Note to C-D: The next 4 pargraph blurb is something I wrote for a different site (skysraperpage) but I decided to repost it for those who are unfamiliar with the Mission. I'm aware most of you are familiar with the neighborhood and don't need the info lol.
This is focusing on the Mission District, the premiere latino neighborhood in San Francisco. As many of you know, the Mission District can be economically split into two distinct sides: West of Mission Street and East of Mission Street. In recent years, West of Mission has become increasingly gentrified, particularly between Valencia St. and Dolores St. This half of the mission has become a local favorite, particularly among the younger crowd. However, it has also become so to the dismay of many working class latino families who have been forced to leave their neighborhood due to its ever-rising cost. Many claim that the largely younger non-hispanic crowd who is moving in did not really understand the neighborhood they had moved into and still don't; given San Francisco's tendency to attract transients, many of the new residents likely will not stick around and as a result are not going to put much new stock into the existing community.
East of Mission is has not been touched nearly as much by gentrification, which for the residents is something of a blessing and a curse. The area is most widely known to be a haven for both outstanding and authentic latino cuisine and cultural offerings but also for gang violence; it has one of the highest crime rates of any neighborhood in the city. Similarly to East San Jose, though, it is also known as one of the prime centers for Mexicans in Northern California; the countless murals detailing the exploits of Mexican freedom crusaders such as Cesar Chavez - and interestingly, non-latino contemporaries such as Huey P. Newton and Malcolm X - are testament to that.
However, the numerous dedication murals to those who have succumbed to the streets of the Mission act as another sort of testament; the challenges Mexican youth continue to face growing up in the Mission can be lethal. They can also be self-defeating; many have coped by forming a mental shell of sorts, too jaded to entertain the idea that they'll ever have a chance to keep pace with the Joneses by the time they're teenagers, having witnessed and compartmentalized pain and suffering that they are reminded of every time they close their front door behind them and realize that the Mission ultimately does not differentiate between them and the deceased. Every time one of their neighbors - or worse, their family - is struck down, it only suggests that their card is next to be pulled.
The Mission, much like San Francisco itself, has become a tale of two cities, each with two distinct futures; one holds the promise of continued prosperity and the other holds the encroaching realization that its community issues will simply be moved to another community. That, however, is the nature of change; eventually, change will replace those who currently change the face of the Mission. As it stands now, though, The Mission is one of the most complex neighborhoods in San Francisco that perfectly captures what is happening throughout San Francisco on a smaller scale.
This thread shows both sides of the Mission.
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