San Francisco Cultural Districts are neighborhoods of San Francisco, California, United States that are officially designated by the City and County of San Francisco government. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The Cultural Districts Program oversees the designations and support for the neighborhoods. [8] [9] These neighborhoods receive special funding and support for community programs and preservation from the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development. [10]
Official designations began in 2013 with Japantown. Later an official program was created. After the program to support the neighborhoods was created by the Mayor and Board of Supervisors in May 2018, city voters also passed Proposition E in November 2018 in support of the program. [11] [12] A goal of the designations and corresponding program are to prevent gentrification. [13]
The following are the neighborhoods and years that they received the designation: [8]
South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, situated just south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill.
The Mission District, commonly known as the Mission, is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is derived from Mission San Francisco de Asís, built in 1776 by the Spanish. The Mission is historically one of the most notable centers of the city's Chicano/Mexican-American community.
Japantown, also known historically as Japanese Town, is a neighborhood in the Western Addition district of San Francisco, California. Japantown comprises about six city blocks and is considered one of the largest and oldest ethnic enclaves in the United States.
Jane Jungyon Kim is an American attorney and politician, and the first Korean American elected official in San Francisco. She represented San Francisco's District 6 on the Board of Supervisors between 2011 and 2019. She is a member of the San Francisco's Democratic County Central Committee. She is executive director of the California Working Families Party.
Katy Tang is a former American elected official in San Francisco, California. She served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing Supervisorial District 4.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) community in San Francisco is one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the United States, and is one of the most important in the history of American LGBT rights and activism alongside New York City. The city itself has been described as "the original 'gay-friendly city'". LGBT culture is also active within companies that are based in Silicon Valley, which is located within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.
Esta Noche was the first Latino gay bar in San Francisco and notably contributed to queer Latin culture. It operated from 1979 to 2014, and was located at 3079 16th Street between Valencia Street and Mission Street in San Francisco, California.
The gentrification of San Francisco has been an ongoing source of tension between renters and working people who live in the city as well as real estate interests. A result of this conflict has been an emerging antagonism between longtime working-class residents of the city and the influx of new tech workers. A major increase of gentrification in San Francisco has been attributed to the Dot-Com Boom in the 1990s, creating a strong demand for skilled tech workers from local startups and close by Silicon Valley businesses leading to rising standards of living. As a result, a large influx of new workers in the internet and technology sector began to contribute to the gentrification of historically poor immigrant neighborhoods such as the Mission District. During this time San Francisco began a transformation eventually culminating in it becoming the most expensive city to live in the United States.
The Stud is a gay bar currently located on 1123 Folsom Street in San Francisco.
Hillary Ronen is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from District 9, which includes the neighborhoods of Mission District, Bernal Heights, and Portola.
The Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District is a cultural district in San Francisco's South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood commemorating the history and culture of the leather subculture active in the area for approximately half a century. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors established the district with legislation signed into law by the mayor on May 9, 2018. A ribbon cutting was held on June 12 that year outside the Stud on 9th St.
Rafael Mandelman is an American attorney and politician currently serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 8.
Vallie Brown is an American politician who was formerly on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 5.
El Rio is a gay bar located at 3158 Mission Street, San Francisco, California. It was the first gay bar to debut queer salsa in San Francisco. El Río was established in 1978 as a Leather Brazilian Gay Bar and has been recognized as a Legacy Business by the San Francisco Small Business Commission. El Rio is best known for supporting the community by providing a space for community gatherings, LGBT performances, diverse forms of music and dancing, and offering a space for community fundraising events.
Gordon Mar is an American politician from San Francisco. He was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2019 to 2023, representing District 4. He is the brother of former District 1 supervisor Eric Mar.
Dean E. Preston is an American attorney and member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In November 2019, Preston won a special election to finish Mayor London Breed's term on the Board of Supervisors. He was re-elected in the November 2020 election.
Myrna Melgar is an American politician currently serving as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for District 7 since January 8, 2021. Melgar is the first woman elected to represent District 7. Additionally, she is the first Jewish Latina to serve on the Board of Supervisors after the implementation of District elections in 2004.
The 2022 California 17th State Assembly district special election was a special election to fill the vacant 17th Assembly District. The special election was called after incumbent Assemblymember David Chiu resigned the seat to become City Attorney of San Francisco. Matt Haney, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, won the election.
The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA) was an urban renewal agency active from 1948 until 2012, with purpose to improve the urban landscape through "redesign, redevelopment, and rehabilitation" of specific areas of the city.
Calle 24 (“Veinticuatro”) Latino Cultural District, is a neighborhood and designated cultural district formally recognized by a resolution from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, co-sponsored by then Mayor Edwin Lee and Supervisor David Campos, in May 2014. Often referred to as “The Heart of the Mission,” Calle 24 Latino Cultural District was established in recognition of its long history as the center of Latino activism, arts, commerce, and culture in San Francisco.