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Reinventing San Francisco’s historic Tenderloin neighborhood

Fernando Pujals (left) takes correspondent Tom Wilmer on a walk through a Tenderloin neighborhood park that has evolved from a congregating place for hookers and drug dealers to a welcoming place for kids. The palpable transformation evolved in less than
Randi Hair

Join Fernando Pujals, Director of Communications with San Francisco's Tenderloin Community Benefit District (TLCBD) and discover the numerous ways Tenderloin residents have come together to create safe environments for kids. 

Of utmost importance to TLCBD is fostering a vibrant, clean and safe, healthy and sustainable neighborhood.

As real estate prices soar across San Francisco, The Tenderloin remains as a place where immigrants and those on the low end of the socio-economic ladder have found a home. The challenge now is to preserve the character and diversity while enhancing the quality of life for everyone. 

Captivating mural in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood park
Credit Randi Hair
Captivating mural in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood park

The neighborhood, with ample single room occupancy accommodations (SRO’s) has long been an attractive haven for artists, musicians, and immigrants from around the world. The diverse dining options in the Tenderloin is like exploring the United Nations--culanary fashion.

The Tenderloin is where the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Creedence Clearwater Revival and other 60’s artists came to do their recordings at Fantasy Records and other side-street studios.

It was the Tenderloin’s legendary nightclub the Black Hawk where legends such as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Dave Brubeck performed.

The neighborhood also has a longtime reputation as a destination for prostitution and drugs.

Fernando Pujals with TLCBD.ORG visits with correspondent Tom Wilmer as kids from the Tenderloin enjoy their neighborhood park in the heart of downtown San Francisco.
Credit Randi Hair
Fernando Pujals with TLCBD.ORG visits with correspondent Tom Wilmer as kids from the Tenderloin enjoy their neighborhood park in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

The matrix of the neighborhood is evolving and transforming with blinding rapidity due to its relative affordability for those seeking to start a business, nightclub or diner in the City-by-the-Bay.

The Tenderloin represents a ray of hope for startup businesses in a city where skyrocketing rents and real estate prices across town are too often proving to be deal-breaking barriers.

Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer NPR One, Apple Podcast album art
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer NPR One, Apple Podcast album art

You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR Podcast travel show Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer via: 

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Culture Editor @360magazine

Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013
Credit SATW Foundation
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013
Underwriting support provided by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul
Credit Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
Underwriting support provided by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Tom Wilmer produces on-air content for Issues & Ideas airing over KCBX and is producer and host of the six-time Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer. Recorded live on-location across America and around the world, the podcasts feature the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine & spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts--everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls to interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic.
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