Editor's Rant

What exactly is the "Tenderloin"?

A neighborhood? A state of mind? A place to purchase cheap methamphetamines?

Where exactly does it begin and end?

A wise friend once told me: "Whenever you're entering the Tenderloin, you're simultaneously leaving the Tenderloin." By the time you've registered that you're stumbling in, you're stumbling out.

But what are the actual boundaries?

A person at the corner of Larkin and Geary will say they're in the Tenderloin, but a person at the corner of Polk and Geary will say they're in "Polk Gulch" (if they're somewhat deluded they might even say "Polk Village"). A person one block away on Larkin between Geary and Post, however, will say they're in "the Tendernob," while a person who's ever lived at Leavenworth and Ellis will call all of these people posers for living above O'Farrell.

Depending on who I'm talking to I'll emphasize different cross-streets. When I'm talking to someone from the Marina, for example, I might say "Lower Nob Hill." (Then again, if I'm talking to a bike messenger downtown somewhere, I might emphasize anything from the Tenderloin, to the Tendernob, to the fact that I hang out often at a bar in SOMA.)

The point is: the range of reaction to our neighborhood is astounding. (According to a recent issue of TODO even Bush Street is in the Tenderloin.) But what's even more bizarre is that people don't have a clue what goes on here. If I claimed the Tenderloin had a sudden zombie infiltration, not only would people not notice but who would care? If I claimed that Scientologists took over the neighborhood people would say, "What happened?" and that would be the end of it. Hell, it might not even make a difference…

The bottom line is:

If we don't define our neighborhood for ourselves then someone else will do it for us, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not about to let that happen!

So the next time someone talks shit to you about the neighborhood, tell them to go back to the Marina or the Mission or wherever the fuck they're from... Then tell them to check out page 25.

VIVA LA TENDERLOIN!

Rachel M.
Editor-in-Chief
theloinsmouth@gmail.com