San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood has seen notable improvements in quality of life since the difficult times of 2021 to 2022, which were marked by rampant street conditions and heightened scrutiny from conservative media outlets.
Residents assert that street conditions have improved due to resident-driven organizing efforts that have effectively reduced overdose deaths and initiated safety ambassador programs across the neighborhood.
Exciting new restaurants have emerged, attracting long lines of customers and breathing renewed hope into the community.
Despite these positive changes, the Tenderloin still faces a struggle with vacant storefronts.
As of early 2024, the Tenderloin had over 151 vacant storefronts, surpassing the number of restaurants, cafes, and nonprofits in the area, marking a 29 percent increase in vacancies since 2021.
Moreover, the types of businesses welcomed in the neighborhood have remained limited, with the opening of four new bars and five new smoke shops between 2021 and 2024.
This trend appears to be ongoing, as detailed by the Tenderloin Community Benefit District’s collected data.
While some businesses have managed to thrive, those that depend heavily on tourism—such as hotels and theaters—continue to struggle significantly.
Jamie Flanagan, a partial owner of the Phoenix Hotel and Chamber Bar, points out that COVID-19 greatly damaged the neighborhood’s reputation, making recovery even more challenging.
A key moment for the Tenderloin occurred in 2022 when then-Mayor London Breed opened the Tenderloin Linkage Center at UN Plaza.
This center provided vital services such as showers, laundry, and social services for those experiencing homelessness, but its location presented challenges for local theaters trying to attract out-of-town patrons.
Even as theaters began reopening after the pandemic, the center’s closing hours coincided with peak theatre times, often leaving patrons confronted with visible drug use and loitering, prompting many to circumvent the area altogether during their visits.
Rob Ready, a former business owner in the Tenderloin, emphasized that the city’s poorly planned policies contributed to the downturn of entertainment spots, including his own venue, PianoFight, which ultimately closed in January 2023.
Bars and theaters in the Tenderloin traditionally coexist symbiotically; a robust performance scene draws visitors who are likely to explore local bars and hotels for late-night entertainment.
Yet patrons’ hesitance to visit the neighborhood negatively impacts businesses reliant on foot traffic.
Sophilya Leggz, a drag queen at Aunt’s Charlie’s Lounge on Turk Street, notes that the bar has lost many of its theater-goer customers and struggles to draw new patrons.
2022 became a turning point for tenderloin business owners, who united to demand action from the city.
Frustrated by the ongoing issues, a coalition, including Flanagan and Ready, banded together to form the Tenderloin Business Coalition and coordinated efforts to halt payments of their taxes until the city acknowledged and acted against the rampant open-air drug market that affected their businesses.
Their collective actions garnered enough attention to help create the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center, a city-wide task force designed to address these urgent issues, which, according to business owners, has led to noticeable street condition improvements since that time.
However, those efforts came too late for PianoFight.
In June, the Phoenix Hotel announced plans to permanently close in early 2026, leaving another significant vacancy in a once-vibrant area.
Ready highlights the interconnected nature of businesses in the neighborhood, warning that every closure sets a precedent that could invite more loitering and drug-related activities.
He cites the abandoned Civic Center Inn as an example of how a vacant property can lead to negative outcomes for the neighborhood.
Beyond local struggles, larger trends also hinder the Tenderloin’s revitalization efforts.
In 2022, tech mogul Elon Musk acquired Twitter and subsequently reduced its workforce, contributing to an exodus of tech companies from the adjacent Market Street area since 2020.
Despite the pandemic’s aftermath providing a brief window of opportunity for some businesses, many struggle with diminished customer bases, such as La Cocina’s Municipal Marketplace, which shuttered when it could not gain adequate traction.
Throughout these developments, restaurants and cafés have remained a pillar of resilience within the Tenderloin.
They constitute the majority of existing storefronts, often showcasing unique culinary offerings that attract loyal local patrons and individuals from outside the neighborhood.
Many of these eateries are immigrant-owned, specializing in diverse cuisines from Yemeni to Latin-Chinese fusion, which occasionally bring in customers from afar.
However, a lack of aesthetic appeal in the neighborhood—characterized by graffiti and litter—continues to detract potential visitors.
According to Rene Colorado, director of the Tenderloin Merchants Association, the food in the area stands as a hallmark of quality, but the surrounding environment fails to match that reputation.
The distribution of eateries mainly occurs along Geary, Larkin, and Hyde streets, while hotels and larger hospitality establishments are primarily positioned at the neighborhood’s edges.
Despite the vibrant dining scene, a smattering of retail spaces and ancillary businesses find themselves scattered throughout the Tenderloin, often in unassuming locations.
Corner stores and smoke shops not only enhance the shopping landscape but have also drawn issues related to drug dealing and illegal gambling, leading to recent legal actions initiated by the city attorney.
Between 2021 and 2024, the exponential increase in the number of smoke shops in the neighborhood further complicates efforts to improve the overall business climate.
Interestingly, while the Tenderloin hosts the highest density of children in San Francisco, it remains devoid of ice cream shops and toy stores, an alarming discrepancy according to District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood.
Mahmood emphasizes the need for a strategic shift in how the community perceives and invests in the Tenderloin.
He advocates for policies that encourage positive changes, such as transforming corner liquor stores into grocery markets that offer necessary goods to the local residents.
Mahmood also highlights that the concentration of services aimed at assisting the homeless population effectively reduces the opportunities for alternative small businesses that could serve the local community needs.
To relieve some pressure on the Tenderloin, he has proposed legislation that would require other districts in San Francisco to take on more responsibility for accommodating homeless shelters and treatment facilities.
Mahmood’s vision also includes organizing community events, like the recent Eid festival and “I Love Tenderloin Week,” to regenerate interest in the area.
He firmly believes additional police presence is essential, especially regarding acts of visible drug use, as it remains a persistent challenge for the neighborhood.
As of now, City Hall must focus more on catering to the existing small businesses rather than fixating on attracting new ones without addressing the ongoing struggles they face.
To further support these efforts, a dedicated employee in the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Noa Kornbluh, has been appointed to prioritizing the retention of small businesses in the Tenderloin through various initiatives.
As the community contemplates its vision for the future, business owners express different aspirations for the improvements they want to see implemented.
While some seek an aesthetic overhaul of the streets free of graffiti and drugs, others desire to cultivate a sense of safety that would allow more visitors to stroll through the neighborhood at night without concern.
A successful outcome might be as simple as witnessing more foot traffic along Market Street, ideally to the point where security presence is no longer necessary during events.
Mahmood envisions a Tenderloin where safety is naturally integrated into the community, reflecting a successful turnaround for the neighborhood.
image source from：missionlocal
