SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — State Sen. Scott Wiener has introduced a new bill to the California legislature that will create more affordable housing in San Francisco. The bill is intended to right a wrong from 75 years ago when the term “urban renewal” was used to describe the demolishing of homes and businesses of Black people.
One San Francisco woman remembers when it happened to her family in the Fillmore District.
On Aug. 10, 1948, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency was formed. For 28 years, thousands of homes were demolished in the city. The agency at the time said it was addressing urban blight, but those impacted see it differently.
“Very traumatic it was devastating,” said SF resident Mattie Scott.
Black and white photos of that time may be decades old, but the pain is very real for those who experienced the work of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.
Scott remembers what it was like watching homes and businesses be destroyed in her Fillmore neighborhood.
“All those businesses and buildings and homes were torn down, they were knocked down and they became vacant lots and like I said, it looked like an atomic bomb hit the Fillmore,” Scott said.
The demolition happened from 1948 until 1976, with the intent to replace the homes with newly built affordable housing. Only a portion was replaced.
Scott is the founder and executive director of Healing 4 Our Families & Our Nation and says she has watched the percentage of Black people in San Francisco drop from around 15 percent to now less than 3 percent.
“When it comes to issues like reparations, affordable housing, or justice we’re always the last ones to get served and always the first ones to be overlooked and it’s not a good feeling,” Scott said.
She was happy to find out that State Sen. Wiener has introduced bill SB-593 in the California Legislature to replace 5,800 homes that were lost during the era of urban renewal.
The senator said in a statement:
“The loss of these homes devastated the Black community of San Francisco and contributed to the crisis of affordable housing costs that continues to make the city unlivable for so many.”
The redevelopment agency was dissolved in 2012, but for several decades prior to that, Scott watched demolition fuel the fires of crime, addiction and mental health issues in her community.
“I just want justice and SB 593 is a move in the right direction for justice, for affordability and for reparations,” said Scott.
The bill to replace the demolished homes is on the assembly floor and should be voted on in the coming weeks. Sen. Wiener says the bill creates a tax trust fund to pay for the construction and will not impact the city’s general fund.
