In Tenderloin, equitable development within reach
Walking through the Tenderloin can be a dislocating experience. On the same block, you may see groups of homeless people sitting on the sidewalk and young folks sipping $5 almond milk lattes from craft coffee houses.
For many, the scene signifies how the neighborhood is becoming unaffordable and unwelcoming to its historically low-income population. Others, however, view this scene as a positive indicator of forthcoming neighborhood developments that may improve the quality of life for all residents.
While this vignette symbolizes a decadeslong concern for the neighborhood, San Francisco and the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. are more concerned now than ever. With less federal financial support for affordable housing and planned market-rate development in the Tenderloin reaching unprecedented levels, we need to focus on making Tenderloin residents a priority. In San Francisco, development is inevitable, but it must be equitable.
The Tenderloin has always been a welcoming home for people struggling to make ends meet, a haven for immigrants and a community of color. However, the Tenderloin also is situated in one of the most valuable locations of San Francisco — within walking distance of Union Square, the Financial District, chic Hayes Valley, tony Nob Hill and Mid-Market with its growing tech presence. Even with one-third of the Tenderloin’s housing under community control, preserved for lowincome people, there are another twothirds left to consider. And those twothirds have profound implications for the neighborhood’s future.
Developers already have proposed adding 17 projects and more than 1,500 luxury market-rate housing units to the Tenderloin — more than we’ve seen in decades. Median studio rents are $2,003!
“People are scared. They are worried that what happened in the Mission, how gentrification has forced people out or made it unaffordable to stay there, is going to happen here,” said Curtis Bradford, a longtime TNDC tenant and board member. “They are wondering if the nonprofits and services they rely on will be able to afford to stay here. Watching these new marketrate developments go up around us is causing a great deal of anxiety. I mean, how many of us can afford a $5 cup of coffee?”
And there are reasons to worry about increases in both rent and eviction. Newly constructed luxury buildings can foster displacement by signaling that a previously “undesirable” neighborhood can now command higher rents. When tenants leave their rentcontrolled apartments voluntarily, landlords elevate rents to market levels so that subsequent tenants are higherincome, which changes the demographics of the neighborhood over time. This form of displacement is especially harmful because it’s a subtle and drawn-out process. Moreover, it is in the economic interest of landlords to foster displacement through evictions as well: San Francisco Rent Board data have shown that evictions are rising faster in the Tenderloin than in San Francisco’s other neighborhoods, with the number of the Tenderloin’s eviction notices second only to the Mission in 2016.
Neighborhood change also can be beneficial to residents. When more affluent people enter a neighborhood, the increased incomes may support local businesses, generate jobs and improve public services. Recent studies demonstrate that “high opportunity” neighborhoods raise lifetime earnings of children younger than 13, especially girls, who reside in them. Additionally, new housing supply may alleviate pressure on existing rent-controlled housing, helping prevent displacement of low-income residents.
But to foster these benefits and respect the very real concerns of residents, we must be proactive and diligent about the type of development that enters the Tenderloin. At TNDC, our approach to this dilemma is a “yes/if ” approach to new projects: TNDC welcomes development if it’s accompanied by measures that:
(1) reduce the negative effects on Tenderloin residents, and
(2) ensure residents share in the benefits from the neighborhood’s changes.
We have been working with others to protect and enhance the Tenderloin’s future with this equitable development approach. Market Street for the Masses, a coalition including TNDC and more than 30 other groups advocating for central city residents, has created the Tenderloin Development Without Displacement Plan. Following this “yes/if ” approach, the plan recognizes that we can’t halt the overwhelming forces of development, but we can blunt its worst effects and create a place where people with low incomes remain welcome, fostering a Tenderloin that is highopportunity and diverse. Recent projects, such as 1066 Market St., for ex-
ample, have met their affordable housing requirements by providing units with rent far lower than the law requires, within reach of Tenderloin residents. The project at 950 Market St. committed to having its ground-floor commercial space cater to existing residents rather than tourists.
This vision of greater mix of incomes while preserving the neighborhood’s character is possible only because of earlier generations’ foresight to preserve one-third of the Tenderloin’s housing for low-income occupancy. This baseline of affordable housing distinguishes the Tenderloin from neighborhoods such as the Mission and South of Market.
But community groups alone cannot halt this seemingly inexorable march to gentrification. We all have a role to play: the city, the state and you — especially as the Trump administration has threatened to reduce federal funding to support people with low incomes. Maintaining the Tenderloin as a neighborhood for people struggling to make ends meet — and, as some would argue, helping maintain San Francisco’s soul and its legacy as a diverse and welcoming city for all — requires that everyone in San Francisco take a stand.
Equity is including affordable homes as part of every new development.
Equity is businesses that serve existing residents.
Equity is inclusive and humanscaled architecture.
Equity is permanent jobs steered toward neighborhood residents.
Equity is more funding to build affordable housing that meets a neighborhood’s residents where they’re at.
Truly equitable development holds the promise for a neighborhood and a city to continue to be a home for everyone.
Don Falk is CEO of the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. TNDC recently published a history of affordable housing in San Francisco since 1981. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.