It’s a typical cutesy real estate word that was always meant to conjure up images of London. And yes, that’s the cutesy way of saying “south of Houston” but it was only introduced several decades ago when people started gentrifying there. As a kid, we never heard of a neighborhood called Soho. Actually, I must find out when Chelsea came into vogue. Always harking to London neighborhoods for some reason. Why can’t we have La Halle or Montparnesse?
If the French had settled there first instead of Germans, there probably would have been a Montparnasse.
Come to think of it, you're correct. There was a renaming of areas at one point. I later never knew where I lived based on the responses/corrections I'd receive when I was asked. To be safe, I'd say that I live "downtown"... even that wasn't correct for some.