Chinatown San Francisco

The dragon-entwined light poles and the green-tiled pagoda roofs define the Grant Avenue entrance to Chinatown. This neighborhood began as a refuge for immigrants arriving in the eighteen fifties, but following the nineteen oh six earthquake, developers pushed to move the Chinese community to the edge of town. Local business owners defeated that plan by rebuilding the district in a style they called Chinese decorative, turning the architecture itself into a shield against displacement that still anchors the community today.