Helping Beloved Non-Landmarks Weather Gentrification in San Francisco

Perhaps more than other cities, San Francisco is famed for its semi-historic places: local gems and storied gathering spots that contribute to the city's texture and lore, but don't qualify for landmark status. (Green Apple Books is one example featured in the New York Daily News.) Because their buildings don't meet the standards for preservation, locals fear these businesses could be displaced by the tech boom, taking meaningful expressions of the city's character and culture with them.

To address that fear, San Francisco will soon begin awarding grants to some such establishments through a new Legacy Business Preservation Fund. Approved by voters in November 2015, the program will award up to $50,000 each to small businesses at least 30 years old that have "contributed to the neighborhood's history and/or identity." It also offers landlords up to $22,500 a year for entering a 10-year lease with a legacy business.

Writing for the Daily News, Sarah Goodyear looks at San Francisco's program alongside similar efforts still struggling for support in New York, as well as other approaches to supporting small business—noting that major European cities have tended to adopt more creative solutions.