South Main, or SoMa, is an area of Vancouver that centers around Main Street, and is part of the larger Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. While no official boundary exists for SoMa, its centre is roughly at the intersection of Broadway and Main Street. Its boundaries roughly extend from East 2nd Avenue to East 15th Avenue along Main Street. Recent developments along the nearby Kingsway corridor are extending the boundaries eastwards.[1]. The name is something of a marketing misnomer, as fully 80% of Main Street lies south of the area defined as "South Main"[2]. SoMa is developing quickly and becoming one of the trendier new areas in East Vancouver for living and dining. In addition to being a shortened version of South Main, SoMa also evokes the SoHo (short for "South of Houston" Street) in Manhattan, which in turn is an allusion to the London shopping district of the same name. Another SoMa exists in San Francisco, which refers to the area "South of Market" Street. Soma is also the name of an intoxicating beverage used in a Vedic ritual. These multiple connotations reflect the intent of entrepreneurs and developers to carry out a "relaxed kind of gentrification" in the area to create a cosmopolitan and prosperous commercial district.[3]
Notes
- ^ Georgia Straight article
- ^ http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Main+St,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=13&ll=49.245397,-123.10524&spn=0.043145,0.160675&iwloc=addr
- ^ Vancouver Magazine article, November 2002
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| Main neighbourhoods | Arbutus Ridge • Downtown • Downtown Eastside • Dunbar-Southlands • Fairview • Grandview-Woodland • Hastings-Sunrise • Kensington-Cedar Cottage • Kerrisdale • Killarney • Kitsilano • Marpole • Mount Pleasant • Oakridge • Renfrew-Collingwood • Riley Park-Little Mountain • Shaughnessy • South Cambie • Strathcona • Sunset • Victoria-Fraserview • West End • West Point Grey |  |
| Other areas | Champlain Heights • Chinatown • Coal Harbour • Commercial Drive • Davie Village/Davie District • East Vancouver • False Creek • Gastown • Granville Island • Granville Mall/Granville Entertainment District • Greektown • Hogan's Alley • Japantown • Koreatown • Little Italy • Punjabi Market/Little India • Robson Street • South Granville Rise/Uptown • South Main/SoMa • Stanley Park • University Endowment Lands • Victory Square • Yaletown | |
