November 13, 2007
MISO Confused
On a recent cab ride to the airport, we picked up the November issue of TODO: Little Guide. Big Town. for kicks. After scanning the restaurant, bar, and shopping guides, we came across a map of San Francisco.
We thought we must be a little behind on all the new neighborhood names, but after scouring the internet for some proof, we were unable to find any other map of the city that designates a neighborhood called MISO. Sure, it's a logical name for the area that borders the Mission and SOMA. But where did this name come from? Is it an official neighborhood name? If you asked Gavin for directions to MISO, would he know what you're talking about? Would he send you to Japantown for some Miso soup?
To our readers who live in "MISO," do you call it "MISO?"
We also find it offensive that a southern part of the city labeled as Pierre Valley (which we've never heard of) is marked on the map. Yet Sunnyside is unmarked and appears to be part of St. Francis Wood. As much as we would love to claim residence in the Wood, it just wouldn't be honest.
When tourist companies and such make these maps, where do they get their information from?
At least when new neighborhood names like Deco Ghetto, located between Hayes Valley and "MISO" were born, they were appropriately acknowledged by SFGate.
What up, TODO? From where do you get these unknown neighborhood names? Are you trying to impress or confuse tourists?
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Me love you long time!!!
/predictable one-liner
Mmmm... miso (soup!)
call it zeitgeist
i live right there. i've never heard miso, and i dont like it.
should the area along the portrero hill / mission border be call mitrero? and since i'm at the nexus of all three neighborhoods, this has potential to cause a huge identity crisis...
Call TODO anything you want, just don't call it a tourist company. When I asked to be taken off of their press list, since SFist coverage is mostly for locals, they replied "just so you know, TODO is geared to both locals and tourists as I'm sure you've gathered by looking at an issue. Cab riders account for only 30 percent of total riders [sic]. While we are available at all Joie de Vivre hotels, we're also in over 200 local businesses."
So, there you have it. Native-born SF residents love picking up the latest issue of TODO Magazine.
These confusing neighborhood names that nobody's ever heard of, just keep rolling in. There's even a couple more on these maps: "Pierre Valley" and the "Deco Ghetto".
I like TODO. It's fun-sized and informative.
DJT - SO wanted to title the post "Oh, MISO Horny." But it just didn't make sense "TODO" so.
Although I live in "MISO," I, too, had never heard of it until my boyfriend brought home last month's issue of TODO. And I have to admit, I actually kind of like the name because it's more descriptive than just saying "The Mission."
Another disturbing thing about that map: Folsom Street appears to be missing. Is this some sort of right-wing censorship?
I too have seen this issue of TODO and was equally mystified by MISO and Pierre Valley. Although http://tribes.tribe.net/pierrevalley these folks seem to think it exists.
I also don't agree that Diamond Heights extends all the way to San Jose Ave.
But hey, at least they included Deco Ghetto! Hooray!
I don't know if it's still on there, but the first issue I ever picked up had a neighborhood called "Lone Mountain" near USF. I only figured out the origin after a lot of googling.
I first heard Pierre Valley a year ago or so. I'll ask my friend who lives there when it started. I'm pretty sure one of the restaurants down there talks about it on their menu.
Seems kind of weird but not offensive. NOPA is offensive!! It'll always be Western Addition to me.
a friend once referred to that area as "mi-so-po", which is kinda appropriate and witty given the generally lower property values near the intersection of mission, soma, and potrero.
i live near church and market, which doesn't really have a neighborhood name, and i have heard folks trying to use "mistro" and "cassion" among other names... i guess it's the latest (unorigianl) way to name a neighborhood using parts of the names of those surrounding it
Todo also tried to invent another neighborhood (where one wasn't needed) between Chinatown, the Financial District, and Union Square called "Chinfinion". I'm pretty tired of Editor Michael Moskowitz trying to push his GQed version of San Francisco on me.
Church and Market and environs AKA "Upper Safeway".
I've always heard of Pierre Valley (pronounced "Pier-ree" like "Noe") as one of the older names for this sub-neighborhood (which has developed a real European feal). It makes a hell of a lot more sense than "Upper Noe" seeing as it's down the hill and south from the 24th street stretch that everyone thinks of when they think of Noe Valley. I'd also prefer to go to Pierre Valley over the "Transmission" for my Mitchell's ice cream.
I'm not down with this MiSo junk. I used to live on 15th street and it was always "Northern Mission." There's a couple of Deco places in the area that unsuccessfully tried to get "Deco Ghetto" going. There was a brief push for it being the "Sausage District" since it's home to Schwartz and Home sausage companies. We would some times describe it as the "Mistro" or the "Cassion" (Mission/Castro). All of these make more sense than "MiSo." SOMA ends at the overpass, even if the Weekly has started extending SOMA to 16th street in its restaurant listings.
I won't be satisfied until every single block in San Francisco has its own cutesy four-letter name. No one will be able to remember any of them and will be forced to mention their nearest cross streets when discussing their neighborhood.
@ Dan Berkes
Exactly my thoughts!
I _am_ always amused by the made-up neighborhood names a friend of mine comes up with just to have fun with people. Almost no one ever calls him on it, esp. if he uses the word "valley".
I always called that part of town "the crotch".
Back in the late 90s, that area was known as Nemiz, or more properly, NEMIZ - the North East Mission Industrial Zone. Somehow, the name didn't seem to get much traction; probably because it was mostly used in mostly in phrases such as "dotcom yuppies invade NEMIZ".
Anyway, everyone knows it's NEMIZ!
A friend who used to live on Geary between Taylor and Jones called it the Tender Nob.
Please someone tell me if I live in Parkside, the Central Sunset, or the Outer Sunset!
I live on the corner of 15th and Sanchez and all these made up neighborhood names is giving me a serious identity crisis. Do I live in the Castro? Duboce Triangle? Upper Safestro du NoMi? Possibly Brasil?
I'm a board member of the Pierre Valley Neighborhood Organization -- so I can vouch that it's real, and not a realtor-created term. That area of Noe Valley has been called Pierre Valley for as long as I've lived there. Maybe if you don't live in that area, you've never heard it referred to as such. San Francisco is truly a collection of neighborhoods, and we should celebrate that rather than joking about renaming every block.
TenderNob is slang, MISO and Pierre Valley are about as useful as Liberty Heights and Lone Mountain, and The Mission is everything between Potrero and Dolores south of Division. Church and Market is The Crossroads Of Humanity.
Could be worse, how many people recognize Ocean View even though we have a Muni Metro line, a library, and a bunch of other things with the name?
Or it could be like the people who created METNA the Merced Extension Triangle Neighborhood Association where I live. Nobody ever uses "MET" and based on the map on the back of the newsletters I get my "neighborhood" is basically jut the three or four blocks between Daly City BART and Brotherhood Way and then East for about a block past the big condo complex/shopping center. But not as far as 280, heavens no!
I think part of the problem is that people living in neighborhoods like this one that lack character (or shopping or anything even remotely redeeming) try to falsely invent their own neighborhood to pretend that they're special and unique too like any of the recognized neighborhoods.
Then again, I guess anything beats having to say "Neighborhood? Oh, I live half a block from the city limit."