By Zach Mack
A group of store owners, nonprofits and residents of San Francisco’s Mission District is rallying to preserve its rich cultural heritage by establishing a Latino cultural corridor, called Calle 24 (pronounced "veinticuatro"). The idea was proposed at today's Board of Supervisors meeting by a group of the same name.
The new district, intended to operate much like San Francisco’s Chinatown and Japantown, would stretch along 24th street from Potrero Avenue up to Mission Street and would primarily exist to maintain the area’s Latino community and educate people about its history.
With the cultural landscape of San Francisco rapidly changing, passionate discussions about gentrification are common. The Mission District, a Latino neighborhood that is becoming increasingly favored by the tech community, sits at the center of those discussions.
“People want to live in the Mission because of its culture, its diversity, its history. So I think we have a responsibility to protect it,” says Supervisor David Campos, who introduced the Calle 24 proposal this afternoon.