by Randy Shaw on May 19, 2025 (BeyondChron.org)
New Turk Streeet Mural by Francola and Kay Two
The Historic Tenderloin is Reviving
The Tenderloin’s had a rough five years. COVID reversed it’s progress and City Hall then used the neighborhood as a drug containment zone. But progress has resumed. There is much less drug activity on sidewalks, new murals, a striking Michelin restaurant, the reopening of Onsen Spa, a planned tripling of the size of the Tenderloin Museum, sold out shows at the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play, and, most importantly, a Lurie Administration committed to helping the Tenderloin succeed.
Residents and merchants are working harder and more effectively to improve the neighborhood. New Supervisor Bilal Mahmood has made stopping Tenderloin drug activity a top priority.
Problems clearly remain. Sidewalk drug activities on Leavenworth, Jones and O’Farrell must be stopped. Once thriving Little Saigon has over a 30% retail vacancy rate. Many nearby city, state and federal workers still come to work only three days a week, though this should increase to four by Labor Day.
But as I describe in my updated book on the neighborhood, for over 100 years City Hall’s attitude has greatly impacted the Tenderloin. And City Hall’s new leadership supports the Tenderloin.
Reduced Drug Activity
From the onset of Covid in 2020 to the end of the Breed Administration the Tenderloin was overwhelmed by sidewalk drug activity and camping. City policies virtually recruited unhoused drug users to the neighborhood. Drug paraphernalia was widely distributed, tourist hotels were converted to shelters allowing drug use, and the so-called Tenderloin Linkage Center sent a national message that the Tenderloin was the place to come if you wanted to openly consume drugs.
The situation was so bad that Tenderloin families had to sue San Francisco in 2024 for turning their neighborhood into a containment zone. The case is still pending in federal court.
Today, the situation has dramatically changed.
According to Sam Dodge, Director of the Division of Emergency Management’s Street Response Coordination Division, there are few if any tents in the Tenderloin during the day. At night his team counts roughly ten tents, which is a huge difference from the hundreds the neighborhood once housed. Dodge’s crack team ensures tents are gone by early morning each day.
The closure of the shelter at the Cova Hotel has helped remove drug activities in Little Saigon and the 600 block of Eddy. The latter includes the legendary Phoenix Hotel as well as two other tourist hotels (the Epik and Best Western share the Eddy/Polk corner). Overall, large parts of the Tenderloin are clear of drug activities. Even the notorious 300 block of Hyde, which in 2018 the New York Times described as the city’s worst block and remained so for years, has noticeably improved.
Phil Ginsburg’s brilliant idea to turn UN Plaza into a skateboard park removed a major source of drug complaints about the Tenderloin (even though UN Plaza is outside the neighborhood). Visitors to the Tenderloin who arrive via Civic Center MUNI or BART no longer have to wade through drug dealers.
Too much sidewalk drug activity remains. But it’s a world of difference from where we were as recently as last December.
The Tenderloin also has a chance to have one of its own on the Police Commission for the very first time in history. Pratibha Tekkey, Director of Organizing for the Tenderloin Housing Clinic (which I head), has applied to be appointed by the Board of Supervisors. A community member is circulating a sign-on letter to show neighborhood support.
It’s hard to believe that a neighborhood associated with crime and drugs for the past fifty years has never had Police Commission representation. Tekkey is a co-founder of the Tenderloin Business Coalition and her appointment would give the neighborhood a long overdue voice.
New Business Interests
The Tenderloin, whose retail has historically been primarily limited to bars, restaurants and entertainment/cultural venues, is once again attracting quality businesses.
The beloved Whitechapel Bar under the Embassy Hotel at Polk and Turk will soon be reopening. A Michelin anointed restaurant, Sungho, recently opened on the 200 block of Hyde. Onsen Spa has reopened its massage facilities and its revered restaurant should reopen within months.
Warriors star Draymond Green could have opened his new Afro-Latin Ethiopian restaurant Meski anywhere in San Francisco. He chose to open it just outside the Tenderloin, only a block and a half from the venue of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play.
Tenderloin tourist hotels are hopeful that the city’s new direction will bring back the pre-2020 level of visitors. Tourists play a key role in patronizing restaurants and bars in and around Little Saigon. Mid-Market’s revival also will bring more workers and tourists to Tenderloin venues.
The Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) offers $50,000 to new businesses in Little Saigon. But drug activities during the Breed years left few takers. Neighborhood activists are pushing OEWD to expand the grants throughout the Tenderloin.
A National Historic District
If you have been deterred from walking through the Tenderloin by public safety concerns, now is the time to visit. The Uptown Tenderloin is one of the nation’s largest residential Historic Districts. Over 400 Tenderloin buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. Over 100 feature historic plaques explaining their history. No San Francisco neighborhood has a richer history. If you haven’t visited the Tenderloin Museum or taken an historic walking tour I encourage you to do so.
I have worked in the Tenderloin for 45 years. While much work must to be done for the Tenderloin to become a completely safe and healthy neighborhood, the infrastructure for success is there.
Now we must seize the opportunity to continue moving forward.
Want to learn about the Tenderloin’s rich history? Pick up Randy Shaw’s updated book, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. To support the Tenderloin Museum, buy the book at https://www.tenderloinmuseum.org/buy-the-book
Randy Shaw
Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.