South of Market, San Francisco

"SoMa" redirects here. For the SoMa in Vancouver, see South Main. For the Roach & Rich album, see Soma (Steve Roach & Robert Rich album).
South of Market
Neighborhood

Buildings in the South of Market neighborhood
Nickname(s): SoMa
South of Market

Location within Central San Francisco

Coordinates: 37°46′38″N 122°24′40″W / 37.77722°N 122.41111°W / 37.77722; -122.41111Coordinates: 37°46′38″N 122°24′40″W / 37.77722°N 122.41111°W / 37.77722; -122.41111
Country  United States
State  California
City-county San Francisco
Government
 • Supervisor Jane Kim
 • Assemblymember David Chiu (D)[1]
 • State senator Mark Leno (D)[1]
 • U. S. rep. Nancy Pelosi (D)[2]
Area[3]
 • Total 0.635 sq mi (1.64 km2)
 • Land 0.635 sq mi (1.64 km2)
Population [3]
 • Total 11,457
 • Density 18,000/sq mi (7,000/km2)
Time zone Pacific (UTC−8)
 • Summer (DST) PDT (UTC−7)
ZIP code 94103
Area codes 415/628

South of Market (or SoMa) is a relatively large neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States which is located just south of Market Street, and contains several sub-neighborhoods including: South Beach, Mission Bay, and Rincon Hill.

SoMa is home to many of the city's museums, to the headquarters of several major software and Internet companies, and to the Moscone Conference Center.

Name and location

The area's boundaries are Market Street to the northwest, San Francisco Bay to the northeast, Mission Creek to the southeast, and Division Street, 13th Street and U.S. Route 101 (Central Freeway) to the southwest.[4] It is the part of the city in which the street grid runs parallel and perpendicular to Market Street. The neighborhood includes many smaller sub-neighborhoods such as: South Park, Yerba Buena,[5] South Beach, and Financial District South (part of the Financial District), and overlaps with several others, notably Mission Bay, and the Mission District.

As with many neighborhoods, the precise boundaries of the South of Market area are fuzzy and can vary widely depending on the authority cited. From 1848 until the construction of the Central Freeway in the 1950s, 9th Street (formerly known as Johnston Street) was the official (and generally recognized) boundary between SoMa and the Mission District.[6][7] Since the 1950s, the boundary has been either 10th Street,[8] 11th Street,[9] or the Central Freeway. Similarly, the entire Mission Bay neighborhood may or may not be counted as part of SoMa,[10] Excluding the entire Mission Bay neighborhood puts the southeastern boundary at Townsend. Redevelopment agencies, social service agencies, and community activists frequently exclude the more prosperous areas between the waterfront and 3rd Street. Some social service agencies and nonprofits count the economically distressed area around 6th, 7th, and 8th streets as part of the Mid-Market Corridor.

The terms "South of Market" and "SoMa" refer to both a comparatively large district of the city[11] as well as a much smaller neighborhood.[12] The smaller neighborhood apparently consists of the largest contiguous portion of the South of Market area that, at any given point in time, is in the early stages of gentrification, and still retains much of the older character of the larger district.

While many San Franciscans refer to the neighborhood by its full name, South of Market, there is a trend to shorten the name to SOMA or SoMa, probably in reference to SoHo (South of Houston) in New York City, and, in turn, Soho in London.

Before being called South of Market this area was called "South of the Slot", a reference to the cable cars that ran up and down Market along the slots through which they gripped cables. While the cable cars have long since disappeared from Market Street, some "old timers" still refer to this area as "South of the Slot".[9]

Since 1847, the official name of the South of Market area has been the "100 Vara Survey" (alternately "100 Vara District") or simply "100 Vara" for short (with "100" sometimes spelled out). Since the mid-20th century,[13] the official name has been gradually forgotten, and today is found mainly in history books, legal documents,[14] title deeds, and civil engineering reports.[15]

History

In 1847 Washington A. Bartlett, alcalde (magistrate) of the pueblo (village) of San Francisco, commissioned surveyor Jasper O'Farrell to extend the boundaries of the pueblo in a southerly direction by creating a new subdivision. At the time, the streets of San Francisco were aligned approximately with the compass points, running north to south, or east to west. Each block was divided into six lots 50 varas on a side. (A vara is about 33 inches (84 cm).) O'Farrell decided that the streets in the new subdivision should run parallel with or perpendicular to the only existing road in the area, Mission Road (later Mission Street), and thus be aligned with the half-points of the compass, i.e., northeast to southwest, and northwest to southeast. He also decided to make the new blocks twice as long and twice as wide, with each lot 100 varas on a side. Finally, O'Farrell created "a grand promenade" linking the old pueblo with the new subdivision, Market Street.[16] Since then, downtown San Francisco north of Lower Market Street has been officially known as 50 Vara, while the South of Market area is officially known as 100 Vara.[13]

During the mid-19th century, SOMA became a burgeoning pioneer community, consisting largely of low-density residential buildings, except for a business district that developed along 2nd and 3rd streets, and emerging industrial areas near the waterfront. Rincon Hill became an enclave for the wealthy, while nearby South Park became an enclave for the upper middle class.[17] By the early 20th century, heavy industrial development due to its proximity to the docks of San Francisco Bay, coupled with the advent of cable cars, had driven the wealthy over to Nob Hill and points west. The neighborhood became a largely working-class and lower-middle-class community of recent European immigrants, sweatshops, power stations, flophouses, and factories.

The 1906 earthquake completely destroyed the area, and many of the quake's fatalities occurred there. Following the quake, the area was rebuilt with wider than usual streets, as the focus was on the development of light to heavy industry. The construction of the Bay Bridge and U.S. Route 101 during the 1930s saw large swaths of the area demolished, including most of the original Rincon Hill.[18]

From the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, the South of Market area was served by several streetcar lines owned by the Market Street Railway Company, including the No. 14 Mission Street electric railway line, the No. 27 Bryant Street line, the 28 Harrison, 35 Howard, 36 Folsom, 41 Second and Market, and the No. 42 First and Fifth Street line.[19]

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, South of Market was home not only to warehousing and light industry, but also to a sizable population of transients, seamen, other working men living in hotels, and a working-class residential population in old Victorian buildings on smaller side streets and alleyways giving it a "skid row" reputation.[20]

The waterfront redevelopment of the Embarcadero in the 1950s pushed a new population into this area in the 1960s, the incipient gay community, and the leather community in particular. From 1962 until 1982, the gay leather community grew and thrived throughout South of Market, most visibly along Folsom Street, since it was a warehouse area that was largely deserted at night.[21] Site of various sex clubs and bars, it was the sexual center of San Francisco during this period.[22] This community had been active in resisting the City's ambitious redevelopment program for the area throughout the 1970s. But as the AIDS epidemic unfolded in the 1980s, the ability of this community to stand up to downtown and City Hall was dramatically weakened. The crisis became an opportunity for the City (in the name of public health) to close bathhouses and regulate bars - businesses that had been the cornerstone of the community's efforts to maintain a gay space in the South of Market neighborhood.[20]

In 1984, as these spaces for the gay community were rapidly closing, a coalition of housing activists and community organizers started the Folsom Street Fair, in order to enhance the visibility of the community at a time when people in City Hall and elsewhere were apt to think it had gone away. The fair also provided a means for much-needed fundraising, and created opportunities for members of the leather community to connect to services and vital information (e.g., regarding safer sex) which bathhouses and bars might otherwise have been ideally situated to distribute.[20]

Redevelopment plans were first outlined in 1953. These plans began to be realized in the late 1970s and in the early 1980s with the construction of the conference center, Moscone Center, which occupies three blocks and hosts many major trade shows. Moscone South opened its doors in December 1981. Moscone North opened in May 1992, and most recently Moscone West in June 2003.

With the opening of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1995, the Mission and Howard Street area of the South of Market has become a hub for museums and performances spaces.

The area has long been home to bars and nightclubs. During the 1980s and 1990s, some of the warehouses there served as the home to the city's budding underground rave, punk, and independent music scene. However, in recent decades, and mostly due to gentrification and rising rents, these establishments have begun to cater to an upscale and mainstream clientele that subsequently pushed out the underground musicians and their scene. Beginning in the 1990s, older housing stock has been joined by loft-style condominiums. Many of these were built under the cover of "live-work" development ostensibly meant to maintain a studio arts community in San Francisco. During the late 1990s, the occupant of the "live-work" loft was more likely to be a "dot-commie", as South of Market became a local center of the dot-com boom, due to its central location, space for infill housing development, and spaces readily converted into offices.[23]

The Moscone Center.
The South Beach Section of SOMA as well as AT&T Park
South Park in the SOMA District

A major transformation of the neighborhood was conceived during the 2000s with the Transbay Terminal Replacement Project, which broke ground in August 2010, and is planned to be open by 2017. In addition, new high rise residential projects like One Rincon Hill, 300 Spear Street, and Millennium Tower are transforming the San Francisco skyline. In 2005, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority proposed to raise height limits around the new Transbay Terminal.[24] This led to proposals for more supertall buildings, such as Renzo Piano's proposal for a group of towers that includes two 1,200-foot. (366 m) towers, two 900-foot (274 m) towers, and a 600-foot (183 m) tower. The 1,200-foot (366 m) towers would have been the tallest buildings in the United States outside of New York City and Chicago.[25][26] Renzo Piano's complex has since been cancelled, and replaced by a newer project entitled 50 First Street, to be designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). In addition, the Cesar Pelli and Hines Group have also proposed another 1,070-foot (366 m), 61-story office tower.[27] The Salesforce Tower, formerly named the Transbay Tower, as it is referred to, is under construction, and will be completed by 2017 at the earliest.

Characteristics

The neighborhood consists of warehouses, auto repair shops, nightclubs, residential hotels, art spaces, loft apartments, furniture showrooms, condominiums and technology companies.[28] A major children's park was also built for the area on top of Moscone South. The park features a large play area, an ice skating rink, a bowling alley, a restaurant, the Children's Creativity Museum[29] and the restored carousel[30] from Playland-At-the-Beach. The children's park and Children's Creativity Museum are joined to the Yerba Buena Gardens by a footbridge.

Businesses

Many major software and technology companies have headquarters here, including Ustream,[31] Planet Labs,[32] Foursquare,[33] CloudFlare,[34][35] Wikia, Wired, GitHub, Pinterest,[36] CBS Interactive,[37] LinkedIn, Trulia, Cleanify, Dropbox,[38] IGN, Salesforce.com,[39] BitTorrent Inc., Yelp,[40] Zynga,[41] Airbnb,[42] Uber[43] and Advent Software.[44][45] The area is also home to the few Big-box stores in San Francisco such as Costco, REI, Nordstrom Rack, and Best Buy.

Cultural centers

SOMA is home to many of San Francisco's museums, including San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA),[46] the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts,[47] and the Museum of the African Diaspora.[48] The Cartoon Art Museum,[49] the Zeum, and the Contemporary Jewish Museum[50] are also in the Yerba Buena area. The Old Mint, which served as the San Francisco Mint from 1874 to 1937, was restored over an eight-year period and reopened to the public in 2012. The Center for the Arts, along with Yerba Buena Gardens and the Metreon, is built on top of Moscone North.

Many small theater companies and venues are situated in the SOMA, including the Lamplighters,[51] The Garage,[52] Theatre Rhinoceros,[53] Boxcar Theater,[54] Crowded Fire Theater,[55] and FoolsFURY Theater,[56]

Events

Due to the area's gay rights history, the Folsom Street Fair is held on Folsom St between 7th and 12th streets.[57] The smaller and less-commercialized leather subculture-oriented Up Your Alley Fair (commonly referred to as the Dore Alley Fair) is held in late July on and around Folsom St.[58] Also home to the annual How Weird Street Faire featuring dancing and costumes, held in early May along seven city blocks including Howard and Second streets.[59]

Public health

Public health facilities in the area include the South of Market Health Center.[60] In terms of sexual health, the district's San Francisco City Clinic offers sexually transmitted disease (STD) tests and treatment, in addition to counseling and condoms.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Statewide Database". UC Regents. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ "California's 12th Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC.
  3. 1 2 "South Of Market (SOMA) neighborhood in San Francisco, California (CA), 94103 subdivision profile - real estate, apartments, condos, homes, community, population, jobs, income, streets". City-data.com. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  4. ↑ "SF Planning Dept., Historic Context Statement South of Market Area (2009)". Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  5. ↑ "Neighborhood Map". Yerba Buena Alliance.
  6. ↑ Zoeth Skinner Eldredge, The beginnings of San Francisco, vol. 2, pp. 740-741
  7. ↑ "Mery's Block Book of San Francisco (1909)". Archive.org. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  8. ↑ United States. "SoMa page". Wcities.com. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  9. 1 2 "SoMa — San Francisco Neighborhoods — Travel — SFGate". The San Francisco Chronicle. 2011-10-26.
  10. ↑ Sabrina Crawford, Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to And Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, p. 51. Books.google.com. 2006-01-31. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  11. ↑ Justinsomnia.org SF neighborhood map
  12. ↑ San Francisco Planning Dept. - General Plan - South of Market Planning Area, map 1
  13. 1 2 "Journal of proceedings, Board of Supervisors, City and County of San Francisco, Volume 40, Issue 1 (January 1945), p. 46". Archive.org. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  14. ↑ "block book page from the County Recorder-Assessor's Office showing Block 3775 (100 Vara Block 359, i.e., South Park)" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  15. ↑ "Thomas G. Matoff, Memorandum to SFMTA dated April 27, 2006" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  16. ↑ Theodore Henry Hittell, History of California, Volume 2 (1897) pp. 596-7
  17. ↑ "View from Rincon Hill, 1856". Foundsf.org. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  18. ↑ "Rincon Hill Area Plan". City & County of San Francisco. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  19. ↑ Walt Vielbaum, Philip Hoffman, Grant Ute, San Francisco's Market Street Railway, pp. 4, 7. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  20. 1 2 3 Rubin, Gayle. "The Miracle Mile: South of Market and Gay Male Leather, 1962-1997" in Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics, Culture (City Light Books, 1998).
  21. ↑ Mick Sinclair, San Francisco: A Cultural and Literary History, Interlink, 2003, ISBN 1566564891, p. 220
  22. ↑ Gayle S. Rubin, "The Miracle Mile. South of Market and Gay Male Leather, 1962-1997", in Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics, Culture, edited by James Brook, Chris Carlsson, Nancy J. Peters, San Francisco, City Lights, 2001, ISBN 0872863352, pp. 247-272.
  23. ↑ "36 Hours in SoMa, San Francisco" http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/travel/escapes/03hour.html?8hpib
  24. ↑ Fancher, Emily (2006-05-26). "Transbay proposal includes possible tallest building on West Coast". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  25. ↑ King, John (2006-12-21). "Proposal to build two massive towers in SF". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  26. ↑ King, John (2006-12-22). "Sky's the limit South of Market 4 of developers' proposed high-rises would've taller than anything else in S.F.". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  27. ↑ King, John (2007-09-21). "'Aggressive schedule' for proposed Transbay transit center, tower". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  28. ↑ "South of Market Business Association Directory". SOMBA South of Market Business Association. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  29. ↑ "Children’s Creativity Museum". Children's Creativity Museum. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  30. ↑ "Yerba Buena Gardens Map". Yerba Buenna Gardens. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  31. ↑ Patrick Hoge (20 April 2012). "Ustream downsizes S.F. offices". San Francisco Business Times. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  32. ↑ "Planet Labs Raises $95 Million Financing". SpaceRef. SpaceRef Interactive Inc. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  33. ↑ Alexia Tsotsis (10 June 2011). "Foursquare (Finally) Checks In To Its Very Own SOMA Office [Pics]". TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  34. ↑ "Terms of Service." CloudFlare. Retrieved on August 3, 2015. "665 3rd St. #200 San Francisco, CA 94107 USA"
  35. ↑ "Contact." Founders Den. Retrieved on August 3, 2015. "Founders Den is located in an 8500 sqft facility in the heart of SoMa[...]665 3rd St., Suite 150, San Francisco, CA 94107."
  36. ↑ Michael (May 2014). "Pinterest’s trendy headquarters in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood". Officelovin'. Officelovin'. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  37. ↑ J.K. Dineen (30 October 2013). "A decade in the making, SoMa's Foundry Square nears completion". San Francisco Business Times. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  38. ↑ "Dropbox Leases 100% of Kilroy Realty’s New Office Development Project at 333 Brannan Street in San Francisco’s SOMA District" (Press release). Business Wire. Business Wire. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  39. ↑ Andrew Dalton (22 April 2014). "LinkedIn Plans To Lease Entire 26-Story Office Tower In SoMa". SFist. Gothamist. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  40. ↑ Colleen Taylor (5 August 2014). "TC Cribs: Yelp’s Five Star San Francisco HQ". TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  41. ↑ MG Siegler (24 September 2010). "Mafia Wars: SoMa — Zynga Gets A Massive New Office Right Near Us". TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  42. ↑ Eva Hagberg (December 2013). "Rooms with a View". Metropolis Magazine. Metropolis Magazine. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  43. ↑ Ryan Lawler (15 March 2013). "See, Uber — This Is What Happens When You Cannibalize Yourself". TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  44. ↑ J.K. Dineen (2 February 2012). "San Francisco's hottest 'hood? Try TriSoMa". San Francisco Business Times. American Business Journals. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  45. ↑ Kevin Kelly (16 April 2013). "SoMa Dreams: Your Future Is in the Hands of Wired’s Entrepreneur Neighbors". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  46. ↑ "Visit SFMOMA". San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  47. ↑ "Yerba Buena Center for the Arts". Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  48. ↑ "Museum of the African Diaspora". Museum of African Diaspora. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  49. ↑ "Cartoon Art Museum". Cartoon Art Museum. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  50. ↑ "Contemporary Jewish Museum.". Contemporary Jewish Museum. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  51. ↑ "Lamplighters Music Theatre". Lamplighters Music Theatre. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  52. ↑ "The Garage moved to SAFEhouseArts". SAFEhouse Arts. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  53. ↑ "Theatre Rhinoceros". Theatre Rhinoceros. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  54. ↑ "Boxcar Theatre". Boxcar Theatre. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  55. ↑ "Crowded Fire Theater". Crowded Fire Theater. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  56. ↑ "foolsFURY". foolsFURY Theatre Company. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  57. ↑ "Folsom Street Fair The world's Biggest Leather Event". Fulsom Street Fair. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  58. ↑ "The Dirty 30-Year History of the Up Your Alley Fair (AKA Dore Alley)". Gothamist LLC. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  59. ↑ "How Weird Street Faire 2010 - San Francisco".
  60. ↑ "South of Market Health Center". Smhcsf.org. Retrieved 2011-11-15.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South of Market, San Francisco.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for San_Francisco/SoMa.
 Financial District Embarcadero and South Beach China Basin
Tenderloin and Civic Center Mission Bay
   South of Market  
Lower Haight and The Castro Mission District Dogpatch and Potrero Hill
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