What ever happened to the Italians in Philadelphia??? (York, Washington: live, gangs)

[selhars]

No contest. But I'd live in CH over any location in PA.

I know this thread is YEARS old. But this comment above ^^ struck me as almost downright ignorant. But an individual is allowed to make his or her choice and have his/her opinion....Cherry Hill over ANY area in all of Pennsylvania?

If distance were no object.....I'd pick ANY town on the Main Line over Cherry Hill. Let's see...Ardmore, Radnor, Bryn Mawr or Wynnewood....or Cherry Hill? The Main Line wins every time. Heck even, Kennet Square or Broomall wins over Cherry Hill. NOT that Cherry Hill is bad, or anything like that. It's nice enough, but it's not ALL THAT.

....it seems a bit more extreme than in NYC or DC...

When I moved to D.C. from Philly, I wondered where all the Italians were. It's like there were NO Italians. I know that's not literally true, but I was like where are they all? Finding an Italian deli was like looking for gold...and I STILL have found a GOOD one like there were in South Philly.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by selhars

When I moved to D.C. from Philly, I wondered where all the Italians were. It's like there were NO Italians. I know that's not literally true, but I was like where are they all? Finding an Italian deli was like looking for gold...and I STILL have found a GOOD one like there were in South Philly.

Didn't a lot of them move right across the Delaware to Washington Twp, NJ?

There are still Italians in S. Philly around East and West Passyunk. Who do you think puts up all of the amazing winter time holiday light displays?

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by selhars

I know this thread is YEARS old. But this comment above ^^ struck me as almost downright ignorant. But an individual is allowed to make his or her choice and have his/her opinion....Cherry Hill over ANY area in all of Pennsylvania?

If distance were no object.....I'd pick ANY town on the Main Line over Cherry Hill. Let's see...Ardmore, Radnor, Bryn Mawr or Wynnewood....or Cherry Hill? The Main Line wins every time. Heck even, Kennet Square or Broomall wins over Cherry Hill. NOT that Cherry Hill is bad, or anything like that. It's nice enough, but it's not ALL THAT.

When I moved to D.C. from Philly, I wondered where all the Italians were. It's like there were NO Italians. I know that's not literally true, but I was like where are they all? Finding an Italian deli was like looking for gold...and I STILL have found a GOOD one like there were in South Philly.

Tbh, there were three Little Italys that I'm aware of once upon time. One in N. Phila in Swampoodle. One in W. Phila. with people ultimately ending Up in Overbrook after migrating from neighborhoods further east. And the more well known one in S. Phila. Only portions of the S. Philly one remain.

[travelingeverywhere]

Nowhere.

[sweendog024]

This thread is pretty ridiculous. There are plenty of Italians left in Philadelphia. If you want to see large Italian neighborhoods check out South Philly between 8th street-broad south of Washington with particularly large populations of Italians concentrated south of Snyder on both sides of Broad Street. However the further South you go the more Italian the neighborhoods get. Primary examples are around Oregon Avenue on both sides of Broad street including Packer Park, Girard Estates and the neighborhoods surrounding Moyamensing/Penrose avenue. Take a walk, bike ride or drive through the neighborhoods before jumping to conclusions.

[selhars]

^^ You're correct.
But -- there was a time when it was Italian from TASKER on down. SO it's not like -- uh, other groups haven't moved in.

I remember when blocks were busted, and other ethic backgrounds came in. When it first started south of Mifflin -- I was like "damn" as in surprised, shocked actually -- and some Italian flight started. And I don't blame them. Look at most of the area from Tasker to Passyunk now. There's NO comparison to how the houses were kept up with the gorgeous masonry and PRISTINE front steps/stoops. Some sidewalks are FILTHY, and houses are NOT kept up as much. Some are now down right run down. UGH. And 9th street, now? No comparison.

Have ALL Italian fled? Of course not. But let's not act like a WHOLE LOT didn't move out.

And were were some Italians also in the far northeast. But I'm intimately familiar with South Philly.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by sweendog024

This thread is pretty ridiculous. There are plenty of Italians left in Philadelphia. If you want to see large Italian neighborhoods check out South Philly between 8th street-broad south of Washington with particularly large populations of Italians concentrated south of Snyder on both sides of Broad Street. However the further South you go the more Italian the neighborhoods get. Primary examples are around Oregon Avenue on both sides of Broad street including Packer Park, Girard Estates and the neighborhoods surrounding Moyamensing/Penrose avenue. Take a walk, bike ride or drive through the neighborhoods before jumping to conclusions.

Correct but there used to be more Italians. Way more. They used be in more sections of the city than S. Philly.
They used to be in N. Philly and W. Philly too. The largest Catholic(mostly Italian) parish in Phila. was in W. Phila.: Our Mother of Sorrows at 48th and Lancaster Ave. Right across the street from is the gone, but not forgotten, was St Thomas Moore HS.

[Freethinker15]

Yes. "Our Mother Of Sorrows." (Enlightening name huh? lol) We lived at 48th & Thompson for a while then a few blocks up to 55th. They called that area "Little Italy", I fondly remember Mr. Vincent and his family at Vincent's Pizza at 50th & Thompson, as well as all of the Italian pubs, deli's, and neighborhood grocery stores. (It now has a sizable Jamaican/West Indian population.) Also further up around 62nd & Thompson to 75th was the "New Little Italy" as we called it in the early 80's. Even the South Side around 54th & Chester Avenue all the way up to 80th & Eastwick had a huge number of Italians back in the days. (It's now made of of a large number of African & Cambodian immigrants.)
Things change..

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Freethinker15

Yes. "Our Mother Of Sorrows." (Enlightening name huh? lol) We lived at 48th & Thompson for a while then a few blocks up to 55th. They called that area "Little Italy", I fondly remember Mr. Vincent and his family at Vincent's Pizza at 50th & Thompson, as well as all of the Italian pubs, deli's, and neighborhood grocery stores. (It now has a sizable Jamaican/West Indian population.) Also further up around 62nd & Thompson to 75th was the "New Little Italy" as we called it in the early 80's. Even the South Side around 54th & Chester Avenue all the way up to 80th & Eastwick had a huge number of Italians back in the days. (It's now made of of a large number of African & Cambodian immigrants.)
Things change..

My dad grew up at 58th-57th and Vine Sts in the 1920s/1930s. His family was the only black family on their
block. Everyone else was Italian.

[selhars]

Things change..

Yes they do. sometimes for the better, other times for the worse. When people move in who don't keep up their homes, I'd say that's for the worse. And that's happened in some of the parts of the city that we've been discussing where the demographic has changed.