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By David Woo, HANC Board

In June we have celebrated both Pride month and Juneteenth. While participating in or celebrating these events, we must connect them to ongoing struggles.

Pride Month

Pride month seeks to honor the LGBTQ+ community and the struggles for justice within the queer community. While Pride Month has been folded into the corporate mainstream divorcing it from the radical roots of the queer liberation movement - with Bank of America and SFPD floats at the SF Pride Parade - some of the current struggles for the queer community are more visible when viewed along class lines. A disproportionate number of homeless residents in San Francisco identify as LGBTQ+ (27% versus 12% citywide), and that is especially true for homeless youth (46% of homeless youth identified as LGBTQ+)*. With a historical presence of homeless youth in the Haight, it’s important to remember that being pro-LGBTQ ultimately means supporting and fighting for the rights, well-being, and dignity of our houseless neighbors.

Juneteenth

Juneteenth commemorates the day on June 19th, 1865 when Union troops entered Galveston, Texas and announced that slavery had ended. It recently became a federal holiday. The historical and ongoing displacement of the Black community in San Francisco serves as a reminder of how the struggle for justice for the Black community is ongoing. For past and current administrations in San Francisco, the city is being built for new wealthy and disproportionately white populations. While San Francisco is only 5-6% (or less) African American, African American’s make up 37% of the homeless population in the city (and 24% of homeless youth).

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*Data is from the 2019 SF Homeless Point in Time Count.

Please join us on Thursday, September 9, at 7:00 pm.  Our meeting will focus on the impacts of driverless vehicles on the Haight Ashbury.  We have invited representatives from SFMTA, Supervisor Mar's office, Waymo, Cruise, and Zoox to provide information and to answer your questions.

To join the meeting, copy this link:
https://zoom.us/j/97001985280?pwd=Nkx2UVFPSTRVWGVXUVZEbFRkb0xwQT09

Or, with the Zoom app:

Meeting ID: 970 0198 5280
Passcode: 333544

Zoom also provides telephone numbers.  These are not toll-free numbers.  Check with your phone company before you incur charges.

The closest number is:
        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 970 0198 5280
Passcode: 333544

Additional numbers can be found at: https://zoom.us/u/acJ3FRWOWk

By Christin Evans, HANC Board

Before the pandemic started Haight Street was already at a record high 21 storefront vacancies.  Rising costs including skyrocketing rents, payroll and other costs coincided with 4 years of disruptive street construction making it a tough go for many shopkeepers.  Notable closures in that time included the 40 year old Haight Ashbury Music Center, Carlos’ Shoe Repair, and Kids Only. 

So when the pandemic forced doors closed and the plywood went up, there was a period when it looked like many more Haight businesses wouldn’t survive.  By March 2021, a year from the first shelter-in-place order, there were 32 storefront vacancies (about a fifth of the storefronts between Stanyan and Central).  Many of the pandemic closures were clothing stores such as Haight Ashbury T-Shirts, Static and Crossroads Trading Company, which struggled to meet rent obligations with a significant drop in sales. 

But as local retail is inching out of its pandemic funk, and restaurants and bars are expanding service, vacant storefronts are beginning to fill in.  Here are some notable new businesses:

Read more ...

The Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) has announced a delay in the community planning process for 730 Stanyan (see accompanying article, “Status Update on 730 Stanyan.”  It is now projected that the project won’t break ground until some time in 2023.  CAMP, the safe sleeping site, is scheduled to leave by June 30, 2021.

HANC is concerned that the soon-to-be vacant lot could remain a vacant lot for the next two years or more.  There is already a well-developed plan for an interim use for the site, which addresses needs of three target communities—families, transition-age youth, and seniors, and also provides for activities for the general neighborhood community.  This plan is the Community Proposal for Interim Use, developed by the Coalition for a Complete Community.  It can be downloaded at https://www.hanc-sf.org/the-voice-and-docs/730-Stanyan/Submitted-CCC-Interim-Use-Proposal/.

HANC will continue to advocate for this plan, and encourages you to download the plan, review it, and join us in supporting this interim use for the 730 Stanyan site.  We believe this will be the best use for the site while MOHCD, the development team, and the community continue to develop long-term plans for the site.