I live in the SF area, was living in the city for a year. This video has some good history, but it's superficial. Most people just can't afford to live here anymore, and it's been a violent transition that has resulted in tent cities and regular burglaries and mental health crises in public places. Even when minimum wage goes up to $15, working full time will bring in $2k/mo. A one bedroom apartment starts at $2.5k for students and averages at $3.5k, going up to 6 easily downtown. Income tax is about 10%, parking tickets are $75, GG bridge toll is $7. Small shop owners, renters, artists can't keep up, so they move, but now Oakland is too expensive, and Richmond is next. Where do you go? Idaho? People can't live like this, and if anyone tells you the culture is just "changing" instead of disappearing, it's a marketing tactic. It's not a friendly place right now, and while the tech boom brought in business, that money doesn't really trickle down to make life better for everyone else. Gang violence has gone down, but the neighborhood vibes are basically gone, replaced with a bland commercialism. Haight-Ashbury is a museum piece. I hope the bubble bursts soon before it's a cultural desert. I am a professional musician. Musicians are making the same wage as they were 20 years ago, and the cost of living has inflated 500%.
Alex Hand Miller it sucks because I live in Daly City and have dreamed of living in the city my whole life, but now I'm not sure if that would be the smartest move.
"I am a professional musician. Musicians are making the same wage as they were 20 years ago, and the cost of living has inflated 500%." A fellow musician here. Well, I did get my bachelor's degree on Clarinet performance but having a hard time living. I don't live in SF but I live in LA and I just wanted to say that it's hard for artistic types like us because like you said, it's hard to live in the heart of the city because it's so fucking expensive even though that's where all the fun gigs and cultural display is. So, yeah. Just keep on doing what you do and I'll do what I do haha
It's true it's cheaper in rural areas where there are less gigs, cultural events, networking opportunities, etc, and I'm wondering if there is going to be a mass exodus of creative people to the middle of nowhere like Oklahoma where you can buy a house for $50k. All it takes is a group of a couple dozen artists to "colonize" a neighborhood and start producing art to put online. There are enough artists around here waiting for there to be a cheap and fun place to live where artists can network and do what they do.
Major omission from this VICE (Canadian [British Commonwealth]) piece: Asian Americans. Both historically and in the present. Over thirty percent of the contemporary SF population is Asian American.
I was gonna say maybe it's because neither Chinatown nor Japantown borders Market Street, but then they covered Haight-Ashbury so there goes that excuse. Yeah, I can't believe they left out the Asian-American community... such a huge part of SF's history and culture.
My dad grew up in the sunset (western aves of SF) in the 50's and 60's and there were nearly no Asians living there. Probably a low single digit percentage. Now they make up 80% of the area or more
lmao, I was thinking the same thing. She’s a journalist/reporter and that’s seriously the craziest story she’s ever heard, get the fuck out of here with that lie. LOL
Well Imo, that part actually was a perfect example of wealth equality. And how nouveau-riches don't get involved in the fight against it all. While she was trying to talk about homelessness and gentrification and changes in the section of the city, he started talking about how great his burritos were and how somebody flew in just to buy some and flew back on the same day. She said that's effed up, he totally didn't get it. He was clueless. but I understand where she was coming from. So this guy bought the building back in the day oh, good for him. And what if he didn't? He might be on the street with the rest of them. That's why the market without checks and balances leads to terrible things. One of which being large amounts of homelessness.
Rent control is the main thing keeping non-wealthy people in SF (public housing and SROs help too). 70% of the city's rental units have it, and most of those residents wouldn't be able to afford the city if their rent was suddenly raised to market rate (which is obviously what would happen if rent control got removed tomorrow. Prices might stabilize or even drop eventually, but before that happens, prices would skyrocket, and working/middle class residents would get evicted at much higher rates). Rent control may not be perfect, but when people talk about getting rid of it, they're basically talking about kicking out half of SF's population. And don't pretend that it's impossible to make enough money to maintain your property and make a living, without price-gouging people. There's absolutely no reason why an SF landlord should charge $5000 for a studio or whatever, except that they know some rich motherfucker will pay for it. On one hand, fair enough, it's their property. But on the other hand, that kind of greed is destroying thousands of lives, and is pushing out a lot of the residents and things that attracted many people to SF in the first place, while attracting an extra amount of wealthy assholes who look down their nose at the less wealthy locals (that causes some anger, to say the least). It all comes down to what you value most: your bank account, or the community as a whole. Furthermore, SF has had rent control for decades, it's no secret. So if a landlord doesn't like it, fine...go buy a modern building that has no rent control, or go be a landlord somewhere without rent control instead. No one's forcing anyone to own property in SF. What we need is more housing. A shit ton of it...the lack of an adequate housing supply is the main force behind this bullshit. The tech boom just added fuel to the fire. Jet fuel. Plus some napalm.
His name is Donald Trump get rid of Nancy Pelosi and no Willie Brown School of politics that rules San Francisco and maybe let the police do their job clean up all the drug addict blood pus urine excrement and maybe in 20 years things will change cuz it took 40 Years of liberal policies
@@jasonsoulie1337 and then we'll be like all those red state shithole cities like Birmingham AB; no thanks, you stay where you are and just don't visit here.
"The Fillmore District is another neighborhood with historical low priced housing. After the earthquake, vacant home attracted African Americans..." (4:17) That's inaccurate; the African Americans moved into the Fillmore District when 5,000 Japanese Americans were relocated to internment camps during WWII. This is an extremely important fact about the Fillmore District that is misrepresented in this video.
The Japanese in the Fillmore were centered in a specific part of the Fillmore, a part not even referred to as the Fillmore anymore. North of Geary, South of California, stopping at around Franklin on the east and Divisadero to the west. They could have mentioned the Japanese influence, but the area I just described is even further from Market street than the other areas they covered that technically arent on or near market. La Taqueria is on 25th & Mission and they reported on it for some reason. Blacks didnt move in after Japanese left, they were here and even more came when houses went vacant.
dburrr: Most black people in SF (and the Bay Area/most of California) arrived during WWII to work in the shipyards, which happened to coincide with all the Japanese people getting kicked out and sent to the camps. SF only had a few thousand black people before WWII.
ya well ya know, there's a lot of hype around la taqueria, their burrito's are ok but not so fantastic as everybody says, and to be fair I would rather get mine from el toro or el faro (with or without rice). If i could afford the plane ticket, i would go get a super beef et el toro's right this moment
Also, I personally think Mission Street would have been a better choice, not because of it's popularity but because it runs through the entire City. Also, you forgot about Chinatown, which is the oldest in North America. AND the oldest building in the City, Mission Dolores which was founded a month before the Declaration of Independence. I dunno, just dropped the ball on all the other culturally significant things in our beautiful City.
+Jesús Pedroza definitely was far too white. i mean SF has one of the biggest asian populations in the country and they didn't talk to a single asian person!
I was homeless in SF for 2 years. 90% of the people who are homeless in SF are not displaced residents, they come in from other states. They are from the east coast. The reason being, SF is the only place where you can survive being homeless, they provide everything to you, free free free. Within the first hour of being there i got an EBT card & phone. Free blankets, clothes, even police hand out free cigarettes and food. People hear about this and think, why the hell not be homeless in SF. Free free free. EZ living, lots of drugs everywhere, plenty of money from tourists etc.
EXACTLY!!!! This is the biggest lie, that most of these people are displaced locals. If you suddenly lose your apartment, you move somewhere else you can afford. You don't just pitch a tent, shit on the street, and start doing drugs. That's not what normal people do. And for the numbers of homeless people in SF, you're basically assuming that's what every single person who loses their apartment is doing.
+Open the doors to Rapture they are the race with the most numbers but most of them are in asia they are only like 7 percent of the population in the us
Liberal media outlets don't care for or respect Asian Americans. You never ever see Asian Americans playing the victim card so the left are not interested in their community
This is an incredibly good series. I love walking through city streets instead of just visiting the tourist haunts. This really gives an idea of what areas of the city to walk during my time constrainted travels.
I love the research and people in this video, but I find it a bit tone deaf that they started it with an ultra-cutesy host treating it like a travel vlog or something. "Let's go check out San Francisco!" -- followed by eighteen plus minutes of depressing talks about gentrification, homelessness, and the growing disparity between social classes in SF.
Well nickatina was raised in the city. Mac dre was from Vallejo and could be referenced better in Oakland than the city. I still agree he should've gotten mention #Thizzordie
You know my aunt was born in raised in the mission district and she was able to buy her own home, a single Latina women, and she lives in her home till this day. Bought for $150,000 25 years ago and is not 2.5 mil
That seemed like really short segments on the Mission and Fillmore... No surprise. As a native and current San Franciscan, I disapprove. I appreciate the effort Vice, the cinematography and a couple of the people interviewed were excellent. At least there were some hits instead of it all being a complete miss. You're just still looking through a visitor's eyes in this. Thank you though, and keep up the good work.
If you actually walked through these neighborhoods and talked to random people on the street, you'd have ended up with a much more informative and entertaining. Good score on talking to Diamond Dave though.
I don't know, guys, this was a bad documentary. How was the take-away at the end "san francisco is being revitalized by new inhabitants and new ideas" ???
More like SF is being destroyed by techies and other outsiders. How can anyone think of an average price for a burger being $15 dollars as revitalizing? Those of us who are regular people can hardly afford to WORK there, let alone live there.
They showed a picture of mid-market while she was talking about the financial district. And she says the financial district is undergoing gentrification?! Since when has the financial district NOT been a district full of bankers and financial professionals?
The scenes of tents beneath the bridge overpass ARE NOT scenes of the Tenderloin. That is South of Market. The Tenderloin stretches from Market Street to Post Street and from Mason Street to Van Ness.
@@Pumalate77 Not good, this kind of gentrification sterilizes everything and makes everything lame. And as you can see it makes the homeless problem worse.
@@JokersAce0 gentrification makes the drug problem worse for sure, somehow. No evidence to say so though, mostly it’s just correlation and your feelings. Lol
@@Pumalate77 Yeah sure pal. Go to LA and see normal looking people, attractive women, et al completely homeless. No drug problem or anything. Gentrification is trash and a bunch of people move into newly "cool" areas that get that way because of being off the road and inexpensive, then promptly buy up all the places, end up stifling the creativity that made the areas desirable once property values go through the roof. See: Brooklyn, Portland, Seattle, now even Denver.
+MrTacticalMuffinTop "You got a gram bag hit the zags and roll her up 'cause a nigga like me can't fake it when I'm high Get the Visine for the tight red eyes"
The greatest thing about San Francisco is the diversity. Most of the video, displays us as a bunch of hipsters and druggies or people who just don't fit the norms of society, but I think we aren't all like that. I have lived here for my whole life and I don't often go to Haight and Ashbury and South of Market. I think we are accepting and cultural and I find it ironic that so many people in this video are against the tech industry. The technology enhances the culture. Wasn't RU-vid created in the Bay Area? And without it people wouldn't be able to view this video and see our beautiful city. There were important neighborhoods left out like Chinatown, Japantown, the Sunset, the Presidio and Golden Gate Park.
Gentrification is so real and sad in SF, it's truly disgusting. Culture is dying all over the city....and it is not the same as it was before. :( I was born and raised in SF, and it really sucks to see culture and creativity die off like that.
San Francisco is one of my favorite cities(Berkeley is my other favorite), the steep hills are killer on the calves but that city is worth it. I'm glad I live a short Caltrain ride away 😝
Excellent piece. I am SO sick of people whining and calling SF a sh*t hole, etc. I moved to SF in 1988 when i was 17 years old and had to move away in 2003 and I would give anything to turn back time and never, ever leave. I definitey left my heart there. Progress and change is inevitable but the one thing San Francisco has that NO other city in the world has is the "something for anyone" non-judgmental freedom.
The Filmore in the 60s-70s were full of urban projects, many of them were urban rehabilitation projects. They were drug and crime-infested, hell holes. Then urban renewal and urban gentrification came and now there are 3,000 rents for two-bedroom apartments and $75. parking meter tickets. The homeless have always been in the City but now it's the population has exploded. They are everywhere and even in some of the cities more affluent neighborhoods.
No I just really love San Francisco,it's where I left my heart,while at the same time your wife is leaving her panties at my house,should answer your question if I have a rainbow bumper sticker. San Francisco is a beautiful city and it takes a certain person to actually take in its beauty but if you're going to go there with a homophobic attitude you're going to be deeply disappointed I'm just saying.
Travis Davis yeah exactly man you gotta be open minded man I know exactly what your talking about. It's so sad that this is happening in my hometown like duuude :/ I moved like 3 or 4 years ago I miss it sooo much
Just A Human I also moved out of the city and I was living in the Projects where rent prices were also being raised. That is really a bad sign for things to come for people still living in Frisco. I know exactly how u feel.
Wow! Once again Vice misses the mark. People and their food and their neighbourhoods, not subculture and people there in. Look for commonality not exclusivity. San Francisco has always been about divergence that manages to mostly get along.
Andre Nickatina with real answers to lackluster questions. Not to assume he’d want to do a show/the offer to do one would be what he deserves but I’d watch a show starring him for sure
"people who can't afford rent are being pushed into the streets." umm no, that's not right at all. the streets were full of homeless before. homeless flock to that city, they've been doing it for decades.
Yeah the homeless in sanfrancisco aren't people who lived in sanfrancisco and couldn't afford rent any more, the homeless people are druggies from all over the country that travel there.
@@seannaehring4290 - this is true: an influx of Yuppies n Shit-Bums. There have always been alot of homeless here, but since 1999-2000 it's been like a wave of filth that does'nt pull out: stank- rags & stank-money people.😀 (Sorry lm responding months later)
The homeless relief groups actually do just the opposite to help the neighborhood because they have a distorted impression of what they are accomplishing. Introducing the historical background for each neighborhood is the first mistake in this type of reporting because the general transients of the city has detached it from its past. Interviewing the old guard says nothing about what is on the ground now.
@Dorian Graye - Thats were Hip-Hop n Rap came from; Dre Dog bein a rapper n all and obviously from S.F. so no need to prove it. We used to wear other hats, jerseys and starter jackets of other teams, simply cause the colors or style. N.Y Yankees was popular in the 80's because most of the Rap was coming out of N.Y, so it'd be in the videos n on the album covers. San Jose Sharks was popular in the early 90's. Nowadays, if you want to do that, one would quickly assume you're from that city; but back then everybody WAS from here so people did'nt question it; die hard sports fans would tho, haha. Now it's like if yer not wearing any S.F shit, one would assume you're not from here. Sorry to respond years later; you probably dont give a rats ass, haha. I just saw this vid for the first time. Hope it does'nt seem like lm comin across to you as a dick or snob - text, ya know ✌Out and happy new year.
This is my home.I moved there in the 80s and I left "temporarily" in 2003, with full intention to return within a year. I now live in Portland, Oregon and I m miserable because I cannot afford to go home. :(
Me too! (Eugene, not Portland). It's easy to leave the bay area.. but coming back is financially unviable :( I want to go back to my old job in the Steuart tower of 1 Market St!
Born & raised in SF. This does not live up to my expectations of Vice. The gentleman from the Castro is spot on. The balance is superficial and is not a solid representation of SF today. BTW - don’t call us San Fran, if you must ... “The City” will do.
Talks about the Financial District while showing a picture of the Twatter building in Civic Center. 😏 Talks about the Tenderloin while showing the edge of the Mission. 🙄
This was my era ! The city started changing in the late sixties ...Most of the rock stars left the city or died off or both by the end of the seventies..Gotta stay off the synthetic drugs they will kill you in the end... Peace out and enjoy the wine..
VICE, I watch your "documentaries" on occasion but I won't if you keep using these seemingly disinterested journalists. They don't seem to have a genuine interest, or heart for the subject's you are documenting.
i just have to say as someone who has moved around the country a lot that a lot of these folks in san francisco complaining about gentrification, rent costs, etc are really more spoiled then they realize and being quite hyperbolic in their complaints. i'm not saying there's areas SF can't improve on, but generally it is improving on those areas and there are more social programs here to benefit everyone including the poor than anywhere i've ever lived - my family moved here with next to nothing and bankrupt and the city has treated us tremendously well. i dare anyone with any complaints about SF to try to hack it in los angeles or seattle or, hell, most any other major city in the nation. you'll run back to SF crying d-: for any issues it may have, SF has shown a perpetual ability to resolve those issues and solve it's problems. it has the best wages in the country, the best and most liberal social programs, one of the best governments, a transit system that is only rivaled by new york, and is vastly cheaper to ride - i think a lot of these complaints by folks who have lived here for a long time come from a perspective of truly not knowing how good people in SF have it compared to the rest of the country. i feel nothing but positive about the city's future - any small problems now can and will become better years down the road. SF is already way ahead of the rest of the country and by far the most livable place i've ever been.
tether cheaper than it was in seattle. not to mention transit, healthcare, sales tax, and various other costs are all vastly cheaper here than seattle and most any other major city in the country.
Thank You! S.F. is the best city I've ever lived in by far. Great weather, great libraries, beautiful hills, interesting neighborhoods. Does it have problems? What city doesn't?
T. Baggins415 I was disappointed in his short sided views on gentrification especially when blacks are down to 3%. Still one of my favorite rappers though
Nikatina!! I will always be proud to be from SF! It’s sad that it’s become so expensive that locals are being forced out and moving away. Most with the hopes of coming back but it’s too expensive, it’s almost impossible to come back. It has changed a lot in SF but there’s still so many amazing places and things about it. 💜
@@13ivanogre13 Frenchy's K&T Bookstore was right across the street; they were always advertising for topless change girls. I ate at Original Joe's a huge number of times and often brought whichever stripper I was dating. Some top-floor crackhead set our building on fire @ 3am and the repairs took almost a year. Good times. :=)
@@gonstotwriter Yeah, I arrived full-time in SF in 1990. There was still adult-oriented entertainment on every side of every block. One of the first places I lived at was the Globetrotter's Inn at 225 Ellis at Mason. The building next door to us was an infamous old bathhouse who's name I can't remember anymore but they had painted the sign over but you could read the name through it. That wasn't my cup of tea but it didn't matter because 95% of everything else was just fine. That was before the Internet so if you wanted 'entertainment' you had to go out and get it, and it was there, all of it. It was a great reason to walk the streets of San Francisco and those are some real good memories...
And do you remember a place on Market Street called Fascination? It seemed to be one of these games where you slide the 'puck' forward to get it into the center ring and you got a prize but the whole thing seemed shady. I was far more fascinated by how long they stayed in business.
I miss the Bay Area! My dad works for a large tech company that just moved to Texas from SF for tax reasons alone. Now I’m stuck here in this red state until I graduate.
The video is not accurate. They showed Twitter headquarter as part of financial district, but it is really in Civic Center area; they also showed Costco as part of Tenderloin, but it is in SOMA; There are other buildings survived 1906 earthquake, not just ferry building.
