After the 1906 earthquake and fire San Francisco's business district, and many of its residential neighborhoods, was destroyed. But the Mission District survived largely intact. As a result, "refugees flocked to the area and transformed it into the densely populated, blue-collar neighborhood that it remains to this day" (KQED 2000, "The Mission"). Yet the invasion of the dot-com industry, and subsequent gentrification of the last few years, threatens the character of the Mission in dramatic ways. As mom-and-pop businesses and small factories are pushed out of the Mission, and replaced by high-tech businesses, low-income residents—who can't compete for high residential rents—are also being forced out of the area. Currently, there are more than 2,000 evictions a year in San Francisco, "most of them involving richer people displacing poorer people" (SFBG 2000, "38,000 Evictions?"). The Mission is one of the most vulnerable areas in terms of economic displacement, because it is here that we find so many low-income, working-class families, artists and students.

In his book, Neighborhoods in Transition, Brian Godfrey separates the Mission into three distinct zones: the Mission core, the North Mission, and the West Mission (1988). In 1988, renters occupied most of the housing units in the Mission core, half of which were Hispanic. In the North Mission, 95 percent of the housing units were rentals, and most of the renters were Hispanic, with Asians and alternative life-style groups (e.g., gays and lesbians) comprising the next largest groups. Here, the housing prices were the lowest in the district (16 percent lower than the city median). This was the first area to experience a significant Latin American influx, "where immigrants found low rents, housing vacancies and proximity to blue-collar jobs" (Godfrey 1988, 162). The West Mission attracted more affluent, young whites and gays (housing prices were 16 percent higher than the city median). So it is the largely Hispanic population in the Mission core, and North Mission, that is experiencing the most significant changes today.

"The Mission's traditional role in San Francisco has been a stopping-off place for successive waves of foreign born" (Godfrey 1988, 132). "From the turn of the century to the 1930's, the Irish in particular were a powerful presence" in the Mission (KQED 2000, "The Mission"). During World War II, Central Americans came, "seeking political refuge and economic opportunity, gradually changing the face of the Mission District once again" (KQED 2000, "A Barrio of Many Colors"). After World War II, middle-class Mission residents of Irish, Italian, German, and Scandinavian descent left the neighborhood for "greener pastures" in the suburbs, leaving room for waves of immigrants from Central America. During this time, San Francisco attracted a "critical mass" of citizens formerly from Central America. Many Latin American males worked on the waterfront south of Market Street during and after the war. The Mission gradually became a barrio: a subculture within the wider American culture. In this way, the Mission served as a "revolving door into American society." And, in 1988, the Mission supported a greater number of Hispanics from Central America than any other major city in the United States (Godfrey 1988, 136-138).

Today, the barrio is threatened by an influx of young, white, urban professionals. On street corners there are signs and graffiti warning the dot-com workers to stay out of the Mission. The uprising against the "dot-commies" is primarily led by two protest groups: the Mission Yuppie Eradication Project, and AARGG! (All Against Ruthless Greedy Gentrification). These groups encourage the destruction of "yuppie" bars and restaurants in the Mission, and have even posted a "hit list" on their website. Dot-com businesses are being forced to hire 24-hour security guards to protect themselves against arson, graffiti attacks, and the vandalizing of employees' cars. The Mission district is now "the battleground that rent wars are to be fought on." These radical groups believe that vandalism is an appropriate response for a displaced people, and that it is their right and responsibility to "take back the Mission" (Keating 2000). Recently, an artists' community formed "Art Strikes Back." Every day, these artists block pavements outside dot-com offices and sneer at employees.

It has been estimated that San Francisco arts groups will lose another one million square feet of studio space in the next three years. Mayor Willie Brown, and the San Francisco Planning Commission, are largely to blame. The Mayor, who has recklessly sided with high-tech development, was forced to approve a five million dollar package for arts groups that are "in crisis," after having been displaced by rising rents. Yet such actions have come too late for many San Francisco artists.

The Planning Commission has also failed in its responsibilities. "Not only has it failed to address the soaring eviction rate (much higher in the Mission than in other parts of San Francisco), but it continues to approve scores of new office projects" (SFBG 2000, "Defending the Barrio"). The Planning Commission has consequently gained a reputation for favoring high-tech growth over the rights of Mission residents. Additionally, the Ellis Act (a state law designed to circumvent rent control laws) has allowed landlords to take their rental units off the market in order to sell them as "live/work" spaces or condos. This antiquated law, in conjunction with the failures of both the Brown Administration and the Planning Commission, has created a climate of distrust between Mission residents and local officials.

Latino protest groups in the Mission core and North Mission have led their own fight against the 'Brown Machine.' Groups such as the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition, and Mission Agenda, have led supporters on marches through the Mission District, and have even "shut down the Planning Commission after a speaker was forcibly removed" (SFBG 2000, "Defending the Barrio"). The approval of the Bryant Square complex, a 159,000-square foot office complex at 20th and Bryant, further mobilized protest groups. (I happened to be present at the final hearing for the Bryant Square project and witnessed first-hand how the Planning Commission ignores the concerns of the community.) Mission residents argue that the new economy does not affect everyone in San Francisco equally; that many Latinos in the Mission "lack the language skills and social skills required in this society" (SFBG 2000, "Defending the Barrio"). For Latino families, it's much harder to move, and much harder to fight "the system."

Gentrification has now become the new buzzword, though it is not new to the Mission. Beginning in the late 1970s, Valencia Street began to gentrify, as affluent white couples moved into Liberty Hill, and Latinos began moving away (KQED 1994). Mission Street, however, was mostly saved from gentrification due to the heavy Hispanic concentration in the barrio. It continues to "protect itself from invasion through its forbidding reputation" (Godfrey 1988, 143). Youth gangs that "patrol" the Mission may have, until now, allowed the area to retain much of its ethnic identity, but now Mission Street is increasingly experiencing an influx of "yuppie" restaurants and nightclubs. In a recent edition of Travel & Leisure magazine, a bar on Mission Street was voted "best new hot-spot," and the Mission itself was labeled the new "up and coming" area of San Francisco (October 2000). Perhaps the current buzz about the Mission will lead to the kind of social cachet it experienced in the late 19th century).

As mentioned earlier, the 1906 earthquake led to housing shortages that "encouraged the development of increased densities in the Mission" (Godfrey 1988, 146). Yet, prior to that influx, it was considered to be a highly respected area where rich families lived (the Sprekels Mansion was located at Howard and 21st Streets). When working-class families moved in, the Mission lost its social standing, and was transformed into the blue-collar area that exists today. Now we are seeing the reverse happening: social cachet is coming back to the area, as the middle-class spreads further into the barrio. This infiltration of white, middle-class culture will continue to alter the Mission, but to what degree? Many fear that San Francisco's unique history and sensitivity to social issues is being undermined by those who want to get rich quick: the same "gut and get out" attitude seen during the 1849 Gold Rush. The working-class neighborhoods seem to be disappearing beneath a tidal wave of bars, bistros, and flashy storefronts. Some would argue that the "dot-comers" have just as much right to live and work in San Francisco as anyone else. They may even argue that they are the new working-class. The question is: how do we balance a healthy economy that doesn't drive out lower-income residents?

Kevin Keating, alias Nestor Makhno (the Russian peasant leader who fought the Bolsheviks in the Russian revolution), of the Mission Yuppie Eradication Project, suggests that "gentrification isn't just obnoxious yuppies bouncing from cocktail lounges to sushi bars around Valencia and 16th Streets. It also involves the systematic removal of working-class people from their homes" (2000). The war between Mission residents and dot-com businesses is still heating up, and it will continue to rage long after the booming economy has ended. Many long-term residents will lose their homes in the coming months and will be forced to leave San Francisco for good. Perhaps Kevin Keating is right. Perhaps the Mission is the final battleground against the dot-com invasion.

References

Godfrey, Brian J. (1998). Neighborhoods in Transition. Berkeley: University of California Press.

KQED. (1994). Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco, The Mission. Film.

———. (2000). "The Mission." [WWW document]. URL http://www.kqed.org.

———. (2000). "A Barrio of Many Colors." [WWW document]. URL http://www.kqed.org.

Keating, Kevin. (2000). "The Mission Yuppie Eradication Project: An interview with Kevin Keating." [WWW document]. URL http://www.onecity.com.

San Francisco Bay Guardian. (2000). "Defending the Barrio." [WWW document]. URL http://www.sfbg.com.

———. (2000). "38,000 Evictions?" [WWW document]. URL http://www.sfbg.com.

———. (2000). "San Francisco 'Dot-commies' Hire Guards to Stop Art Attacks." [WWW document]. URL http://www.sfbg.com.

Travel & Leisure Magazine. October, 2000.