Mission District, San Francisco, California

The Mission District, also commonly called "The Mission", is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, USA, named after the sixth Alta California mission, Mission San Francisco de Asis. The area occupies land previously settled by Spanish-Mexican ranchos such as the Valencianos, Guerreros, Dolores, Bernals, Noes and DeHaros.

The neighborhood is ethnically and economically diverse, with a population that is half Latino, a third White, and 11 percent Asian. [Mission Economic Development Agency (2006). [http://www.medasf.org/Files/Mission_Census_Block_SocioEcon_2000_B&W.swf Socio-Economic Profile of the Mission District] . Retrieved on 8 August, 2007.]

The Mission District is part of San Francisco's supervisorial districts 5, 9 and 10.

Geography

As its name suggests, the principal thoroughfare of the Mission District of San Francisco is Mission Street. Its borders are U.S. Route 101 to the east which forms the boundary between the eastern portion of the district, known as "Inner Mission" and its eastern neighbor, Potrero Hill, while Church Street separates the neighborhoods from Eureka Valley (also known as "The Castro") and Noe Valley to the west. Cesar Chavez Street (formerly Army Street) is the southern border which lies next to Bernal Heights, while to the north the neighborhood is separated from South of Market roughly by Duboce Avenue and the elevated highway of the Central Freeway which runs above Division Street. Also along Mission Street, further south-central are the Excelsior and Crocker-Amazon neighborhoods, sometimes referred to as the "Outer Mission".

Climate

The microclimates of San Francisco create a system by which each neighborhood can have radically different weather at any given time. The Mission's geographical location insulates it from the fog and wind from the west. As a result, the Mission has a tendency to be warmer and sunnier than the rest of the city. This climatic phenomenon becomes apparent to visitors who walk downhill from 24^th Street in the west from Noe Valley (where clouds from Twin Peaks in the west tend to accumulate on foggy days) towards Mission Street in the east, partly because Noe Valley is on higher ground whereas the Inner Mission is at a lower elevation. cite web | url = http://www.bicycle.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/planning/preservation/InnerMiss.pdf | title = Inner Mission North 1853–1943 Context Statement, 2005 | accessdate = 2006-11-27 | last = San Francisco Planning Department | date = 2005 | format = PDF | work = Cultural Resources Survey | pages = 9, 10, 40 ]

History

The Ohlone Indians inhabited the region of what is now the Mission District for over 2,000 years. Spanish missionaries arrived in the area during the late 18th century. They found the Ohlone living peacefully in a village at the edge of a lagoon, hunting and gathering. It was here that a Spanish priest named Father Palou founded Mission San Francisco de Asis on June 29 1776. This period marked the beginning of the end of the Ohlone culture. The Mission was moved from the shore of Laguna Dolores to its current location in 1783.cite web
url=http://www.medasf.org/reports/mission_gentrification.pdf
title=Gentrification in San Francisco's Mission District: Indicators and Policy Recommendations
accessdate=2006-11-27
last=Alejandrino
first=Simon Velasquez
date=Summer, 2000
format=PDF
work=Chapter 3: An Overview of the Mission District; History
publisher=Mission Economic Development Association
pages=16] Franciscan friars are reported to have employed Ohlone slave labor to complete the Mission in 1791.cite news
first=Carl
last=Nolte
title=Centuries-old murals revealed in Mission Dolores Indians' hidden paintings open window into S.F.'s sacred past
url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/01/29/MNGC74KEA71.DTL
publisher=San Francisco Chronicle
page=A-1
date=January 29 2004
accessdate=2006-11-27] Many native Indians were forced to flee the area, and the Indian population at Mission Dolores dropped from 400 to 50 between 1833 and 1841. Mexican and Spanish ranches continued in the area until 1849.

During European settlement of the City in the 19th and 20th century, large numbers of Irish and German immigrant workers moved into the area. Development and settlement intensified after the 1906 earthquake, as many displaced businesses and residents moved into the area, making Mission Street a major commercial thoroughfare. In 1926, the Polish Community of San Francisco converted a church on 22nd Street and Shotwell Street and opened its doors as the Polish Club of San Francisco, referred to today as the "Dom Polski", or Polish Home. The Irish American community made their mark during this time, with notable people like etymologist Peter Tamony calling the Mission home. During the 1940-1960s, large numbers of Mexicans moved into the area as whites moved out, giving the Mission the Latin character it is known for today. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Mexican population was joined by large numbers of immigrants and refugees fleeing civil wars from Central and South America.

Despite rising rents and housing prices caused by gentrification, many Mexican and Central American immigrants continue to move into the Mission district.

Culture of the Inner Mission

[
Latino population in the Mission District can be seen highlighted in this thematic map of San Francisco] The Inner Mission was viewed as a Hispanic neighborhood through much of the 1960s and 1970s. However, the Mission today is both the nexus of the Chicano and Latino community and a neighborhood of artists and hipsters. While Mexican, Salvadoran, and other Latin American restaurants are pervasive throughout the neighborhood, residences are not so evenly distributed. Traditional residents, including most of the neighborhood's Hispanic residents, tend to live on the eastern side. Hipsters center around Valencia Street and Mission Dolores Park on the western side. However, there are certainly no distinct racial lines. A fusion of the conceivably disparate cultures is evidenced by the many colorful Mexican and Latin American themed murals throughout the neighborhood.

Numerous hispanic artistic and cultural institutions are based in the Mission. The [http://www.missionculturalcenter.org/ Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Arts] , established by Chicano artists and activists, is a rich art space serving young, teens, adults and elders. The local bilingual newspaper, [http://www.eltecolote.org/ El Tecolote] , was founded here in 1970. The Mission's Galería de la Raza, founded by local artists active in el Movimiento (the Chicano civil rights moment), is nationally recognized as one of the Bay Area’s most well-respected arts organizations. And every late May, the city's annual Carnaval festival and parade marches down Mission Street. Meant to mimic the festival in Rio de Janeiro, it is held in late May instead of the traditional late February to correspond with local weather.

From the 1980s and on many Central American banks and companies have set up branches, offices, and even their regional headquarters on Mission Street.

Due to the existing cultural attractions, relatively less expensive housing and commercial space, and the high density of restaurants and drinking establishments, the Mission has become a magnet for young people, including a clearly identifiable hipster crowd on Valencia Street. A lively independent arts community resulted and since the 1990s, the area has been home to the so-called Mission School art movement. Many studios, galleries, performance spaces, and public art projects call the Mission home, including the Clarion Alley Mural Project, Project Artaud, Southern Exposure, Art Explosion Studios, Artist Xchange, Theatre Rhinoceros, Artists' Television Access, and the oldest, alternative, not-for profit art space in the city of San Francisco, Intersection for the Arts. The Roxie Theater, the oldest continuously operating movie theater in San Francisco, is host to repertory and independent films as well as local film festivals. The neighborhood was dubbed "the New Bohemia" by the San Francisco Chronicle in 1995 (see link below). The cultural shift, often referred to as gentrification, has led to tension between traditional and new residents. Traditional meaning the immigrants of the last twenty to forty years from Central and South America as well as Mexico. Which as said before is the reverse of what happened after WWII, when the Hispanic community really started to grow and thrive there.

Artists

Some well-known artists associated with the Mission District include:
* Ricardo Gouveia (a.k.a. "Ruby 23", painter, sculptor, and muralist)
* Chris Johanson (painter and street artist)
* Margaret Kilgallen (painter, printmaker, and graffiti artist)
* Barry McGee (a.k.a. "Twist", painter and graffiti artist)
* Ruby Neri (painter, sculpter, and graffiti artist)
* Michael V. Rios [ [http://www.mvrios.com/ "The Art of Michael Rios"] ] ] (painter, designer, and muralist)
* Xavier Viramontes [ [http://alifeinprint.net/ Documentary, "A Life in Print: Xavier Viramontes Printmaker"] ] (printmaker)

Music

The Mission is rich in musical groups and performances. Mariachi bands play in restaurants on 24th Street, and many musical traditions are represented each Memorial Day weekend during the Mission's Carnaval celebration. [ [http://www.carnaval.com/sf/sf_carn.htm "San Francisco Carnaval"] ] Classical music is heard in the concert hall of the Community Music Center on Capp Street. [ [http://www.sfcmc.org/site/index.php?id=10 "Community Music Center San Francisco: Mission District Branch"] ]

Carlos Santana spent his teenage years in the Mission, graduating from Mission High School in 1965. He has often returned to the neighborhood, including for a live concert with his band Santana that was recorded in 1969 [ [http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/2056161/a/S.F.+Mission+District+Live+%2769.htm CD Universe, "Santana S.F. Mission District Live '69 CD"] ] , and for the KQED documentary "The Mission" filmed in 1994 [ [http://www.kqed.org/w/hood/mission KQED, "The Mission"] ] .

The locally-inspired song "Mission in the Rain" by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia appeared on Garcia's solo album "Reflections", and was played by the Grateful Dead five times in concert in 1976. [ [http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/mission.html David Dodd, "The Annotated "Mission in the Rain"] ]

Nightlife

There are bars, pubs, and clubs all over the Inner Mission and bordering neighborhoods. They tend to appear in clusters.

16th St. between Valencia and Guerrero: (Inner Mission and Mission Dolores Neighborhoods)
* Dalva
* Delirium
* Kilowatt
* Double Dutch
* Gestalt

Valencia St. between 16th and 20th:
* Casanova Lounge
* Blondie's
* Elbo Room
* Amnesia
* Lexington(on Lexington, a small side street off 19th between Valencia and Mission streets.)

Valencia and Duboce:
* Zeitgeist

17th St. between Mission and Capp:
* The Uptown

Mission St. between 21st and 23rd Streets:
* 12 Galaxies
* Doc's Clock
* Lazlo (attached to the restaurant Foreign Cinema)
* Medjool, with a rooftop bar and hotel
* Mission BAR

22nd St. between Mission and Valencia:
* The Makeout Room
* Latin American Club
* Revolution Cafe

Mission St. between 24th and Cesar Chavez Street:
* Cultural Center for Latino Arts
* Savannah Jazz Club
* The Phonebooth (on Van Ness between 24th and Cesar Chavez.)
* Carlos Bar
* 26 Mix

Mission St. between Cesar Chavez and 30th Street:
* Roccapulco
* El Rio
* Nap's Only
* Argus Lounge
* Knockout Room
* Club 3300

Valencia Street. between 25th and 26th Streets and Guerrero:
* Clooney's
* Dovre Club

24th St. between San Bruno and Bartlett:
* Jack's
* Pop's
* El Mexicano
* Dirty Thieves
* The Napper Tandy
* Carlos' Club
* The Attic

Transportation

The neighborhood is served by the BART rail system with stations on Mission Street at 16th Street and 24th Street, by Muni bus numbers 9, 12, 14, 14L, 22, 26, 27, 33, 48, 49, 67, and along the western edge by the J Church Muni Metro line, which runs down Church Street and San Jose Avenue.

Highlights of the Inner Mission

*Mission Dolores, the eponymous former mission on Dolores Street.
*Mission High School (San Francisco) built 1927, 18th Street between Church and Dolores
*Carnaval San Francisco held on the 4th Sunday in May on Memorial Day Weekend is the largest ethnic event on the West Coastfact|date=May 2007 with over eighty parade groups and 7-stage 2-day music festival on Harrison Street.
*Murals initiated by the Chicano Art Mural Movement of the 1970s and inspired by the traditional Mexican paintings made famous by Diego Rivera can be found on 24th Street, Balmy Alley, and Clarion Alley.
*Dolores Park, officially Mission Dolores Park, bounded by Dolores Street, Church Street, 18th Street, and 20th Street.
*Nightlife centers on the intersection of 16th Street and Valencia Street.
*Every Thursday night, poets, musicians, emcees, and other artists gather on the southwest corner of the 16th & Mission intersection to perform. Participation is encouraged, and the event attracts a large crowd of both locals and traveling performers.
*The Roxie Cinema and the Victoria Theatre on 16th Street are the only remaining neighborhood movie theatres in the Mission. The Roxie has struggled for years financially and was purchased by New College of California in January 2006. The college runs its film studies program out of the Roxie during the day and shows independent films in the evening.
*Intersection for the Arts, the oldest alternative non-profit art space in San Francisco. Longtime artistic and community hub for residents of the Mission. Intersection's theater and gallary are located on Valencia between 15th and 16th street.
*Excellent Mexican food, especially burritos; the Mission district is the original home of the San Francisco burrito style.
*Excellent restaurants serving the cuisines of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Japan, Italy, China, Cambodia, Honduras, Israel, Vietnam and Turkey.

Movies filmed in the Mission District

The following films feature scenes shot in the Mission District:
* "Vertigo"
* "Crackers"
* "High Crimes"
* "48 Hrs."
* "Sucker Free City"
* "Tales of the City"
* "Take the Money and Run"
* "Quality of Life"
* "Pursuit of Happyness"
* "The Enforcer"
* "Bullitt"
* "Fearless"
* "Haiku Tunnel"
* [http://www.missionmovie.org "Mission Movie (Una Pelicula de la Mision)"]

See also

* Precita Eyes - Mission Mural Project
* Adobe Books - local independent bookstore which supports local artists, writers, and musicians.
* The Deaf Club
* The Redstone Building
* Dolores Park (includes list of neighborhood associations)

Further reading

Hooper, Bernadette (2006). San Francisco's Mission District. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4657-7.

References

External links

*Geolinks-US-hoodscale|37.76|-122.42
* [http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Francisco/Mission_District WikiTravel] — overview of the district
* [http://www.dreamworld.org/sfguide/Neighborhoods/MissionWest Western Half of The Mission] — Guided photographic tour
* [http://www.dreamworld.org/sfguide/Neighborhoods/Missioneast Eastern Half of The Mission] — Guided photographic tour
* [http://www.dreamworld.org/sfguide/Neighborhoods/Missionitself Mission Street Itself] — Guided photo tour
* [http://www.kqed.org/w/hood/mission/index.html The Mission] — Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco
* [http://www.oddwall.com/index_where.html oddwall.com] Murals and street art of the mission and throughout San Francisco
* [http://www.missiondna.org Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association]
* [http://www.northmission.org North Mission Neighborhood Association]
* [http://www.artaud.org/ Project Artaud]
* [http://www.atasite.org/ Artists' Television Access (ATA)]
* [http://www.atasite.org/History/history1.html The history of ATA] — documented and created by Lex Lonehood
* [http://www.polishclub.org/ Polish Club Inc.] — Polish Community center in the Mission District since 1926
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/11/26/PK1862.DTL San Francisco Chronicle, 26 November 1995] : 'Neo-Hipsters Keep the Beat in the Mission'
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/27/BAGQQCVO6G1.DTL Sureño and Norteño gangs in the Mission]
* [http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/travel/14hours.html New York Times, 14 September 2008] : '36 Hours in San Francisco's Mission District'
* [http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/travel/20next.html New York Times, 20 November 2005] : 'San Francisco's Mission District: Eclectic, Eccentric, Electric'
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05EED81439F936A35752C1A9669C8B63 New York Times, 5 November 2000] : "Mission District Fights Dot-Com Fever'
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E2DA1030F932A15752C0A96F958260 New York Times, 16 January 1999] : 'In Old Mission District: Changing Grit to Gold'