What is 1920C?
1920C is a coworking, retail, art gallery, and event space located in the heart of Chinatown, San Francisco. 1920C has been open for about 3 months and is located on the second floor of a historic building. 1920C offers hourly, daily, and monthly shared workspace membership, meeting room rentals, and art gallery space for local artists.
1920C aims to bring together a diversity of people and skills to build a collaborative community. 1920C incorporates sustainability, local community and wellness into the space. 1920C bridges the gap for individuals, teams, and artists who can't afford to work or sell art in San Francisco's rent crisis. 1920C has already helped support small businesses, women entrepreneurs, socially driven organizations, freelancers, independents, students, artists, and others. We share our space with Pacific Atrocities Education, a nonprofit organization that brings awareness to wartime atrocities in the Pacific Asia region, helping survivors find closure and reconciliation for their painful memories and increasing dialogue about complex contemporary issues surrounding human rights worldwide.
How Did 1920C Start?
1920C was formed by three local women, Jenny Chan, Molly Bacon, and Paola Rossara, they wanted to bring a new kind of coworking space to San Francisco. The three women had tried out many other spaces but wanted something closer to their homes and not just tech focused. Jenny Chan wanted to start the space in Chinatown because she already had a community there and had so many memories growing up there. When they found the location they learned about how the floor had been vacant for over 8 years and the space was in need of revitalization. The three decided this was a great opportunity to do something with a spot that was struggling to find a tenant, and they thought about all the benefits the space could bring to the local community, as well as providing a safe space for women in a historically male dominated neighborhood.
Instantly upon opening 1920C did grassroots marketing and found that people really did want this kind of community space in Chinatown. They also found that they were impacting local businesses by bringing new levels of economical support by shopping locally in the neighborhood everyday. They even found that tourists were excited about what they were doing, and every day they have met new people that come to view their space and art gallery.
Why We Need Your Support?
Recently, the San Francisco Planning Department has decided that the 1920C coworking space is not a permitted use. We maintain that our operation falls within the permitted uses and fits with the Chinatown Visitor Retail District. We have appealed the notice and requested a Zoning Administrator hearing which is scheduled for July 15th at 3pm. We have received an outpouring of community support and want to continue to serve the Chinatown community. We request the public's support by signing our petition and joining us for the hearing on July 15th, 3PM, at 1650 Mission Street, Suite 400, Room 431(A).
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
July 13, 2015
39 Comments
I support the business model that 1920c represents and believe it is the closest thing to the old Kearny Street Workshop which was established in the 1960s in Chinatown.
I believe that these kinds of co-working spaces are not only visionary, they are vital to sustaining and growing the strength of our area's community and its culture. --K. DiPirro, Stanford Professor
On my way to 1920c, I walked through historic Chinatown and inadvertently walked past the entrance to this building because it fit in so well. This space upholds the the qualities and values of the neighborhood in which it resides by pushing for a sense of community and togetherness. At the same time, 1920c channels the neighborhood's historic past and strives to re-affirm the adventurous and hardy spirit that once ran rampant within what we today call Chinatown.
It is a great space with an innovative mission that offers several useful services to the community. It would be a shame to force it to convert into another tourist trap trinket store. We clearly have enough of those. This is an actual place a tourist or visitor can use, and the other uses, the gallery and events in particular, will bring people to the neighborhood and serve the community.
1920C is a breath of fresh air within the Chinatown community. It's three strong female founders took an longtime empty second floor space and turned it into a beautiful thriving place full of hardworking people, classes, art, and more. And as someone who used to work in pop-up retail, 1920C is a dream. I'll never understand why their presence is controversial. Jenny is passionate about the positive impact she could have on the people and businesses in the area, and has more than delivered during the first couple months of operation. Shame on the city for turning something this well intentioned into a political nightmare.
I support 1920C
Hooray for affordable space for career develooment. What SF needs more of at the times where wealth is concentrated among 1%.
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What is 1920C?
1920C is a coworking, retail, art gallery, and event space located in the heart of Chinatown, San Francisco. 1920C has been open for about 3 months and is located on the second floor of a historic building. 1920C offers hourly, daily, and monthly shared workspace membership, meeting room rentals, and art gallery space for local artists.
1920C aims to bring together a diversity of people and skills to build a collaborative community. 1920C incorporates sustainability, local community and wellness into the space. 1920C bridges the gap for individuals, teams, and artists who can't afford to work or sell art in San Francisco's rent crisis. 1920C has already helped support small businesses, women entrepreneurs, socially driven organizations, freelancers, independents, students, artists, and others. We share our space with Pacific Atrocities Education, a nonprofit organization that brings awareness to wartime atrocities in the Pacific Asia region, helping survivors find closure and reconciliation for their painful memories and increasing dialogue about complex contemporary issues surrounding human rights worldwide.
How Did 1920C Start?
1920C was formed by three local women, Jenny Chan, Molly Bacon, and Paola Rossara, they wanted to bring a new kind of coworking space to San Francisco. The three women had tried out many other spaces but wanted something closer to their homes and not just tech focused. Jenny Chan wanted to start the space in Chinatown because she already had a community there and had so many memories growing up there. When they found the location they learned about how the floor had been vacant for over 8 years and the space was in need of revitalization. The three decided this was a great opportunity to do something with a spot that was struggling to find a tenant, and they thought about all the benefits the space could bring to the local community, as well as providing a safe space for women in a historically male dominated neighborhood.
Instantly upon opening 1920C did grassroots marketing and found that people really did want this kind of community space in Chinatown. They also found that they were impacting local businesses by bringing new levels of economical support by shopping locally in the neighborhood everyday. They even found that tourists were excited about what they were doing, and every day they have met new people that come to view their space and art gallery.
Why We Need Your Support?
Recently, the San Francisco Planning Department has decided that the 1920C coworking space is not a permitted use. We maintain that our operation falls within the permitted uses and fits with the Chinatown Visitor Retail District. We have appealed the notice and requested a Zoning Administrator hearing which is scheduled for July 15th at 3pm. We have received an outpouring of community support and want to continue to serve the Chinatown community. We request the public's support by signing our petition and joining us for the hearing on July 15th, 3PM, at 1650 Mission Street, Suite 400, Room 431(A).
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
July 13, 2015
39 Comments
Having visited 1920C I conclude that this entity: * attracts new visitors to Chinatown district through events and services provided * creates additional foot traffic and economic activity for businesses located on Grant Ave and neighboring streets * serves women and minority entrepreneurs who would otherwise be priced out of San Francisco
I support the business model that 1920c represents and believe it is the closest thing to the old Kearny Street Workshop which was established in the 1960s in Chinatown.
I believe that these kinds of co-working spaces are not only visionary, they are vital to sustaining and growing the strength of our area's community and its culture. --K. DiPirro, Stanford Professor
On my way to 1920c, I walked through historic Chinatown and inadvertently walked past the entrance to this building because it fit in so well. This space upholds the the qualities and values of the neighborhood in which it resides by pushing for a sense of community and togetherness. At the same time, 1920c channels the neighborhood's historic past and strives to re-affirm the adventurous and hardy spirit that once ran rampant within what we today call Chinatown.
It is a great space with an innovative mission that offers several useful services to the community. It would be a shame to force it to convert into another tourist trap trinket store. We clearly have enough of those. This is an actual place a tourist or visitor can use, and the other uses, the gallery and events in particular, will bring people to the neighborhood and serve the community.
1920C is a breath of fresh air within the Chinatown community. It's three strong female founders took an longtime empty second floor space and turned it into a beautiful thriving place full of hardworking people, classes, art, and more. And as someone who used to work in pop-up retail, 1920C is a dream. I'll never understand why their presence is controversial. Jenny is passionate about the positive impact she could have on the people and businesses in the area, and has more than delivered during the first couple months of operation. Shame on the city for turning something this well intentioned into a political nightmare.
I support 1920C
Hooray for affordable space for career develooment. What SF needs more of at the times where wealth is concentrated among 1%.
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Having visited 1920C I conclude that this entity: * attracts new visitors to Chinatown district through events and services provided * creates additional foot traffic and economic activity for businesses located on Grant Ave and neighboring streets * serves women and minority entrepreneurs who would otherwise be priced out of San Francisco