recently has it been recognized as a defining moment in queer liberation, when trans femme sex workers and gay male street hustlers fought back against police harassment. And while this is now commemorated by no less than two plaques at Turk & Taylor, no one is even sure of the exact date it happened. …
It’s true, street harassment from the unhoused can be a bit of an issue, but I’ve found that politeness goes a long way. For every “hey baby” I get, there are at least 3 or 4 compliments on my hair. I had to train my German girlfriend, not used to San Francisco’s next-level homelessness issues, to not be afraid to thank people if they pay you a compliment on the street. Small acts of kindness go a lot further for the people in my neighborhood, as demonstrated by the Urban Alchemy workers who are often there to help those in need. …
There’s a lot crammed into these densely-packed 50 square blocks, but the highlights are all conveniently itemized in the paintings on the side of the PG&E transformer station at Eddy and Larkin. Many former landmarks are all commemorated, including the Black Hawk jazz club, where Billie Holiday and Miles Davis played; Newman’s Gym, where famed boxer George Foreman trained; and Wally-Heider Recording Studio, where the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane recorded.
So, too are historical events like the 1906 earthquake and the 1966 Vanguard street sweep, where gay and trans street kids protested the neighborhood police sweeps, supported by Glide Memorial Church, which is thankfully still helping residents today with its many social service programs.
But it’s not all past glories on the side of the PG&E building. More recent neighborhood developments, like the outdoor mini-park art space cheekily called the Tenderloin National Forest, as well as the new exclave of Vietnamese diaspora known as Little Saigon, also get shout-outs.
Speaking of, the TL is infamously known for some deliciously cheap eats, and there’s a reason the $5 banh mi of Saigon Sandwich is consistently voted as one of the best sandwiches in San Francisco.
But if you want a more upscale culinary experience, the Black Cat certainly fits the bill. Known as one of Mayor London Breed’s favorite venues, this supper club brings live jazz back to the neighborhood with sumptuous dining and cocktails. When it first opened in 2016, it was seen as a harbinger of hopeful gentrification in the Tenderloin. Now, one pandemic later, with those hopes all but dashed, it’s still a welcome anachronistic diamond in the rough.
There are many other food and drink gems to be found as well, from the “secret” tiki bar Zombie Village (look for the sign with the palm tree), the “speakeasy” Bourbon & Branch (don’t be fooled by the Anti-Saloon League sign), and the cute tea sets at Son and Garden (Instagram trap posing as a restaurant).
As the Tenderloin slowly recovers from the pandemic, new places have been opening consistently, taking up space in formerly vacant store fronts. I’m especially excited about the new Yucatan place opening across from the street from the Tenderloin Museum any day now.
While COVID killed off a lot of momentum surrounding the “cleaning up” of the Tenderloin, it did spur the creation of a ton of new murals in 2020 and 2021. The shut-down of businesses gave artists the time and space needed to beautify the neighborhood, and now the TL is home to some seriously epic wall murals. It’s not quite competing with the Mission yet, but it could be.
Despite its central location, walkability, access to public transit, reasonably-priced housing, and great cheap eats, the Tenderloin will likely never truly get gentrified. The historic preservation of single-room occupancy hotels means it will always be a refuge for lower-income residents. But let’s face it, San Francisco actually needs that. I should know. If it wasn’t for the Tenderloin, I might not have been able to afford to move back to San Francisco after the pandemic.
And while it may often be a literal shit show, there are enough positive things about living in the TL that I will still defend my newfound turf to anyone who “talks shit” about it. There’s a lot that still needs to be fixed about my neighborhood, but there’s also a lot to love. As the late newspaper columnist Herb Caen wrote, “Any city that doesn’t have a Tenderloin isn’t a city at all.”
Read the whole thing here.
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