SoMa (South of Market Street)

The area known as SoMa, short for "South of Market," is an expansive San Francisco district that spreads out between Market and Townsend from the Embarcadero to Eleventh Street. Its streets are lined with a mix of warehouses, showrooms for furniture and art, residential hotels, loft apartments, restaurants, nightspots, and dot-com companies.

Two must-see attractions here are the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants professional baseball team. Other sightseeing stops include the Yerba Buena Gardens complex with its museums and peaceful gardens; the Cartoon Art Museum founded by the late Charles Shultz; and Alice Street Community Gardens where a nine-story painting entitled "Manila Village Mural" is located, as well as the landmark Fourth Street and Francis "Lefty" O'Doul bridges.

Much of SoMa has bohemian atmosphere, as popular with bankers from the Financial District as it is with stylish clubbers and struggling art students. Convention-goers from Moscone Center may be seen dining at restaurants alongside leather and fetish buyers visiting the annual Folsom Street Fair during Leather Pride Week. A good starting point for any visit to SoMa is the California Historical Society. It is located at 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, California 94105.