These days, it's rare to find a piece of San Francisco news that doesn't at least make a passing reference to the city's rapid-fire gentrification. And while numbers like the 115 percent increase in evictions over the past year are certainly astounding, nothing drives the point home quite like seeing the city evolve right before your very eyes.
Thanks to a confluence of factors (some of which include the blast of tech money from Silicon Valley and relatively severe geographical restrictions), our beloved City by the Bay has been home to some of the most extreme examples of gentrification in recent history. Particularly in the Mission, Mid-Market, Castro, and Dogpatch neighborhoods.
Thanks to Google Street View's new Time Machine function, we can see back in time (or at least as far back as 2007) virtually anywhere its street-mapping fleet of cars can roam. And though seven years might not seem like enough time for a city to make any noticeable strides, parts of San Francisco have become nearly unrecognizable in that relatively short period. That said, it's worth noting that some of what might seem like residences popping up in empty lots are actually places where prior buildings have already been torn down.
We've compiled some of the more extreme cases of San Francisco's transformation here. But this is just one example; the same land-value-raising evolution is happening in plenty of cities all across the country. Is yours one of them? Let us know down below.
2007-2014 15th and Market (Duboce Triangle)
2007-2014 15th and Dolores (Mission District)
2007-2014 Fulton and Buchanan (Hayes Valley)
2007-2009 18th and Mission (Mission District)