The Mission District (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as the Mission (

: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is derived from

Mission San Francisco de Asís The Mission San Francisco de Asís (), also known as Mission Dolores, is a historic Catholic Church, Catholic church complex in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Operated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the complex was founded in ...

, built in 1776 by the Spanish. The Mission is historically one of the most notable centers of the city's

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

community.

Location and climate

The Mission District is located in east-central San Francisco. It is bordered to the east by

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

, which forms the boundary between the eastern portion of the district, known as "Inner Mission", and its eastern neighbor, Potrero Hill. Sanchez Street separates the neighborhood from Eureka Valley (containing the sub-district known as " the Castro") to the north west and

Noe Valley Noe Valley ( ; originally spelt Noé) is a neighborhood in the central part of San Francisco, California. It is named for Don José de Jesús Noé, noted 19th-century Californio statesman and ranchero, who owned much of the area and served as A ...

to the south west. The part of the neighborhood from

Valencia Street Valencia Street is a major thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It begins at Market Street (San Francisco), Market Street near the foot of Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley, and passes through the Mission District, San Francisco, ...

to Sanchez Street, north of 20th Street, is known as the "Mission Dolores" neighborhood. South of 20th Street towards 22nd Street, and between Valencia and Dolores Streets is a distinct neighborhood known as Liberty Hill.

Cesar Chavez Street Cesar Chavez Street (formerly Army Street) is an east–west street in San Francisco, California, United States. The street was renamed in 1995 in honor of American labor leader and Latino American civil rights activist, Cesar Chavez. It ...

(formerly Army Street) is the southern border; across Cesar Chavez Street is the

Bernal Heights Bernal Heights ( ) is a residential neighborhood in southeastern San Francisco, California. The prominent Bernal Heights hill overlooks the San Francisco skyline and features a microwave transmission tower. The nearby Sutro Tower can be seen fro ...

neighborhood. North of the Mission District is the

South of Market South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, so named due to its location south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of ...

neighborhood, bordered roughly by Duboce Avenue and the elevated highway of the

Central Freeway The Central Freeway is a roughly one-mile (1.5 km) elevated freeway in San Francisco, California, United States, connecting the Bayshore/ James Lick Freeway ( US 101 and I-80) with the Hayes Valley neighborhood. Most of the freeway is p ...

which runs above 13th Street. The principal thoroughfare of the Mission District is

Mission Street Mission Street is a north-south arterial thoroughfare in Daly City and San Francisco, California that runs from Daly City's southern border to San Francisco's northeast waterfront. The street and San Francisco's Mission District through which ...

. South of the Mission District, along Mission Street, are the

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

and

Crocker-Amazon Crocker-Amazon is a neighborhood in San Francisco that borders the Excelsior District. Crocker-Amazon covers the area south of Mission Street and Geneva Avenue, extending toward suburban Daly City. The neighborhood is adjacent to Crocker-Ama ...

neighborhoods, sometimes referred to as the "Outer Mission" (not to be confused with the actual Outer Mission neighborhood). The Mission District is mostly located in Board of Supervisors district 9, with parts in districts 8 and 10. The Mission is often warmer and sunnier than other parts of San Francisco. The

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

s of San Francisco create a system by which each neighborhood can have different weather at any given time, although this phenomenon tends to be less pronounced during the winter months. The Mission's geographical location insulates it from the fog and wind from the west. This climatic phenomenon becomes apparent to visitors who walk downhill from 24th Street in the west from

(where clouds from

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

in the west tend to accumulate on foggy days) towards Mission Street in the east, partly because Noe Valley is on higher ground whereas the Inner Mission is at a lower elevation. The Mission includes four recognized sub-districts. The northeastern quadrant, adjacent to Potrero Hill is known as a center for high tech startup businesses including some chic bars and restaurants. The northwest quadrant along Dolores Street is famous for Victorian mansions and the popular Dolores Park at 18th Street. Two main commercial zones, known as the Valencia corridor (Valencia St, from about 15th to 22nd) and the 24th Street corridor known as '' Calle 24'' in the south central part of the Mission District are both very popular destinations for their restaurants, bars, galleries and street life.

History

Native peoples and Spanish colonization

Prior to the arrival of Spanish missionaries, the area which now includes the Mission District was inhabited by the

Ohlone people The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited ...

who populated much of the San Francisco bay area. The Yelamu Indians inhabited the region for over 2,000 years. Spanish missionaries arrived in the area during the late 18th century. They found these people living in two villages on Mission Creek. It was here that a Spanish priest named Father

Francisco Palóu Francisco Palóu (, ; 1723–1789) was a Spanish Franciscan missionary, administrator, and historian on the Baja California Peninsula and in Alta California. Palóu made significant contributions to the Alta California and Baja California miss ...

founded

on June 29, 1776. The Mission was moved from the shore of Laguna Dolores to its current location in 1783. Franciscan friars are reported to have used Ohlone slave labor to complete the Mission in 1791. This period marked the beginning of the end of the Yelamu culture. The Indian population at Mission Dolores dropped from 400 to 50 between 1833 and 1841.

San Francisco's southern expansion

Ranchos owned by Spanish-Mexican families such as the Valenciano, Guerrero, Dolores, Bernal, Noé and De Haro continued in the area, separated from the town of Yerba Buena, later renamed San Francisco (centered around Portsmouth Square) by a two-mile wooden plank road (later paved and renamed Mission Street). The lands around the nearly abandoned mission church became a focal point of raffish attractions''Via'' magazine, April 2003
Viamagazine.com (July 23, 2010). including bull and bear fighting, horse racing, baseball and dueling. A famous beer parlor resort known as The Willows was located along Mission Creek just south of 18th Street between Mission and San Carlos streets. From 1865 to 1891, a large conservatory and zoo known as Woodward's Gardens covered two city blocks bounded by Mission, Valencia, 13th and 15th streets. In the decades after the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

, the town of San Francisco quickly expanded, and the Mission lands were developed and subdivided into housing plots for working-class immigrants, largely German, Irish, and Italian, and also for industrial uses. As the city grew in the decades following the Gold Rush, the Mission District became home to the first professional baseball stadium in California, opened in 1868 and known as Recreation Grounds, seating 17,000 people, which was located at Folsom and 25th streets; a portion of the grounds remain as present day Garfield Square. Also, in the 20th century, the Mission District was home to two other baseball stadiums: Recreation Park, located at 14th and Valencia, and Seals Stadium, located at 16th and Bryant, with both these stadiums being used by the baseball team named after the Mission District known as the Mission Reds and the San Francisco Seals. Irish immigrants moved into the Mission in the late 19th century. The Irish made their mark not only by working for the city government but by helping build the Catholic schools in the Mission District.

Earthquake and population shifts

During California's early statehood period, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, large numbers of Irish and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

immigrant workers moved into the area. Around 1900, the Mission District was still one of San Francisco's least densely populated areas, with most of the inhabitants being white families from the working class and lower middle class who lived in single-family houses and two-family flats. Development and settlement intensified after the 1906 earthquake, as many displaced businesses and residents moved into the area, making Mission Street a major commercial thoroughfare. In 1901, the city of San Francisco changed laws and forbade burials in the city, which helped form the nearby city of Colma. During the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

, a single working water hydrant (the so-called ' Golden Fire Hydrant') saved the Mission District from being burned down by massive fires sparked by the earthquake. In the 1910s, the roads into Colma were not well maintained and it was a common practice to use the street cars to move bodies. Valencia Street became a location of many mortuaries and funeral homes during this time due to the quick access to Colma by street car. In 1926, the Polish community of San Francisco converted a church at 22nd and Shotwell streets and opened its doors as the Polish Club of San Francisco; it is referred to today as the "Dom Polski", or Polish Home. The Irish American community made its mark on the area during this time, with notable residents such as etymologist Peter Tamony calling the Mission home. During the 1940s to 1960s, a large number of Mexican immigrants moved into the area—displaced from an earlier "Mexican Barrio" located on

Rincon Hill Rincon Hill ( Spanish ''Rincón'', meaning "corner") is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is one of San Francisco's many hills, and one of its original " Seven Hills". The relatively compact neighborhood is bounded by Folsom Stre ...

, demolished in order to create the western landing of the Bay Bridge—initiating

white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...

and giving the Mission a heavily Latino character for which it continues to be known today. Central American immigration starting in the 1960s has contributed to a Central American presence outnumbering those of Mexican descent.

1970s–1990s

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Chicano/Latino population in the western part of the Mission (including the Valencia Corridor) declined somewhat and more middle-class young people moved in, including gay and lesbian people (alongside the existing LGBTQ Latino population). One political movement during the early 70s emerged in the community as seven young Latino men known as Los Siete de la Raza from the Mission District were being charged for the 1969 murder of a San Francisco police officer. The community got together as these young men were standing up to what was being said about them and were determined to be heard. The people around the Mission District knew these seven young individuals as change-makers; they were actively trying to get more people from the Mission District to go to college, they also worked with organizations that helped make the community better for Latino people which included a free bilingual services through Centro de Salud, which ultimately led other local hospitals to do the same. They were also involved in a free breakfast program, a community newspaper, and its main program, the "Los Siete" Defense Committee. From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, the Valencia Street corridor included one of the most concentrated and visible lesbian neighborhoods in the United States. The Women's Building, Osento Bathhouse, Old Wives Tales bookstore, Artemis Cafe, Amelia's and The Lexington Club were part of that community. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the Valencia Street corridor had a lively

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

nightlife featuring the bands The Offs, The Avengers, the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

, Flipper, and several clubs including The Offensive, The Deaf Club, Valencia Tool & Die and The Farm. The former fire station on 16th Street, called the Compound, sported what was commonly referred to as "the punk mall", an establishment that catered to punk style and culture. On South Van Ness, Target Video and ''Damage'' magazine were located in a three-story warehouse. The former Hamms brewery was converted to a punk living/rehearsal building, popularly known as The Vats. The neighborhood was dubbed "the New Bohemia" by the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' in 1995. In the 1980s and 1990s, the neighborhood received a higher influx of immigrants and refugees from Central America, South America, the Middle East and even the Philippines and former Yugoslavia, fleeing civil wars and political instability at the time. These immigrants brought in many Central American banks and companies which would set up branches, offices, and regional headquarters on Mission Street.

1990s–present

From the late 1990s through the 2010s, and especially during the

dot-com boom The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Intern ...

, young urban professionals moved into the area. It is widely believed that their movement initiated

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

, raising rent and housing prices. A number of Latino American middle-class families as well as artists moved to the Outer Mission area, or out of the city entirely to the suburbs of

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

and South Bay area. Despite rising rent and housing prices, many Mexican and Central American immigrants continue to reside in the Mission, although the neighborhood's high rents and home prices have led to the Latino population dropping by 20% over the decade until 2011. However, in 2008 the Mission still had a reputation of being artist-friendly. In 2000, the Mission District's Latino population was at 60%. By 2015 it had dropped to 48%; a city-funded research study that year predicted a decline to 31 percent by 2025. However, the Mission remains the cultural nexus and epicenter of San Francisco's Mexican/

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

, and to a lesser extent, the Bay Area's

Nicaraguan Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and ...

Salvadoran Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...

and Guatemalan community. While Mexican, Salvadoran, and other Latin American businesses are pervasive throughout the neighborhood, residences are not evenly distributed. Of the neighborhood's Chicano/Latino residents, most live on the eastern and southern sides. The western and northern sides of the neighborhood are more affluent and white. As of 2017, the northern part of the Mission, together with the nearby Tenderloin, is home to a Mayan-speaking community, consisting of immigrants who have been arriving since the 1990s from Mexico's

Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...

region. Their presence is reflected in the Mayan-language name of In Chan Kaajal Park, opened in 2017 north of 17th Street between Folsom and Shotwell streets.

Landmarks and features

Mission Dolores, the eponymous former mission located at the far western border of the neighborhood on Dolores Street, continues to operate as a museum and as a California Historical Landmark, while the newer

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

built and opened next to it in 1918 continues to have an active congregation. Dolores Park (Mission Dolores Park) is the largest park in the neighborhood, and one of the most popular parks in the city. Dolores Park is near Mission Dolores. Across from Dolores Park is Mission High School, built in 1927 in the Mediterranean Revival style. The San Francisco Armory is a castle-like building located at 14th and Mission that was built as an armory for the U.S. Army and California National Guard. It served as the headquarters of the 250th Coast Artillery from 1923 through 1944, and of the 49th Infantry, also known as the 49ers, during the Cold War.

Food

The Mission District is also famous and influential for its restaurants. Dozens of street vendors and

taquería A taco stand or taquería is a food stall, food cart or restaurant that specializes in tacos and other Mexican dishes. The food is typically prepared quickly and tends to be inexpensive. Many various ingredients may be used, and various taco ...

s are located throughout the neighborhood, showcasing a localized styling of Mexican,

, Guatemalan, and

restaurants. The neighborhood is also home to the

Mission burrito A Mission burrito (also known as a San Francisco burrito or a Mission-style burrito) is a type of burrito that first became popular during the 1960s in the Mission District, San Francisco, Mission District of San Francisco, California. It is dis ...

, a San Francisco original. In the last couple decades a number of Mission restaurants have gained national attention, most notably the five restaurants that have received

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

stars for 2017: Commonwealth, Lazy Bear, Aster, Californios, and Al's Place. A large number of other restaurants are also popular, including: Mission Chinese Food, Western Donut, Bar Tartine, La Taqueria, Papalote, Foreign Cinema on Mission Street, and Delfina on 18th. La Mejor Bakery, a San Francisco legacy business, is located in the Mission.

Art scene

Numerous Latino artistic and cultural institutions are based in the Mission. These organizations were founded during the social and cultural renaissance of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Latino community artists and activists of the time organized to create community-based arts organizations that were reflective of the Latino aesthetic and cultural traditions. The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, established by Latino artists and activists, is an art space that was founded in 1976 in a space that was formerly a furniture store. The local bilingual newspaper El Tecolote was founded in 1970. The Mission's Galería de la Raza, founded by local artists active in el Movimiento (the Chicano civil rights movement), is a nationally recognized arts organization, also founded during this time of cultural and social renaissance in the Mission, in 1971. Late May, the city's annual Carnaval festival and parade marches down Mission Street. Inspired by the festival in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, it is held in late May instead of the traditional late February to take advantage of better weather. The first Carnaval in San Francisco happened in 1978, with less than 100 people dancing in a parade that went around Precita Park. Alejandro Murguía (born 1949) is an American poet, short story writer, editor and filmmaker who was named San Francisco Poet Laureate in 2012. He is known for his writings about the Mission District where he has been a long-time resident. Due to the existing cultural attractions, formerly less expensive housing and commercial space, and the high density of restaurants and drinking establishments, the Mission is a magnet for young people. An independent arts community also arose and, since the 1990s, the area has been home to the

Mission School A mission school or missionary school is a religious school originally developed and run by Christian missionaries. The mission school was commonly used in the colonial era for the purposes of Westernization of local people. These may be day s ...

art movement. Many studios, galleries, performance spaces, and public art projects are located in the Mission, including 1890 Bryant St Studios, Southern Exposure, Art Explosion Studios, City Art Collective Gallery,

Artists' Television Access Artists' Television Access (ATA) is a 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit art gallery and screening venue in San Francisco's Mission District in the United States of America. ATA exhibits work by emerging, independent and experimental artists in ...

, Savernack Street, and the oldest, alternative, not-for-profit art space in the city of San Francisco, Intersection for the Arts. There are more than 500 Mission artists listed on Mission Artists United site put together by Mission artists. The Roxie Theater, the oldest continuously operating movie theater in San Francisco, is host to repertory and independent films as well as local film festivals. Poets, musicians, emcees, and other artists sometimes gather on the southwest corner of the 16th and Mission intersection to perform. Dance Mission Theater is a nonprofit performance venue and dance school in the neighborhood as well.

Murals

Throughout the Mission walls and fences are decorated with

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s many of which celebrate the neighborhood's Latino heritage and mythology. Some of the more significant mural installations are located on the 24th Street corridor, Balmy Alley, and Clarion Alley. Many of these murals have been painted or supported by the Precita Eyes muralist organization.

Music scene

The Mission is rich in musical groups and performances.

Mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two ...

bands play in restaurants throughout the district, especially in the restaurants congregated around Valencia and Mission in the northeast portion of the district.

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

spent his teenage years in the Mission, graduating from Mission High School in 1965. He often returned to the neighborhood, including for a live concert with his band

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

that was recorded in 1969, and for the KQED documentary "The Mission" filmed in 1994. The locally inspired song "Mission in the Rain" by Robert Hunter and

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

appeared on Garcia's solo album ''Reflections'', and was played by the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

five times in concert in 1976. Classical music is heard in the concert hall of the Community Music Center on Capp Street. The area is also home to Afrolicious, and Dub Mission, a formerly weekly

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

/ dub party started in 1996, and over the years has brought many reggae and dub musicians to perform there. The Mission District also has a

Hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

/ Rap music scene. Other prominent musicians and musical personalities include

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

bands and musicians

Luscious Jackson Luscious Jackson is an alternative rock/rap-rock group formed in 1991. The band's name is a reference to former American basketball player Lucious Jackson. The original band consisted of Jill Cunniff (lead vocals, bass), Gabby Glaser (vocals, ...

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...

, The Looters, Primus, Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express,

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

, and Jawbreaker.

Visual artists

Some well-known artists associated with the Mission District include:

Arts organizations

Festivals, parades and fairs

Media

The Mission District is covered by three free bilingual newspapers. El Tecolote is biweekly and has online articles.

Mission Local ''Mission Local'' is a bilingual local independent online news site that also publishes a semiannual printed paper that covers the Mission District of San Francisco. Early history ''Mission Local'' began as a hyperlocal project of UC Berkeley Gr ...

is predominantly an online news site but does publish a semiannual printed paper. El Reportero is a weekly newspaper that also has an online site.

Transit

The neighborhood is served by the

BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

rail system with stations on Mission Street at 16th Street and 24th Street, by Muni bus numbers 9, 9R, 12, 14, 14R, 22, 27, 33, 48, 49, 67, and along the western edge by the

J Church The J Church is an urban rail transit line of the Muni Metro system in San Francisco, California. It has both light rail and streetcar segments. The line runs between Embarcadero station and Balboa Park station through Noe Valley, San Francisc ...

Muni Metro Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, United States. Operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni's light rail lines saw an aver ...

line, which runs down Church Street and San Jose Avenue.

Gentrification

The Mission District is a historic

transit hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports, and ferry slips. ...

for the Chicano and the Latino community, especially on the 16th Street BART Plaza. An atmosphere like a public market with live music and food trucks, it is also a commuting point for public transportation, which primarily serves low-income working-class people. The majority of the residents in the Mission District are of minority and low-income families and use this useful and open hub for gatherings and doing local businesses such as food trucks. However, because of the

Dot-Com Boom The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Intern ...

that occurred in the 1990s and the rise of technology and social media, major technology companies such as Google and Facebook have moved their offices to such places as

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

, in the South Bay, that have now become the hot spot for tech companies. The Mission has felt the downstream effects of this demographic shift acutely. The intense surge in demand for housing and low supply of available housing has placed upward pressure on rents in transit hubs like the Mission, leading to

and the displacement of families and small businesses. However, many residents protested and engaged in activism. They created a group called the "Plaza 16 Coalition" in response to the gentrification and the new zoning law, the "Eastern Neighborhoods Plan". They advocate for affordable housing, opposing market-rate developments and the luxury developments.

Education

San Francisco Unified School District operates public schools. Schools in the Mission District include: * John O'Connell High School * Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School * Bryant Elementary School *

César Chávez Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...

Elementary School * Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School * Marshall Elementary School * George R. Moscone Elementary School - it had 350 students. * Zaida T. Rodriguez Early Education School * Hilltop Special Service Center (special school for grades 7–12) The

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin language, Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Arquidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the nort ...

operates St. Peter's Catholic School, which opened in 1878. Previously its students were Irish or Italian American, but by 2014 95% of the student body was Latino and about two thirds were categorized as economically disadvantaged. Enrollment was once around 600 but by 2014 was around 300 due to

. Its yearly per-student cost was $5,800 while yearly tuition, the lowest in the archdiocese, was $3,800.
Alternate link
at the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

References

External links

The Mission
– Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco ( KQED, 1994)
Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association

North Mission Neighborhood Association

''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 26, 1995
'Neo-Hipsters Keep the Beat in the Mission'

'36 Hours in San Francisco's Mission District'

'San Francisco's Mission District: Eclectic, Eccentric, Electric'

"Mission District Fights Dot-Com Fever'

'In Old Mission District: Changing Grit to Gold'
What Its Like To Get Kicked Out of Your Neighborhood
{{Authority control Chicano and Mexican neighborhoods in California Neighborhoods in San Francisco