San Francisco is known for being all inclusive and does a lot to promote cultural diversity and allowing people their freedoms and identities. Designating a new Little Saigon neighborhood is another example of putting that into practice. The neighborhood was officially designated a few years ago but the area gained new stature this past summer when Mayor Gavin Newsom led the opening ceremonies on a gateway to the neighborhood – two marble lions that sit atop granite pedestals and represent safety, peace, and happiness. Signs hang from the sidewalks’ light posts welcoming everyone to Little Saigon. The city has shown its approval and support by contributing one hundred thousand dollars to the entryway and beautification of the area.
Joining other ethnically designated neighborhoods in San Francisco such as the Italian North Beach, Chinatown, and Japantown, Little Saigon is located in the Tenderloin section of San Francisco. While the neighborhood is officially only two city blocks where the concentration of the Vietnamese businesses can be found on Larkin Street between O’Farrell Street and Eddy Street, the neighborhood spreads out beyond that with a couple of hundred Vietnamese businesses to be found.
There are thirteen thousand Vietnamese in San Francisco; small by comparison to the neighboring city of San Jose which has one hundred thousand. Vietnamese began immigrating in larger numbers to the area in the eighties and since then the neighborhood that is now Little Saigon has seen a transformation away from its seedy past of prostitutes and drug dealers, to a more family oriented neighborhood with children abound and tourists adding the neighborhood to their lists of San Francisco sightseeing attractions. That is a welcomed change for tourism to the area and recently there were twenty thousand people in Little Saigon to celebrate the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, Tet.
