3 Miles in West SOMA

 

As a rule, I don't speak negatively about neighborhoods I walk because I know good people live and work in these areas.  HOWEVER, I'm waving the flag on this one.  The route is not safe enough for me to recommend to anyone who doesn't already live and work in the area.  Throwing in a few dozen driverless Jaguars and I felt like a character in one of Ray Bradbury's dystopian stories.  This was just a weird walk...    

 

For everyone's privacy, I did not take any pictures of the people living in this area.  My observation was that locals take cars to and from and don't spend much time on the sidewalks.  As a result, there were long portions of this walk where I was the only pedestrian anyway.

 

SoMa is short for "South Of Market."  Market Street is the central corridor that runs east/west from Twin Peaks through the Financial District to the famed Ferry Building.  The centrally-located SoMa neighborhood from Market Street south to Townsend Street, from Beale Street on the east, all the way to 13th Street on the west.  

It has gone through many transformations over the decades, cycling through various phases of gentrification.  Read about the history of this neighborhood HERE.  Today, it's an interesting mix of  small businesses, large businesses, housing, and car dealerships like Porsche and BMW.

 

Here's the Porsche dealership down on 8th and Bryant.

 

There are some really nice open spaces and modern buildings in this area. 

 

The west side of this neighborhood where I walked is conveniently located near the Central Library, Civic Center, UN Plaza, Bart and Muni lines. There's also a Costco and Trader Joe's nearby.  It would be the PERFECT location to live and work in San Francisco.  EXCEPT...for the encampments along Mission and Market Streets which residents have to navigate everyday.   I noticed more policing this visit than in previous years.  I also understand from locals that some of the biggest encampments have disbanded so the sidewalks are clearing up a little bit.  The area has a ways to go before it feels as safe as the rest of the City, though.

  

Now on to the dystopian aspects of this walk. I noticed a large percentage of public advertising in this neighborhood (and everywhere else in SF) was for AI products.  While I'd like to communicate in full sentences with my lovebird, I can't help but feel the heavy focus on AI and all the modern technology around the City is a movement to erase humanity.

 

That impression was reinforced constantly as I watched hundreds of autonomous Waymo Jaguars prowling around the City, including in this neighborhood.  As I wandered silently along miles of spooky empty sidewalks, with these driverless cars roaming around, I couldn't help but feel I had fallen into Ray Bradbury's short story, The Pedestrian.     

 

 

 

... a copy of which short story you can pick up inside the Main Library on the corner of Hyde and Grove Streets (just north of Market and 8th).