SF Cultural Districts: Strategically Intercepting Gentrification

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• See examples of how to engage diverse communities through a lens of equity and stabilization.
• Hear practitioners' experiences and gain a new lens to view communities.
• Understand true partnership between community and city, and discover a different way of how cities engage and leverage community.

MORE SESSION DETAILS

San Francisco is a worldwide tourist destination, but a limited housing supply and high cost of living, have placed a strain on some of our most vulnerable and culturally rich neighborhoods. In 2018 city legislation formalized a program that recognizes community defined areas as cultural districts and calls on city departments to collaborate and partner in developing cultural heritage, historic and economic sustainability strategies. Strategies informed by extensive community engagement aim to stabilize vulnerable communities facing or at risk of displacement or gentrification. They also seek to preserve, strengthen, and promote our cultural assets and diverse communities, so that individuals, families, and businesses that serve and employ them, nonprofit organizations, community arts, and educational institutions can all coexist and prosper in the city. This session provides an overview and breakdown of the program as a tool to stabilize some of San Francisco's most vulnerable neighborhoods. Guest speakers from the city and various cultural districts (Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, SOMA Pilipinas, Compton’s Transgender) will share their efforts around policy, affordable housing, advocacy tools, cultural promotion, preservation and small-business retention.

Session Speakers

Brian Cheu
Speaker
City and County of San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Develop
San Francisco, CA

Carolina Morales
Speaker
Board of Supervisors

Diana Ponce De Leon
Session Organizer and Moderator
City and County of San Francisco
Concord, CA

Erick Arguello
Speaker
Calle 24 Latino Cultural District
San Francisco, CA

Honey Mahogany
Speaker
Compton’s Transgender Cultural District

Raquel Redondiez
Speaker
SOMA Pilipinas- Filipino Cultural Heritage District
San Francisco