Part 1
I live in Hayes Valley which is a popular, revitalized neighborhood contained in the corner of the larger Western Addition neighborhood in San Francisco. Its central point is Patricia’s Green, a small park and “town square”. On the surface this area is ideal– the park features unique art structures, people converse over artisan coffee, and shoppers and diners shuffle in and out of fancy restaurants and exclusive boutiques. However, this neighborhood is at the center of many clashing forces that differ from the picturesque Patricia’s Green.
Thirty years ago, U.S. Highway 101 ran straight through the neighborhood (not yet named Hayes Valley), which was a seedy area with drugs, prostitution, and gang activity. It also served as a division between the predominantly black Western Addition neighborhood and downtown. In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake shook the Bay Area, and here in Hayes Valley, the freeway incurred structural damage eventually leading to its removal.
Over the next 30 years, gentrification took over the area where the freeway used to run. It has been accelerated recently due to its location in the city, the growth of the technology industry, and the development of the neighborhood as a prime dining and shopping location. Despite this, some vestiges of the old Hayes Valley still exist, and it is often times striking and sad to see the the juxtaposition of young and old, rich and poor, manufactured beauty and urban blight.
In the next section, I will discuss five forces shaping the gentrification of Hayes Valley. Many of these forces affect the original lower income residents and have caused displacement of the homeless in the area.
Terrain
The first force affecting the area around Patricia’s Green is the terrain. While this has been around pre-gentrification, the neighborhood has manifested differently around the hills. As one may guess, Hayes Valley sits at the foot of a few hills. To the west is a large hill that leads up to Alamo Square– a quaint park where the Painted Ladies from the Full House opening are located. The hills are more residential and quiet, while the flatlands are home to more of an urban landscape. These flatter areas are the main stage for the clash of gentrification.
Here one will find the stark contrast between rich and poor. The hills are where the more well-off residents had built their housing historically. In the 1950s and 60s when the freeway was built, public housing was built on flatland in the shadow of the overpass. These buildings still exist, and many of the original residents still live there.
Some may also argue that the homeless, often too weak to walk up the hills find themselves settling on flatter ground. I’m not so sure about this, but the flattest, easternmost point of Hayes Valley lies closest to the Civic Center and Tenderloin neighborhoods, known for their tolerance for the homeless and access to social services.
Traffic
U.S. Highway 101 was a main driver in creating the seedy atmosphere of pre-gentrification Hayes Valley. Here traffic flowed above the neighborhood, which was merely passed over by travelers.
When the freeway was demolished, the highway had to flow directly into Octavia Blvd. (the main artery into Hayes Valley). Any traveler hoping to go west in San Francisco must exit here and the north/south running Octavia would “T” westward, flowing onto Fell St. (this major intersection is at the south end of Patricia’s Green). Anybody coming from the west takes Oak St. which feeds in Octavia. As a result, there is a lot of traffic on Octavia, Fell, and Oak. Since it sits at this intersection, Patricia’s Green is the epicenter for people traveling to and through Hayes Valley.
One may say that this location has also become desirable for commuters working in the South Bay, as Octavia St. flows into the 101. I’ll touch upon this later in the force of the “Technology Industry”.
Technology Industry
While tech has traditionally been associated with Silicon Valley to the south of the city, over the years San Francisco has become more ubiquitous with the technology industry. On the southeastern most border of Hayes Valley, there are two buildings on Market Street that house the headquarters for companies such as Twitter, Square, Uber, Thumbtack, and Nerdwallet. As mentioned previously, Hayes Valley has also served as an easy way to access the freeway down the peninsula. Companies such as Google have created bussing programs to provide free transportation down to their campuses, while still allowing employees to live in the city.
As a result, many folks in the technology industry have chosen to reside in Hayes Valley. Many argue this influx of affluent young professionals has made the place extremely unaffordable to live. However, there are still pockets of affordable housing buildings and rent controlled apartments to the north. This part of Hayes Valley is more representative of the Western Addition neighborhood, which was the historically black neighborhood in the city. The effects of the tech industry have not seeped into this area yet, but new condos filled with techies loom just across Gough and Fulton Streets.
Dining, Shopping, and Entertainment Establishments
Over the years, Hayes Valley has become one of the most popular areas for diners and drinkers. While you would be hard pressed to find an old school restaurant or dive bar catering to the original Hayes Valley and Western Addition natives, there are a ton of high-end restaurants, specialty ice cream shops, and fancy cocktail/wine bars.
Establishments catering toward elites have been around for awhile here, despite the neighborhood’s previous reputation. This is due to the easternmost border– the Civic Center neighborhood. Government buildings, museums, and fine-arts theaters cluster to form a beautiful, Beau-Arts inspired campus. Businesses began to cater to the people who worked here or saw shows. For instance, some old establishments such as the Hayes Street Grill attract people attending an opera, ballet, symphony, or jazz concert.
To capitalize on business, newer restaurants started to pop up. Over the years, more and more have set their stake in Hayes Valley, which hosts the largest concentration of acclaimed establishments in the city. Now trendy restaurants and bars cater to younger folks such as the pseudo-fast casual Souvla, homemade pasta joint A Mano, and Bavarian/Industrial inspired Biergarten. There are also four artisan ice cream shops within a one block radius from Patricia’s Green. If this isn’t illustrative of the neighborhood, I don’t know what is.
In addition to restaurants and bars, upscale boutiques line Hayes Street across three blocks, Patricia’s Green at the center. For those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of Union Square’s traditional large retailers, Hayes Valley serves as a more enjoyable leisurely shopping experience for those with large enough wallets.
Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association Influence
This force is largely unseen, but it plays a part in nearly many of the forces previously mentioned. The Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association is an organization that works with developers, planners, and other parties to create the “ideal” neighborhood for its residents. The group has lauded themselves as one of inclusivity, recognizing the forces of gentrification. However, I am skeptical that they are doing much or can do much to make life better for all.
To demonstrate what I mean, I cite its treatment of the homeless population here. On a positive note, HVNA has made it public that they want to promote a culture where rather than kicking the homeless off of the boutique and restaurant lined streets, they try to accommodate their needs. One homeless man with mental illness named John frequently walks into businesses. One merchant always gives him coffee and lets him sit outside of their business where he makes beautiful paintings and sells them to people outside. I am not sure if this is really a result of HVNA’s mission or simply the kindness of shop owners.
However, the association also promotes the safety of their neighborhood, getting increased police presence to patrol the area. I once saw a black man who was simply speaking to himself loudly, handcuffed in the middle of Patricia’s Green. It became apparent that a parkgoer felt uncomfortable and called the police, who were just around the corner. As there was no illegal activity, they let him go, but the man was extremely agitated, complaining about what the neighborhood had become. While this is an isolated incident, the fact that someone felt like they can call the cops on a man who appeared out of place, and that the police response was to take him down violently still burns an image in my mind.
In its attempts to create an improved version of their neighborhood, I wonder who the HVNA favors. In my opinion, it feels obligated to include inclusivity in its mission, but the changes over the past year under the association have allowed for more condos, upscale restaurants and shops, and open park spaces, which transformed the neighborhood drastically in favor of full gentrification.
Conclusion
I have to admit that I initially moved to an apartment near Patricia’s Green because of how delightful it seemed on the surface. However, I recognize the pressure that these forces place upon those who are less fortunate. Gentrification is evident across San Francisco, but in this landlocked neighborhood in one of the busiest areas of the city, it is even more drastic. I one day hope to move to a neighborhood that is truly more inclusive.
Part 2
Terrain
Traffic and Tech Industry’s transportation
Dining, Shopping, and Entertainment Establishments + Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association Influence
Part 3/Final
I evolved my forces over time to be better represented on the map. “Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association Influence” was a little nebulous, but ultimately I created buckets to better show the disparity in housing in this area. Further, “Traffic” includes “Tech Industry” influence as many of these roads serve as routes to Silicon Valley.
Click here for a higher resolution version hosted on Google Drive.
Hi Alex,
Here are some of my impressions and interpretations from your final map.
– I like that you mapped public housing and areas were there are homeless people because I see a relationship between these two aspects on your map. I’ve gathered that the homeless spots seem to be further away from the available public housing, which may potentially be addressed if there were more public housing in those areas.
– To me, your map’s emphasis has evolved into Housing (residential, public housing, and homeless spots), therefore your design choices can be adjusted to emphasize these elements. Right now, the first thing that catches my attention on your map is Public Housing because of the bright blue you used, followed by Hills and Traffic because of the bright warm colors. I would like to see more emphasis on Homeless Spots in particular, since this force seems important in what you’re trying to convey with this map.
– There are olive green areas that, from looking at your forces, I see these are “Traffic and Tech Industry’s transportation” but they are not marked on your legend on your final map.
– Lastly, it is currently difficult for me to explore your map using the small JPG. Do you have a larger PDF file that you can link? If you need any help with this, let me know!
I really like how your map has evolved from the forces you decided to focus on. This is painting a picture for me of what Hayes Valley is like (I don’t think I’ve ever actually been.) Great job! 🙂
Thanks! The blue does contrast drastically from the rest of the forces on the map, and was supposed to be somewhat intentional to show the disparity of lower income features of the neighborhood vs. the gentrifying of Hayes Valley businesses and residences. Perhaps filling in the homeless area symbols would call more attention to these as well. Or I can find a less bold shade of blue for the public housing.
The very first thing I noticed about your final map is that the homeless are centrally located. They are situated in a mix of residential and dining/entertainment sector. It may be because of how the map is laid out, but the homeless situation doesn’t seem to be in the hilly area or the public housing. The hills may be uncomfortable to sit on a street at an angle all day. It may require more energy to walk up and down those hills. The homeless seem to be economically savvy as well. If they set up a place to solicited money in the public housing district, they wouldn’t earn as much.
Oh my lord I would make myself poor if I lived next to the Fatted Calf.
Reading about your example of the homeowner’s association haunts me. In this, I think there is an element of darkness in the map. I know I talked about gentrification in my area, but the difference is that there’s not a lot of foot traffic or homeless in the area, just a mobile home park next to a luxe and new apartment and the civic center. On one street there’s a new Ralph’s and Albertsons, and what looks to be either a ginormous apartment complex or office building. On the other side of the street, I see lavanderias, ethnic restaurants with door signs in broken English, battered roads, and a mobile home park. So the disparity is also there, but without the human and ethics complication that yours has. I also imagine your area rapidly gentrified as a result of the tech boom, and the fact that someone on that street said “what has this street become” says that he’s been around long enough to see the change.
I like the detail that you included on paint splatters created by the homeless man, and I think you have a perfect opportunity to use that as a map element. All the areas with homeless people can be abstracted into paint splatters. Don’t worry, as inhuman that statement sounded, paint splatters are imperfect, a very organic and human characteristic. If there’s more homeless people, you can add more paint splatters concentrating in that area. If there are parts of this map that was cleaned up as part of the gentrification, you can show paint splatters at 50% opacity, implying formerly homeless area that had been cleaned up. There’s a brush in Photoshop with wet paint and it should be pretty easy to do.
+1 to the idea of opacity. Alex – you highlight forces that over time have helped weave what Hayes Valley is like today. In essence the “force” of these forces actually intermingle and and potentially even more dynamic than what you’ve shaped.
Perhaps give the effect of these forces some thought and whether you might want to visualize them. Alternatively don’t hesitate to go beyond color (brushstrokes, color intensity, overlays, icons, etc) if there’s unique things you want to highlight. Look forward to seeing the final single map.
Hey Alex,
This is a great in-depth look at your site. I am impressed! It seems you know your neighborhood’s history very well and have thought through what forces impact it most. I’m curious how you plan to map out the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association’s influence in particular. It might be an interesting foray into learning what exactly the association has done for the neighborhood that is visible and map-able.
You’ve also talked a lot about gentrification in Hayes Valley and I wonder if that’s a force that you can consider mapping! It would be a challenge because it would have to be a map against time but it seems like a very present force in your neighborhood from what you’ve discussed so far.
Looking forward to seeing your maps!
Thanks– that one is most challenging because anything having to do with the businesses and residences in Hayes Valley fall in their purview. They also decide the rules and culture responding to homelessness in the neighborhood. If anything, I’ve tried to do this in this first round of maps by color coding dining + entertainment establishments, residences, and public housing. It’s a dense space with the poor being boxed out of the neighborhood quickly.
Alex! This was extremely well thought-out and I think you have a great amount of info about the site! While I don’t necessarily see this as a downside, I think some of your forces could be whittled down further into their own segments! For instance, I think it would be extremely interesting to look at different industries impacting your site. You mention tech, but what about food, service, and retail? I also think you can consolidate your third force (Dining, shopping and entertainment establishments) to “Commerce” specifically, otherwise maybe this could be another exploratory opportunity of all the types of retail environments.
Overall, you have clearly thought about this site deeply and thoroughly, and I’m excited to see how the forces you’ve chosen influence the space! With some refinement, I think you have an incredible project ahead of you!