September 24, 2007
SFist Photo: "Theater District" vs. the Tenderloin
Check it out. This map from OnlyinSanFrancisco.com, "the Official Visitor's Site for San Francisco", seems to suggest there is no Tenderloin area in our fair city. No Tendernob neither. What's up with that? Let's explore this and see what another map has to say, after the jump.
"Theatre District" - how's that for a euphemism? We've never heard that term used non-sarcastically. Perhaps Lower Lower Nob Hill would be a better description? What should we call this place, if not its real name?
Things can get confusing what with small areas getting named, such as parts of Larkin Street being referred to as Little Saigon. And don't forget Polk Village.
Comes now Frommer's to save the day. Their map (complete with swoopy streets that seem to bend around for no apparent reason) squarely labels the 'Loin, giving it the respect it deserves.
The Official Visitor's Site for San Francisco doesn't totally ignore TL. If you look, you can find this description:
"Tenderloin - Thousands originally from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam have given this 20-square-block district west of Union Square new life. Sermons on social justice blend with rockin' choir music on Sundays at Glide Memorial Church on Ellis Street, symbolizing the neighborhood's resurgence. An experimental theatre house, jazz and blues clubs, 200 restaurants and cafes, bookstores and billiards point to an upbeat feeling."
Well, that's something. Of course there's lots of good mixed in with what everyone would agree is some bad. Don't know if we're ready to abandon the term Tenderloin just yet. How about putting it back on the map?
|
Problem solved!
No need to worry ... one crappy map with misinformation will not erase our beloved 'loin.
I can't say I'm too surprised the official visitors' map disses the 'Loin. It's just not an area to which they're going to be eager to draw visitors' attention.
I've lived here since 1998 and I've never heard it called "Theater District." That's dumb. I do say "Lower Nob Hill" if I want to be snooty, or "Tenderloin Heights" if I want to be cheeky.
The fact is that this city has too many significant subdivisions to fit on a tourist map.
We're so culturally, racially and economically stratified in this city, that most Americans can't suss what all that equates to, geographically.
The only map I've ever seen that even comes close is this one.
Eh. Let's try that again.
http://www.dreamworld.org/sfguide/Neighborhoods/neighborhood.names.jpg
Bah.
3rd time's a charm.
there are easily as many lori's diners as theaters, so personally, i prefer the "lori's diner district."
when my parents were kids there were like 6 neighborhoods I think
sangfroid826: That map looks pretty good at defining neighborhoods in a general way
TL should be called something like "Trannytown" or
"Hoeville" or more delicately the "Drama District".
6th St would be "Rock Boulevard"
The people I know have always used all those terms inter-changeably (theater district, TL, tenderknob)... because some people live there, some people act/stage build there and some people lived nearby but didn't or wouldn't admit they lived so close to the TL.
Tenderknob is weak though, NoPa weak. Why not build a big wall on divisadero w/ gun turrets on Hayes around on of the only crossings?
streets aren't always straight. sometimes they swoop. like people.
The Tenderloin is not the same as the Tendernob!
What a bunch of haters.
Living in the TL rules.
(and I only really ever hear people refer to it as the "Tee ell", never the theatre district)
Thought Tendernob equated with Lower Nob Hill.
Some tourist hotels in the area state they are "near Union Square", which they are, sort of.
#13 For some reason, the people in England who made the map seem to think it's impossible to have anything but a 90 degree angle at an intersection. Streets that are straight as John Wayne in real life bend quite a bit on this Frommer's map from 2005.