Perspectives Blog 3

I always knew the Fillmore was small, but I never realized it was shrinking.

When I first started reporting and exploring the Fillmore I had a very narrow view of what the area had to offer. In the beginning the only words I associated with the Fillmore were jazz, crime and the 22 Muni line.

After talking and interacting with employees, residents, musicians and artists in the Fillmore I’ve come to have a greater sense and understanding of the small area.

Talking about jazz in the Fillmore would be like kicking a dying horse, but really the two go together like ham on rye. (Jazz and the Fillmore, not dead horses) It really took talking to musicians and going to events at the Jazz heritage center to understand how much pride is associated with the Fillmore jazz scene.

Fillmore residents take pride in the one thing time couldn’t touch. Experiencing the music and interacting with musicians and residents really made me realize how important jazz was and still is to the Fillmore.

When I first started exploring the Fillmore, I had no sense of the community. I knew nothing of the population, demographics or if there even was a cohesive community mentality. By working and reporting in the Fillmore, I learned that community takes on different meanings and manifestations.

Two community places that struck me as particularly important were Marcus Books and the Fillmore farmer’s market.

Marcus Books boasts that it is the oldest independent black bookstore in the country. The Fillmore had a large black population and I think Marcus Books speaks to the past and the future of the Fillmore. I feel strongly about this bookstore because it opens doors for local artists and it embraces a Fillmore community that I feel has been overlooked by time. The clerks are not shy about the building’s history. They will tell you how their store used to be a jazz club, and how it has always been a part of Fillmore history.

The farmer’s market shows an entirely different side of community. Every Saturday, a block of O’Farrell street is shut down and vendors come to sell fresh produce and baked goods. The crowd that comes out is a mix of Fillmore, Western Addition and Lower Pacific Heights residents. I feel that the farmer’s market brings people from other communities who would not necessarily visit that area of the Fillmore.

That being said, something I came to realize while I was reporting in the Fillmore was how other neighborhood, mostly the Western Addition and Lower Pacific Heights seem to be encroaching upon the Fillmore.

I’m focusing my final story on a number of businesses along Fillmore street that are shutting down and how more expensive, boutique type stores and restaurants are moving in.

After talking to a Fillmore resident she pointed out that all the recent additions to Fillmore street look and feel like Pacific Heights, how the Fillmore is slowly being taken over by Pacific Heights.