urban ambles

Tenderhouse

I walk everywhere, and sometimes I think I’ve walked every block in the city. And then, I’ll discover something I’ve never seen, and realize that’s not the case. Here’s the latest example.

Now, I really like the Tenderloin, but I guess there hasn’t been much call for me to be on the 600 block of Ellis Street. But I was headed to the Civic Center, and there you go. And there, on that block, I could not believe my eyes. There, in one of the densest neighborhoods in the United States,and  THE densest west of the Missisisppi, sits this:

A single family home. Well, I guess if you count the teepee( WTF?) in the front yard, its a duplex. I did some research. the house is 1,600 sf, and sold a couple of years ago for $530,000. As you can see, this price gets you the house, a driveway, a concrete “yard”. Not sure if the port-a -pottie was included. The mind imagines the conversation with the realtor  (So, ummm, tell us about the neighborhood”).

When you pull away a bit, you can get a better sense of just how odd this is:

So, surrounded by 4-7 stories of apartments, resident hotels, liquor stores, and no doubt the ever-present crack dealer, a single family home perserveres in the Tenderloin, a bizarre testimony to the American Dream

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