Last October things were better for David Addington. Last October the Atlanta-bred real estate developer had legislation snowballing through San Francisco; a proposition that would, he hoped, turn this neighborhood around. If all had gone according to plan, Proposition D would have allowed for lighted signage and general advertising, the kind explicitly banned throughout the city, along a troubled three-block stretch of Market Street. If all had gone according to plan, Addington says Proposition D would have earned Mid-Market an estimated $100 million for neighborhood improvement projects and community betterment.

But as we know it didn’t go accordingly, and became another example of a failed development plan that has been shot down by politics, local property owners, and activist.

For decades redevelopment efforts have failed Mid-Market Street, time and time again. Plagued with the cities most embarrassing social and criminal problems, it has many questioning what exactly is it going to take in order to restore order and life in the area?

Currently on the table is a new promise from Mayor Newsom’s office, to partner with local property and business owners to facilitate change in the form of $11.5 million in federal grant moneys. If so, it would be a new beginning of adding more space for the arts and will create that idyllic central city artery that was envisioned more than 150 years ago.

Check out the full article by SFAppeal.

What Will It Take To Save Mid-Market [SFAppeal]