San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/potentially-earthquake-unsafe-residential-buildings-a-very-rough-list/)
Map of potentially dangerous residental buildings in San Francisco. Cartography by Darin Jensen and Mike Jones, U.C. Berkeley CAGE Lab. Sources: Building locations: “Here Today — Here Tomorrow: The Road to Earthquake Resilience in San Francisco,” a study by the Applied Technology Council, 2009. Earthquake liquefaction susceptibility: U.S. Geological Survey, 2000.
Editor’s Note: Since this list was first published, the city initiated a mandatory seismic retrofit program. As of Dec. 17, 2021, retrofits were overdue at about 16% of nearly 5,000 buildings required to be strengthened under the program. A list of those properties can be found here.
San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection has kept a preliminary list of potentially dangerous “ soft-story” buildings since 2009, but inspectors say it has not been verified by actual building inspections, and was never intended for public consumption. Some of the addresses the city generated might be wrong.
The Public Press is publishing the list (the best city record available) so that residents who might possibly be at risk in their homes can participate in the debate over how best to retrofit thousands of properties in coming years.
We are doing so against the advice of some experts, and the Department of Building Inspection itself. Wide distribution of the list, said department spokesman William Strawn, “might create anxiety and alarm” among residents in buildings that may actually turn out to be safe. But critics of the city’s approach, including Building Inspection Commission member Debra Walker, say the city needs more public pressure to move fast on a mandatory retrofit program.
For an in-depth look at the politics and science behind the push for mandatory retrofits, see our cover story: Earthquake Retrofit Delays Leave Thousands at Risk.
In February 2007, San Francisco commissioned the Applied Technology Council, a nonprofit structural engineering organization, to inventory the buildings whose weak ground floors can collapse in an earthquake. A team of engineers, architects, city staff and graduate students walked the city, noting wood-framed apartment complexes built before 1973, with more than three floors and more than five units. The buildings all had“ openings” on 80 percent of one wall, or 50 percent of two walls.
The list flags 2,929 addresses. The city estimates those buildings house 58,000 people.
David Bonowitz, a structural engineer who participated in the study, said the list is rough, containing only buildings that resemble in the most superficial way the few buildings that collapsed in the Marina in 1989” during the Loma Prieta earthquake. Laurence Kornfield of the city’s Earthquake Safety Implementation Program said any of the buildings on the list might have already been reinforced, but that would have been impossible for the team to know.
Though San Francisco’s list has been available upon request since 2009, the city has never officially published it. A study summarizing the data but omitting the addresses, “Here Today, Here Tomorrow: The Road to Earthquake Resilience in San Francisco,” is viewable at sfcapss.org.
16th St — 2791, 2874-2884, 2888, 2945-2947, 3032, 3178, 3222-3226, 3228-3232, 3250, 3251, 3255-3257, 3256
Duboce Ave — 105-109, 131-135, 137, 170, 171-175
Folsom St — 1040, 1137, 1582-1586, 1631, 1906-1908, 1910-1914, 1916-1918, 1930-1934
Guerrero St — 33, 125, 165, 186, 223-227, 250, 295-299, 334, 374, 389, 390-398
Natoma St — 526, 712-716, 1077-1087, 1084-1094
Valencia St — 204-208, 211-215, 224, 300, 418-422
S. Van Ness Ave — 303-305, 349, 359, 415-421, 436-440, 460, 450
Woodward St — 54, 55-59, 58, 58A, 58B, 60, 60A, 60B 65, 65A, 67, 67A, 69, 69A, 85, 85A, 85B, 87, 87A, 87B
Clay St — 1301, 1441, 1452-1458, 1480-1482, 1534, 1538, 1556, 1611-1615, 1627, 1644, 1645, 1654, 1668-1670, 1680, 1714-1720, 1725, 1845-1847, 1865
Hyde St — 963-969, 1010, 1020, 1127, 1135, 1142, 1150, 1215, 1221, 1250, 1326, 1438-1440, 1501-1521, 1550-1566, 1551, 1555, 1563, 1748, 1760, 1818, 1841, 1954-1964, 2054, 2140
Jackson St — 1225, 1276, 1278, 1312, 1323, 1345-1347, 1351-1353, 1398, 1405-1421, 1420, 1434, 1471, 1481-1485, 1524, 1534, 1542, 1552, 1567, 1574, 1580, 1627-1629, 1801, 1817, 1885, 2077
Larkin St — 1445, 1545-1549, 1600, 1625, 1631, 1637-1647, 1642, 1651, 1731, 1747-1755, 1748, 1754, 1831, 1864-1868, 2100, 2145, 2200, 2201, 2233, 2240, 2301, 2323, 2335, 2433, 2439
Pine St — 1038-1042, 1044, 1060, 1155, 1163, 1167, 1173-1175, 1179-1181, 1225, 1243, 1324, 1355, 1385, 1490, 1515-1517, 1553-1565
Polk St — 1301-1327, 1437, 1618-1622, 1700-1718, 1729-1739, 1749, 1800-1808, 2023, 2048, 2055, 2208-2214, 2301, 2345, 2400, 2445, 2560, 2580, 2700, 2960, 3062-3064
Sacramento St — 1315-1325, 1329, 1345-1347, 1359, 1368, 1369, 1375, 1463, 1469, 1487, 1541, 1545, 1565, 1589, 1656-1658, 1677, 1950, 1970, 1980
Vallejo St — 1250, 1441-1451, 1456, 1462, 1465, 1473-1475, 1481-1485, 1555
Washington St — 1465, 1471, 1575, 1605-1617, 1633-1639, 1664, 1674, 1720-1726, 1732, 1740, 1753
22nd St — 2712, 2715, 2936-2946, 2989-2993, 3050-3066, 3074-3078, 3075, 3129-3145, 3410, 3449, 3488
24th St — 2435-2437, 2959-2967, 3059, 3172, 3186-3192, 3343, 3345-3347, 3362-3372, 3407, 3416, 3424, 3435, 3440, 3560, 3653, 3675
Capp St — 135, 200-218, 307, 396, 401-409, 513, 540, 557, 563 627-31, 633-37, 639, 656, 711 767-69, 840, 899, 905, 949, 959, 1084, 1106
Folsom St — 2106, 2108, 23`93-2399, 2420, 2487-2489, 2561, 2629, 2700, 2847, 2952-2960, 2973
Guerrero St — 801, 812, 842, 851, 943-953, 1000-1004, 1028, 1038, 1130, 1262-1268, 1272, 1295, 1410, 1414, 1426-1428, 1451, 1499
Mission St — 2026-2030, 2032-2034, 2135-2137, 2171, 2217-2221, 2257, 2261-2263, 2265, 2327-2329, 2331-2333, 2351-2361, 2360, 2420, 2487, 2629, 2641, 2647, 2677, 2697, 2735, 2745, 2766, 2852, 2903, 2960, 3010, 3018, 3184, 3207, 3266, 3275, 3301, 3308, 3317, 3527, 3633, 3666, 3812
S. Van Ness Ave — 514-520, 624-628, 654-658, 766-770, 880, 987-991, 1025, 1062-1066, 1065, 1073-1077, 1080-1090, 1102-1104, 1155-1167, 1186, 1271, 1311-1315, 1370, 1409, 1415, 1449, 1453, 1454
San Jose Ave — 215, 221, 251, 260, 267, 285, 289, 329-333, 330, 383-391, 692, 695, 730, 750, 865
Valencia St — 504, 590, 901-907, 958-966, 975, 978, 991-999, 998, 1037-1041, 1152, 1159, 1206, 1234, 1355, 1362, 1390, 1406, 1424, 1451, 1470
16th St — 3310-3312, 3314-3320, 3322, 3336-3338, 3350, 3356-3358, 3362-3368, 3436, 3450-3452, 3459, 3475, 3491-3497, 3571
Church St — 235-241, 262-298, 269, 500-512, 520, 550, 718, 800, 1001-1003, 1005-1009, 1165, 1376
Sanchez St — 57, 81-93, 101-111, 211, 227, 245, 264-266, 269-285
Washington St — 2266, 2351, 2418, 2470, 2474, 2504, 2565, 2575, 2576-2580, 2812, 2845, 2848-2850, 2870-2878, 3124-3134, 3299
Carl St — 2-14, 92, 94, 94B, 96, 98, 100, 102, 108, 115, 119, 121, 121A, 123, 128, 134, 135, 136, 198, 301, 344, 375, 415
Cole St — 28, 43, 130, 154, 455, 525, 532, 540, 580-588, 610, 615, 624, 627-629, 642, 675, 903-905, 917, 1012-1016, 1019, 1034-1038, 1040-1050
Divisadero St — 242, 244-246, 250-262, 270-272, 324-328, 330-334, 621-625, 655, 730, 744, 835-849
Fell St — 701, 725, 949, 999, 1001, 1100, 1380, 1567-1570, 1578, 1770-1780, 1814-1818, 1852, 1970, 2070, 2100, 2130, 2136, 2140, 2150, 2160
Fillmore St — 105, 105A, 107-111, 136, 333, 339, 345, 349, 359, 500, 557, 657, 661-667, 709, 726, 733, 803, 837
Grove St — 822, 870, 1221-1229, 1228, 1230, 1231, 1240, 1250, 1255, 1265, 1270, 1280, 1341-1345, 1349-1351, 1371, 1387-1393, 1401, 1431, 1678, 1706, 1946, 1985, 2000, 2001, 2090, 2144, 2190
Haight St — 400-402, 401, 417-421, 448, 493-499, 500-528, 555, 685, 707, 715, 720, 723, 739, 777, 801, 839, 849-859, 860, 863, 868-870, 876, 1042, 1190, 1296, 1300-1322, 1378, 1390, 1392, 1433, 1459, 1462, 1635, 1667
Hayes St — 800-802, 861-865, 906-916, 1155, 1167, 1220, 1245, 1273, 1290, 1359, 1398, 1670, 1686-1696, 1801, 1873-1891, 1935-1939, 2047-2051, 2077-2095, 2101, 2267-2275
Oak St — 600, 677, 850, 880, 900, 929, 1041-1059, 1053, 1101, 1499, 1519, 1541, 1555, 1565, 1659, 1661, 1697, 1699, 1815-1819, 1865, 1875, 1997-1999
Page St — 547, 561-565, 570, 585, 627, 635, 649, 655, 681, 751, 968, 990-998, 1003, 1038, 1300, 1325, 1333, 1337, 1363, 1373, 1375, 1456, 1591, 1683-1685, 1701-1705, 1746, 1801, 1859, 1881-1895, 1910
Scott St — 1, 65-67, 124-134, 208-216, 430, 556-560, 605, 635, 651
Steiner St — 34-44, 115-119, 201-211, 206, 237, 399, 510, 548-556, 590, 612-616
Waller St — 301, 339, 371, 423, 511, 556-560, 604-612, 648, 727, 751, 840, 845, 855, 875, 1270-1274, 1432, 1585, 1645
Geary Blvd — 2828, 2886, 3126, 3210-3232, 3430-3440, 4630, 5029, 5044, 5125-5129, 5140
Sacramento St — 3562-3570, 3590, 3780-3790, 3810, 3870, 3892, 3943-3949, 3949A, 3967
Chestnut St — 1311, 1365, 1401, 1437, 1447, 1450, 1457, 1490, 1521, 1525, 1555, 1565, 1583, 1626, 1631, 1655, 1665, 1670, 1685, 1721, 1725, 1731, 1737, 1841, 1895, 1901, 1925, 1949, 1957, 1995, 2050, 2120, 2272-2298, 2300, 2335-2337, 2341, 2360-2370, 2381, 2390, 2395, 2401, 2410, 2411, 2450, 2490, 2500, 2530, 2665
Columbus Ave — 301-301 1/2, 342-354, 371-373, 500-524, 501-543, 575, 700, 1050, 1321, 1323
Grant Ave — 1232, 1340, 1345-1353, 1363-1371, 1525-1529, 1750, 1821, 1831, 2017
Greenwich St — 333, 407, 409, 409A, 411-411A, 425, 439, 477-481, 483-495, 509, 519-523, 561, 637, 637A, 641-641A, 801, 808-814, 824-830, 840-848, 962-968, 1056-1062
Lombard St — 370, 444, 490, 566-570, 640, 670, 724-734, 786-788, 892-896
Mason St — 1325, 1753-1779, 1857-1859, 2153-2163, 2244-2250
Taylor St — 1410, 1426, 1948-1956, 2040-2048, 2121, 2332-2342
Union St — 218, 296, 550-556, 558, 560-562, 570, 601-619, 701-709, 755-763, 1011, 1020, 1074, 1082
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This story appeared in the Winter 2012-2013 print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.
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Noah Arroyo is a former assistant editor at the Public Press. He has written about housing, homelessness, government, politics, business and crime. He is a 2010 graduate of San Francisco State University.
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