Bayview Organizing Project

Low-income residents of Bayview Hunters Points- like the residents of all working class, communities of color- deserve to benefit from the wealth, convenience and progress that comes from any and all development in the City.

San Francisco is considered one of the most interesting and vibrant cities in the world. It's a city of tremendous diversity with a fascinating and colorful history and gorgeous scenery. People like to come here both to visit and to live.

But there's another side to San Francisco that's not so pretty…

Did you know?

• Bayview Hunters Point is a neighborhood of central importance for those corporate developers looking to make a quick profit in San Francisco.
• The Lennar Corporation bought from the City of San Francisco the exclusive rights to develop the 1,300 acres of the now-abandoned Bayview Shipyard for just $1!
• The Redevelopment Agency estimates that in the next 10 years, developers will build more than 20,000 units of housing in Bayview Hunters Point- for which the average asking price will be $700,000.
• The median income in Bayview Hunters' Point- San Francisco's oldest and last-remaining African American neighborhood- is just $15,000 per year.
• The percentage of African Americans in San Francisco has dropped by more than 60% over the last 10 years as low-icome neighborhoods have been gentrified.
• Bayview Hunters Point has the highest rates of asthma and cancer because of the toxins that have been dumped into the ground and pumped into the air by the Navy, the City's power plant and trash incinerator.
• Bayview Hunters Point has the highest percentage of home-ownership and percentage of residents under the age of 18 in all of San Francisco.
  

POWERful Bayview
POWER's Bayview Organizing Project (BVOP) unites low-income residents and workers in Bayview Hunters Point to impact the decisions around affordable housing, living wage employment and environmental justice- all in the face of ferocious attempts to gentrify the community.

POWERful Solutions
POWER members are to:

• Build broad coalitions of other grassroots organizations, labor unions, religious leaders and community activists to fight for economic, environmental, racial and gender justice across the City and the country.
• Promote policies and practices that ensure that low-income workers and residents reap the benefits from development.
• Oppose costly projects that threaten the livelihoods of the residents and the environment in Bayview Hunters Point.
  

POWERful Campaigns
POWER members are engaged in several exciting and important campaigns, including:

• Stop Lennar's Money Grab: The Lennar Corporation is the largest home developer in the country with a history of leaving the homeowners exposed to various dangers and risks. Lennar is now looking to turn a profit in the water-front neighborhood of Bayview Hunters Point. Through back-door deals and private handshakes with the Redevelopment Agency, Lennar plans to put luxury condominiums on toxic land- paving the way for future gentrification of the rest of the neighborhood. Along with our coalition allies, POWER members are fighting to ensure that no project moves forward unless it benefits the residents of this neighborhood.
  

• A Neighborhood that Benefits Everyone: POWER members are developing a long-term vision of what we want in our neighborhood. We know that our neighborhood has been under-resourced for too long. Unemployment is almost 60%. Housing projects are run-down and dangerous. The neighborhood suffers from some of the most dangerous environmental conditions on the West Coast. We cannot just oppose bad development projects, so together we are developing a vision that will inform the policies and changes that we call for. This way, we can ensure that all of our victories lead to a larger change- a Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood that benefits everyone.

• Protect Public Housing: Bayview Hunters Point is home to the largest number of public housing residents in all of San Francisco. After decades of less and less funding, public housing units throughout Bayview Hunters Point are dilapidated and dangerous for thousands of families who have no other affordable housing option in the most expensive city in the country. Meanwhile thousands of families are stuck on a waiting list that most folks are on for as many as ten years before housing becomes available. POWER believes that public housing should be- and can be- safe, decent and attractive for residents, and important institutions in the community. POWER members are waging a campaign to increase the funding to public housing to rejuvenate existing units and to build more for those families still on the waiting list.

• Right to the City: We know that the problems we are confronting in Bayview Hunters Point are not unique to our neighborhood. They are affecting low-income people and communities of color across the country. POWER is a member of the national Right to the City alliance because we are committed to working with other organizations to build a national movement for urban justice and democracy.