Longtime residents of the Mission District complain that high-end apartments, expensive restaurants and exclusive boutiques are crowding out the bodegas, bookstores and Mexican bars.
Monday’s New York Times had a page 1 feature about culture clash in San Francisco. The tech industry has been roaring back in the city and multicultural toes are being trod upon by young IT workers with iPhones full of money.
Local Hispanics have short memories about the neighborhood’s history. The Mission used to be the home of working-class whites, including European immigrants, who skedaddled when Mexicans moved in en masse.
These days the Hispanics think they own the place and dislike the young techies taking up residence, so the diverse groups are struggling for dominance.
Some try to turn the cultural dissonance into a positive, or at least a cool irony. Champ of this category must certainly be the map of the Mission showing gang territory and bakeries.
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