My first time in the city, I was hoping to drive by Veterans' Stadium, but a wrong turn quickly diverted attention. South Philly is an intriguing mix of immigrant neighborhoods with ghetto-like qualities. Older row houses stacked with boxcar apartments line narrow streets swarmed with factions of daily life in the 'hood.
Having no idea, fate led me north on 9th Street through one of the city's greatest cultural encounters. On that late Sunday afternoon, the Italian Markets were just winding down. Scattered carts and crates of damaged produce had spilled off sidewalks, further confining the crowded street. Captured by grittiness, turning off the stereo and rolling down a window allowed smells and sounds to invigorate the adventure, stuck in a snail's pace-parade, with immediate transport to old-world Italy.
Nine years later, the Italian Market has organized in hopes of luring tourists from downtown. I was surprised to find banners advertising street festivals and their website, but the "sprucing up" has definitely eroded the authentic environment so questionably appealing. Over time, each return visit signified progressive changes that come within poorer immigrant neighborhoods, namely with ethnic turnover. Asians were gaining annual momentum as business owners and customers. Now it's the Mexicans.
Coming here on a Tuesday morning, the day after a major holiday, was hopefully why many businesses were closed and vendor carts sat abandoned along streets. Finding people of every race working behind counters spoiled the quixotic memories of when Italians literally had the market and area cornered.
Trendy bistros and cafés serving numerous types of foods have crept in among the forefathers, proudly vaunting their family-run traditions since the mid-to-late-1800s. Reputable Italian restaurants are still secondary to the market, where handmade pastas and cheeses, butcher shops and fish stands, and bakeries and produce carts feed the neighborhood with traditional feasts prepared at home.
Visitors shouldn't go hungry, whether snacking from the markets or dining at one of the many restaurants, including a pair of Philly's favorites reviewed in the dining entry. There's also an abundance of discount stores with household supplies and trinkets jamming sidewalks with more selections inside. Whether planning to eat or shop, the real highlight is what remains of customs and traditions.
Groups of old codgers still cluster in shaded areas, avidly debating daily issues using communication skills that define the Italian-American stereotype. Proficient shoppers argue with vendors over quantity and quality under watchful eyes of Guido-type owners. For some, nothing's changed, with even styles reflecting decades gone by. A bearded, apron-clad meatball obstructs the doorway to his shop waiting for customers while randomly belting along with the opera music coming from an apartment window. Now that's Italian.
Getting There
The Italian Markets are located along 9th Street, a pleasant 12-block walk south of Market Street. The 47M bus, caught on 8th St., loops back along 9th, a one-way street heading north. Using the subway, take the Broad Street Line from City Hall south to Ellsworth-Federal and walk 5 blocks east.