The real estate industry, just as in any other organization, lives by its own culture and an important part of that culture is the lingo, specifically the nicknames and jargons, coined by the professionals themselves.
Recently, a report of Corrine Ramey in the WSJ describes that new neighborhood monikers, which are commonly concocted by the real estate companies, have popped up in Brooklyn, New York City and in other parts of US.
According to Ramey, for years, some of the trendiest neighborhoods in New York, have been given nicknames which caught on with the locals. The most popular are SoHo for South of Houston Street, Tribeca (the triangle below Canal Street). Recently, Dumbo for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass was added.
However, the latest acronyms have been confusing both New Yorkers and tourists. The mishmash is brought about by real estate brokers and agents.
"These things are spreading like kudzu," said Andrea Saturno-Sanjana, a real-estate agent with Citi Habitats.
Among the latest names are PLG, which stands for Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Hellsea or Hell's Kitchen for people who wish they lived in the Chelsea neighbourhood, Welsea for West Chelsea, WiNo or Williamsburg North, FiDi referring to the Financial District and Rambo which means Right Around the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.
According to Philip Kasinitz, a sociology professor at the City University of New York's Graduate Center, "The cute abbreviation names were a New York fad, but people got into it, simply because SoHo bloomed so large in people's consciousness. "
The trend has spread outside the Big Apple and has become more prevalent in urban areas where areas are redrawn with smaller boundaries by real estate developers and agents, thus needing new names.
NoCa, the nickname given to North of Chicago Avenue in Chicago has been mocked by the Chicago Tribune for sounding like the name of a diet soda and for its being "way too New York. " North of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington , D.C. has been called NoMa , while the south of Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, Florida has been tagged SoSo.
