The East Cut is San Francisco’s fastest-growing and most exciting neighborhood. For years prior to its rebirth, our area was lumped in with SOMA, South Park, South Beach, the Financial District, or the Embarcadero. But as our neighborhood redeveloped and came into its own, residents, businesses, and community organizations embraced a new identity to distinguish our home from the rest of the City. The boundaries of the district encompass an area far larger than Rincon Hill, or the Transbay Transit District. The name does not, in any way, seek to remove Rincon Hill or the Transit Center from conversations about the neighborhood – both of those places are central to the neighborhood, its history and its future.
The name, The East Cut is inspired by the Second Street Cut, a defining moment in our history. But, the name also points to our role as the epicenter of the bustling eastern side of the city.
The East Cut is the result of a community effort, expressly undertaken so that the neighborhood would not become “marketed” by real estate interests. Through community meetings, key informant interviews, and public board meetings, we arrived at the East Cut…together.
Our History
This neighborhood is anything but traditional. In the 1800’s it was called ‘The Most Fashionable Neighborhood In San Francisco.” And while our skyline is new, this cosmopolitan spirit lives on today.
As we brought Rincon Hill and Transbay under a single banner, we searched for a name and identity that would speak to both our rich history and our dynamic future.
The name was inspired by the Second Street Cut, the leveling of Rincon Hill which both created out current southern border and defined the character of the neighborhood for almost 100 years. The leveling caused a financial and cultural downturn which Robert Louis Stevenson described as “A new slum, a place of precarious sandy cliffs, deep sandy cuttings, solitary ancient houses and butt ends the streets.” The neighborhood would remain untended until a 1980s revitalization plan emerged that pointed to a more promising future.
That future is realized today and as our community has developed, they looked to emphasize the modernization and revitalization of the eastern part of the city. This ever evolving neighborhood has kinetic energy at all levels – below ground in the city’s first major transit hub, at street-level with people from all walks of life, and soaring in the air. In selecting The East Cut we have created a confident name layered with both heritage and potential.
Our new logo, a dynamic “E” made up of three bars representing the people and ever-changing life found here and we hope this new name and identity honor both our history and our future.
