Letters

The Live-Work Carnage
George Cothran's article on bogus live-work lofts is a brilliant example of San Francisco's cultural and economic homogenization ("Community Infestment," Jan. 27). In the four short years that I have lived here, I have watched San Francisco morph from a bastion of cultural diversity, a refuge for people who drift here from the outskirts of mainstream American society, and a model for tolerance and acceptance, to a bland, money-driven version of itself. Corporate America has bought the heart of San Francisco. I guess I'll have to leave mine somewhere else.

Maria Ruskewich
Via Internet

George Cothran's piece on live-work space in the city ("Community Infestment") provided some fascinating information. But I was left with a few questions, and one major beef.

Beef first. Cothran asserts that one of the major forces in the downfall of the industrial portions of the city is the influx of highly paid professionals "stupid enough to buy a home next to a nightclub, print shop, or dance studio."

I object to the broad brush used, the portrayal of a naive, intolerant immigration wave. I fit Cothran's villainous demographic. And yes, I live in SOMA (albeit in an actual apartment). But I did it with my eyes wide open. I go to those nightclubs, I study at those dance studios. Best of all, I can walk there from my place. I live here happily and without designs to change the neighborhood out from under its residents. I like to think I am not the problem.

The root cause of this crisis is the urban planning (or lack thereof) that has left San Francisco bulging at the seams, without an apartment or a parking spot in sight. The price pressure and expansion of residential areas into industrial zones of the city are natural consequences.

I don't apologize for being able to afford my home. I'd like the area to keep its eclectic flavor, and that brings me to my questions: What can we do? The two-page bitch-piece is a staple of weeklies -- it's easy to complain. How about offering some ideas? I'd like to hear some steps that can be taken, some people who need writing to, some zoning ideas that will work. You've got my attention, now earn my respect.

Lieven Leroy
Via Internet

The live-work development situation is so out of control, it may take us years to fix a problem that could have been solved long ago ("Community Infestment"). Rent has skyrocketed in recent years to say the least, with landlords frothing at the mouth as they watch every yuppie/loftie in town fall to their knees and beg for overpriced, unkempt shitholes.

Anyone not making six figures is scared to death that they are next on the mile-long list of people who were evicted in favor of the almighty dollar. So where's the reaction? I don't know which is worse, the landlords/developers, or the people this situation affects who are still sitting on their asses waiting for someone else to fix the problem. Direction is what this situation calls for, so I urge George Cothran (whose articles are enlightening and enraging all at once, bravo!) to give us a few well-researched names and numbers of these greedy shits so that we, the little people, can give them a piece of our minds.

B. Coots
Via Internet

I've been living in S.F. for 11 years. As a photographer and a musician, I lived primarily in live-work spaces ("Community Infestment"). Not the new versions, but old warehouses or industrial buildings. I lived in the northeast Mission Industrial Zone for five years, specifically Florida Street between 19th and 20th streets. When I first moved there, I was surrounded by blue-collar industrial businesses and real working artists. Part of the appeal of living there was the industrial atmosphere. I enjoyed waking up in the morning to the sound of factory machinery. I was well aware of what I was getting into when I moved there regarding noise. As a musician, I needed to live in that type of environment to practice my trade.

After a recent visit, I was mortified at the transformations that have taken place. All the industrial businesses are silent, slated to be demolished and metamorphized into so-called live-work condos. The neighborhood is filled with pricey new cars -- Porsches, BMWs, sport utility vehicles, etc.

I lived in the Mission for 10 years, but was forced to move out to the Excelsior due to the high rental situation. Now, after living there for less than a year, my landlord has decided to sell, and I am once again on the prowl for a place I can afford with my dog. I can't tell you how many of my friends, who are primarily artists and musicians, have had to move out in the last year because their landlords have sold their house. There has been a mass exodus of the type of people who make San Francisco the cool place that it's famous for.

Artists are moving out of S.F. in droves, being replaced by wealthy, material-oriented newcomers who are transforming the cool industrial neighborhoods into Beverly Hills 90210. I have loved this city with all my heart, but what S.F. is now becoming makes my stomach turn. I actually may be forced to move, too, since I do not make over $30,000 a year.