To those who only know it from movies, New York City's SoHo neighborhood may bring to mind swanky parties filled with ostentatious artists and pampered stockbrokers sipping martinis while discussing the latest must-see avant-garde theatrical installation. And, while we admit an event or two like that may be taking place within the quarter square mile that makes up SoHo, the neighborhood has much more to offer than a pretentious conversation.

First settled by the Dutch in 1775, SoHo is an acronym for SOuth of HOuston (pronounced "how-stun") Street. It includes the many busy Avenues and cobble-stoned streets from Sixth Avenue to the west and Lafayette to the east; Canal Street north to Houston.

By the early 1800's, SoHo was Manhattan's chic address, a residential enclave populated by the elegant and wealthy. The gas lit streets were often clogged with ornate carriages carrying the fashionably appointed to one of the many trendy restaurants and theatres that began popping up along the tree lined roads. It wasn't long, however, that SoHo also developed a reputation at the city's Red Light District, with entrepreneurs such as Mrs. Bailey and Miss Clara Gordon establishing infamous bordellos within SoHo's boundaries.

After the Civil War, the well-heeled moved uptown and a booming textile trade began to make SoHo its home. Over the following decades amazing new buildings were constructed to house the ever growing industry. Using cast iron to decorate the fronts over pre-existing buildings, the process soon became the construction standard for all new buildings. To this day, SoHo boasts the greatest collection of cast iron structures in the world. Some of the most beautiful of the nearly 250 in the neighborhood include The Little Singer Building at 561 Broadway and The E.V. Haughwout Building at 488 Broadway.

It was these very buildings that brought about the transition that makes SoHo the unique and desirable neighborhood that it is today. In the 1950's as the commercial center of New York City moved north and to the outer boroughs, SoHo became barren and rundown. In 1962, it was called "The Wastelands of New York" and plans were drawn up to build the Lower Manhattan Expressway directly through it. However, artists and other community activists who recognized the unique architecture and natural beauty of the neighborhood waged a long and diligent battle to preserve the neighborhood and in 1973, SoHo was named a landmark district.

Today SoHo has once again become one of the most vibrant areas of the ever vibrant New York City. While the struggling artists who moved into the factory lofts in the 1970's have sold their once rundown studios/apartments to Hollywood luminaries and foreign dignitaries, more the 250 art galleries remain within SoHo's shores. Joined with the 200 restaurants and cafés; hundreds of boutiques and specialty stores; interesting museums such as the NY Fire Museum, ExitArts and Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art; glamorous hotels like the Mercer and SoHo Grand; and a multitude of trendy nightclubs and bars, SoHo remains a must-stop for anyone visiting New York City.