Saving Midtown: San Francisco Renters on Strike

Since August 2015 the residents of Midtown Park apartments in the Fillmore district of San Francisco have been on Rent Strike. Theirs is the largest rent strike in San Francisco since 1978. The residents are fighting the city who claims to own the property, they are fighting the non-profit Mercy Housing California who manages the property, and they are fighting the larger forces of displacement that have left only 5.8% black population in San Francisco.

The residents of Midtown Park apartments were first displaced through urban redevelopment in the 1960s and 70s (often referred to as the era of "negro removal") when 104 square blocks were demolished in the Fillmore neighborhood, also known as the "Harlem of the West." They were promised a new home at Midtown Park, not just as tenants, but as rightful owners of the property. Since the 1960s, however, the city has changed its tone and in 2013 the Mayor's Office of Housing (MOH) brought in Mercy Housing California to manage the property. This decision ended the residents control over their own housing and resulted in drastic changes to residents’ rents (in some cases up to 300% increase). It also made clear that the city has no intention of honoring the promise of ownership made to the residents first in the 1960s and again in 2007 by the city's Board of Supervisors.

Midtown tenants are fighting to stay in their homes. They want the lease with Mercy Housing to be terminated to allow for the immediate restoration of rent control and they want a long-term plan to regain the ownership they were promised.