The Tenderloin is still the gritty home to homeless shelters, SROs, and a large immigrant population, but as of late, the neighborhood’s cheap rents are also drawing in a fresh surge of young artists and hipsters who are fleeing the pricier Mission district and staking their claim. The influx explains the trendy galleries, artsy boutiques, and candlelit wine bars, which have been sprouting up as fast as cheap Indian and Pakistani restaurants have in the past decade, as well as the neighborhood’s latest moniker, the Trendyloin. Bickering is already building over who has “real art” and who claimed the ’loin first. The area is historically no stranger to artists and subcultures: it is, after all, where speakeasies and gin joints flourished and the gay counterculture got its San Francisco start. “This will definitely be the new Mission,” says Gilberto Duncan, co-owner of Olive, an art bar on Larkin and one of the neighborhood’s first ritzy pioneers. “It almost already is.”

SHOP FRONTS
Rebecca Vandersteen may call the electro-clash clothing at Venus Superstar "vintage makeover," but with clothes by hip designers like I. Kohl and Tongue Cut Sparrow, this is no thrift shop. "I get lots of socialites and party girls coming in," says Vandersteen. "They like the one-of-a-kind thing." 1112 Sutter St.

Everything at the Splitculture Modern Design Studio—from the hip-hop artwork to the modern furniture—is limited edition, made exclusively for the store. 901 Post St.

When Dave Chappelle and Mos Def came to town, they visited Huf, where owner and professional skateboarder Keith Hufnagel stocks rare throwback Nike and Adidas sneakers. The guys behind the counter are as shoe obsessed as their clientele: "The prerequisite for working here is to give all your money away to Nike," jokes Asa, one of the shoe slingers. 808 Sutter St.

Camp filmmaker John Waters has spent hours browsing the collection of vintage pulp paperbacks like Sex by Bingo and Murder for the Holidays at Kayo Books. 814 Post St.

WHAT IT COSTS
...to rent: $795 for a studio apartment at 424 Jones St.
...to buy: $325,000 for a 520-square-foot condo at 631 O'Farrell St.

THE GRUB
Former Rubicon chef Dennis Leary brings high-end cuisine to an old-school diner at Canteen, where the revamped booths get booked months in advance. 817 Sutter St.

Shalimar has a cafeteria feel and a BYOB policy that invites brown-bagged 40-ouncers, but it also serves some of the best aloo paratha and paneer masala in town. 532 Jones St.

Even the TL's new trust-fund bohos are hoocked on the $3.60 burger-and-fries deal at the Golden Coffee diner. 901 Sutter St.

ONLY HERE
The monthly parties at Mila, celebrating the release of T-shirts by California artists like Ibi Oluwole and Social Studies, draw crowds of fashion designers and party hounds. 646 Hyde St.

ON THIS SPOT
In the 1920s, Dashiell Hammett was a Tenderloin fixture, scouring the neighborhood around his apartment as a private eye and gathering fodder for his future noir mysteries. 891 Post St.

THE TALK
Luxury hotel owner and homeless advocates, who are usually at odds, looked like they had found middle ground with the news that the buildings at Ellis and Mason would contain affordable housing and a tourist-luring conference center. Unfortunately, the deal collapsed when a developer could not be found, though 134 low-income units will still be built. Some hoteliers worry about an increase in panhandling. "Affordable housing is probably a good thing," says Patrick Lane of the Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel. "But not in our backyard."

HANGOUTS
The crowd lounges in sunken couches and drinks by the black pool table at Café Royale, where owner Kate Dumbelton lets artists use her studio space for free. 800 Post St.

From the outside, Olive looks like a dive, but through its heavy wooden doors lies a Williamsburg-worthy bar where artist-friendly owner Gilberto Duncan serves up custom cocktails like the Kaffir key lime and effen berry martini. 743 Larkin St.

Ethiopia native Kinani Ahmed recently ditched his tech career to open the Nile Cafe. Hookah lovers puff on fruity tobacco, watch soccer matches, and munch on authentic halal dishes like sega ferefer. 544 Jones St.