The State Historical Resources Commission voted unanimously on July 25 to create the Uptown Tenderloin Historic District. The nomination for federal historic district status now proceeds to the Keeper of the National Register in Washington, D.C., which could add the 18 whole and 15 partial city blocks in the neighborhood to the National Register of Historic Places within 45 days. The Commission’s action culminates a process that began in 1983, was halted for over two decades, and then restarted in 2006. The District’s 470 buildings include the world’s largest collection of historic single-room occupancy hotels (SRO’s), such historic structures as the Central YMCA, the Hibernia Bank, and the former Empire Hotel (now Hastings Tower), and the astonishing Alcazar Theater. [Full Story, BeyondChron]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Book Concern Building, livinintheloin, Tenderloin Historic District, The Tenderloin, Uptown Tenderloin Historic District
Hey, love your site! Regarding this topic, I think designating the TL as a historic district is a wonderful idea, there’s such terrific history and gorgeous architecture here. But, I am not sure about the term “uptown”. I thought we were actually downtown; I was always told that the TL is the true downtown of San Francisco (The area over near Montgomery and all of that is really the financial district, not downtown.) When you do mapquest, if you just put in a city without an exact address, it will direct you downtown. When you just put in San Francisco, CA, it will take you near the TL, not the embarcadero or the financial district. So, I feel like by calling us uptown, it’s really giving up the official downtown status we already have, the center of the city, near all of the shopping and the other excitement downtown has to offer. When I tell people where I live, some say “Oh, you live in the TL”, but about 40% say “Oh, you live downtown”. I would think we’d want to capitalize on that and not try to switch it to something new. I think that the new “uptown” term should be put up for a vote before it is adopted.
Also, if you go to wikipedia and look up “Tenderloin San Francisco”, the first line is “The Tenderloin is a dense residential, retail and nightlife neighborhood in downtown San Francisco.”