There Goes The Gayborhood

No really.. Where did it go?

It may not exactly be breaking news. In fact we've all known it was coming. But with this weekend's Fall Festival and the positioning of “Village” banners up and down the streets it felt surprisingly official.

[13^th and Sansom, stripped of color.. view photo below for irony.]

If you haven't noticed Philly's beloved “Gayborhood,” roughly between Broad + 11^th streets and Chestnut + Spruce streets, affectionately called due to.. well, it's obviously large and lively gay population, has now been renamed. Welcome to the.. Midtown Village?!?

Anyone who knows anything about Philadelphia knows that we don't like change. At least when it comes to the renaming of our landmarks. Fuck, we still won't give any tourist directions to this, “Columbus Boulevard.” And we especially don't like the renaming of our landmarks when they are a clear cache on New York's.

Let me break it down, “Midtown,” may come from it's location in the middle of our city, but when the city only goes 30 blocks east west I think it's ok to use the “below Broad/above Broad” language. And “Village,” just an obvious reference to NY's village and has no connection to any Philly tradition. It makes us feel all yucky. Like we're trying to wear our big brother's basket ball jersey to breakfast to get some attention from our alcoholic father.. or something.

Bring back the Gayborhood! It may not be as catchy as, “Midtown Village,” or look as cute in a real estate ad, but at least it's ours.

P.s. I should mention too that anyone who knows anything about Philadelphia knows that we complain about everything. Sooo...

Must watch video!

On a completely non-gay note. I love this video. The Lion King preforms Soulja Boy. Disney to sue any day.