KALW, Rewriting Fillmore's Redevelopment History, 10.18.11 by Angela J. Bass

It’s no secret that San Francisco is an expensive place to live.

Take renting an apartment, for instance. On average, a San Francisco tenant pays more than $1,800 a month on rent, according to real estate research firm Reis, Incorporated. That’s more than what you would make in a month working 40-hour work weeks on minimum wage.

So you might find it hard to believe that right now, in the heart of San Francisco, it’s a good time to buy a home for comparatively low-income earners. In the Fillmore, the city’s Redevelopment Agency is building 32 units of below-market-rate townhomes and flats. It’s part of an effort to revitalize this historic jazz district, but it’s not the first time the Fillmore has been the site of redevelopment.

Many people who lived there in the ‘60s were pushed out of their homes by a similar desire to “revitalize” the neighborhood. Now, those former residents are invited to be at the front of the line as the city considers applicants for these homes tomorrow, October 19.

Unfortunately, locating those onetime residents, and fixing the mistakes of the past, isn’t that easy. In a story co-produced by Adelaide Chen, Angela Bass reports.