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| Streetnames of Filipino heroes can be found in the newly formed Filipino Heritage District. |
SAN FRANCISCO'S Board of Supervisors approved the creation of a Filipino Town, giving official recognition to a neighborhood that has been home to thousands of Filipino residents, businesses, cultural centers and social services,
The South-of-Market (SoMa) neighborhood received the designation of a Filipino Heritage District April 12 after a decade of going through the red tape required by city bureaucrats. What the neighborhood will be called in the tourist brochures is still uncertain, awaiting input from the community.
“It is not just about preserving our history and our culture. It is also talking about how we can use land use controls and economic development tools to make sure our community continues to stay in the South of Market for decades to come,” said Supervisor Jane Kim, who authored the ordinance. “We want to ensure our community leaders, our diversity, get to stay in San Francisco.”
Forced out of the historic Manilatown located near the present-day Chinatown, Filipino immigrants and low-income families were attracted to the inexpensive rents of SoMa in the 1970s. The heritage district will reach several blocks northward to include the Manilatown Cultural Center at the site of the former International Hotel, the home of elderly Asian tenants whose eviction spelled the death knell of Manilatown. The 54-block area in the heritage district is the home of over 5,000 Filipinos according to the 2010 Census.
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| The future home of the Filipino Cultural Center is on Mission Street. |
Tourist-filled hotels, glass-encased offices contrast with the funky artists studies and car repair shops. In the alleyways off the main thoroughfares are the Victorians, flats, apartments and senior housing where Filipinos live hidden from the tourists and tech workers.
SoMa is the home of the Gran Oriente Lodge, one of the oldest Filipino/American fraternal organizations, St. Patrick's Catholic Church, the spiritual home of the neighborhood's Filipino residents and where masses in Tagalog are scheduled and the Filipino Education Center at Bessie Carmichael School where the Filipino teachers are bilingual and the immigrant students learn to speak English.
SoMa is the home of the Gran Oriente Lodge, one of the oldest Filipino/American fraternal organizations, St. Patrick's Catholic Church, the spiritual home of the neighborhood's Filipino residents and where masses in Tagalog are scheduled and the Filipino Education Center at Bessie Carmichael School where the Filipino teachers are bilingual and the immigrant students learn to speak English.
RELATED: Plaque unveiling for Vickie Manalo Draves, Olympic gold medalist“The creation of a cultural district means that anytime someone is thinking of doing something in this community, they have to think about how what they are proposing impacts the Filipino community,” Supervisor David Campos said. “The Filipino community should be a part of every single issue that comes before this neighborhood.”
Filipino residents of SoMa have been fighting to preserve their homes against the pressure of gentrification -- the encroachment of high-end condos and the tech industry's office buildings replacing the low-rent residence hotels that face the busy streets. Some of the high-tech industry's biggest names: Twitter, Salesforce, Dolby and Google have their offices in the Filipino neighborhood.
Prior to the supervisors' vote, Ligaya Avenida, president of the Filipino American Development Association, said in a press statement: “We will validate the presence of the Filipinos who have lived and worked in the corridors of SoMa for decades.They have helped make the South of Market what it is today.”
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| The Filipino Heritage District of San Francisco. |
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