The Battle to Save SRO Hotels for the Unhoused
Our 1984 campaign against the soon to be renamed Hotel Diva
San Francisco Remedies an Historic Injustice
NY Times April 17) evoked powerful memories for me. I did everything in my power in 1984-5 to reverse San Francisco’s decision allowing the residential Somerton Hotel to convert to tourist lodgings (renamed the Hotel Diva). When I heard that San Francisco was buying the Diva through California’s Project Homekey I felt that an historic injustice had been reversed.
The struggle that continued through the 1980’s to save the Somerton and other residential SRO hotels reflects a major tenant victory in the battle over gentrification. As I was quoted in the