I always found SOMA to be quite unpleasant. Huge tall glass office towers and some residential towers that make for a poor pedestrian experience, and an even higher degree of delinquency.
What makes SF charming is wooden Victorians, brick Beaux Arts apartment buildings, and hills. SOMA has none of that, but it has an extra dose of street crime.
Most of SoMa is old warehouses or auto shops. I'd actually prefer to work in the side of SoMa with the glass office towers, which is the area with very little delinquency (really anything to the east, starting at 4th street, is nicer).
When I think of SOMA, I think of that initial section south of market from about Spear to about 5th St, whereas the Auto Body shops are in the downtown section around 9th St and Harrison (which is a lot more walkable than the glass towers). But I've heard other people say "No, that's the 'Yerba Buena' district and the real SOMA starts below that and goes all the way to the central freeway. Anyways, I'm not going to die on that hill, it's just how I thought of the city. I enjoyed my time in the city but also saw a major quality of life bump when I left.
What makes SF charming is wooden Victorians, brick Beaux Arts apartment buildings, and hills. SOMA has none of that, but it has an extra dose of street crime.