The story of the long-time resident getting priced out of the Mission District is so common as to be cliché, but the latest twist on the tale proves that even the tech set isn't immune to the pressures of an ever-pricey San Francisco. Mission Local reports that residents of a hacker hostel on 19th and Mission Street plan to vacate the property — not because of neighbor complaints (of which there have been many), but because they can no longer afford the rent.
The so-called X Institute bills itself as a "bootstrap space for entrepreneurs in the heart of [the] Mission District,” and is a live/work space offering startup workshops and mentoring "so entrepreneurs can realize our ideas and build long-lasting businesses." Unfortunately for its resident "rockstars," the need to pay rent still remains to be disrupted — and one resident told the publication that he and others will be moving out partly because they can no longer afford the monthly payments.
The inability to make rent may follow on a decision by the group to stop hosting after-hours dance parties, which one neighbor told Mission Local would charge $20 a person and were complete with an illegal bar selling beers for $10 a pop. “I’m at the end of my rope," neighbor Joseph Dean said of the raucous affairs. "It’s been seven months and every week I can’t sleep all night."
And while one X Institute resident, Troy Do, isn't denying that parties took place, he does deny that there was ever an illegal bar or cover charge. “All the DJs are local people,” he added. “It’s about the music, it’s about the culture.” Any money taken at the door was a donation, he says. And besides, he told the publication, they're not planning on hosting any more events. Whether or not that decision has to do with the fact that at a Tuesday community meeting SFPD Mission District Captain Daniel Perea told those gathered that he has someone looking into the parties is unclear.
Either way, Do is out — he plans to leave the state within a few weeks — and the X Institute hacker hostel may become the latest victim of San Francisco's runaway housing costs.
Related: Breaking: Many Tech Workers Are Being Priced Out Of Bay Area