The Vis Valley Connection
Each fall semester San Francisco State students immerse themselves in the issues of various San Francisco neighborhoods. This year they spent time in Visitacion Valley. Below are some of the stories they found.
Turf Divide Limits Youth Access to Resources
Ruth Jackson lives on the corner of Hahn Street on the border of two turfs: Towerside and Sunnydale. According to San Francisco Police Department crime maps approximately 69 incidents of assault and vandalism have been recorded near her home since August and despite the current truce, the homicide rate increased by 18 per cent in Visitacion Valley since 2003, with respect to other neighborhoods in the Ingleside district.
This Teen's Life: Growing up in the Vis means being on guard 24/7
Terry Rollins, now 18, is a young man of the streets, trapped in a world where violence is so prevalent that it seems like the only option is to be violent yourself in order to survive. One disgruntled look at a passer-by could cost you your life. Gangbanging is no joke when a case of mistaken identity could lead to a bullet wound in an innocent victim’s arm or worse, to his or her death.
STDs on the rise among Vis Valley youth
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) run rampant in urban areas such as San Francisco and Oakland, but San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley has the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases among young adults in the city.
Community Seeks Bridges Across Divides
Dr. Albirda Rose, within her children’s dance class, has witnessed how racial and cultural stereotypes divide the African Americans and Asians within this community. The segregation has become part of everyday actions and reactions towards the other, she says. The segregation found in the center is but a microcosm of what happens in the neighborhood as a whole.