15th and Reed

[PhillyKev]

Jerk-off Kev,I am not Mel, I am 100% Downtown guy,that pathetic paragraph above proves your thinking process is so Anti-South Philly,Trade unions? Officers in trade unions? Parents are paying your way,your type is not welcomed.Local 98 has so much in fighting Johnie Doc may go,guy like you could only get in trade union with connections,father is probably reluctant to vouch for your character,you are hopeless,name dropping failure/with your attitude I am surprised you have friends

Yes, I'm a failure. You caught me. Congratulations on being a 100 percent downtown guy with one foot in the grave.

[solibs]

To the OP, Pahiker's right that 15th/Reed is fairly close to his place. That said, and I'll say I don't have stake in the reality or fiction of Newbold, 15th and Morris is a lot closer to what I recognize as Newbold ground zero than what you're talking about.

That sounds about right. I'd put it more like 16th & Morris though. To me Cafe Pendawa is the essence of Newbold.

I'm pretty sure I was looking at some places around where you were looking two years ago, and didn't really care for what I saw. Now, I looked a lot of places, but there was only one place South of Washington and a little West of Broad and North of the Newbold Proclaimed Area. Still, I might have the wrong location. People on obvious "nods" on presumably their steps, lot of spilled garbage and the like.

Having participated in a few neighborhood clean-ups - the garbage zenith seems to be around Wharton St. it drops precipitously as you go south. Definitely a fair share of shady folk hanging around on 15th between Ellsworth & Federal. Not that they've ever bothered me or anyone I know but they are a definite nuisance.

I will say though, that sort of stuff used to be a lot more brazen - lotsa new neighbors won't put up with it so it's been moving west and what is still around is a lot more low-key.

anyway, the civic is pretty busy so all those Newbold lurkers should get involved.

Newbold Neighbors - South Philadelphia

[billy ross]

What is a Downtown guy?

It's pretty ancient language. North Philly is Uptown. South Philly is Downtown. Being raised, like my father and his ancestors before him, in the Northwest, to me Downtown meant Center City, but when I went to high school with kids from every zip code in the city and plenty of Downtown types I was quickly disabused of my previous notion of 'Downtown'.

[PennypackRat]

i thought this area was considered point breeze, when did it gain the moniker newbold?

[OutOfContext]

It's pretty ancient language. North Philly is Uptown. South Philly is Downtown. Being raised, like my father and his ancestors before him, in the Northwest, to me Downtown meant Center City, but when I went to high school with kids from every zip code in the city and plenty of Downtown types I was quickly disabused of my previous notion of 'Downtown'.

Thank you, I've never heard of Souf Philly being downtown...

[sometimesilie]

I submit this as proof that Mel is performance art.

Dammit Melrose, you beat me to it! Drink "regular" liquids or die, yuppie scum!

[RayZ]

Thank you, I've never heard of Souf Philly being downtown...

Agreed - To me downtown=centercity.

Growing up near the ariport, we would say "You want to go downtown (Center City) to see a movie?, etc."

Never heard of South Philly being referred to as Downtown.

[Sharkfood]

South Philly can be described as "downtown." It's a common usage.

Another usage of "downtown" is to describe the east side of Center City closer to the Delaware River. Hence we have the "Downtown Club" which
operates out of the Curtis Building at 6th & Chestnut. This was our original business district before City Hall was constructed and offices relocated to Broad St.

[BeardScraper]

I am 100% Downtown guy

you sound extremely angry for an age 65 oldtimer. relax before your pacemaker stops ticking.

[BeardScraper]

Newbold is a pocket of the city where people where thick glasses, ride bikes to work when they are not working from home, telecommute, drive CUV's and use carshare. We drink good coffee and enjoy good beer.

sounds like several other neighborhoods in this city. nothing new there.

[seand]

Jerk-off Kev,I am not Mel, I am 100% Downtown guy,that pathetic paragraph above proves your thinking process is so Anti-South Philly,Trade unions? Officers in trade unions? Parents are paying your way,your type is not welcomed.Local 98 has so much in fighting Johnie Doc may go,guy like you could only get in trade union with connections,father is probably reluctant to vouch for your character,you are hopeless,name dropping failure/with your attitude I am surprised you have friends

Big Mel also ranted heavily against Democrats except for endorsing John Dougherty for State Senate.

Just sayin'.

[Geno]

It's someone who dates an Uptown Girl......

-UC

who lives in a "whitebread world"

[billy ross]

i thought this area was considered point breeze, when did it gain the moniker newbold?

There is a question of whether it has or not. It seems that there is an attempt to separate the eastern portion of Point Breeze into a new neighborhood called Newbold. I'd like to find out where 'Newbold' came from and what the timeline has been.

[jedi mind fart]

Newbold is a pocket of the city where people where thick glasses, ride bikes to work when they are not working from home, telecommute, drive CUV's and use carshare. We drink good coffee and enjoy good beer. We rather buy things online and always use promo codes since we are saving money to buy this area up to not pay rent anymore since it's 15 mins to work and the real estate taxes are cheap.

My yearly real estate tax bill is %15 of what it is 2 miles up the road.

It's going to take time to change, but it is happening now, but you should already be in Florida if you're already 65.

[B]LAME[B]Is that Bold enough for yah !

[solibs]

Breeze into a new neighborhood called Newbold. I'd like to find out where 'Newbold' came from and what the timeline has been.

oh jeez.

Newbold is the old name for Hicks St. You can still see the old street signs on some of the corner buildings.

As far as timeline goes, late 1870s to about the 1920s.

If you're talking about usage in the present-day civic association sense - the name was coined by the founders of the Newbold CDC about 5 or 6 years ago.

The two Newbold civic groups took on the name about 3 years ago.

It seems that there is an attempt to separate the eastern portion of Point Breeze into a new neighborhood called Newbold

huh?

"seems" . . . "attempt"?

do you mean there's an attempt in this conversation to draw a distinction between the two or that there is some outside attempt to make a political/physical distinction?

either way it brings up an interesting point.

It's not a new neighborhood. It's been here for at least 120 years. In talking to 80 year old neighbors who were born in their houses, referring to 15th & 16th St. as "Point Breeze" is a more recent phenomenon (last 40 years or so).

So why do people who don't live here insist on lumping the entire 121 square block area together? As if 15th & Castle was the same neighborhood (in any sense of the word) as 23rd & Wharton.

A lot of people say that Passyunk Square (at 48 square blocks) is too big.

I kinda have an idea as to the double-standard but i'm curious about other's thoughts on the matter.

[MizFormaldehyde]

Ok, let me get this straight...

If you ride a bike you're not a true South Philadelphian?

If you drink "good" beer you're not a true South Philadelphia?

I just want to be keeping the right tally...

Sounds like he's equating us with Hipsters. XDDDDD