Ten years have passed since the fire that disappeared the apartments and businesses at 22nd and Mission Streets, and killed Mauricio Orellana. Many people continue to suspect landlord arson. Slumlord Hawk Ling Lou inherited the buildings in the 1990s, and owns the now-empty lot, plus about 20 other buildings in San Francisco (some under family members' names).
On May 15, 2025, despite overwhelming community dissent the Planning Commission granted Hawk Ling Lou the permission to build market-rate luxury condos on the space. If they're ever built, they'll be sold to hypothetical newcomers and investors from outside the Mission.
Alejandra Rubio grew up in the Mission and has been following the story of the block since she was a teenager. Now a fellow at Galeria de la Raza, she's archiving the memories of people living in the area through a series of art and a zine, so the history of the block doesn't vanish.
Download the zine
https://alejandrarubio.art/22nd-and-mission-series-of-events
Alejandra's website
https://www.instagram.com/alejandraaaa415/
TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@alejandraaaa415
Al Jazeera article on the fire (Toshio, with Prisca Carpenter, Kentaro Kaneko, and Clio Sady)
Sad Francisco episode on 22nd and Mission, with Christen Cioffi
https://episodes.fm/1653309103/episode/ZWVlYTI1MWUtYzk0YS00ZmRkLTgzMjMtYTIxNmYzMTVjZWJj
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com