Mission District, San Francisco, California
Encyclopedia
The Mission District, also commonly called "The Mission", is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, USA, originally known as "the Mission lands" meaning the lands belonging to the sixth Alta California mission
, Mission San Francisco de Asis
. This mission, San Francisco's oldest standing building, is located in the neighborhood.
. 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 Sanchez Street separates the neighborhoods from Eureka Valley (also known as "The Castro") and Noe Valley to the west. The part of the neighborhood from Valencia Street to Sanchez Street, north of 20th, is known as Mission Dolores. South of 20th towards 22nd, and between Valencia and Dolores Streets is a distinct sub-neighborhood known as Liberty Hill. 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 13th Street. Also along Mission Street, further south-central are the Excelsior and Crocker-Amazon neighborhoods, sometimes referred to as the "Outer Mission" (not to be confused with the actual Outer Mission neighborhood
). The Mission District is part of San Francisco's supervisorial districts 6, 9 and 10.
The microclimate
s 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 24th 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.
Indians inhabited the region that is now known as the Mission District for over 2,000 years. Spanish missionaries arrived in the area during the late 18th century. They found these people living in two villages on Mission Creek
. It was here that a Spanish priest named Father Francisco Palóu
founded Mission San Francisco de Asis
on June 29, 1776. The Mission was moved from the shore of Laguna Dolores to its current location in 1783. Franciscan friars are reported to have used Ohlone
slave labor to complete the Mission in 1791. This period marked the beginning of the end of the Yelamu culture. The Indian population at Mission Dolores dropped from 400 to 50 between 1833 and 1841. Ranchos
owned by Spanish-Mexican
families such as the Valenciano, Guerrero, Dolores, Bernal, Noe
and De Haro
continued in the area, separated from the town of Yerba Buena, later renamed San Francisco (centered around Portsmouth Square
) by a two mile wooden plank road (later paved and renamed Mission Street).
The lands around the nearly abandoned mission church became a focal point of raffish attractions including bull and bear fighting, horse racing, baseball and dueling. A famous beer parlor resort known as The Willows was located along Mission Creek just south of 18th Street between Mission Street and San Carlos Street. From 1865 to 1891 a large conservatory and zoo known as Woodward's Gardens was located along the west side of Mission Street between 13th and 15th Streets. In the decades after the Gold Rush, the town of San Francisco quickly expanded, and the Mission lands were developed and subdivided into housing plots for working class immigrants, largely German, Irish and Italian, and also for industrial uses.
, the Mission District became home to the first professional baseball stadium in California, opened in 1868 and known as Recreation Grounds
seating 17,000 people which was located at Folsom and 25th Streets, a portion of the grounds remain as present day Garfield Square. Also, in the 20th century, the Mission District was home to two other baseball stadiums, Recreation Park
located at 14th and Valencia and Seals Stadium
located at 16th and Bryant with both these stadiums being used by the baseball team named after the Mission District known as the Mission Reds
and the San Francisco Seals.
, 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 Mexican immigrants
moved into the area, initiating white flight
, giving the Mission the Latin character it is known for today. During the 1980s and into the 1990s, the neighborhood received a higher influx of immigrants and refugees from Central
and South America fleeing civil wars and political instability at the time. These immigrants brought in many Central American banks and companies which would set up branches, offices, and regional headquarters on Mission Street.
night life with several clubs including The Offensive, The Deaf Club
and Valencia Tool & Die
and the former fire station on 16th Street, called the Compound, sported what was commonly referred to as "the punk mall", an establishment that catered to punk style and culture. On South Van Ness, Target Video
and Damage Magazine were located in a three-story warehouse. The neighborhood was dubbed "the New Bohemia" by the San Francisco Chronicle
in 1995.
Since at least the 1980s, a wave of gang affiliation appeared in the Mission. Branches of the Sureño and Norteño
gangs settled in and engaged in criminal activities and open violence over territorial boundaries in the neighborhood, northwest and southeast respectively. Also, the notorious international gang MS-13 who was originated in LA, become active at the time. Although during the late 1990s and into the 2000s gang prevention programs, including a 2007 injunction, have attempted to reduce the associated violence from these gangs, these kind of activities still continue to be a persistent problem for the neighborhood, resulting in uncomfortable socio-economic overlaps of a neighborhood in transision.
Following that decade in the late 1990s and into the 2000s, and especially during the dot-com boom, young urban professionals, to twentysomethings and thirtysomethings living the hipster lifestyle moved into the area, initiating gentrification
, and raising rent and housing prices, forcing many Latino middle-class families as well as artists to the Outer Mission area, or out of the city entirely to the suburbs of East Bay
and South Bay area. Despite rising rent and housing prices, many Mexican and Central American immigrants continue to reside in the Mission. Although the neighborhood's high rents and home prices have led to the Latino population dropping by 20% over the last decade. Most recently, the Mission has a reputation of being edgy and artsy.
Mission Dolores
, the eponymous former mission located the far western border of the neighborhood on Dolores Street, continues to operate as a museum and as a California Historical Landmark, while the newer basilica
built and opened next to it in 1913 continues to have an active congregation.
Near Mission Dolores, Dolores Park
, officially Mission Dolores Park, bounded by Dolores Street, Church Street, 18th Street, and 20th Street, the largest park in the neighborhood, and one of the most popular parks in the city. Across from Dolores Park is Mission High School
, built in 1927 in the Mediterranean Revival / Baroque
Churrigueresque
style.
Although gentrification
during the 1990s and 2000s shifted the demographics and culture of the neighborhood, to account for a large younger, more White American
, the Mission remains the cultural nexus and epicenter of San Francisco's, and to a lesser extent, the Bay Area's Latino, Chicano
, Nicaraguan
Salvadorian
and Guatemalan
community. While Mexican, Salvadorian, and other Latin American businesses are pervasive throughout the neighborhood, residences are not evenly distributed. Most of the neighborhood's Hispanic residents live on the eastern and southern sides. The western and northern sides of the neighborhood are more affluent and less diverse.
s are located throughout the neighborhood, showcasing a localized styling of Mexican food
and is the original home of the San Francisco burrito
. There are also a high concentration of Salvadorean, Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, restaurants there as well as a large number of street food vendors. In the last couple decades a number of high caliber of multi-ethnic specialty restaurants have gained national attention, most notably the Michelin
two-star rated French restaurant Sai'son on Folsom Street. A large number of other restaurants are also popular, including: Mission Chinese Food and Foreign Cinema on Mission Street, Delfina on 18th and Alma, the Slated Door and Luna Park on Valencia.
art movement. Many studios, galleries, performance spaces, and public art projects are located in the Mission, including the Project Artaud, First Exposures, Southern Exposure
, Art Explosion Studios, Artist Xchange, 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. Poets, musicians, emcees, and other artists sometimes gather on the southwest corner of the 16th & Mission intersection to perform.
Numerous Latino artistic and cultural institutions are based in the Mission. The Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Arts, established by Latino artists and activists, is an art space. The local bilingual newspaper, El Tecolote, was founded in 1970. The Mission's Galería de la Raza
, founded by local artists active in el Movimiento (the Chicano civil rights moment), is a nationally recognized arts organization. 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 take advantage of better weather.
s initiated by the Chicano Art Mural Movement of the 1970s and inspired by the traditional Mexican paintings made famous by Diego Rivera
. Some of the more significant mural installations are located on Balmy Alley
, and Clarion Alley
.
rail system with stations on Mission Street at 16th Street
and 24th Street
, by Muni
bus numbers 9, 12, 14, 14L, 22, 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.
bands play in restaurants throughout the district, especially in the restaurants congregated around Valencia and Mission in the northeast portion of the district.
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, and for the KQED documentary "The Mission" filmed in 1994.
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.
Classical music is heard in the concert hall of the Community Music Center on Capp Street.
Elbo Room, a bar/live music venue on Valencia Street, is home to Dub Mission
, a weekly reggae
/dub
party started in 1996 by DJ Sep
and over the years has brought many luminaries of reggae and dub music to perform there.
The Mission District is also very popular for its influencing Hip-Hop/Rap
music scene. Record labels like Black N Brown/ Thizz Latin and Hometeam Ent. help put Mission District rappers, like Goldtoes, mousie, Gangsta Flea, Mr. Kee, Friscasso, 10sion, The Goodfelonz, and Don Louis & Colicious, get exposure through various compilations such as 17 Reasons, 18 Wit A Bullet, Organized Crime, Filthy Livin' In The Mission, The Daily Grind 'Fillmoe 2 Da Mission, and many others. There is a new generation of young and upcoming rappers who are emerging from this neighborhood such as G-One (R.I.P.), Los Da Rockstar, DJ Blaze, Rob Baysicc, Loco C, Young Mix and Yung Dunn to name a few.
Some other prominent musicians and musical personalities include:
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
, Mission San Francisco de Asis
Mission San Francisco de Asís
Mission San Francisco de Asís, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions...
. This mission, San Francisco's oldest standing building, is located in the neighborhood.
Location and climate
The principal thoroughfare of the Mission District of San Francisco is Mission StreetMission Street
Mission Street is a north-south arterial thoroughfare in San Francisco, California that runs from the city's southern border to its northeast corner. The street and the Mission District through which it runs were named for the Spanish Mission Dolores, several blocks away from the modern route. Only...
. Its borders are U.S. Route 101
U.S. Route 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101, is an important north–south U.S. highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States...
to the east which forms the boundary between the eastern portion of the district, known as "Inner Mission" and its eastern neighbor, Potrero Hill
Potrero Hill, San Francisco, California
Potrero Hill is a hilly neighborhood in San Francisco, California.-Location:Potrero Hill is located on the eastern side of the city, east of the Mission District and south of SOMA and the newly designated district . It is roughly bordered by 16th Street to the north, Potrero Avenue and U.S...
, while Sanchez Street separates the neighborhoods from Eureka Valley (also known as "The Castro") and Noe Valley to the west. The part of the neighborhood from Valencia Street to Sanchez Street, north of 20th, is known as Mission Dolores. South of 20th towards 22nd, and between Valencia and Dolores Streets is a distinct sub-neighborhood known as Liberty Hill. Cesar Chavez Street (formerly Army Street) is the southern border which lies next to Bernal Heights
Bernal Heights, San Francisco, California
-Location:Bernal Heights lies to the south of San Francisco's Mission District. Its most prominent feature is the open parkland and microwave tower on its large rocky hill, Bernal Heights Summit...
, while to the north the neighborhood is separated from South of Market roughly by Duboce Avenue and the elevated highway of the Central Freeway
Central Freeway
The Central Freeway is a roughly one-mile elevated freeway in San Francisco, California, United States, connecting the Bayshore/James Lick Freeway with the Hayes Valley neighborhood. Most of the freeway is part of US 101, which exits at Mission Street on the way to the Golden Gate Bridge...
which runs above 13th Street. Also along Mission Street, further south-central are the Excelsior and Crocker-Amazon neighborhoods, sometimes referred to as the "Outer Mission" (not to be confused with the actual Outer Mission neighborhood
Outer Mission, San Francisco, California
Outer Mission is a small residential neighborhood on the south edge of San Francisco.-Location:The Outer Mission is a neighborhood in Southeast San Francisco with boundaries of Interstate 280 to the west, Geneva Avenue to the north, and Mission Street and the Daly City border to the south...
). The Mission District is part of San Francisco's supervisorial districts 6, 9 and 10.
The microclimate
Microclimate
A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
s 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 24th 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.
Prior to 1900
The YelamuYelamu
The Yelamu were a Native American tribe of Ohlone people from the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California.-History:The Yelamu lived on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in the region comprising the City and County of San Francisco before the arrival of Spanish missionaries in 1769...
Indians inhabited the region that is now known as the Mission District for over 2,000 years. Spanish missionaries arrived in the area during the late 18th century. They found these people living in two villages on Mission Creek
Mission Creek
Mission Creek is a river in San Francisco, California that has been largely culverted. The only remaining portion above ground is in the Mission Creek Channel that drains into China Basin....
. It was here that a Spanish priest named Father Francisco Palóu
Francisco Palóu
Francesc Palou was a Franciscan missionary, administrator, and historian on the Baja California peninsula and in Alta California. Father Palou's made significant contributions to the Alta California and Baja California mission systems...
founded Mission San Francisco de Asis
Mission San Francisco de Asís
Mission San Francisco de Asís, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions...
on June 29, 1776. The Mission was moved from the shore of Laguna Dolores to its current location in 1783. Franciscan friars are reported to have used Ohlone
Ohlone
The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley...
slave labor to complete the Mission in 1791. This period marked the beginning of the end of the Yelamu culture. The Indian population at Mission Dolores dropped from 400 to 50 between 1833 and 1841. Ranchos
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
owned by Spanish-Mexican
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
families such as the Valenciano, Guerrero, Dolores, Bernal, Noe
José de Jesús Noé
José de Jesús Noé was the last Mexican alcalde of Yerba Buena, which was renamed San Francisco after the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1846. He was appointed to the position twice: first as the 7th Alcalde and again as the 12th Alcalde in 1846...
and De Haro
Francisco de Haro
Francisco de Haro was the first Alcalde of Yerba Buena in 1834.-Life:De Haro was born in Compostela, Nayarit, Mexico and came to San Francisco in 1819. He was the first Alcalde of Yerba Buena in 1834. He was instrumental in planning the street grid of the town along with Englishman William A....
continued in the area, separated from the town of Yerba Buena, later renamed San Francisco (centered around Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square is a one-block park in Chinatown, San Francisco, California, that is bounded by Kearny Street on the east, Washington Street on the north, Clay Street on the south, and Walter Lum Place on the west....
) by a two mile wooden plank road (later paved and renamed Mission Street).
The lands around the nearly abandoned mission church became a focal point of raffish attractions including bull and bear fighting, horse racing, baseball and dueling. A famous beer parlor resort known as The Willows was located along Mission Creek just south of 18th Street between Mission Street and San Carlos Street. From 1865 to 1891 a large conservatory and zoo known as Woodward's Gardens was located along the west side of Mission Street between 13th and 15th Streets. In the decades after the Gold Rush, the town of San Francisco quickly expanded, and the Mission lands were developed and subdivided into housing plots for working class immigrants, largely German, Irish and Italian, and also for industrial uses.
Baseball 1868–1959
As the city grew in the decades following the Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, the Mission District became home to the first professional baseball stadium in California, opened in 1868 and known as Recreation Grounds
Recreation Park (San Francisco)
Recreation Park was the name applied to several former baseball parks in San Francisco, California in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century....
seating 17,000 people which was located at Folsom and 25th Streets, a portion of the grounds remain as present day Garfield Square. Also, in the 20th century, the Mission District was home to two other baseball stadiums, Recreation Park
Recreation Park (San Francisco)
Recreation Park was the name applied to several former baseball parks in San Francisco, California in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century....
located at 14th and Valencia and Seals Stadium
Seals Stadium
Seals Stadium was a minor league baseball stadium that stood in San Francisco from 1931 through 1959.Built during the depression, Seals Stadium opened on April 7, 1931, It cost $600,000 to construct, and Seals President "Doc" Strub described how laborers would leap onto the running boards of his...
located at 16th and Bryant with both these stadiums being used by the baseball team named after the Mission District known as the Mission Reds
Mission Reds
The Mission Reds were a minor league baseball team located in San Francisco, California, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1926 through 1937.-Original Missions:...
and the San Francisco Seals.
Ethnicity trends
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 earthquake1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
, 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
Peter Tamony
Peter Tamony was an Irish American folk-etymologist who is noted for his research on American colloquial speech, Jazz music and sports....
calling the Mission home. During the 1940-1960s, large numbers of Mexican immigrants
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
moved into the area, initiating white flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
, giving the Mission the Latin character it is known for today. During the 1980s and into the 1990s, the neighborhood received a higher influx of immigrants and refugees from Central
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and South America fleeing civil wars and political instability at the time. These immigrants brought in many Central American banks and companies which would set up branches, offices, and regional headquarters on Mission Street.
Recent history
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the Valencia Street corridor had a lively punkPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
night life with several clubs including The Offensive, The Deaf Club
The Deaf Club
The Deaf Club was a notable music venue located on Valencia Street in San Francisco which remained open for an 18 month period. Its main attraction was punk music...
and Valencia Tool & Die
Valencia Tool & Die
Valencia Tool & Die, abbreviated as VT&D, was a 1980s San Francisco music venue and art gallery that presented punk, new wave, and new music performances, as well as performance art, film, and visual art shows from 1980 through 1983....
and the former fire station on 16th Street, called the Compound, sported what was commonly referred to as "the punk mall", an establishment that catered to punk style and culture. On South Van Ness, Target Video
Target Video
Target Video is a San Francisco-based studio, founded by artist Joe Rees, who collaborating with Jackie Sharp, Jill Hoffman, Sam Edwards and others, archived early art performance, punk and hardcore bands on video and film. Performers and artists as diverse as the Sex Pistols, the Dead Kennedys,...
and Damage Magazine were located in a three-story warehouse. The neighborhood was dubbed "the New Bohemia" by the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
in 1995.
Since at least the 1980s, a wave of gang affiliation appeared in the Mission. Branches of the Sureño and Norteño
Norteños
The Norteños , also Norte, are affiliated with Nuestra Familia , are a coalition of traditionally Latino gangs in Northern California A member of these gangs is a Norteño or Norteña based on Spanish usage...
gangs settled in and engaged in criminal activities and open violence over territorial boundaries in the neighborhood, northwest and southeast respectively. Also, the notorious international gang MS-13 who was originated in LA, become active at the time. Although during the late 1990s and into the 2000s gang prevention programs, including a 2007 injunction, have attempted to reduce the associated violence from these gangs, these kind of activities still continue to be a persistent problem for the neighborhood, resulting in uncomfortable socio-economic overlaps of a neighborhood in transision.
Following that decade in the late 1990s and into the 2000s, and especially during the dot-com boom, young urban professionals, to twentysomethings and thirtysomethings living the hipster lifestyle moved into the area, initiating gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
, and raising rent and housing prices, forcing many Latino middle-class families as well as artists to the Outer Mission area, or out of the city entirely to the suburbs of East Bay
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
and South Bay area. Despite rising rent and housing prices, many Mexican and Central American immigrants continue to reside in the Mission. Although the neighborhood's high rents and home prices have led to the Latino population dropping by 20% over the last decade. Most recently, the Mission has a reputation of being edgy and artsy.
Landmarks and features
Mission San Francisco de Asís
Mission San Francisco de Asís, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions...
, the eponymous former mission located the far western border of the neighborhood on Dolores Street, continues to operate as a museum and as a California Historical Landmark, while the newer basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
built and opened next to it in 1913 continues to have an active congregation.
Near Mission Dolores, Dolores Park
Dolores Park
Mission Dolores Park is a San Francisco, California, city park located in the neighborhood of Mission Dolores, at the western edge of the Mission District, which lies to the east of the park. To the west of the park is a hillside referred to as "Dolores Heights" or considered a part of the Castro...
, officially Mission Dolores Park, bounded by Dolores Street, Church Street, 18th Street, and 20th Street, the largest park in the neighborhood, and one of the most popular parks in the city. Across from Dolores Park is Mission High School
Mission High School (San Francisco, California)
Mission High School is a public high school in the San Francisco Unified School District San Francisco, California.Serving grades 9-12, Mission is the oldest high school on its original site in San Francisco; it has been on 18th Street, between Dolores and Church, since 1896...
, built in 1927 in the Mediterranean Revival / Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
Churrigueresque
Churrigueresque
Churrigueresque refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 17th century and was used up to about 1750, marked by extreme, expressive and florid decorative detailing, normally found above the...
style.
Although gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
during the 1990s and 2000s shifted the demographics and culture of the neighborhood, to account for a large younger, more White American
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
, the Mission remains the cultural nexus and epicenter of San Francisco's, and to a lesser extent, the Bay Area's Latino, Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
, Nicaraguan
Nicaraguan American
Nicaraguan American are Americans of Nicaraguan ancestry who were born in or have immigrated to the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 177,684 Americans of full or partial Nicaraguan ancestry living in the U.S...
Salvadorian
Salvadoran American
Salvadorian Americans are citizens or residents of the United States of Salvadoran descent. As of 2010 there are 1.6 million Salvadoran Americans in the United States, the fourth-largest Hispanic community by nation of ancestry.They are also known as the nicknamed Salvi people in the USA,...
and Guatemalan
Guatemalan American
A Guatemalan American is an American of Guatemalan descent.The Guatemalan American population in the USA in 2009 was estimated by the US Census Bureau at 1,081,858...
community. While Mexican, Salvadorian, and other Latin American businesses are pervasive throughout the neighborhood, residences are not evenly distributed. Most of the neighborhood's Hispanic residents live on the eastern and southern sides. The western and northern sides of the neighborhood are more affluent and less diverse.
Food
The Mission district is also famous and influential for its restaurants. Literally dozens of TaqueríaTaqueria
Taquería is a Spanish word meaning taco shop. In some localities, however, it is used to refer to restaurants specializing in burritos , although tacos and other dishes are often served as well. Originally, Taquerías referred to the stands of street vendors. However, many taquerías today are...
s are located throughout the neighborhood, showcasing a localized styling of Mexican food
Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine, a style of food that originates in Mexico, is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration and variety of spices and ingredients, most of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through thousands of years of blending indigenous cultures, with later...
and is the original home of the San Francisco burrito
San Francisco burrito
San Francisco burrito is a type of burrito, originally a Mexican-American food, that originated in San Francisco, California. The San Francisco burrito is distinguished from a regular burrito partly by the amount of rice and other side dishes included in the package, and partly by its sheer size...
. There are also a high concentration of Salvadorean, Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, restaurants there as well as a large number of street food vendors. In the last couple decades a number of high caliber of multi-ethnic specialty restaurants have gained national attention, most notably the Michelin
Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guide is a series of annual guide books published by Michelin for over a dozen countries. The term normally refers to the Michelin Red Guide, the oldest and best-known European hotel and restaurant guide, which awards the Michelin stars...
two-star rated French restaurant Sai'son on Folsom Street. A large number of other restaurants are also popular, including: Mission Chinese Food and Foreign Cinema on Mission Street, Delfina on 18th and Alma, the Slated Door and Luna Park on Valencia.
Art scene
Due to the existing cultural attractions, less expensive housing and commercial space, and the high density of restaurants and drinking establishments, the Mission is a magnet for young people. An independent arts community also arose and, since the 1990s, the area has been home to the Mission SchoolMission School
The Mission School is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District of San Francisco, California.-History and characteristics:...
art movement. Many studios, galleries, performance spaces, and public art projects are located in the Mission, including the Project Artaud, First Exposures, Southern Exposure
Southern Exposure (art space)
-About:Southern Exposure is a not-for-profit arts organization and alternative art space founded in 1974 in the Mission District of San Francisco, California....
, Art Explosion Studios, Artist Xchange, Artists' Television Access
Artists' Television Access
Artists' Television Access is a non-profit art gallery and screening venue in San Francisco's Mission District in the United States of America. ATA exhibits work by emerging, independent and experimental artists in its theatre and gallery space as well as on its weekly Public-access television...
, and the oldest, alternative, not-for profit art space in the city of San Francisco, Intersection for the Arts
Intersection for the Arts
Intersection for the Arts, established in 1965, is the oldest alternative non-profit art space in San Francisco, California. Intersection's reading series is the longest continuous reading series outside of an academic institution in the state of California....
. The Roxie
The Roxie
The Roxie Theater is a movie theater at 3117 16th Street in the Mission District of San Francisco built in 1909. It is also known as the Roxie Cinema or just The Roxie.-History:...
Theater, the oldest continuously-operating movie theater in San Francisco, is host to repertory and independent films as well as local film festivals. Poets, musicians, emcees, and other artists sometimes gather on the southwest corner of the 16th & Mission intersection to perform.
Numerous Latino artistic and cultural institutions are based in the Mission. The Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Arts, established by Latino artists and activists, is an art space. The local bilingual newspaper, El Tecolote, was founded in 1970. The Mission's Galería de la Raza
Galería de la Raza
Galería de la Raza is a non-profit art gallery and artist collective that serves the heavily-Latino population of San Francisco's Mission District. GDLR mounts exhibitions, hosts poetry readings, workshops, and celebrations, sells works of art, and sponsors youth and artist-in-residence programs...
, founded by local artists active in el Movimiento (the Chicano civil rights moment), is a nationally recognized arts organization. Late May, the city's annual Carnaval
Carnaval San Francisco
Carnaval San Francisco is an annual street parade and festival in San Francisco, California on the last weekend in May.The San Francisco Bay Area Carnaval season begins in February as the great Western hemisphere Carnaval celebrations are concluding...
festival and parade marches down Mission Street. Meant to mimic the festival in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, it is held in late May instead of the traditional late February to take advantage of better weather.
Murals
Throughout the Mission walls and fences are decorated with muralMural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s initiated by the Chicano Art Mural Movement of the 1970s and inspired by the traditional Mexican paintings made famous by Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
. Some of the more significant mural installations are located on Balmy Alley
Balmy Alley
Balmy Alley is the location of the most concentrated collection of murals in the city of San Francisco. Located in the south central portion of the Inner Mission District between 24th Street and Garfield Square....
, and Clarion Alley
Clarion Alley
Clarion Alley is a small street in San Francisco between Mission and Valencia Streets and 17th and 18th Streets. The alley lies at what was once the center of a lagoon that covered the central Mission District area, although some historians dispute the existence of the fresh water lagoon...
.
Transit
The neighborhood is served by the BARTBay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The heavy-rail public transit and subway system connects San Francisco with cities in the East Bay and suburbs in northern San Mateo County. BART operates five lines on of track with 44 stations in four counties...
rail system with stations on Mission Street at 16th Street
16th Street Mission (BART station)
16th Street Mission Station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in the Mission District of San Francisco, California. It is used by the Richmond-Millbrae line, the Pittsburg/Bay Point-SFO line, the Fremont-Daly City line, and the Dublin/Pleasanton-Daly City line...
and 24th Street
24th Street Mission (BART station)
24th Street Mission Station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in the Mission District of San Francisco, California. It is an underground station with an island platform located below the intersection of Mission Street and 24th Street....
, by Muni
San Francisco Municipal Railway
The San Francisco Municipal Railway is the public transit system for the city and county of San Francisco, California. In 2006, it served with an operating budget of about $700 million...
bus numbers 9, 12, 14, 14L, 22, 27, 33, 48, 49, 67, and along the western edge by the J Church
J Church
The J Church is a Muni Metro railway line in San Francisco, California mainly serving the Noe Valley and Balboa Park neighborhoods, connecting them to downtown. It began as one of San Francisco's streetcar lines in 1917, and was converted to modern light rail operation with the creation of the Muni...
Muni Metro
Muni Metro
Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway , a division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency...
line, which runs down Church Street and San Jose Avenue.
Festivals, parades and fairs
- Carnival The major event of the year occurring each Memorial DayMemorial DayMemorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
weekend is the Mission's CarnavalCarnaval San FranciscoCarnaval San Francisco is an annual street parade and festival in San Francisco, California on the last weekend in May.The San Francisco Bay Area Carnaval season begins in February as the great Western hemisphere Carnaval celebrations are concluding...
celebration. - 24th Street Fair In March of each year a street fair is held along the 24th Street corridor.
- San Francisco Food Fair Annually, for several years recently, food trucks and vendor booths have sold food to tens of thousands of people along Folsom Street adjacent to La Cochina on the third weekend in September.
- Cesar Chavez Holiday Parade The second weekend of April is marked by a parade and celebration along 24th Street in honor of Cesar Chavez.
- Transgender and Dyke Marches. On the Fridays and Saturdays of the fourth weekend of June there are major celebrations of the Transgender and Dyke communities located at Dolores Park, followed by a march in the evenings along 18th Streets and Valencia Streets.
- Sunday Streets Twice each year, typically in May and October, Valencia, Harrision and 24th Streets are closed to automobile traffic and opened to pedestrians and bicyclists on Sunday as part of the Sunday Streets program.
- Day of the Dead Each year on November 2, a memorial procession and celebration of the dead occurs on Harrison and 24th Street with a gathering of memorials in Garfield Square.
- First Friday Monthly on the evening of the first Friday, a food and art crawl including a procession of low rider car clubs and samba dancers occurs along 24th Street from Potrero to Mission Streets.
- Open Studios On the first weekend of October, the ArtSpan organization arranges a district wide exhibit of Mission District artists studios.
- Hunky Jesus Contest Annually for 32 years on Easter Sunday the Sister's of Perpetual Indulgence hold an Easter Sunday celebration including a Hunky Jesus Contest in Dolores Park.
- Rock Make Street Festival Annually for four years the Rock Make organization sponsors a music and arts festival in September on Treat and 18th Streets in the Mission.
- LitCrawl Annually on the third Saturday of October as part of the LitQuake, a literature festival, hundreds of book and poetry readings are held at bars and bookstores throughout the Mission.
- Party on Block 18 The Woman's Building organization annually, typically in August, has held a street party on 18th Street between Valencia and Guerrero streets.
- Clarion Alley Block Party Eleven years annually, a block party on the Clarion mural alley, fourth weekend in October.
- Remembering 1906 Annually for 105 years there has been a gathering and ceremonial gold repainting ceremony of the fire hydrant located at Church and 20th streets in honor of the only working fire hydrant that allowed the cessation of the fire following the 1906 earth quake.
Music scene
The Mission is rich in musical groups and performances. Roving MariachiMariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
bands play in restaurants throughout the district, especially in the restaurants congregated around Valencia and Mission in the northeast portion of the district.
Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
spent his teenage years in the Mission, graduating from Mission High School
Mission High School (San Francisco, California)
Mission High School is a public high school in the San Francisco Unified School District San Francisco, California.Serving grades 9-12, Mission is the oldest high school on its original site in San Francisco; it has been on 18th Street, between Dolores and Church, since 1896...
in 1965. He has often returned to the neighborhood, including for a live concert with his band Santana
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
that was recorded in 1969, and for the KQED documentary "The Mission" filmed in 1994.
The locally-inspired song "Mission in the Rain" by Robert Hunter
Robert Hunter (lyricist)
Robert C. Hunter is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his association with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.-Biography:He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo, California...
and Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
appeared on Garcia's solo album "Reflections"
Reflections (Jerry Garcia Album)
Reflections is Jerry Garcia's third solo album, released in 1976. It includes five songs that were performed by the Grateful Dead. All of the then-members of the Grateful Dead contribute to the music on this album.-Track listing:...
, and was played by the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
five times in concert in 1976.
Classical music is heard in the concert hall of the Community Music Center on Capp Street.
Elbo Room, a bar/live music venue on Valencia Street, is home to Dub Mission
Dub Mission
Dub Mission is a dub, dubstep, roots, and dancehall party which occurs weekly on Sunday nights at San Francisco's Elbo Room club in the Mission district. Started by DJ Sep in 1996 as a monthly venue to fill a void in the Bay Area's dub scene, Dub Mission has grown into a weekly event with a loyal...
, a weekly reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
/dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
party started in 1996 by DJ Sep
DJ Sep
Sep Ghadishah, better known as DJ Sep, has been the host of "Off The Beaten Path" on KPFA since 1995, and is the founder and head DJ of Dub Mission, a weekly San Francisco dub party. She started DJing on KUSF in 1988.- References :...
and over the years has brought many luminaries of reggae and dub music to perform there.
The Mission District is also very popular for its influencing Hip-Hop/Rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
music scene. Record labels like Black N Brown/ Thizz Latin and Hometeam Ent. help put Mission District rappers, like Goldtoes, mousie, Gangsta Flea, Mr. Kee, Friscasso, 10sion, The Goodfelonz, and Don Louis & Colicious, get exposure through various compilations such as 17 Reasons, 18 Wit A Bullet, Organized Crime, Filthy Livin' In The Mission, The Daily Grind 'Fillmoe 2 Da Mission, and many others. There is a new generation of young and upcoming rappers who are emerging from this neighborhood such as G-One (R.I.P.), Los Da Rockstar, DJ Blaze, Rob Baysicc, Loco C, Young Mix and Yung Dunn to name a few.
Some other prominent musicians and musical personalities include:
- Luscious JacksonLuscious JacksonLuscious Jackson are an alternative rock group formed in 1991. The band's name was inspired by now-retired American basketball player Lucious Jackson....
(alternative rock) - Los Mocosos (cutting-edge salsa)
- Faith No MoreFaith No MoreFaith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
(alternative rock) - Cesar Ascarrunz (Salsa pianist, impresario, politician, owner of the late Cesar's Latin Palace dance club)
- The Looters
- PrimusPrimus (band)Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...
- Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express (alternative rock)
- BeckBeckBeck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
(alternative rock) - JawbreakerJawbreaker (band)Jawbreaker was an American punk rock band active from 1986 to 1996 and considered one of the most influential acts of the early-1990s emo movement...
(alternative rock)
Artists
Some well-known artists associated with the Mission District include:- Ricardo Gouveia (a.k.a. "Rigo 23", painter, sculptor, and muralist)
- Chris JohansonChris JohansonChris Johanson is an American painter and street artist. He is a member of San Francisco's Mission School art movement.- Biography :Johanson was born in suburban San Jose, California in 1968. He has no formal training in art, learning some technique by painting skateboards and houses...
(painter and street artist) - Xiani Yngojo-Wang (painter, sculptor, and visionary)
- Eth-Noh-Tec, Kinetic Story Theater Eth-Noh-Tec (storytelling kinetic theater)
- Margaret KilgallenMargaret KilgallenMargaret Leisha Kilgallen was a San Francisco Bay Area artist. Though a contemporary artist, her work showed a strong influence from folk art. She was considered a central figure in the Bay Area Mission School art movement....
(painter, printmaker, and graffitiGraffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artist) - Barry McGeeBarry McGeeBarry McGee is a painter and graffiti artist. He is also known by monikers such as Ray Fong, Lydia Fong, Bernon Vernon, P.Kin, Ray Virgil, Twist and further variations of Twist, such as Twister, Twisty, Twisto and others.-Life and career:McGee graduated from El Camino High School in South...
(a.k.a. "Twist", painter and graffitiGraffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artist) - Ruby Neri (painter, sculptor, and graffitiGraffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artist) - Michael V. Rios (painter, designer, and muralist)
- Xavier Viramontes (printmaker)
- Scott WilliamsScott Williams (artist)Scott Williams is an American artist best known for his work with stencils.Williams was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Santa Barbara. He began painting with watercolor in high school, and studied art and anthropology at Santa Barbara City College, Cabrillo College, and Sonoma...
- Craig BaldwinCraig BaldwinCraig Baldwin is an American experimental filmmaker. He uses “found” footage from the fringes of popular consciousness as well as images from the mass media to undermine and transform the traditional documentary, infusing it with the energy of high-speed montage and a provocative commentary that...
(filmmaker, archivist, curator) - Dori SedaDori SedaDorthea Antonette "Dori" Seda was an artist best known for her underground comix work of the 1980s. Her comics combined exaggerated fantasy and ribald humor with documentation of her life in the Mission District of San Francisco, California.- Biography :Seda was originally a painter and ceramics...
(cartoonist, painter) - Laurie Toby EdisonLaurie Toby EdisonLaurie Toby Edison is an internationally exhibited portrait photographer. Her three suites of photographs include a series of nudes of fat women, a series of nudes of a very diverse cross-section of men, and a series of clothed portraits of women living in Japan...
(photographer) - Dan Plasma (muralist)
- Whittles Graham (curator and street performer)
- The Hooks (Rock'n'Roll Group)
- Carlos Loarca (painter, muralist)
- Pico Sanchez (painter, printmaker)
See also
- 826 Valencia826 Valencia826 Valencia is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.-Overview:...
- Intersection for the ArtsIntersection for the ArtsIntersection for the Arts, established in 1965, is the oldest alternative non-profit art space in San Francisco, California. Intersection's reading series is the longest continuous reading series outside of an academic institution in the state of California....
- Southern Exposure (art space)Southern Exposure (art space)-About:Southern Exposure is a not-for-profit arts organization and alternative art space founded in 1974 in the Mission District of San Francisco, California....
- Precita EyesPrecita EyesPrecita Eyes Muralists Association is a community-based non-profit muralist and arts education group located in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, founded in 1977 by Susan and Luis Cervantes.-History:...
– Mission Mural Project - Garfield Square – Popular soccer field, swimming pool, playground and annual Day of the Dead shrines.
- TartineTartineTartine is a bakery in San Francisco, California, located in the Mission District, at 600 Guerrero Street . Writing in the New York Times, food columnist Mark Bittman called it his favorite bakery in the U.S...
– local bakery - The Deaf ClubThe Deaf ClubThe Deaf Club was a notable music venue located on Valencia Street in San Francisco which remained open for an 18 month period. Its main attraction was punk music...
- San Francisco burritoSan Francisco burritoSan Francisco burrito is a type of burrito, originally a Mexican-American food, that originated in San Francisco, California. The San Francisco burrito is distinguished from a regular burrito partly by the amount of rice and other side dishes included in the package, and partly by its sheer size...
- The Redstone Building
- Dolores ParkDolores ParkMission Dolores Park is a San Francisco, California, city park located in the neighborhood of Mission Dolores, at the western edge of the Mission District, which lies to the east of the park. To the west of the park is a hillside referred to as "Dolores Heights" or considered a part of the Castro...
(includes list of neighborhood associations)
Further reading
- Hooper, Bernadette (2006). San Francisco's Mission District. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4657-7.
- Mirabal, Nancy Raquel, “Geographies of Displacement: Latinas/os, Oral History, and the Politics of Gentrification in San Francisco’s Mission District,” Public Historian, 31 (May 2009), 7–31.
External links
- WikiTravel – overview of the district
- Western Half of The Mission – Guided photographic tour
- Eastern Half of The Mission – Guided photographic tour
- Mission Street Itself – Guided photo tour
- The Mission – Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco
- Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association
- North Mission Neighborhood Association
- Project Artaud
- Artists' Television Access (ATA)
- The history of ATA – documented and created by Lex Lonehood
- Polish Club Inc. – Polish Community center in the Mission District since 1926
- San Francisco Chronicle, November 26, 1995: 'Neo-Hipsters Keep the Beat in the Mission'
- Sureño and Norteño gangs in the Mission
- New York Times, September 14, 2008: '36 Hours in San Francisco's Mission District'
- New York Times, November 20, 2005: 'San Francisco's Mission District: Eclectic, Eccentric, Electric'
- New York Times, November 5, 2000: "Mission District Fights Dot-Com Fever'
- New York Times, January 16, 1999: 'In Old Mission District: Changing Grit to Gold'