This week’s BusinessWeek has a pretty hi-lar-ious article about “up-and-coming” artsy neighborhoods in cities across the country. Among the neighborhoods mentioned? The Mission in San Francisco, Echo Park in Los Angeles, and our own childhood neighborhood, Jamaica Plain in Boston. Also given a nod? Our own Northern Liberties.
According to the ever-cutting edge folks at BusinessWeek,
Northern Liberties north of Center City has become one of the hottest neighborhoods for young artists and hipsters who frequent the area’s teeming restaurants and bars. Prices for homes have been rising but affordable space is still available, especially in the neighborhood’s northern limits.
It’s not the idea of the availability of affordable space that’s funny, so much as the fact that there is nothing “new” about the up-and-comers, so much so that we couldn’t help but question where the reporter has been for the past, oh, 5-10 years (and that’s being incredibly generous).
Anyway! The point is not to ridicule poor, clueless, Mr. Gopal, but rather to say that the wealth of awesome (and sometimes even slightly posh) dining options in NoLibs are a pretty trusty indicator that the neighborhood has arrived already.
For example, we think that one would be pretty hard pressed to find something like Bar Ferdinand with its distinctly upmarket tapas (“membrillo stuffed fried Manchego, frozen apple foam, walnut membrillo puree”?) in a neighborhood that was still truly undiscovered. Same thing for Sovalo, really. We love it to death, but anywhere that offers duck confit is hardly a signifier of grit.
Bar Ferdinand [MenuPages]
Bar Ferdinand [Official Site]
Sovalo [MenuPages]
Sovalo [Official Site]
“Up-and-Coming Neighborhoods: Great Buying Opportunities” [BusinessWeek]
[Photo: via Lucius Kwok/Flickr]
