Graduate Hospital No More

While we’re just describing things however we feel like it today, let’s go with this: It appears Penn is not content to simply expand to the river in West Philly; today Graduate Hospital will re-open as Penn Medicine at Rittenhouse.

With the proposed foot bridge over the river and a new, hopefully non-scary South Street Bridge, will Penn one day stretch all the way into Center City? Who knows. For now people are content to spar over the name:

Technically, calling the new campus Penn Medicine at Rittenhouse is a bit of a stretch. The City Planning Commission says the official boundary of the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood stops a block north of the hospital, at South Street.

But naming the new place after its own neighborhood presented another set of problems. Stephen Singer, manager of research for the Center City District, said most people who live there call the neighborhood the Graduate Hospital area or G-HO.

Maybe people will start calling the neighborhood P-Med? Brad, when you’re back from your honeymoon (congrats!), get on it.

NEW YORK PAPER TAKES INTEREST IN PHILADELPHIA

Today’s New York Daily News has an article by Jason Sheften Sheftell — a poor man’s Jessica Pressler, perhaps — about living in Philadelphia.

Some New Yorkers apparently commute to Philadelphia, and only the Acela it only takes an hour and eight minutes to ride up to NYC. Hey, that is pretty quick. He writes about the ridiculously expensive Domus at 34th and Chestnut — $1,799 for a one-bedroom — and, of course:

10-minute walk to Rittenhouse Square and the center of the city, the Graduate Hospital (G-Ho) area has a raw, almost haggard, edge to it. There are abandoned lots next to new construction townhouses next to simple rowhouses that lack the refined elegance and historic charm of Philadelphia’s more established neighborhoods.

Also, this dude got mugged while he was a student at Penn, he says. Guess there weren’t $1800 apartments across the street from the law school back then.

Ever thought of living in Philadelphia? [NY Daily News]

Anderson Yards: The Neighborhood Name With An Added Dose Of Righteous Indignation

Anyone who’s worked at a newspaper knows the importance of putting out an honest product. Usually this means just doing good reporting and considering all the facts. In some cases, this means adding “balance” to the paper by letting one op-ed columnist attack another or printing right- and/or left-wing bullshit.

And then there’s yesterday in the Inquirer, where the biz section ran a story on Will Do fave Brad Maule and his website, Phillyskyline. Perhaps nodding to Maule’s part in the popularization of G-Ho, the Inky also ran this op-ed piece from someone who really hates the name G-Ho.

Jeremiah Scalia wants to call the neighborhood Anderson Yards, after Marian Anderson, the famous singer born in the neighborhood. He says nobody has a name for the neighborhood, even though he later writes many people are familiar with G-Ho.

Anderson Yards is also the name of the ballfield on Fitzwater. It’s actually a pretty good name, and it was made in exactly the same way as G-Ho: Scalia and his friends came up with it! (They even have, uhm, a Friendster page.)

Shortly after learning this, while visiting with friends who live at 18th and Fitzwater Streets, across from Anderson Yards, the impressive baseball field, the topic drifted to our nameless neighborhood. Someone suggested that the entire neighborhood take the name of the landmark Anderson Yards. That way, the whole neighborhood could pay homage to this great singer. (Many in my circle of friends and neighbors have since begun referring to the neighborhood this way.)

Recently, though, another name has emerged and it seems to be becoming popular. It’s G-Ho, for Graduate Hospital, built in the 1970s, between South and Lombard Streets.

I find this supposedly hip name to be contextually sterile. It is essentially rootless and cultureless. The g might as well stand for gentrification. Anderson Yards, by comparison, has a true identity. I’ve spoken with many new residents and it is unfortunate that most have never heard of Marian Anderson, but they all seem quite familiar with G-Ho.

Ahh, I see that stupid people are moving into the neighborhood, ones who somehow don’t know who Marian Anderson is. But, hey, you know what sounds better than G-Ho? Gentrification Ho! Aw, man, that’d be a great name for the neighborhood. Gentrification Hoooooooo!

Eyes on the city’s skyline [Inquirer]
Why not call it Anderson Yards? [Inquirer]
Anderson Yards [Friendster]

Leftovers: Recycle, Beautifully

• Rejoice, Northeast Philadelphians! You can now recycle without sorting and you’ll get it picked up by these spiffy trucks! Because nothing is going to make people on the Avenue recycle than pretty, pretty trucks. [Metro]

• Hey, look, there’s war going on in the Middle East. Man, I thought that show was cancelled. [CNN.com]

• Article of the Day™: This New York Times piece about the word slut. Apparently, “Like ‘queer’ and ‘pimp’ before it, the word slut seems to be moving away from its meaning as a slur. Or is it?” One day, I hope to be able to write an article with a paragraph that profound. [NYT]

• Philly: Not prepared for an evacuation. So if aliens attack, we’re screwed. [Inquirer]

• More Metro fun: Goers, who lives in the G-Ho section of Philly, is a computer programmer.” G-Ho! [Metro]

G-Ho Gains Legitimacy No Blog Can Ever Give It

In Sunday’s Inquirer, Craig Laban reviewed Sidecar, the hip upscale dive bar at 22nd and Christian. Laban said the beer was okay, the food was bad and the atmosphere was good. And, of course, the bar’s location said something about the rapidly-changing demographic of the soon-to-be-trendy area. And it’s got quizzo!

But it was what Laban called the section in the article that’s important:

Welcome to the newly minted nightlife scene of G-Ho, the neighborhood south of Graduate Hospital that is in the throes of cyclonic transformation. Gentrification has long been promised for this zone between South Street and Washington Avenue. But with the Naval Square development finally a high-end reality on nearby Gray’s Ferry Avenue, rebuild fever has taken hold of these blocks with a vengeance. The Christian Street sidewalks practically tremble from the pace of construction replacing blighted shells with $600,000 townhouses.

Holy shit! G-Ho! In the Inquirer! (The Sunday one at that.) And it’s not likely to cause quite as many jokes as Port Fishington!

You see, people on the Internet can make a difference.

Oh, yeah, this was also noted by The Illadelph and Wook. And they were a little more timely.

Sidecar Bar & Restaurant [Inquirer]
March 29: G-Ho Ho Ho!
Photo by Brad Maule, from his G-Ho essay