SF: On a Mission, in the Mission

CurbedSF does a nice job in this blog of making us think a little about the Mission. By think, I mean beyond the amazing art and the ongoing competition for best burritto, because the Mission District is more than murals and taquerias. It is home to one of the city’s most diverse cross section of residents; and real estate prices, even within this single district’s perimeters, are all over the map.

Mulitple factors affect why one address might list for over a million, and another half that. I am not talking about size or number of bedrooms, but rather apple to apple listings that offer basically the same house, just at a different location. For example, here is a 3/2 SFH in the Inner-Mission at 39 Lexington for $1,250,000. It’s over 2000 sq ft, so an apple here would be this SFH in the Outer Mission: 522 Ellington is a 4/2, also over 2000 sq. ft, yet lists for $699K.

The factors at play go beyond location. Agreed, the Inner Mission is closer to the city center, but the Outer Mission is more convenient to freeways for commuting, so that could be a wash. The more pressing issue is crime and overall appearance od the streets and homes in the area (these two issues are related, obviously, since — fairly or not– we tend to perceive shabbier streets as more dangerous ones). The Mission is, sadly, a high crime area, though those outer areas are typically perceived as more dangerous than those inner. Certainly, they are more gritty, and seem to get more so the further you go out toward Daly City.

But for real data, I went to the SF Police Department’s CrimeMAP feature, and looked up 522 Ellington’s crime stats. The area is Crocker-Amazon/Mission Terrace, and within the last 90 days has had multiple crimes. (See map.)

Interestingly, 39 Lexington’s 1/2 mile vicinity in the past 90 days does not look much better.

More disturbingly, the San Francisco Chron’s Murder Map shows a high concentration of murders in the Mission, though it is difficult to tell without laborious study if the majority are Inner or Outer Mission locations.

But Curbed reader posed a very interesting question, worth posing again. One reader commented that as a neighborhood activist, it is his/her job to report and publicize all crimes, especially murder, to get the Mission the protection it needs:

We’re working really hard to publicize the crime here so that the Mayor will get more beat cops and the DA will prosecute the murderers. There have been 2 people murdered and one person was shot and blinded *just on our block* in the past 3 weeks. We all have families and are far more worried for our safety than our housing investments. The current market does influence us though. In normal times we’d probably just sell and get the hell out. Maybe it’s better to stay and fight in the long run.

On the other side, those with interest in Mission real estate may have reason to downplay violence in the area. For instance, the property featured in Curbed’s Listing, 1106 Treat St, has, of course,  no warnings on its write up that a murder took place right outside the building.  To quote from Curbed,

“Good Thing 1106 Treat Street is already in contract, since nothing attracts buyers better than a bloody shooting memorial right in front of your house.” Indeed, Treat Street has seen more than its share of violence in the last week as a string of murders has prompted outrage in the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Mission residents work to clean up and make the area safe, potentially then making the area more valuable, which some SF-ers fear leads to gentrification. Others could argue gentrification is preferrable to the current situation.

What do you think? Can the Mission be cleaned up? Can it be cleaned up without losing its special flavor? And is it a good investment, or is it too dangerous to call home for the years you’d need to wait to realize any appreciation?

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photo: CurbedSF