Northern Liberties, Philadelphia has been voted one of America’s Top Hipster neighborhoods.
A hipster can easily be defined as one who is uninterested in mainstream and conventional society. But you will often find these same people wearing skinny jeans, checking in on Foursquare and rocking out on their iPhones.
Anyway. This neighborhood that has been recognized by Forbes.com as an up and coming, great place to live, work and hang is where I grew up. I learned to smoke there. I met my best friend there. I had my first crush there. I felt the impact of divorce there. I found out what hookers do there. I learned what hunger felt like there. Northern Liberties was not a great place to live. On the little street that I lived on were about 12 houses but only 5 families resided there. The rest of them were boarded up and most likely suitable for condemnation. My front yard was a bank parking lot. Our mornings were greeted by the sour smell coming from Schmidt’s Brewery located behind us. The abandoned Boone School for boys; a refuge to junkies and homeless, scared me to walk past it anytime of day.
The Northern Liberties that I remember
the crumbling Daniel Boone School
Today the brewery is gone, replaced with state of the art lofts and condos surrounding the Piazza at Schmidt’s. Each weekend the community gets together for concerts, sporting events, group workouts and farmers markets. Coffee shops, food trucks and a booming housing market have made Northern Liberties the new Seattle.
today’s Northern Liberties
Next in line to make it big is bordering Fishtown; the most racially segregated and violent communities in Philadelphia. I’ve known people who have been hurt and even killed over senseless acts of rage, jealousy and stupidity.
I haven’t been back to either of these communities in a really long time. I find it hard to accept the changes of the place I left behind so long ago. I’m proud of these communities and developers for making something good out of what many treated like nothing. I still have friends in these neighborhoods. They love it. The changes made for a better life. Well except for the traffic on New Market and Laurel Streets.
