If you are not aware of it – there is a community effort to create a Leather Cultural District in Western SoMa. Tonight there was a meeting at the SF Eagle about it. I did bug out after the discussion went to the details of setting boundaries and so forth. But for those who are interested the website is: http://www.sfleatherdistrict.org/
Let me set my record straight – I think this is something we should be pursuing. What little that remains needs to have a better seat at the table for city politics and neighborhood planning. And for the community that is here, having increased opportunities to access grant money and better visibility is vital. I want this to be the opportunity that we as a community here in SF uses to reinvent ourselves.
The one thing these discussions that really bugs me is the talk about the community dying. To me – we are focusing on the wrong aspect and establishing a cultural district won’t help those factors. In fact, I think we stay stuck living in the past, we are going to faultier even more. I urge for all those in the community that say things are dying to reflect on what they are doing to keep grow it.
Communities and cultures change constantly. Things will never be the same as they were in the past. What we should be asking to ourselves is what can we do to grow things or how do we evolve? I do not believe evolving means we destroy the past. If we get Board of Supervisors to pass this and Ed Lee to sign it, what are we going to do with our new found status in the city and nation? What will be the new event, who will be the new artist, where will be the new store that energizes us? And there will be real risks and failures we will have to take on this path.
Anyways – I just wanted to get my thoughts out and hope causes gears to turn.