San Francisco Views: SoMa

05/26/2003 English German

Edition # 44
San Francisco, 05-26-2003

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San Francisco Views: SoMa

Figure [1]: The "SoMa" on the city map of San Francisco

Michael Every year, millions of tourists come to San Francisco, amusingly always visiting the same attractions: they go to Fisherman's Wharf, eat a hollowed-out sourdough bread bowl filled with clam chowder, and get startled by the homeless man who, for years, has been startling people by jumping out from behind a bush>http://www.anvari.org/photos/200305c/Bush_Man_4.html>jumping out from behind a bush.

Then they take a look at the seals in front of the Wharf and head over to Alcatraz, if there are still tickets available. With the Cable Car, they go back to Union Square, where all the department stores are located. They buy a pair of Levi's jeans in the store on Powell, where the salespeople now even speak German, and stroll into the Virgin MegaStore to purchase a CD that would actually be cheaper in Germany. Finally, they squeeze into the Hard Rock Cafe to add a "Hard Rock Cafe San Francisco" shirt to their T-shirt collection at home. That's all well and good, but it's far from everything San Francisco has to offer.

Figure [2]: Scaffolding in the SoMa/Harbor District.

Figure [3]: Warehouse in the SoMa/Harbor District.

As a tourist, you naturally don't have the time, perspective, or coolness to explore the more quirky neighborhoods -- and that's why, starting today, the newsletter is introducing the new series "San Francisco Views," in which the intrepid reporters fearlessly comb through the lesser-known districts and present some unusual perspectives of this fascinating city.

Today: "South of Market," the neighborhood south of Market Street -- or SoMa, as it's called by the natives. However, just to reiterate: Don't get the idea of calling San Francisco "Frisco" -- it's so frowned upon that if someone tells me they've driven into "Frisco," I innocently ask for an explanation of what they mean by that.

Figure [4]: SoMa: Trash can on Howard Street

Figure [5]: SoMa: Auto Repair Shop

The SoMa is a warehouse district with some medium-sized industry. It borders a harbor area and the somewhat more residential "Potrero Hill" neighborhood. Wandering around on foot in SoMa can be a bit tiring because the cross-street distances are much larger than in the downtown area. However, it's incredibly fun to ride a bike around the flat district, especially in the evening of a sunny day, as the light is incredibly beautiful then.

Figure [6]: SoMa: Homeless person sleeps in the entrance.

Figure [7]: SoMa: Advertising and Street Cleaning Signs

I'm not entirely sure what fascinates me so much about these run-down low-wage joints. These unadorned industrial buildings seem to remind me of something--probably the fact that I often worked as a laborer in such companies during my school days. Or perhaps they remind me of Bukowski's stories, where he got by as a dockworker and slaughterhouse employee.

During the dot-com boom of the late nineties, it was incredibly trendy to live in SoMa. Yuppies rented lofts, which were factories converted into apartments. Alongside the yuppies came fancy shops and excellent, albeit expensive, restaurants. However, since questionable crowds also tended to hang around in SoMa, the shops usually closed at nightfall and let down heavy iron grates.

Figure [8]: Beer advertisement behind concrete wall

Figure [9]: SoMa: Shards of glass from a smashed car window

The restaurants and bars struggled with the problem that the large limousines, in which the yuppies arrived, were sometimes damaged or maliciously scratched. It was once even reported that two petty criminals had posed as valet parkers (Rundbrief 06/1999)!.

With the collapse of the dot-com economy, the yuppie crowd disappeared, and many of the restaurants and shops had to close down. But a few held on, here are two insider tips: the "Southpark Cafe" and "Bizou," both French restaurants in SoMa, a bit pricey, but really good.

Figure [10]: SoMa: Closed Auto Repair Shop

Figure [11]: SoMa: In Winter When It Rains

The architecture in SoMa is incredibly ugly -- a comparable neighborhood in Germany would have no appeal to me. However, in San Francisco, even the plainest industrial design is charming when the sun shines. And it's only the untidiness, the makeshift nature, and the latent criminality that make SoMa attractive -- for those who like it.

The SoMa is my second favorite neighborhood, only surpassed by the "Mission," the Mexican neighborhood around the corner from us. But we'll save that for a new episode of "San Francisco Views." Until then, I'll give you the homework of studying the many distinctive street names and their origins in the nice summary San Francisco Street Names.