Spinning
February 20, 2013 § 2 Comments
San Francisco is a stunning and more and more expensive city to live in. The influx of well-paid Silicon Valley executives has further increased rent prices. Older tenants living alone with rent control become a liability to landlords eager to shift gear, renovate their apartments, and rent at much higher prices. Africa American solo dwellers are often disconnected from families and friends who decide to move somewhere cheaper. Another dynamic manifests in the letter below. The Gray Panthers, an organization that has been advocating for social justice for decades, cannot keep up with the rent increases.
How can we create a city where Twitter executives coexist with Gray Panthers, and older solo dwellers? It would be fantastic to think how each one of them can enrich one another. Right?
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
The Gray Panthers recently received a notice of a rental increase on our office at 1182 Market. The building owners – Shorenstein-Hayes & Nederlander – are demanding as of April 1, $1,750 a month on a month-to-month agreement. We have been here for 25 years at a lower rent. Recently Green Action, Senior and Disability Action, many non-profits from 942 Market, and small independent businesses have been forced to vacate due to rent increases.
Gray Panthers believes our crisis is an example of what is taking place all over the city – seniors being thrown out of their homes from the Ellis Act, evictions, foreclosures with auctions of our homes taking place right on the steps of City Hall. We believe it is time to take action before all our organizations and the people in our communities we serve and work with are pushed out of our city.
If you feel our city is being dismantled for the rich 1%, let’s stand together and plan future actions to turn this around. Bring your stories and your ideas Come to a meeting, February 15, noon, 1182 Market Rm203.
If you can’t come to the meeting, send us your ideas. Also, let us know of any leads on a space available.
In Solidarity,
Gray Panthers of San Francisco
1182 Market Street, Rm 203
SF CA 94102
415.552.8800
Patricia Jackson, Co-convener
Earl Gilman, Co-convener
Michael Lyon, Treasurer
Denise D’Anne, Secretary
Hi Elena, I found your blog a few months ago in my search for like-minded gerontologists. I enjoy your posts and share your views.
I live in Sacramento (since 1982) and have observed the changes in San Francisco over the years but only recently became aware of the accelerated rental crisis. There is a telling story about this in the most recent London Review of Books-Feb 7, 2013 issue, by SF resident, Rebecca Solnit, that you would probably appreciate. She describes the Google employee busses and the many ugly evictions taking place.
Maybe you can share the article from the London Review with SF City officials to show them how their city is being portrayed in the international media–as a boomtown that accommodates only those with lots of money, leaving everyone else to scrape by or leave altogether. Tourists may lose interest in visiting a place with no real community or flavor other than big money.
Thanks for your good work on behalf of the elders in SF!
Regards,
Martha Paterson-Cohen
Thank you Martha for the lead, I will look at the piece of Solnit, I am familiar with herfabolous work. Maybe I should meet her and do something together… GRAZIE!!!