Philadelphia/North

North Philadelphia is a large area north of Philadelphia's Center City that includes many neighborhoods such as Northern Liberties, Kensington, Fishtown, Fairmount, the Spring Gardens, Templetown, Nicetown, and Tioga. Unfortunately, large swaths known as North Central are plagued by violence though they include some of the city's most interesting residential architecture.

Understand
The Art Museum Area is one of the city's fastest growing neighborhoods, rooted by three unique cultural icons. It's more than just museums, though, including the neighborhoods of Franklintown, Spring Garden, Fairmount, and sometimes Francisville. Though it is the seat of one the finest art collections in the world (you must see the Impressionist gallery), it also encompasses the Philadelphia Free Library, the Franklin Institute, the Wine School, the Eastern State Penitentiary (where Al Capone sat idle for many years), and an up-and-coming residential neighborhood that includes galleries, restaurants, and bars just east of the Parkway off of Spring Garden Street and Fairmount Ave. Kelly Drive, the most popular recreational destination in the city with bike and running paths, as well as historic Boathouse Row, begins just behind the art museum.

Northern Liberties (so named because when Philadelphia was founded in 1682, land purchasers there were given a free land bonus in the surrounding rural areas, called the "Liberties") has become a trendy neighborhood in Philadelphia among students, young professionals and artists, is also home to many galleries and shops. NoLib, as its residents call it, is home to artist lofts, architecturally-conscious condo developments, and entertainment from bowling, to restaurants.

The Northern Liberties neighborhood extends approximately from Front Street to 6th Street east-west, and from Spring Garden Street to Girard Avenue north-south. Until about the 1960s, Northern Liberties was home to Philadelphia's breweries: Ortleib's, Schmidt's, and Ballantine. These beers are tougher to find these days, but live on at Citizens Bank Park's (home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team) Brewerytown stand. It fell into disrepair once the breweries declined.

Today Northern Liberties is an excellent place to spend an evening out, with a large number of unique bars and restaurants well within walking distance.

Fishtown, originally part of the Kensington neighborhood, is rumored to have gotten its name from Charles Dickens from the fish smell (it's on the river). It's also believed that Penn Treaty park is where William Penn actually met with Native Americans. Many artists moved there after Northern Liberties became too expensive. There is an increasing number of galleries, a live music club (Johnny Brenda's), and a somewhat burgeoning commercial strip along Girard Ave east of Front St. It's mainly a rowhouse neighborhood rather than one of lofts, a nice park here is Palmer Park.

Templetown is a neighborhood of Temple University's main campus, one mile north of City Hall and east of Fishtown. Not many locals actually call it "Templetown", but prefer to call it 'near Temple'.

By car
North Philadelphia is readily accessed by Broad Street.

By mass transit
The Broad Street subway line has stations in North Philadelphia. For Templetown, Cecil B. Moore is the safer and more used stop.

SEPTA Regional Rail serves North Philadelphia at Temple University Station (R3 West Trenton, and R5 Rail lines)

Temple University
Temple University is a large, urban comprehensive research university on Broad Street, in the center of North Philadelphia.

Templetown
Temple University also offers art and culture entertainment buy holding free Classical music concerts, art galleries, and student theatre productions. The concerts are usually located in Rock Hall and you can find a schedule on the Easter Boyer College of Music and Dance website. For the art galleries you can find information about them on the Tyler School of Art website.

North Broad
Since the late 2010s, a number of restaurants opened on the stretch of North Broad St. between Vine St. and Girard Ave. Many cater to concert-goers at the renovated Met, but some are more oriented to neighborhood people.



Fairmount/Art Museum
The food scene in the Art Museum Area is diverse, from Greek to Moroccan to Northern Italian to English-style pub food. The best bets are grabbing a bottle of wine and making a reservation at one of the neighborhood's BYOBs.

Templetown
There are various spots in Templetown where you could go to eat. One of them would be the food courts along 12th or along the Anderson Building. It contains many delicious eateries such as Richie's Deli and the Oriental Express. Another spot would be along Montgomery Street right along the SAC building. It offers Eddie's and a Korean Japanese food truck. There is also a purple truck that is home to Insomnia Cookies, a late night cookie and milk delivery service for those students who are real night owls.

Fairmount/Art Museum
The bars are clustered around the intersection of 24th and Fairmount Avenue, and largely favor micro-brews over cocktails.



Stay safe
North Philadelphia is by a large margin the most dangerous neighborhood in the city, and has often been ranked as one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the entire USA. Murders and crime are often associated with gang violence and drugs. It is not wise to venture off major streets. The area around Temple University is very dangerous. If you do travel through the area, stick to a major thoroughfare like Broad Street. It is also unwise to be in this neighborhood after sun down. Northern Liberties is also known to be high in crime often from robbery by gun point. Criminals are known to target drunk students and residents. The Philadelphia Police Department acknowledges Interstate 95 is a major access route directly into and out of the neighborhood, making way for easy strikes.