SoHo

Art
Bars and Restaurants
History
Shopping
Typical Neighborhood

Romane

Published on 19/03/2025

This point of interest is available as audio on the tour: Visit New York, The Towers of Wall Street

Welcome to SoHo, Lower Manhattan’s trendiest neighborhood! It’s packed with boutiques, restaurants, and cafes that are well worth checking out. No wonder it’s one of New York’s most popular neighborhoods! It’s also a prime location for movie shoots – you might just stumble upon a street closed for filming! But SoHo wasn’t always so fashionable. Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was the city’s industrial district, also known as “Hell’s Hundred Acres.” Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it? Things started to change in the ’60s and ’70s. The old industrial buildings were transformed into lofts and studios, attracting up-and-coming New York artists who were drawn to the affordable rents. By the ’90s, SoHo was home to no fewer than 300 art galleries, becoming a hub for artists and attracting visitors from all over the world. This popularity led to rising rents, forcing artists to relocate, as SoHo grew into a trendy area, with high-end stores and restaurants catering to the ever-growing number of tourists. Today, it’s a shopper’s paradise in a neighborhood that has nevertheless retained its old-world charm, thanks to the colorful cast-iron buildings that recall its industrial past. Its name is no coincidence – it’s short for “South of Houston Street,” referring to a street that once ran along the northern edge of the district.