Mission District anti-eviction protesters take over SF City Hall

Protesters wore red T-shirts that said "Just Cause" as they chanted "Whose house? Our house" and "We're here to stop evictions" inside City Hall's rotunda Friday. A small drum and horn band played outside.

The protesters want a one-year halt on tenant evictions in the diverse Mission District and a two-year moratorium on construction of gleaming condos and other market-rate developments.

Patricia Davis, 56, has lived in public housing in the Mission since 2006 and said much of the new housing in the area consists of condominiums that older people and people with families can't afford.

"I'm here because we need more affordable housing," she said.

Oscar Palma, 25, lives in the city's Inner Richmond neighborhood and said he's had friends evicted and forced to leave the city.

"We just want everyone to live in San Francisco who wants to live in San Francisco, and to have a fair chance," he said.

Housing prices in San Francisco are among the highest in the country, fueled by a technology jobs boom in Silicon Valley and in parts of San Francisco. Young technology workers particularly like the Mission neighborhood, where they can hop company shuttles to go to work at places such as Google or Facebook while living near plenty of eateries and bars, including upscale spots.

The district has lost lower-income and middle-income households, according to a recent study by the nonprofit Council of Community Housing Organizations. Families with households making $50,000 to $75,000 made up a quarter of Mission households in 2000; now they make up 13 percent while households with incomes of at least $100,000 have increased.