We didn’t mean to, but it seems that we set off an interesting discussion about new names for the city’s neighborhoods.

As we mentioned this morning, real estate prices in NoMa are fast rising. For those of you unaware of a neighborhood called “NoMa” within the District, it’s a large swath of land north of Massachusetts Avenue and east of North Capitol Street, fanning out from Union Station and encompassing a once industrial wasteland that now includes the headquarters for XM Satellite Radio and the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Firearms. And it wasn’t too long ago that we discussed Mid City, the name given to the cluster of businesses around the vicinity of U Street and Fourteenth Street in Northwest.

This wholesale renaming of neighborhoods serves to re-brand and present them in a more positive light, one which is more likely to attract developers and urban pioneers looking for the next big thing. Just as newly named NoMa is being billed as “one of the last opportunities for new, large scale [development],” we could easily imagine developers re-christening parts of Shaw or Capitol Hill to attract more young and affluent urbanites.

So what’s next? Should we expect a rash of neighborhood renamings aimed at cashing in on the fast-spreading process of gentrification and development? What part of town could fall next to the power of corporate thinking and crafty abbreviations? Will we see a WeFoBo (west of Foggy Bottom)? A SoDuCi (south of Dupont Circle)? Will the new developments around the stadium along South Capitol Street be christened SoCa? But more importantly, will these new monikers be added to the already crowded Metrorail station signs?

Update: Our friend chrisafer has already taken it upon himself to rename many of the city’s neighborhoods. From now on we will refer to the following neighborhoods as such: AdMo (Adams Morgan); CoHe (Columbia Heights); WoPa (Woodley Park); DuCi (Dupont Circle); LoCi (Logan Circle); LePa (LeDroit Park); CaHi (Capitol Hill); WeEn (West End); FoTo (Fort Totten); FoBo (Foggy Bottom); VaNe (Van Ness); NaYa (Navy Yard); and EaRi (East of the River).