[BTinSF]

^^^I pretty much agree with mthd but would add that one of the great hopes for housing along this stretch of Market St. is precisely that a high percentage of residents will WALK to work down Market itself and that that number of middle class consumers passing every day will revitalize some of the storefronts between 10th and 5th; take them out of the hands of
"adult megastore" operators and put them into the hands of people wanting to provide goods and services to neighborhood residents.

There is a very hopeful commentary about Civic Center by Jim Hass in the new issue of SF BizTimes entitled "New residential Neighborhood on the Rise" which I will post--probably in a new thread in the "Bay Area" section--on Sunday evening when I can copy/paste it. He points out that there is now under construction in Civic Center (projects like 77 Van Ness, the Argenta, 10th & Market, Symphony Towers, SOMA Grande and possibly The Hayes) "some 1600 units of housing with another 2300 units approved (mostly Trinity Plaza)." He also says "and additional 1500 to 2000 units are in planning." Furthermore, he says there are plans to upgrade both Van Ness and Civic Center Stations.

But, in any case, there are going to be 5000-6000 more housing units in Civic Center--possibly as many as 10,000 more people--and that will finally transform the area from "Camp Agnos" to something worthy of San Francisco's seat of government. I can't wait.