Was really surprised to read this one today… BeyondChron’s Randy Shaw lived in the Mission in the early-’80s, and returned last week (for the first time, perhaps??) to find that things aren’t all that different after twenty five years…

The recent purchase of the Mission’s historic Armory by Kink.com, and its planned use as a bondage video studio, has raised questions about who, if anyone, is guiding the neighborhood’s future. Business and development interests, along with some merchants and residents, believe the Armory ended up as a site for porno films because pesky neighborhood activists prevented a more neighborhood-serving use. Activists, however, long opposed market-rate housing at the Armory, and have sought to delay any Mission development until their neighborhood plan is released. The irony of all this finger-pointing is that the Mission District is actually thriving, and that for all the talk of gentrification and anti-development zealotry, much of the community has remained remarkably unchanged over the past 25 years. [more...]

He goes on to detail how many of the same shops are around (especially on 24th Street and Mission Street), and even run by the same owners or employees. In fact, he even defends the few new housing projects that are underway, reminding folks how little new construction has occurred there in the past few years.

Just a bit surprising to see BeyondChron allow something to run that shoots down so much of what they complain about week-in and week-out.

The Future of San Francisco’s Mission District [BeyondChron]
New Affordable Housing Engine Needed in Mission [BeyondChron]

This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 9:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.