Whether you walk the corridor daily or try to avoid it at all costs, you probably have an opinion about Sixth Street.
From Market to Howard streets, Sixth Street is filled with single-room occupancy hotels, whose residents often prefer to spend their days lounging on the sidewalk, rather than cramped in their narrow units. There are homeless San Franciscans with few places to go. Liquor stores and pawn shops that have been serving the community for decades. Longtime eateries, like Tú Lan and Miss Saigon, that offer full meals for less than $10. New businesses, like Montesacro, Taboon and The Argentum Project, that are betting on Mid-Market's future. And plenty of vacant storefronts begging for major renovations.
As hundreds of neighbors and visitors packed the corridor last Friday evening for the annual 2 Blocks of Art, we strolled Sixth Street from Market to Howard to talk to residents, visitors, artists, nonprofits and business owners—who know the area intimately—about its challenges and its future.
Here's what they had to say:
