The Revival of a Philadelphia Gayborhood – Midtown Village

Posted by Scott Coatsworth

Midtown Village, Philadelphia

from Apple Maps

“We love 13th Street!” proclaim chef Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran on their website. It clearly shows: The pair, partners in business and in life, have branched out from a lone home goods boutique at 107 South 13th Street in 2002 to six thriving businesses at the epicenter of Midtown Village, including the nucleus of the 13th Street restaurant row. These businesses, according to the site, “helped transform the once-desolate neighborhood into trendy Midtown Village.”

Yes, Midtown Village’s main drag is truly “A Philadelphia Street, Transformed,” as a New York Times travel section slideshow proclaimed this past Sunday. And judging from that slideshow, Turney and Safran pretty much pulled it off by themselves, with just the merest assist from Stephen Starr, a cigar aficionado and a high-tech beer garden.

And so it goes when a reporter and a photographer parachute into town and start taking notes and pictures. Had they bothered to stay a while, they would have learned why Turney and Safran said their business empire “helped” with the transformation of 13th Street, for the street’s journey from sin strip to adult playground had many parents.

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Author: Scott Coatsworth