Chapter 2
that effectively transform the streets into urban expressways. Despite featuring many pedestrian-oriented streetscape elements such as wide sidewalks, painted crosswalks, parallel parking, street trees, and a consistent street wall, the speed at which vehicle traffic moves along Tenderloin streets, coupled with lengthy crossing distances make for an adverse environment as soon as the pedestrian leaves the safety of the sidewalk. Additionally, the coordinated traffic signals result in an almost tidal flow for many of the neighborhood’s streets. Within a span of under five minutes, a Tenderloin street transforms from one that is filled with cars barreling through at speeds above the posted 25 mile-per-hour, to a street with no cars in sight where pedestrians casually jay-walk or talk to one another in the street. This ebb and flow exhibited on many of the neighborhood’s streets results in a conflicted streetscape identity where people are both the dominant and the secondary user of the rightof-way on a single street segment throughout the day. Unlike other residential neighborhoods in the City, the Tenderloin is notable for its lack of a “main street” serving as the spatial organizing factor, off which social and civic functions of the neighborhood align. For the Mission, it is Mission Street (although Valencia also serves a similar function), in Western Addition there is Divisadero Street, and The Haight of course has Haight Street. By comparison, the Tenderloin does not have a single main street which all other streets and activities orient around, and instead spreads the responsibilities across several different streets, each performing their own blend of “main street” functions. Golden Gate Avenue is the “CBD” of the Tenderloin with a nearly unbroken chain of social service
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and institutional uses lining its ground floors from Larkin Street to Jones Street. However, it has few residential buildings compared to other streets, and its location at the bottom of the neighborhood keeps it from feeling like the true heart of the Tenderloin. Larkin Street, particularly its two northern blocks between O’Farrell and Eddy, is the Tenderloin’s “restaurant district” with its many Asian restaurants and specialty shops. Located along the western border of the neighborhood, the street is often mixed with lunchtime crowds from the Civic Center office buildings. Finally, there is Hyde Street. Located in the center of the neighborhood running north to south, Hyde Street is a magnet for sidewalk activity and street life, but also serves as a hotspot for open-air drug sales and use.