I find that out-of-area people know West Philly as West of the Schuylkill
and, "near the University" or "near University exit (from 76) but that
few know "University City". Even the historic quote, from the Evening
Bulletin dated Nov. 10, 1921, and provided by ML, calls our neighborhood
only the "University Section," and defined the section "as that part of
West Philadelphia, east of Forty-second and from Market to Woodland
avenue".
I read the title of the article "University City" as reference to larger
boundaries, maybe even the city itself as the article is about the move
of the "Divinity School" from "the centre of the city" to "the northwest
corner of 39th and Walnut sts." known "for a short time" as "Drexel Hill"
and in 1921 on to "the entire block of ground from Forty-second to
Forty-third streets and from Locust to Spruce streets" an area then West
of the "University Section".
Philadelphia is still know as a "College Town" or "University City".
Most people understand "West Philadelphia, if for nothing more than a
sense of geographic simplicity.
Most of us who were born here probably think of the second naming tier as
some combination of neighborhood, ward or parish. I think of myself as
being born into
St. Francis de Sales parish
46th Ward
Spruce Hill
I moved to Cedar Park and prefer to keep a little distance from
attractive nuisances of PENN.
Like many of the people who are sometimes labeled "Penn haters" I find it
to be more like a magnetic attraction - repulsion.
I try to find a balance that is CLOSE enough to
the emergency rooms at HUP and CHOP
the Palestra and Franklin Field
to access a rental income stream
and FAR enough to avoid hassles with
parking competition
student move-in and move-outs
student noise / litter / hi-jinks
but not so far to cede my access or rights to public spaces like Clark
Park or the 40th Street Library or any more of the churches whose
'walk-to' populations are decimated by University expansions which raise
neighborhoods.
Best!
Liz
Best!
Liz
On Sun, 8 Apr 2007 03:40:17 -0400 "Anthony West" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
writes:
As a 30-year resident of West Philadelphia, I always identify myself as a
West Philadelphian first when someone from another part of the region
asks me where I live.
As a 30-year resident of Spruce Hill, I've seldom met anybody outside
West Philadelphia who knew where that is. In fact, I didn't myself at
first! For the first six years I lived here, I thought I lived in "Cedar
Park" and told everybody as much (I'm actually two blocks outside Cedar
Park's boundary). Truth to tell, if I polled 100 fellow West
Philadelphians, I'll bet more than half wouldn't know where "Spruce Hill"
was. They're familiar with the area, they are just unfamiliar with the
name.
Why this is, I can't explain. Fishtown, for instance, is a neighborhood
no larger than Spruce Hill. Yet everybody in Philadelphia seems at least
to think they know where it is. By contrast, its larger affiliations are
intensely debatable. Does Fishtown belong to North Philadelphia,
Northeast Philadelphia, the River Wards or Kensington? A myriad bar
squabbles along Frankford Ave. can be sparked by this debate. Spruce Hill
inspires no such debate. Nobody cares what part of town it belongs to.
Spruce Hill isn't a "marketing scheme" either. It goes back more than 100
years. It just doesn't resonate outside a very narrow circuit.
"West Philadelphia" doesn't narrow down your address very well and it
doesn't tell much about you socially. So canny Philadelphians from other
parts of town will want more detail. I've learned always to answer that
second question, "Oh, yeah, whereabouts?" by saying, "In University
City." Everybody knows where it is, and also some basic socio-economic
information about me. There was a time when most other Philadelphians
thought that information was largely defamatory; today, it is largely
flattering. The fact remains, it works as a neighborhood name for people
from other parts of town in a way that nothing else does. That's why I
use it. It's not a marketing scheme, it's a descriptive tool.
-- Tony West
----- Original Message -----
From: Vincent/Roger
To: Anthony West ; [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 7:16 PM
Subject: [UC] New Marketing Campaign
When we opened Abbraccio Restaurant, a local real estate person (not
anyone regularly involved on this list) said we should NEVER refer to our
place as being part of West Philadelphia! Considering that the distance
from us to the heart of the Drexel campus is about the same distance to
Cobbs Creek Parkway and most of Southwest Philly, I found this just a
little bit strange. Our customers come from all over this range.
Nowadays we much prefer to call ourselves a "West Philly" place.
(Although I do like Lew's "Western Liberties" also).
Roger
