A Few Deft Touches for Back Streets

And Suddenly People Want to Walk There

So what do you do with a blind brick wall? Paint a few doors and windows, or maybe just rectangles. And call it art. Because it is.

The scene above is on South Hicks Street, the location of my new favorite coffee shop, called Suprema (actually the entrance to Suprema is on Pine). Somewhere behind that wall are two small theaters, tucked into the old ballroom of the Drake apartment building, which fronts on Spruce and runs quite a distance down South Hicks. (I found this information online.)

So if you're thinking that the facade treatment above looks like a stage set, I'm thinking you wouldn't be wrong.

Not too hard to do, really. Once you have the idea. 

I've been writing about Philadelphia's alleys and small streets for a number of years, and I'm pleased to say that more and more people seem to be getting ideas. They don't have to be big ideas. Here's a provisional reworking of a small passageway on 16th Street, between Spruce and Locust, last summer.

The decor went away in the winter, but the passageway seems to be making a comeback now that the warm weather is here again.

And here's a temporary installation, also on 16th just north of Spruce. Call it eye candy, but it works. The alley is no longer invisible. It is a place.

I think one of our little streets with the greatest potential is Moravian, just north of Walnut. One of the reasons I like Moravian is that its current situation varies block by block, from depressing to catastrophic. Here's a shot at 17th Street.

This is a little unfair, because of the digging in the road, but I've taken too many pictures of long rows of greasy dumpsters, and I need something to motivate me to take a picture. So forgive me.

The upshot of upgrading is that you make the space more useful. Here's an alley behind the Atlantic building, in the 1400 block of Spruce. This space was a mess that you may not remember, because it was usually closed off with a sagging chain-link gate backed by some opaque plastic tarpaulins. 

Now, as you can see, it's open, it looks nice, and there are some parking spots and an entrance to the building that can be used by residents as well as staff.

Look at this side entrance to the Bellevue. Somebody decided to care. And it shows.

The easiest little streets to spruce up are the residential blocks. These streets provide access to the homes, but generally have very little through traffic. Other blocks are everybody's rear door. They're basically places to stow cars and stash trash, and they look it.

And many of them are a lot cleaner than they used to be. But still they tend to be colorless, and lacking in a sense of cohesion.

I wish someone would care a bit more about the 1400 block of Moravian. It's just west of Broad; on the north side lies the Union League, and on the south side are a number of very nice older buildings, including Drexel and Company on 15th and, in the mid-block, one of the former homes of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. (I've written about this block before; to see the story, click here.)

This block used to be a filthy mess. It's now much cleaner and neater than it used to be, but I think the people looking after things here should not rest on their laurels. Take this street to the next level. Put the dumpsters inside, and move the sheriff's-office parking to one of the many, many large garages in the area. A few of the facades on the south side of the street need some restoration. And then you can go for a pedestrian-priority street with outdoor dining.

Here's a taste of the payoff. This slice of the Union League is tucked away in the mid-block, waiting for its audience to show up and have a cappuccino.

See also Small Streets Are Like Diamonds, Streets Without Joy, City Beautiful Sprouts on Cypress Street, What We Lost, Do We Secretly Want Ugly Cities and Dangerous Streets?