In defense of the Tenderloin
I lived here during the crack-and-crime infested 1990s. How bad could it be in 2023?
This article is part of I Love San Francisco, a feature series of essays that highlight what makes San Francisco iconic and irreplaceable.
By Adriana Roberts
When I returned to San Francisco after a pandemic-induced exile, I moved to the Tenderloin. As a nightlife entertainer who hadn’t worked in over a year, I was understandably on a tight budget. And if one wants to live alone in SF without paying a fortune, yet still be walking distance to, well, practically everything, the TL is pretty much it.
Everyone warned me how much worse the neighborhood had gotten since COVID, but I brazenly ignored their warnings. After all, I lived here during the crack-and-crime infested 1990s. How bad could it be in 2023?
As it turns out, it’s both “not that bad” and “OMG so sick of this,” depending mostly on how bad the obstacle course of shit on the sidewalk is that day. I learned real fast to keep my eyes on the ground.
I’ve lived within a few blocks of the Tenderloin since 2001, but never smack in the heart of it — pun intended. The rental prices here for studio apartments are the lowest you’ll find in San Francisco, and there are definitely gems to be had. For instance, I live in the former Central Towers, built in the 1960s by Joseph Eichler, the influential California developer renown for excellent mid-century modern design.
Late in life, after making his reputation with suburban homes, he wanted to help stop the “white flight” to the suburbs he had inadvertently help cause, and built a pair of well-designed towers with curved balconies as a neighborhood renewal project, hoping to lure young urban professionals back to the urban core. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work.
Sure, my neighborhood has had its share of ups and downs — mostly downs — and nowhere are those stories told better than across the street at the Tenderloin Museum at Eddy and Leavenworth.
There, the exhibits and wall displays tell rich stories of local history and social resistance, such as the 1966 riots at Compton’s Cafeteria, which, despite predating Stonewall by three years, was nearly lost to history. Only recently has it been recognized as a defining moment in queer liberation, when trans femme sex workers and gay male street hustlers fought back against police harassment. And while this is now commemorated by no less than two plaques at Turk & Taylor, no one is even sure of the exact date it happened.
The blocks around there have now been designated the “Transgender District,” and it’s the reason the poles are painted with the pastel stripes of the trans flag — despite the fact that there’s not much here that’s trans or queer anymore, except for the venerable Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, the last queer bar in the neighborhood, where the aging drag queens of the Hot Boxxx Girls still perform every weekend.
As a queer trans woman myself, people often ask if I feel safe living here. And while it takes some street smarts to walk around without too many issues, as long as you walk swiftly and look like you know where you’re going, no one really messes with you. The drug dealers don’t want any trouble, and the fentanyl-addled zombies are too stooped over in an L-shape to give a fuck.
It’s true, street harassment from the unhoused can be a bit of an issue, but I’ve found that politeness goes a long way. For every “hey baby” I get, there are at least 3 or 4 compliments on my hair. I had to train my German girlfriend, not used to San Francisco’s next-level homelessness issues, to not be afraid to thank people if they pay you a compliment on the street. Small acts of kindness go a lot further for the people in my neighborhood, as demonstrated by the Urban Alchemy workers who are often there to help those in need.
My partner even discovered her own hack for successfully navigating the “lively” streets of the Tenderloin: either dress like a crazy person, as she often looks when rolling out of bed to run some errands during the day, or like a sex worker, as we often do when we go out clubbing at night. Nobody fucks with you then.
There’s a lot crammed into these densely-packed 50 square blocks, but the highlights are all conveniently itemized in the paintings on the side of the PG&E transformer station at Eddy and Larkin. Many former landmarks are all commemorated, including the Black Hawk jazz club, where Billie Holiday and Miles Davis played; Newman’s Gym, where famed boxer George Foreman trained; and Wally-Heider Recording Studio, where the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane recorded.
So, too are historical events like the 1906 earthquake and the 1966 Vanguard street sweep, where gay and trans street kids protested the neighborhood police sweeps, supported by Glide Memorial Church, which is thankfully still helping residents today with its many social service programs.
But it’s not all past glories on the side of the PG&E building. More recent neighborhood developments, like the outdoor mini-park art space cheekily called the Tenderloin National Forest, as well as the new exclave of Vietnamese diaspora known as Little Saigon, also get shout-outs.
Speaking of, the TL is infamously known for some deliciously cheap eats, and there’s a reason the $5 banh mi of Saigon Sandwich is consistently voted as one of the best sandwiches in San Francisco.
But if you want a more upscale culinary experience, the Black Cat certainly fits the bill. Known as one of Mayor London Breed’s favorite venues, this supper club brings live jazz back to the neighborhood with sumptuous dining and cocktails. When it first opened in 2016, it was seen as a harbinger of hopeful gentrification in the Tenderloin. Now, one pandemic later, with those hopes all but dashed, it’s still a welcome anachronistic diamond in the rough.
There are many other food and drink gems to be found as well, from the “secret” tiki bar Zombie Village (look for the sign with the palm tree), the “speakeasy” Bourbon & Branch (don’t be fooled by the Anti-Saloon League sign), and the cute tea sets at Son and Garden (Instagram trap posing as a restaurant).
As the Tenderloin slowly recovers from the pandemic, new places have been opening consistently, taking up space in formerly vacant store fronts. I’m especially excited about the new Yucatan place opening across from the street from the Tenderloin Museum any day now.
While COVID killed off a lot of momentum surrounding the “cleaning up” of the Tenderloin, it did spur the creation of a ton of new murals in 2020 and 2021. The shut-down of businesses gave artists the time and space needed to beautify the neighborhood, and now the TL is home to some seriously epic wall murals. It’s not quite competing with the Mission yet, but it could be.
Despite its central location, walkability, access to public transit, reasonably-priced housing, and great cheap eats, the Tenderloin will likely never truly get gentrified. The historic preservation of single-room occupancy hotels means it will always be a refuge for lower-income residents. But let’s face it, San Francisco actually needs that. I should know. If it wasn’t for the Tenderloin, I might not have been able to afford to move back to San Francisco after the pandemic.
And while it may often be a literal shit show, there are enough positive things about living in the TL that I will still defend my newfound turf to anyone who “talks shit” about it. There’s a lot that still needs to be fixed about my neighborhood, but there’s also a lot to love. As the late newspaper columnist Herb Caen wrote, “Any city that doesn’t have a Tenderloin isn’t a city at all.”
Adriana Roberts is a DJ and performer with her Bootie Mashup parties, as well as a writer and trans influencer.
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What we’re doing this week
Get crafty and make presents and decorations for the winter holidays this year at the Randall Museum’s annual Winter Crafts Day. The museum will be bustling with fun craft activities for the whole family. Everyone can create one-of-a-kind hand-made gifts and items to decorate their homes.
Learn how to custom-decorate votive candleholders, sweeten the season by constructing a candy house, practice pickling, make and decorate a winter wreath. Explore the museum for unexpected surprises while enjoying familiar favorites likes building wooden trains, live entertainment and more. Admission is free
WHEN: 10 am – 2 pm, Saturday, December 2nd
WHERE: Randall Museum
199 Museum Way, San Francisco, CA
Randall Museum is a facility of the SF Recreation & Parks Dept.