#curbcuteffect

[weird-facts-and-data]

[artcultureequity]

In 2014, City of San Francisco launched the Small Sites Program (SSP), which gives non-profits and for-profits the ability to acquire buildings to take them off the market to protect long-term, vulnerable tenants who may be evicted. The buildings are small (4-25 units) and often house retail and commercial spaces at ground level. Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) began using the SSP to protect community members in the Mission District while also targeting buildings that housed cultural institutions and culture makers. The first building MEDA acquired has four units which housed long-term, working-class tenants including educators, musicians, and therapists and was also home to Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center. Precita Eyes was established in the Mission in 1977 and has helped preserve the cultural heritage of the city as well as inspire residents with art classes and collaborative art processes.