The Tenderloin is a neighborhood in downtown San Francisco , in the flatlands on the southern slope of Nob Hill , situated between the Union Square shopping district to the northeast and the Civic Center office district to the southwest. Encompassing about 5 square blocks, it is historically bounded on the north by Geary Street, on the east by Mason Street, on the south by Market Street and on the west by Van Ness Avenue.
It contains the Uptown Tenderloin Historic District. The eastern extent, near Union Square, overlaps with the Theater District. The area has a reputation for crime and has among the highest levels of homelessness and crime in the city. It is the center of the fentanyl crisis in San Francisco. The Tenderloin took its name from an older neighborhood in New York with similar characteristics.
There are several explanations of how that neighborhood was named. Williams , who was overheard saying that when he was assigned to another part of the city, he could only afford to eat chuck steak on the salary he was earning, but after he was transferred to this neighborhood he was making so much money on the side soliciting bribes that now he could afford to eat tenderloin ' filet mignon ' instead.
The Tenderloin is sheltered by Nob Hill , and far enough from the bay to be on solid ground. There is evidence that a community resided here several thousand years ago. The Tenderloin has been a downtown residential community since shortly after the California Gold Rush in However, the name "Tenderloin" does not appear on any maps of San Francisco prior to the s; before then, it was labeled as "Downtown", although it was informally referred to as "the Tenderloin" as early as the s.
The area had an active nightlife in the late 19th century with many theaters, restaurants and hotels. Almost all of the buildings in the neighborhood were destroyed by the earthquake and the backfires that were set by firefighters to contain the devastation.
