A new online trend has some locals trying to give Downtown Houston a new nickname, but many Houstonians aren’t amused.
On Friday, May 22, the Instagram account @Houstonbucketlist posted a graphic announcing that the new pedestrian- and public-transportation-focused Main Street Promenade had been completed. The post referred to downtown as “DoHo,” sparking hundreds of comments from people outraged by the two-syllable shorthand, with the discourse continuing over the holiday weekend.
“Who the f–k says DoHo? ” one commenter asked.
“DoHo is hilarious. We’re not doing this. EaDo [East Downtown] was already a reach,” another Houstonian commented.
“I beg you all to please stop using these cheesy gentrified abbreviations for our neighborhoods,” Another displeased Houstonian chimed in.
The overall reaction on various social media platforms has been reminiscent of the famous “Stop trying to make fetch happen” scene from Mean Girls. Many users expressed outrage over a comment that seemed intended to generate engagement (the Instagram account clearly knows its audience). This incident also revealed that many Houston residents are not particularly fond of the nicknames that emerge for older, established neighborhoods.
For example, EaDo, short for East Downtown, is in the Second Ward. Longtime residents of the Second Ward still refer to it as such. For many, the term EaDo reflects gentrification.
DoHo and, more notably, EaDo, are clear efforts to emulate areas such as NoHo (North Hollywood) in Los Angeles and SoHo in Manhattan, NYC. North Hollywood has been referred to as NoHo for almost 40 years. Soho, which is nicknamed for the acronym (So)uth of (Ho)uston Street, has been recognized for over 60 years. The name EaDo was officially adopted in 2009 by the neighborhood’s management district and has persisted since then.
Houston is a large city with a ton of urban sprawl, so it makes sense for locals to endearingly give nicknames to certain neighborhoods. Third Ward is “The Tre.” Missouri City is, of course, Mo City; Montrose is endearingly called “the Gayborhood” because it is the city’s historic stronghold for the LGBTQ+ community. But they and others have all sprang up pretty organically. Things like EaDo and even Midtown, which could be considered real estate-mandated rebranding, have an uphill battle but have persisted in the local lexicon.
“Neighborhoods have a history, culture, and character that should not be tossed overboard whenever a Realtor decides it would be easier to market under another name,” New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries told The New York Times in 2011.
Eado is one thing, DoHo is just plain dumb, and a much too common instance of Houston doing too damn much. Downtown is already two syllables; shortening it down is pointless, especially when downtown is the nickname intrinsically. What’s next? UpHo for uptown?
It’s all fun and games, but if we have too many jokes and ironic adopters of DoHo, the nickname may end up sticking. On the bright side, the whole outrage over DoHo showcased Houston coming together as a community to collectively shame something that was immediately flagged as ridiculous.