A little over ten years ago Carol Lloyd wrote a piece about 24th St at the beginning of the dot com bust. It featured empty store fronts, neighborhood stalwarts and the overarching question of whether the street could retain its character as the real estate market and economy changed around it.
Her piece lodged in my memory. I’d think of it whenever I was on 24th St. because for years it seemed like a real question whether the place would remain a sleepy also ran as commercial strips everywhere else in the city exploded with cafes, restaurants and retail.
My how things have changed: Over the past few years a wave of cafes, bars, retail shops and restaurants have opened making 24th between Potrero and Mission one of the most vibrant strips in the city. Along with the new some longstanding neighborhood businesses have remained and I still see empty storefronts so I’ve been wondering just how much has changed.
Instead of a comprehensive analysis of real estate records and interviews I’m going to try and visit as many of the places as possible over the next few months and build a progressive map of every storefront on the street. I’m not exactly sure where this will go but I’m curious to see what sort of portrait this creates.
View The 24th St. Project in a larger map