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| CATEGORIES ABOUT SOUTH OF MARKET, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA | |
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.]] South of Market was originally a warehouse district, with longer blocks than other parts of the city. Today, in addition to warehouses, there are a great many bars and nightclubs, restaurants, and residential lofts in the area. Since the 1950s , South of Market has been a center for the leather subculture of the Gay community. At the end of each September the Folsom Street Fair is held on Folsom Street between 7th and 12th Streets. The smaller and less commercialized but also leather subculture-oriented Up Your Alley Fair (commonly referred to as the Dore Alley Fair) is also held in the neighborhood, in late July on Folsom between 9th and 10th Streets and in Dore Alley between Folsom and Howard. During the late 1990s , South of Market was known for being a local center of the Dot-com Boom , due to its central location and relatively cheap housing and office space. Especially near the waterfront, Yerba Buena Gardens and Financial District, South of Market is rapidly gentrifying, with a large number of new residential high-rises and hotels. Because of its historic blue-collar nature, South of Market is also an area of settlement for new immigrants. Entire communities made their homes in the district--from Irish American s and Italian American s to Greek American s. Presently the largest migrant group living in South of Market are Filipino American s. The conference center, Moscone Center , occupies 3 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 Yerba Buena Center region of the South of Market has become a hub for museums. Other museums in the area include the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts , the Museum Of The African Diaspora , the Cartoon Art Museum , the children's Zeum , and the temporary home of the California Academy Of Sciences . The planned sites for the Contemporary Jewish Museum and the Mexican Museum are also in the Yerba Buena area. The Center for the Arts, along with Yerba Buena Gardens and the Sony Metreon , is built on top of Moscone North. Across Howard Street, built on top of Moscone South, is a children's park featuring a large play area, an Ice Skating rink, a Bowling alley, a restaurant, the Zeum, and the restored Merry-go-round from Playland At The Beach . The children's park and Zeum are joined to Yerba Buena Gardens by a foot bridge over Howard Street. A major transformation of the neighborhood is planned with the . Many people 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 . However, many San Franciscans prefer to refer to the neighborhood by its full name, South of Market. Before being called South of Market this area was called "South of the Slot". The reason being that cable cars used to run on Market Street and the cable car tracks have a center slot where the cable car attaches to the cable. While the cable cars have long since disappeared some "old timers" still refer to this area as "South of the Slot". SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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