The Tenderloin (otherwise known as the "TL") neighborhood in San Francisco covers roughly 50 blocks and is perhaps the most densely populated part of the city. The area itself is bounded by Van Ness Avenue to the west, Market Street to the southeast,
Taylor Street to the east, and Geary Boulevard to the north.
Drugs, street prostitution, homelessness, and poverty are everyday realities which define this neglected neighborhood. Although the neighborhood itself is fiercely steeped in degradation the surrounding areas boast the highest rents in the entire city. You have Nob Hill to the Tenderloin's north, the Pacific Heights neighborhood to the west, and the Financial District directly to the east. The Tenderloin has historically been the gateway to more affordable housing for immigrants and other downtrodden types, but typically is a haven for the dispossessed. The origin of the name "Tenderloin" stems from the graft collected by the vice squad who patrolled the area, and who were thus able to buy the choicest cuts of
beef. There are many other ideas for why the neighborhood was given this peculiar moniker, but regardless of the explanation they invariably tend to emphasize the neighborhood's seediness and depravity. Supposedly the neighborhood today is undergoing gentrification, but tell that to the
crack dealers on the corner and they'll give you a befuddled look because they're mostly
Spanish-speaking immigrants from South and Central
American countries. But organizations--like rental kingpins
Skyline Realty and their subsidiary Citiapartments--are attempting to "improve" the Tenderloin by buying out old apartment buildings, driving out the tenants, and raising the rents astronomically so that only
people who can afford
pure uncut cocaine can live in them. If this trend persists then the Tenderloin's boundaries
may eventually contract to those 10 blocks that radiate from Market street and include
St. Anthony's, Boedekker Park,
Chez Paree, and the public
toilet across from the New Century. God bless
America.