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South of Market is a huge
district, sprawling from the
Embarcadero to Eleventh
Street, between Market and
Townsend. The neighborhood
is a patchwork of
warehouses, swanky
nightspots, residential
hotels, art spaces, loft
apartments, furniture
showrooms and the tenacious
Internet companies that
survived the tech market
collapse. Although a lot of
building has gone on in
recent years, it is still
not densely developed. You
can walk several desolate
blocks before suddenly
finding a hopping
restaurant. SF MOMA
Most of the action can be
found in three general
areas: by South Park and the
Giants ballpark, around the
SF MOMA and Yerba Buena
gardens, and over by Folsom
and Eleventh Street. SoMa,
as it's known, sounds a
little like a SoHo wannabe,
and it does have a strong
downtown vibe. However, the
name has its roots in the
old nickname "South of the
Slot," referring to its
position on the "wrong side"
of the Market Street cable
car track when it was an
industrial district of
factories and Gold Rush
immigrant workers.
These days the industry most
associated with South of
Market has to do with that
other Gold Rush: the dot com
boom. Once buzzing with
purple-haired programmers
and hobnobbing young
executives, South Park is
noticeably more subdued
since the Internet companies
started closing shop, and
probably all the more
pleasant for it. The grassy
square is a nice place to
walk your dog or eat a
sandwich, and is bordered by
several good shops and
restaurants. In the summer
the area gets more foot
traffic as packs of Giants
fans head for the ballpark.
A handful of new restaurants
have also opened to serve
this crowd.
The western end of the
district is the most
industrial, and is dominated
by huge wholesale marts and
superstores like Costco and
Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Originally this made it an
ideal zone for loud
nightclubs, but as SoMa has
become more residential some
of the clubs have had
trouble with noise
complaints. However, this
hasn't kept a crop of
newcomers like Butter and
Wish from opening in the
past few years. The stretch
along Eleventh and Folsom is
the heart of the gay leather
and S&M scene, which has its
roots in the Folsom Street
"Miracle Mile" of gay clubs
and bathhouses in the '70s.
This is also the site of the
annual fetish bonanza of the
Folsom Street Fair. Yerba
Buena
The area around Market and
Third Street is more well
heeled, influenced by the
nearby Financial District
and conventions at the
Moscone Center. Several of
the city's arts
organizations are located
here, including the SF MOMA,
the Center for the Arts at
Yerba Gardens and the
California Historical
Society. It has a bohemian
undercurrent, with the
museums, several independent
bookstores, the line of
artsy clubbers waiting to
get into the gallery and
club 111 Minna, and students
from the Academy of Art
slouching around the Utrecht
art supply store on New
Montgomery.
South of Market has been
under redevelopment for
decades -- the original plan
for the Yerba Buena complex
was first submitted in 1966.
New plans are now underway
to make SoMa more accessible
from the Market Street
shopping district. A
pedestrian promenade, Yerba
Buena Lane, will connect
Market Street to Yerba Buena
Gardens, and a $380 million
Bloomingdale's shopping
center is going into the old
Emporium store, encouraging
shoppers to "cross the
tracks" and venture south of
Union Square.
The SoMa district is large
and spread out, so if you do
find yourself South of the
Slot, it helps to know where
you're going. The zone
around Sixth and Mission can
be sketchy if you're walking
alone, and at the very least
the unschooled wanderer
could come away with an
impression of nothing more
than highway overpasses and
warehouses. Target your
exploration in the pockets
of culture around Yerba
Buena, South Park and
Eleventh Street, and you'll
be sure to stumble upon lots
of hidden treasures and
funky urban charm.
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