January Newsletter
- Events and Activities
- 2025: A Year in Review
- SWNA 2026 Leadership
- SOMA State of the Neighborhood Survey Results
- Culture Collective: December in SOMA
- SOMA Name Dropping: Dore St
Events
01/10 - 10:00-2:00 PM
🌱 Langton Community Garden Party
đź“Ť Howard Langton Community Garden
01/15 - 5:30 -6:00 PM
🤝 SWNA First Meeting of the Year
đź“Ť DECANT
Join us for our first meeting of the year and get to know our 2026 leadership!
01/15 - 6:00 - 8:00 PM
🍻 Free Neighborhood Happy Hour
đź“Ť DECANT
RSVP
A Year in Review
In 2025, the SOMA West Neighborhood Association continued to show what’s possible when neighbors work together. SWNA led three petitions with more than 1,300 signatures and wrote seven letters on behalf of SOMA West, ensuring resident voices were heard and represented.
The year also brought hands-on improvements across the neighborhood, including 15 trees planted, 17 planters built, 100+ plants swapped, and the landscaping of a local dog park. Community creativity and care were on full display as volunteers tie-dyed 68 bandanas and donated 40 valentines, spreading connection and joy.
Join us in 2026 as we stay rooted in advocacy, action, and community.
Bar Orso Opening Late January 🍾
Bar Orso is an immersive cocktail experience designed as a transportive woodland escape, inviting guests to drink their way through California’s wilderness. Led by Chef Ryan Shelton, the team has crafted 15 bold, maximalist alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks featuring inventive ingredients like housemade fernet, candy cap mushroom ice cream, green tea cotton candy, and caraway-rye tinctures. A curated menu of small plates complements the drinks, highlighting California’s diverse terroir from Monterey’s kelp forests to the soils of the San Joaquin Valley.
1148 Mission Street, San Francisco
SWNA 2026 Leadership
We are thrilled to welcome our driven and talented leadership team for the 2026 year. We appreciate everyone who applied for our Board and Committees and look forward to our second year!
SOMA State of the Neighborhood Survey Results
At the end of last year SWNA circulated the SOMA State of the Neighborhood Survey and the results are in! We asked participants nine different questions regarding their life and and thoughts about SOMA. Read the full report here.
Culture Collective: December in SOMA is a rewarding time of year to be an art aficionado
by Taylor Snowberger aka RuthieDay
December brought an especially vibrant stretch for art lovers in SOMA. From glowing architectural projections lighting up downtown during LETS GLOW SF, to Saint Joseph’s Arts Society closing out a powerful La Pocha Nostra retrospective with an unforgettable live performance, creativity was everywhere this month. Heron Arts also joined the mix with Lucid Plane, a new group exhibition blending sculpture, sound, and light into immersive experiences that feel uniquely of our time. Together, these events made December feel festive, thoughtful, and deeply rooted in the neighborhood. Click through to read more about the art, artists, and moments that made SOMA shine.
Beginner Self Defense Class
This 3.5 hours beginners self-defense class is scheduled for Saturday January 17, 2026 from 1 PM to 4:30 PM in SoMa West. The class is very low-impact and is suitable for anyone of 18 years of age or older. Get additional info here and register for the class here
SOMA Name Dropping: Dore St
By Cindy Casey
Dore is most likely a family name. Two Dore names are registered in the San Francisco Municipal reports - Board of Supervisors, 1884-1895
According to the Journal of Benjamin Dore 1849-1850:
John Dore, Benjamin’s father, engaged in the printing business from 1873 to 1883. Both of his sons were associated with him in this work and remained printers for several years.
Benjamin Dore's eldest son, Harry E. Dore, was born and raised in San Francisco. He learned the printing business in his father’s office. The address of the printing office is never given. However, a listing for printing services on Dore can be found in Langley’s San Francisco Directory for the Year 1885.
According to a real estate site, the area around Dore is described thus: Light industry once dominated this quiet backwater district; printing presses, welders, motorcycle repair shops, and a few dance spots were also present. In fact, by the early 1870s, San Francisco had 26 registered print shops, including six power press shops and three type founders.
In keeping with the progressive nature of our city, San Francisco was the home of the Women’s Co-operative Printing Union in the 1870s. The organization produced women-run publications until a fire destroyed the establishment. By the 1920s, San Francisco had become recognized as a global printing center and a hub of the industry in the United States. Sadly, that all came crashing down with the great depression, destroying many of the businesses.
Printing didn’t leave SOMA completely. The late Jim Meko, president of the SoMa Leadership Council and a former member of the Entertainment Commission, had his print shop on 10th Street.
If you are interested in learning more about the world of printing, a visit to The Box is highly recommended.
If anyone living on Dore has more information, please reach out to the newsletter.