Neighborhood?

[shannn]

Hi there - I've been considering a property located near Sepviva and E. Albert street (about a block north of E. Huntingdon). What's this area like in terms of general safety and is this considered Fishtown? Kensington? I've been renting below York street and am sick of inflated rent. Thanks a bunch for any info!

[seanmhair]

First of all, no you are not in Fishtown, at Sepviva & Albert. But who knows, you may not be in Fishtown now either.
We too in Fishtown are sick of the inflated rent. It kinda came along with all the cool restaurants and whathaveyous. Price you gotta pay to live in the hip hood nowdays. Thank god I own my house , otherwise I'd have been priced out too.
Take yourself a walk. Its not across the world you know, to go across York Street. Don't be scared. And if you are, you don't belong here anyway.
Oh yeah, people will give a couple of different names for the area. If they call it Port Fishington, smack them in the mouth and quickly walk in the opposite direction.
It's really called Flat Iron, but very few people still remember that, and they try to make it something its not. (A stretch of land between Fishtown and Port Richmond.)
Good luck. And remember, if you don't scare easy, you too can live here.

[3rd&Brown]

Care to tell us more about Flat Iron?

[loveisnoise]

Care to tell us more about Flat Iron?

Flat Iron is now Port Fishington.

[cutter]

Philadelphia Neighborhood Boundaries - Listed Alphabetically for all of Philly This says Flat Iron is somewhere else, waay aways. Who do I believe?

[seanmhair]

Me.
I would politely suggest, that being as it doesn't even have the Fishtown info correct, you would not trust this source.
Trust me, I've been here forever. The section north of York, between Frankford and Aramingo, up to Lehigh is called Flat Iron. Ask anyone who's lived here more than twenty years, if you can still find somebody.
Hence, the name of the following:

Flat Iron Wildcats of Philadelphia
Anthony's Flat Iron Cafe - Fishtown - Philadelphia | Urbanspoon

Its just unfortunate that some interlopers are trying to give it a stupid name.

[sonotforyou]

I used to live around Tulip and Cumberland about 15 years ago, and back then it was considered "New Kensington". I remember also hearing "Flat Iron", never heard of this Port Fishington bull****, but whoever came up with that name needs to be shot.

[loveisnoise]

I used to live around Tulip and Cumberland about 15 years ago, and back then it was considered "New Kensington". I remember also hearing "Flat Iron", never heard of this Port Fishington bull****, but whoever came up with that name needs to be shot.

Fort Pissington, then?

[thetalkingmule]

Just do what I do and call everything north of Spring Garden Kensington. You'll be much happier.

[3rd&Brown]

Of course, all you bozos realize that Flat Iron is actually a really really cool name for a neighborhood.

It won't be long until it's resurrected now that's it's history has been rehashed here on Philadelphia Speaks. Further, it wouldn't be the first time that a name for a 'hood was hatched/resurrected here and stuck.

T minus....

[seanmhair]

Seriously, I would love to take the credit for it, but I didn't make it up. I've lived here forever, and thats really what it was called when I was a kid.

[The Truth Hurts]

Seriously, I would love to take the credit for it, but I didn't make it up. I've lived here forever, and thats really what it was called when I was a kid.

Haven't heard that name in a while, played against a Flatiron baseball team in the Samuel's little league in the 70's

[thesomersteam]

I like "Flat Iron" too. Maybe that can be an option on the Multiple Listing Service in the months ahead?

Did anyone answer this guys question?

Seemed like the first response was the best as far as a practical answer. ~ Chris

[caL]

Philadelphia Neighborhood Boundaries - Listed Alphabetically for all of Philly This says Flat Iron is somewhere else, waay aways. Who do I believe?

Wow I hope no one uses this as a dependable source. They think Five Points is, "the intersection of Castor and Oxford Avenues, northeast of Frankford." Way off.

[ArcticSplash]

Hi there - I've been considering a property located near Sepviva and E. Albert street (about a block north of E. Huntingdon). What's this area like in terms of general safety and is this considered Fishtown? Kensington? I've been renting below York street and am sick of inflated rent. Thanks a bunch for any info!

This is EAST KENSINGTON if you are located on the North side of York Street, South of York Street is Fishtown. The map (look at the link below) shows you the difference between Fishtown and East Kensington. EK is the blue and the red part of the map. Fishtown is in yellow. ETA: seanm is also right about Flat Iron, that's definitely the Red part of the map as well. The splitting of the civics along Trenton Ave complicates what is called Flat Iron, b/c you probably also got people north of Trenton, close to the Conrail tracks (close to Lehigh) also using Flat Iron as the name.


Some people, mostly outsiders, realtors and some newbies, call the area between Trenton Ave, Lehigh Ave, E York St and the Delaware "Port Fishington". Nobody in this neighborhood considers ourselves Port Richmond or part of Port Richmond, even though we have a shopping center at Cumberland & Aramingo that is poorly named "Port Richmond Village". Port Richmond is north of Lehigh Ave on the otherside of the Conrail tracks.

East Kensington is an acceptable and more accurate term. Some residents abhor the word "Kensington" at all and will call themselves Fishtowners even though they live North of York. The further towards Aramingo, North of York, and longer-lived residents call this area (where my house is, actually) Flatiron.


The civic association for this block (North of York) is the Olde Richmond Civic Association. Olde Richmond Civic Association

Yes, another confusing name. Flat Iron == East Kensington == Olde Richmond Civic Association. It's what you get when nobody holds a meeting to ask the City Planning Commission to fix the maps.




North of Trenton Avenue is the East Kensington Neighborhood Association, and this area is also (obviously) East Kensington.


Here is a map of how the civic associations define their boundaries. This is a better way to understand how this area is laid out.

The area you're looking at renting would be in red.

FORK Neighborhood Association Boundaries - Google Maps

[ArcticSplash]

Me.
I would politely suggest, that being as it doesn't even have the Fishtown info correct, you would not trust this source.
Trust me, I've been here forever. The section north of York, between Frankford and Aramingo, up to Lehigh is called Flat Iron. Ask anyone who's lived here more than twenty years, if you can still find somebody.
Hence, the name of the following:

Flat Iron Wildcats of Philadelphia
Anthony's Flat Iron Cafe - Fishtown - Philadelphia | Urbanspoon

Its just unfortunate that some interlopers are trying to give it a stupid name.

Flat Iron is also a portion of East Kensington. The historical district of Kensington included our area before the City was incorporated in the 19th century. Fishtown was also a subset of Kensington until the Archdiocese proportioned the areas out between churches. Go even further back before Irish immigration, and this was part of the "Richmond District", but it was unincorporated I believe. That's even more confusing when you look at the old maps, and it's probably why we are stuck with the Thriftway being in "Port Richmond Village", when it should either be Flat Iron Shopping Plaza or East Kensington Market, or something, anything, except "Port Richmond".


That is also why there's an ancient debate on whether York is the actual border of Fishtown. Historically the Catholic border was actually Norris St.

But if you want to go by how the civics participate with each other, EKNA and ORCA share a lot more similarities with each other than does FNA does with the other two, mainly... EKNA and ORCA share a bigger avenue together (Lehigh Ave, which is big), the Conrail tracks, several of the viaducts, and a big stretch of Trenton Ave.



But I agree with ya 100% about Flat Iron. That's actually what our neighborhood should be called should we ever decide to end the confusion; and the civic association ever agrees to change its name. NOBODY uses "Olde Richmond"... I'ved asked people on like 8 different blocks that. Have YOU ever heard anybody use that name?

[ArcticSplash]

I have no shame in calling my block, and my house, a part of Kensington. Proud of it. And none of my teeth are falling out (yet).


And it's easier to say I live in Kensington. You say Flat Iron and people go "huh?". Until the maps are changed, Kensington it is. Locally however I can use Flat Iron because everyone knows that's North of York.