welcome to the city gardens brand opening very, very excited i want to thank mayor london breed this is acquired and helping us to get families here. i want to thank supervisor dorsey for your for the support for the acquisition stream and shout out to you you all are amazing (clapping.) i know that was this was tough that was tough, tough and very quickly i heard mayor breed talked about how that was an incredible and everyone in here worked for us worked to make that happen and thank you, staff

and the department of homeless and supportive housing for the wonderful job as well and working with all of you (clapping.) and exile dan adams our strategist i want to shout out to him unfortunately, was enable to be here. but those are two hundred now units of pouring and stability and hope for families experiencing how many of those i heard how wonderful the support and it made a difference to families and funding for public housing and homelessness recovery program the acquisition of city gardens was fund by 56 point plus that million dollars and $100 million in the local home fund the acquisition contributed to the success of this plan that supported the

expansion of the supportive housing by at or near 3000 units the building that is constructed in 2021 included a large lobby and residential lounges on every floor and office and bike storage and a courtyard this project will change lives and the lives of hundreds of families that are experiencing homelessness in our community the building offers a pathway towards families that have experienced hardship of homelessness and weighing in partnership and community supporting for this made that possible in addition to the city gardens will have a range of support services we case management. and by addressing the many underlying causes of homelessness city gardens will give families the tools they

need for the future and with that, i want to thank london breed for her leadership and toss the mic to her (clapping.) thank you, serene and it really is great to be here you know this project happen very fast and specifically with the city and county of san francisco it would have taken a really long time to add 200 units to our protocol let alone a little with 2, three and 4 bedrooms. i mean this when adams brought this to may attention last year, we are applying for dollars and san francisco has been a big benchmark of homekey dollars allowed to move people into the

buildings faster a lot of challenges in our city around family housing so i must say to a bode and the team and all the people who are working here and the fact you choose to be here and work in this cadet is very much appreciative we are grateful to each other and you're choosing to be here at bode and helping people whether they're challenging or not thank you, so much we appreciate that and let me say a couple of things i'll let you guys deal with that you'll get into the deal yeah [off mic.] >> yes.

>> and, you know. there are different people with different sets of challenges but at the end of the day, had i appreciate about all of you, you are here to help people and know that is not easy and now this is so important i want it is a thank you and express my appreciation and give you a view of for all the work we've done in 2018 san francisco has helped over 10 thousand people exit homelessness and over 10 thousand people (clapping.) and that's not including our shelter system on any recommendations given night we're housing over 16 thousand people including over 36789 people in the shelter system this city working hard to support people we understand it

is not a one-size-fits all a family housing shelters and supportive housing there are housing attached to resources and housing attached to independence all those examples everything we need to san francisco and i can name so many families we're doing it right but in and out without help without the people that work for you who are showing up to this base everyday we are doing it for people like la seize will talk about and make sure that our families especially who are raising children in the city have a safe affordable place to call home this is what this is about and this project is truly about we - the fact we got in building and didn't have to build it ourselves is amazing i

want to again really thank dan adams for, you know. dan is not here today but dan went through the city for us to buy or lease for the people we're trying to house i couldn't believe this building the details especially with the rooftop gardens it is previous thank you to dan adams and i also want to thank serene and her team did an amazing job to help people strushlgz are homelessness in san francisco matching the right people with the right opportunities it is really a thankless job a very, very hard job we want to express our appreciation to you sherri republican and all people to make sure you're shelter beds

and challenges that exist exist we are using the dollars to match with the opportunity and with the oasis last week all those great opportunity i couldn't be admonish powder of work in the city and so that many pieces of preschools by the reason we say this is to give you you a perspective this is an important place here by more importantly san francisco is doing a lot on the large-scale most people don't know that san francisco is one of the only cities in the bay area that actually saw a reduction in homeless a 3.5 percent reduction in overall homelessness and 15 percent in unshredded homelessness. it because of all this work to assure that places like we are today we're able to

connect people the opportunity. so it is great to be here and great to to be here with the supervisor matt that work hard to make sure that we have this space but also provide the funding necessary to keep the operation going to keep the doors open, to keep this place in good condition there is so much goods into it i didn't ultimately the smiles on the kids faces that get to life and thrive here that makes that worthy we're grateful to be here with each other and thank you so much for your hard work (clapping.) with that, please welcome our supervisor matt dorsey. >> (clapping) thank you, mayor breed and welcome to district 6 everybody i got at thes starting with the mayor london breed's really want to express my appreciation for

your leadership to doing everything we can to provide people exist to homelessness for projects like this and a strategy that is really making progress i think the mayor makes it an important point so many people kind of look at the issue of homelessness as an issue that is being solved what is really unseen in that? thousands of lives that are being changed. because of the work that hsh is doing that's my second thing thank you to everybody at the doecht and homelessness they're on the front line i feel they're doing god's work because they're all lives are changing is getting people exits to homelessness and turning their lives around we'll be hearing

about that is it great to have this - it is great to know. that we are fulfilling what san francisco is about. this project is part of a the civic creed of the city and county of san francisco the city of st. francis of assisi and the partnerships and mayor thanks many of people behind us but being a trusted procedure and partner means the world to me as a district supervisor knowing i can count own our partners we have challenges south of market and 6. i want to say more importantly thank you to it my new residents, you know. i had the opportunity and brought some cards i say this whenever i meet a district 6 resident i hand

them my card this is my number i know when i signed up and if i hear from you that's good and if you don't call me i know you're good. he's volunteered to be the point person but i actually you can call us or e-mail so if you, you don't see me well make sure you get me or bryan and express my gratitude to. >> thank it is an honor to be here i'll ash a supporter this the department and thank you, hsh residents will hear, you know. some project is coming and there's a lot of people a people public school hostile to that sometimes, i. really appreciate the department and mayor and the community members and resident

its that are good neighbors i when i support those and people push back i'm confident talk to me as a year or two i'm confident you'll be grateful this is building a county and san francisco represents thank you and i want to introduce the abode ceo for remarks. thank you very much. (clapping.) mayor and supervisors thank you. for being here today and nice to do a celebration and very nice to do a celebration 90 in those times i know your jobs are impossible sincerely the nonprofit is hurting we're sfooufr what a great difference and, you know, i want to shout

out for my staff here i mean, you people (clapping.) who work hard everyday to get things done and we're human beings we make mistakes more importantly we had a conversation about the influence in the neighborhood we're going to need to be aware of it and talking about the problem solving and a member of the supervisor dorsey's district you are a citizen here completely many in partnership with us that's true for each and lots of things to celebrate we're actually putting people in a place they can have an agency and meaning in their lives again and doing the things that give them joy and happiness and in a moment more importantly is to provide the children that are going to be in the building a family project in the middle of

santa fe i mean san francisco (laughter) we're in 8 county and i forgot where i am this is san francisco think of san francisco urban to address family homelessness an incredible building like this was made for middle class people a building. to have that and have the your team put together the purchase of this. and then to collaborate o collaborate with the services to do do property management at least on this on time by the way. (clapping.) i mean this was a pretty ambitious timeline. collaborate so, you know. sometimes this is okay for the general public but takes government, nonprofits and

citizens in the community working together to make this happens that makes this happen i can't tell you how overjoyed i am i san francisco i got it right this time and only begins here we're open to doing more and interested in addressing the bigger thing. which is the incredible social problem in california around unhoused people not being thought of for as long as it is predated you folks and san francisco it is california, and where in the hell this the (inaudible) we need to keep on plugging away we'll get there one project at a time and program at a time. i will stop there because the person you need to hear from is

a resident here been here 5 months with her son and talked about from her heart about what this means to her and any of the thoughts she has (clapping.) hello, mayor hi and i lost any voice so i want to week everyone many people know me and will la and city gardens this is a grand opening celebration i'm celebrating too. years ago san francisco was my escape today it is like i'm celebrating my new home and new life. my old life i

left this part behind you is that my childhood was unstable toxic and abused that would be an understatement and i was in years in foster care and - but then i ran away as a teenager (baby crying. >> i never went back home in my 20s i worked as a professional model and i was seen and no further heard and existed and not respected but i flirted with disaster i ran with a bad crowd that crowd is justified and abused me when i was a kid. and

this crowd showed the kinks he eventually would on the street without a home and i was traumatized. my life spiral down and down i hit rock bottom but given a choice a new chance at life i took life my life. and i never looked back. i joined a program and goat sober and today, i'm celebrating 5 weeks sober (clapping) thank you. >> slowly but surely rebuilding my life and city gardens help a lot too it is important it is not easy and i learned it is never too late to change. >> i take him he's a mouth full

and change but when i was making progress i had adversity here's an example i began taking classes at a school and get a housing voucher but one problem i was about to lose my housing voucher it was about to expire i was stressed all my hard work would be done gone and homelessness one again, i would not give up and at the last minute i got the call they told i had a home and finally this amazing home i had of my own a whiff place called city gardens. and this is the second best thing that ever happened to medical the best thick my baby?

in our thoughts and prayers my the boy is the truly the best thing ever happened to me and my goal promise to him have a place for him (baby that's a good question.) >> as for me, i'm a person of checking off lists and the folks at city gardens they offered so in services like pavrnt services and we even get to play bingo on saturdays. so i feel i need to thank a few people jill any of the paerp and rob and the family rising the homeless creative program and john austin. cynthia herrero and fought for me when i

didn't feel like fighting for myself and and kenneth thank you for move to approve i walked with my head high and everyone at city gardens means a lot to me and a lot of people they're super kind and work hard their angels and everyone has been too important to my journey those programs really work thank you for the help and their help to keep this going to say vital for city gardens the creative sense of community they are eir plausible i never feel loan and i want to use any credentials to help other families just like me bring me joy i look at my personal growth. i think of my

his over the years i collected a bunch of plants and taken snippets and they have their story before i was never stable enough but as long as i've been sober my thoughts have grown and we're healthy and my plants are used it is satisfy safe to say in a flapts like this and guess want i can't wait to see how big - you see city gardens where i found hope, hope for me and my little son this use to be my escape but now my home i could not leave my heart in san francisco like the song i found

my heart, i love living here in san francisco and city gardens and city by the bay never too late. >> thank you for giving me this chance mayor and appreciate you coming today and listening to my story thank you, (clapping.) it was amazing. >> i don't know how to follow with that, i. yeah, it is beautiful. thank you very much. >> so i guess want to thank everyone for being here at the abode for you're amazing services and sharing your story and thank you supervisor dorsey. >> thank you and i think we're going to do a ribbon-cutting is that correct? where are we going to go oh, we're going to be

right here. need everyone to come up and go ahead and cut the ribbon. >> okay. >> [off mic.] >> that's fine. >> all right. >> thank you very much. (laughter). >> all right. are we ready? yes. >> let's start counting 4, 3, 2

, 1. >> wow. chinatown. >> (music).

>> welcome to san francisco japantown. >> san francisco japantown is the oddity downtown in the united states. >> it was founded in the late 1800s by japanese immigrants for construction over the jars japantown has become a home to a japanese community with restaurants and shops and a popular tourism decision in the heart of san francisco. and san francisco and japantown is quite unique it is one of the three remaining chung's by the states and how i explain japantown we're a city within a city to taste and experience the japanese culture but really be a community what is all about and

one of the best things about japantown is the food. there are dozens of shops in the neighborhood serving from modern deserts and go with friends. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> my name is t a leader of the japantown to we try to provide something they creates like savory yummy favors we try to provide like japanese flavor as well as for the japanese customers. >> if you're foodie or looking for a quick and delicious meal you're sure to find something.

>> it is a authentic japanese deter and drink shop special lists in we also offer a roasted green tea and we have flares and other flavors we're known for ice cream and sun disingenuous. >> japantown is a variety of culture contributions with the community center the eight amendment association of north california. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> this tearoom is designed by the tearoom art (unintelligible) and then they built everything in jpa that is a a he ship it to the united states. with the

carpenter and this is one of the public only two in the united states and the japantown takes you on journey sdlts neighborhoods and the history was a self guided tour you start by japantown center west mall and work your way and learn about the history what made japantown had say is today. >> what as young people; right? what to make sure this stays here for the future. speaking of future you can enter the world of augmented reality created we adobe in a phone stand under which of the store we call that the tree ar experience a great opportunity to do something completely different that will

take you to the future with a immersion of an experience? incredible. in addition to the culture and ar contribution japantown hosted festivities and events throughout the year some are the cheri blossom festival. and after dark japantown comes life with night clubs and or joy serene moments through the illuminated part and san francisco is japantown an engaging community that likewise people to experience japanese culture with food and exciting events and japantown is a must see for any visito

chinatown. >> (music).

>> welcome to san francisco historic chinatown a place with a past, present, and future merge with the street culture and cuisine join us as was take you on a journey. san francisco chinatown is a feeling testament of china's immigrants and arrived in 1950 during the gold rush but hardship built a 35 community that served for generations. today san francisco chinatown is a burtonsville neighborhood brimming with history and culture. one of the highlights of this vibrant is worldwide can i intervene aim first and the oldest. we are

known for handmade our claim to fame is our unique food and few places in the world. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> chinatown is a food louvers paradise with a rich engrave and cuisine. >> back requires and moon contacts and every fine dining. >> welcome to (unintelligible). >> sandy spring /*.

>> (speaking foreign language.) whether you're an ad veteran urban forester chinatown has something for everyone. >> chinatown is not just again food also a hub of creativity and take a stroll down the street with murals as culture exhibitions to celebrate the heritage of this city. >> what the sun sets schoun truly come alive. >> it's night life is old and new a myriad of bars and you can distance the night away with friends. the museums and culture nonprofits play an important role in chinatown to teacher us about the past, present, and future and providing a platform for artist to engage in

conversations and welcome to the china's holistic the mission so collect and preserve common council in america any person of my background can see themselves in chinatown for all people. and our founders help to create the studies. and usa with a was an amazing collector. chinatown center was founded no 1965 an art center for infer served for people for education and the center is an exciting place for dialogue and engage with the actor right now have a exhibition present tense playground that looks the development of chinatown and also with the vast asian with

taiwan and honk con. >> welcome to the square a new culture hub celebrating chinatown a gateway tell stories of chinatown the people here the culture and the history and past, present, and future all through arts and culture. that is a 35 community there is so many to see shopping and buy food and suv inferiors and we welcome, everyone to come in and see what is going on here. >> so whether or not you're a history buff foodie an art person or simply looking for a night of excitement san francisco chinatown has something for you come and explore and experience the heart and the i soil of the private

[music] hi. i'm san francisco mayor london breed i want to congratulate sfgovtv on 30 years of dedicated service as a broadcast channel for our vibrant city. you played a critical role during the pan dem and i can worked keep residents informed. adapted to changing situations that allowed our residents to engage and participate in government. thank you for 3 decades of

informing and inspiring and connect the people of san francisco as the voice that >> hi, friends. i'm priaat haight and ashbury in san francisco. here with an a. anna why don't you tell us about the standard. >> the stanered focused on san francisco. i manage policy politic and government coverage which mean weez are focused on apec and excited what is a really big week in the city. >> why did you want to bring us to the haight? >> this neighborhood is special to me because i grew up in this neighborhood but also famous for being the center of the counter cultural movement, the hippies were hanging out and grateful dead. also a great place to go shopping and ventage shopping recollect trendy stuff. there is something for everyone on haight street. some oof my faivs are held over

and waste land. a favorite bar is [indiscernible] has a gorgeous unique bar and a great juice box as well. >> we have enough work, we can get a drink. come check out the haight when you are in television. >> asian american pacific islanders may is asian american & pacific islander heritage month about san francisco the asian-american about the history and curtain or encouragement. >> about fun and family and food. >> about all of us celebrating each other together after celebrating the cultural tradition a our future. >> showing you the regular things like the families and connecting the japanese heritage and my heritage in hawaii and other asians around the city and world and growing up with the

bay area. >> asian american pacific islanders it about showcasing the apa heritage culture contributions and full staves of music and the great diversity within the community i'm not a asian-american but have a great communication and about celebrating the stories of blood lines of apa heritage and the difficult challenges creating opportunity and building a new. >> let's celebrate may is asian american & pacific islander heritage month and victorville our writing our future for the future may is asian american & future may is asian american &

hi, i'm chris and you are watching san francisco rising. this is about rebuilding and reimaging the city. we will talk about revitalizing downtown. >> thank you for having me. >> the initiatives in the downtown area and enjoy businesses. perhaps you can tell us about your plan. >> yeah, sure. well, you know, first i'd like to acknowledge we are here visiting union scare. this is the heart of the city and people come to celebrate life's greatest moments whether it's the holidays or buying your prom dress or getting married. you always think about union square as a place to celebrate. we would like to continue in that celebration especially

postpandemic. this is a great place to celebrate life. we want to be creative getting people outdoors. we are still coming out of the pandemic and enjoying what we have to offer think about the beautiful hotel and historic district. we have world class shopping destinations and theater here we are using our strike thattic plan there was a time when weus people want r want a bit of everything appeared experience. one of the newest initiatives is union square. in you come down you will see blooms cascading from hotel

awnings and blooms on historic building fronts. you will see them on bus stops. you can go to many of our restaurants and they have cocktails. they have food and of course, being connected withification we have our bloom gown that's behind me. so, a announcement f ways to celebrate blooms. this is another great time of year for union square we are kickoff the holiday celebrations. they bring out the animal window. we have ice skating. music is another great way to come and enjoy union scare. we are a recipient of the latest grant.

this is bringing it into the public life. we are doing it here. this is in our park. it's really show this is great when it comes to music. >> we have been ignoring the fact for the districts it's a pretty common place across the country and opportunity to transform our spaces. >> yeah, i agree with you 100%. >> we have 13,000 hotel rooms. what if we had a school or

soccer this is something we couldn't do before. our rates prior to the pandemic was under10%. we are higher now. >> we have businesses like cable car a lot of history and innovation here as well. we want to be ready for the opportunities. this is where some office spaces will come. we are seeing office leases in union square. the cable car comes through it. why not come to work in a vibrant space. >> a lot of the businesses have been remarkably resilient. can you share success stories and talk about how they have been supporting them. >> this aligned with what i just said about historic

neighborhoods. they have seen everything from the great depression on. in fact, the earthquake of 1906. we have been around for hundreds of years. celebrating 116th birthday. open to the public in october. they are not gone. they are just down the street a beautiful store where people find great fabrics. contemrare just here on powell street. a lot of the luxury retailers are expanding neighborhood print. >> we talk about the area with a rich history.

what about the spaces and stronger sense of community. >> yeah, you know. i have to say these challenging times brought the community together. we had a unique opportunity here. was an opportunity to look at the district and assess where we might need something. we need a bit more of everything. we broke it down into different categories. we looked at economic development and change offering. people were accessing, you know, nightlife, food, or shopping differently out of the pandemic. we wanted to look at marketing and what it meant to get the news out about what we were doing in the district. looking at our own organize as well and what we would need to get that out there. also creating a safe space. we are creating a safe and

secure area. our locals in particular you can go shopping anywhere in the bay area. any of those places will look like any other place. in san francisco, you are somewhere special. this is a unique place and we needed to get it right. we have done that work and continue to support our district and see different ways to do business here. to be creative and innovative. we were able to change the planning code to make it more flexible to do business here. we are the c3r. we have three floors of retail maybe today we don't want two levels maybe we just want one

level instead of too much retail we need a school or something else. very exciting times and really interesting people and ideas. >> that's great. >> so, i guess, finally, what do you have for san francisco residents and businesses to be apart of this. >> this is the gateway of san francisco. it only drives. right now, we are so many and still love our great city and what we would like to see. this is san francisco and the residents. look around, have a coffee. listen to music on the weekends. we have so much to offer union square. with that, support these

businesses. we have a number of openings, a number of businesses betting on union square. in fact, we have a new hotel. the owner is from back of house, that's the name of the organize. they brought us several other residents and now this wonderful restaurant, i italian restaurant. this is on top of the old restaurant. it will have a rooftop and one of the largest in san francisco. it's a london based business abdomen and betting on n square. we have a great bar scene popping up and speak easy and pch. hawthorne, school. this is the place to come down and enjoy.

come, don't forget union square is the place to be. certainly in the years to come. a very difficult time of course for any major city. we are dealing with the same thing. explore and support our businesses here. we'll continue to thrive. come on down, you will be wildly, also surprised at how beautiful it is since we are still blooming. >> thank you, that's great. it's great to hear your optimistic outlook on restoring this part of time. >> thank you for having me and taking a little time to showcase our heart of san francisco. >> thanks again. >> thank you. >> that's it for this episode. we'll be back with another one shortly. thank you for watching. >> (clapping). >> happy anniversary sfgov you

have been providing access to public meetings to keep folks connected and our original programming highlights the best of information and makes the city proud [music] >> san francisco is known as yerba buena, good herb after a mint that used to grow here. at this time there were 3 settlements one was mission delores. one the presidio and one was

yerba buena which was urban center. there were 800 people in 1848 it was small. a lot of historic buildings were here including pony express headquarters. wells fargo. hudson bay trading company and famous early settlers one of whom william leaderdorph who lived blocks from here a successful business person. african-american decent and the first million airin california. >> wilwoman was the founders of san francisco. here during the gold rush came in the early 1840s. he spent time stake himself as a merchant seaman and a business person. his father and brother in new orleans. we know him for san francisco's history. establishing himself here arnold

18 twoochl he did one of many things the first to do in yerba buena. was not california yet and was not fully san francisco yet. >> because he was an american citizen but spoke spanish he was able to during the time when america was taking over california from mexico, there was annexations that happened and conflict emerging and war, of course. he was part of the peek deliberations and am bas doorship to create the state of california a vice council to mexico. mexico granted him citizenship. he loaned the government of san francisco money. to funds some of the war efforts to establish the city itself and the state, of course. he established the first hotel here the person people turned to often to receive dignitaries or

hold large gatherings established the first public school here and helped start the public school system. he piloted the first steam ship on the bay. a big event for san francisco and depict instead state seal the ship was the sitk a. there is a small 4 block long length of street, owned much of that runs essentially where the transamerica building is to it ends at california. i walk today before am a cute side street. at this point t is the center what was all his property. he was the person entrusted to be the city's first treasurer. that is i big deal of itself to have that legacy part of an african-american the city's first banker. he was not only a forefather of

the establishment of san francisco and california as a state but a leader in industry. he had a direct hahn in so many things that we look at in san francisco. part of our dna. you know you don't hear his anymore in the context of those. representation matters. you need to uplift this so people know him but people like him like me. like you. like anyone who looks like him to be, i can do this, too. to have the city's first banker and a street in the middle of financial district. that alone is powerful. [music]

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