Philadelphia's Antique Row as seen from Kahn Park at the corner of
11th and Pine Streets
Washington Square West (or
Wash West) is a neighborhood in
downtown, or Center City
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. The neighborhood roughly corresponds to the
area between 6th and 10th Streets and between Walnut and South
Streets, bordering on the Independence
Mall tourist area directly northeast, Market East to the northwest, Old
City
and Society
Hill
to the East, Bella Vista directly south,
Hawthorne to
the southwest, and mid-town Philadelphia and Rittenhouse
Square
to the west. Many realtors and civic groups,
in an attempt to hype up the area as a desirable trendy
neighborhood designate the western border of the neighborhood as
Broad Street, 4 blocks from the more accurate boundary of 10th
Street.
The area take its name from Washington
Square
, a historic urban park in the northeastern corner
of the neighborhood.
A section
of Philadelphia's Antique Row lies in the area as does the nation's
oldest hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital
. Educational and medical facilities associated
with, Thomas
Jefferson University
, a leading regional medical university and health
care center, are located at the western edge of the
neighborhood.
Washington Square West's real estate is characterized by three to
four story townhomes interspersed with mid-rize apartments and
offices with ground-floor retail. The neighborhood follows
William Penn's original grid layout for the
city, with many one-lane and pedestrian side streets added later as
the population became more dense. In addition to the block sized
Washington Square Park to the East, the neighborhood contains the
smaller Kahn Park, named after the Philadelphia Architect
Louis Kahn.
History
The name 'Washington Square West' came into official use in the
late 1950s and early 1960s as part of
Edmund Bacon's comprehensive plan
for Center City.
In this plan, the south-east quadrant of
center city was split into Washington Square East (more commonly
known as Society Hill) and Washington Square West. Both
neighborhoods were scheduled for
urban
renewal by Philadelphia's City Planning Commission and
Redevelopment Authority. After a period of decline in the early
20th century, city officials hoped that redevelopment would clean
up the neighborhood and clear blighted areas.
After large scale renewal of Washington Square East/Society Hill in
the early 60s, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority turned to
Washington Square West. In the late 1960s, the Redevelopment
Authority bought and demolished buildings and, by the mid 1970s,
owned one fifth of the neighborhood . By this time, however,
federal money available for urban renewal had declined and the city
was no longer able to fund the renewal of Washington Square West.
Buildings razed by the city in the 1960s and 1970s were left as
empty lots and the neighborhood was left in a state of
decline.
Through the late 1970s and 1980 began a slow recovery without the
aid of the large scale redevelopment that had occurred in Society
Hill. The 1990s saw a shift in the neighborhood as Mayor
Ed Rendell encouraged investment in Center City
and
gentrification began to take
hold. By the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, the neighborhood had
transformed into an economically vital community.
The Gayborhood
A decorated street sign in
Philadelphia's Gayborhood
Washington Square West, on its western side, is nearly adjacent to
the area bounded by Walnut, Pine, Broad, and 12th streets known as
The
Gayborhood by locals. It is so-named
because of its large concentration of
gay and
lesbian oriented bookstores, coffee shops,
restaurants, clubs and
gay bars. It was also
the center of Philadelphia's
gay
bathhouse culture in the 1970s and early 1980s. The area is the
location for Philadelphia's annual
OutFest: National Coming Out Day
celebration. On
18 April,
2007, the city of Philadelphia officially recognized
the area by adding 36 gay pride
rainbow flag symbols to street
signs bordering the Gayborhood area.
Its success as a city neighborhood has led to several attempts at
large scale private development in the Gayborhood in the 2000s. In
2002, developer Tony Goldman attempted to change 13th street and
its surroundings into the "Blocks Below Broad" or "B3", with the
launch of several new retail establishments. The attempt failed,
but was repeated in 2006 by a merchants association organized by
James McManaman. The organization has attempted to re-brand the
neighborhood as "Midtown Village". The association has been
successful in launching several new retail establishments along
13th streets, but the name "Midtown Village" has been met with
ambivalence by locals.
Education
Public libraries
The
Free Library of
Philadelphia operates the Independence Branch at 18 South 7th
Street.
Notable Residents
References
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
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