Special Filipino ‘cultural district’ planned in San Francisco

Street signs near Dimasalang House in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO—The city is setting up an official Filipino social and cultural district to preserve symbols Filipino American presence in the South of Market neighborhood as its longtime residents face threats of displacement from surging high-tech development.

Dubbed SoMa Pilipinas, the special area would showcase more than 25 historic buildings, sites and objects to mark the neighborhood as a hub for new Filipino immigrants and therefore a center for Filipino culture in the city.

The Gran Oriente Masonic Temple in South Park.

The plan’s main advocate, City Supervisor Jane Kim, explained that the neighborhood is home to Filipino businesses and nonprofit community service groups such as the Bayanihan Community Center, Gran Oriente Masonic Temple, Westbay Multiservice Center, San Lorenzo Ruiz Cente assisted-living complex, Dimasalang House. A number of streets are named after Filipino heroes.

Kim is backed by Filipino American groups such as the Filipino American Development Foundation, which pushed for the plan in the Western SoMa Citizens Planning Task Force.

A yearlong planning process is being initiated by Kim’s office, with the city’s Planning Department and the Economic and Workforce Development Office.

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