SOMA Neighborhood Vibe

Once gritty and industrial. Like its neighbors to the east, though, SOMA has transformed itself into a dynamic and bustling residential neighborhood. The eclectic and bohemian brother to South Beach and Yerba Buena, where you’re just as likely to find a tech startup adjacent to a neighborhood non-profit as you are a historic warehouse building adjacent to a modern luxury building in this black-sheep of a neighborhood.

Popular SOMA Home Styles

Warehouses converted to lofts. Live/work lofts from circa 2k. Modern condo buildings in low-rise buildings. SOMA Grand towers over the neighborhood at around 21 stories. Quirky alleys with wood-frame unit buildings and a few forgotten single-family homes.

Getting Around in SOMA

Served by transit-rich Market Street along the northern neighborhood boundary and bisected by the elevated portion of I-80, streets were designed for semi-trucks. You can walk it, you can bike it, but lately, we don’t suggest driving it because vehicular traffic is painfully slow.

The South of Market area (SOMA) was once a gritty and industrial neighborhood. Like its neighbors to the east, though, SOMA has been transformed over the past 30 years into a dynamic and bustling neighborhood. A bit more eclectic and bohemian than either South Beach or Yerba Buena, it’s a neighborhood where you’re just as likely to find a tech startup adjacent to a neighborhood non-profit as you are a historic warehouse building adjacent to a modern luxury building.

SOMA is home to a fascinating collection of historic buildings. Recent years have seen the arrival of community neighborhood infrastructure that people expect in a residential neighborhood, including grocery stores and updated parks. The area is also subject to a new city plan that envisions lots of new jobs but not as many new homes in the neighborhood.

There are very few free-standing single-family homes, with most homes in SOMA being condos and live/work or conversion lofts. Options for public transit and freeway access are both pretty good. Several of the neighborhood streets serve as feeder streets to both 101 and 80 on-ramps and can be fairly frustrating to navigate during rush hour because of the heavy traffic volumes.