Little Centro

Little Centro.
«What’s that, Randy F.?» you ask.
Well, my darlings, Little Centro is the blighted No Man’s Land of Mission Street, where many treasured businesses thrive, between Randall Street and I-​280. It sits on the southwest slope of Bernal Hill, but is not quite Bernal Heights; and it shares the zip code of the Excelsior and Mission Terrace Districts: 94 112. At it’s apex, it’s the highest elevation of Mission Street within the city limits, and such wonderful businesses as Lelenita’s Cakes, Rinconcito Salvadoreno, Transportes Nicaraguenses, Carniceria Sandoval (where you can buy an ENTIRE PIG’S HEAD, eyes, ears, tongue and all, should you be in the market), Rico Pan (which I’ve yet to try, but take big, deep, greedy breaths whenever I walk past, because it smells sooooooo good), SF Bling Rim, St. Mary’s Pub, and the newest pupuseria in my ‘hood, Balompie Café No. 3. Other Central American immigrant-​owned business dot the strip as well, making this the place for Central Americans to congregate outside the Mission District.
The residential streets that are included in Little Centro include Richland and Highland between Mission and San Jose, St. Mary’s, College, and Bosworth to the underpass by Glen Park BART to the northwest, and the whole of St. Mary’s Park to the southeast, including Murray Ave., College Ave., Justin Drive, Genebern Way, and Benton Drive.
At first I wanted to coin the term «Little San Salvador», but after careful inspection of the commercial strip closest to my St. Mary’s Park home, decided that inclusion need be the new name for my hood. So the idea of Little Centro was born.
«What should the city do to improve this strip, Randy F.?» you ask.
Well, my loves, I think the city should acquire genuine lampposts from the City of San Salvador and install them all down Mission Street from Randall to 280. Also, park benches should be purchased from the City of Managua, and installed on the commercial strip of Little Centro. A partnership should be forged with the Friends of the Urban Forest to plant Little Centro with trees, and SFDPW should put up signs that say «Little Centroamerica» on the Salvadoran lamposts entering the neighborhood both from Bernal Heights and the Excelsior District.
Then, and this one’s important: the SFPD should establish a precinct on Bosworth at Mission, to help control the CONSTANT MUGGINGS in the vicinity of Glen Park BART through to Mission Street. The problem is that there are onramps to 280 at Justin Drive and on Bosworth, and no police station within miles, so it makes for a seriously under-​patrolled area where attacks happen far too often. Excelsior, Mission, and Bayview Stations serve this area… and all three stations are miles away. Sooooo… let’s put a mini-​station between those two onramps.
Well, that’s it. Go ahead. Start calling it Little Centro now. My work here is done.