SoHo (South of Houston Street), an industrial area during the nineteenth century, is known world-wide for its old cast iron buildings which now house reknown art galleries and some of the city's most fashionable shopping and dining. During the early 1980s, a period of financial boom in New York's history, many of the fantastic sprawling lofts were converted to luxury coops and condos.
Across Houston Street is Greenwich Village, still remembered for the bohemian life of the 1920s and the radical politics of the 1960s & 70s. The area is now home to an especially diverse mix, from the gay community, to Jazz Clubs, writers, stockbrokers and students, the list is endless here.
Most of the grand prewar apartment buildings along Fifth Avenue have now converted to co-operative housing, and many of the Village residents live in Brownstones ,Townhouses and other "walk-up" apartments. An interesting feature of this neighborhood is the street pattern... The winding and narrow streets foster the "Village" atmosphere.
The Village is integral to the "New York Experience". The Village has few high-rise buildings due to Landmarks Preservation of most of the neighborhood, so housing is older, smaller, and due to high demand - expensive. History walks these streets, and it is only here that many New Yorkers choose to live.