Land Trust the City! is a collage of the first dozen San Francisco apartment buildings taken off the speculative market by local nonprofits such as San Francisco Community Land Trust and MEDA. Lacking real rent control in California, the only way low-income communities can remain stable is by preserving their homes as permanently affordable housing under community control. The tenants in many of the buildings pictured were in the middle of fighting off speculators and evictions, like the Pigeon Palace on the right, or the home of Mission artist icons Yolanda Lopez and Rene Yañez, on the left. This program is dear to my heart, as I was a small part of founding the SF Community Land Trust back in the late 90s/early 2000s, out of conversations in Mission District bars and cafes, in eviction protests and caminatas, and later, working to secure funding for the program. Soon we hope to require any landlord that decides to sell their building to give the community a first right to purchase.
“Land Trust the City!” is my friend Tommi Avicolli Mecca’s rallying cry at various eviction protests.
Preparing the split fount colors - came out pretty psychedelic!
