Rincon Hill, San Francisco, California

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Coordinates: 37°47′08″N 122°23′31″W / 37.78556, -122.39194

The Rincon Hill skyline at night
The Rincon Hill skyline at night

Rincon Hill is one of many hills located in the greater South of Market in San Francisco, located just south of the Financial District. The top of the hill serves as the anchorage and touch-down for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Recently it is transitioning from a former industrial district into a high-density residential neighborhood.[1] The hill is about 100 feet (30 m) tall.

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[edit] Background

During and immediately following the Gold Rush, the most prestigious residential neighborhoods in San Francisco were located south of Market Street on Rincon Hill and in the nearby neighborhood known as Happy Valley (centered around First and Market Streets). With the advent of cable cars in the 1870's, the residential trend shifted towards new mansions built on the taller hills north of Market Street especially Nob Hill.[2] The Second Street Cut of 1869, which sliced through Rincon Hill to reach industrial areas to the south, also contributed to the decline of Rincon Hill as a fashionable residential area. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and the resulting fire destroyed the remaining Rincon Hill mansions. It was rebuilt as an industrial and maritime district, benefiting from its proximity to the Port of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge, completed in 1936. However, as the city's industrial and maritime industries declined (as in most US cities), the area became underutilized and rundown.[3]

While its potential for housing development has long been recognized due to its proximity to downtown, blight prevented its effective redevelopment. In 1985, the City adopted an area plan for Rincon Hill in the city's General Plan, zoning this area adjacent to downtown for high-density residential development.[4] However, due to the presence of the former elevated Embarcadero Freeway surrounding the neighborhood, development in the area was slow coming, suffered from mediocre architecture, and lacked the pedestrian-oriented streets and open spaces emblematic of San Francisco's cherished neighborhoods. After the physical and psychological barrier of the Embarcadero Freeway (damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake) was removed in the early 1990s, the area within walking distance of downtown rocketed in attractiveness.

[edit] Recent and planned developments

The One Rincon Hill south tower at sunset, looking south.
The One Rincon Hill south tower at sunset, looking south.

In August 2005, the City adopted a new Plan for Rincon Hill, which revised the 1985 Plan with three major elements:

  1. Design guidelines emphasizing tall, slender and widely spaced towers, interspaces with mid-rise podiums with walk-up townhouses and retail
  2. A plan for narrowing the streets to provide more open space
  3. A system of development impact fees to pay for public improvements, affordable housing (all located off-site), and other community programs

Recent downtown residential development in Vancouver served as a model for this new plan. The tall, residential towers sprouting in this area stretch up to 60 stories tall like One Rincon Hill and will offer tremendous views of the entire Bay Area, for those fortunate enough to afford them. Many people hope that this massive highrise development will spruce up Rincon Hill and, through the thousands of dwelling units coming onto the market, put a damper on San Francisco's housing crunch.[5]

[edit] Concerns about the future of the neighborhood

Concerns abound that a significant portion of these new luxury units are being purchased by the regional and global elite for pied-à-terres and vacation homes. Unlike other San Francisco neighborhoods experiencing gentrification pains, Rincon Hill historically has had very little housing (save for a few homeless shelters), thus few are being displaced by new development. However, while developers are paying unprecedented mitigation fees for both community infrastructure (new parks, street narrowing) and human services (for the homeless who were displaced), all of the developers' required affordable housing production is allowed to be constructed off site (further west within the South of Market).

Some San Franciscans expressed concern and criticism that creating an exclusively affluent neighborhood conflicts with the goals and needs of the current city. Finding themselves priced out of most new construction in the city, housing advocates believe that building only luxury condos in this rare opportunity site will not provide the balance of housing needed for the anticipated future employees of the city. Furthermore, a community of rich out-of-towners will fail to create the envisioned vibrant and diverse 24-hour atmosphere that planners hope. Units which could provide family or low-income housing instead become a pied-à-terre for wealthy suburbanites, or even one home in a collection for the ultra-wealthy. In addition, these units would be unoccupied for most days of the year, leading to an empty neighborhood where the planned restaurants, cafes and nightlife could not survive.[6]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nolte, Carl (8-21-07). Rising skyscraper is sign of things to come for Rincon Hill area. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
  2. ^ Keeler, Charles Augustus. 1903. San Francisco and thereabout. San Francisco: California Promotion Committee.
  3. ^ Charles Lockwood. A History of Ever-changing Rincon Hill. Retrieved on 2007-09-23.
  4. ^ A NEW SKYLINE RINCON HILL. San Francisco Chronicle (2003-06-15). Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
  5. ^ San Francisco Planning - Rincon Hill Plan. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
  6. ^ San Francisco Chronicle. John King. Rincon Hill towers impact study may resurrect planning for district October 7, 2003.[1]

[edit] External links