Rittenhouse Square and Avenue of the Arts South

The area south and west of the square is still largely residential and lovely, with cupolas and balconies, hitching posts and stained-glass windows. You can also find some small shops and the Rosenbach Museum and Library. In the heart of the city there are green places, too. Peek in the streets behind these homes or through their wrought-iron gates, and you can see well-tended gardens. On Delancey Place, blocks alternate narrow and wide. The wide blocks had the homes of the wealthy, and the smaller ones held dwellings for servants or horses (today these carriage houses are prized real estate). When he saw 18th Street and Delancey Place, R. F. Delderfield, author of God Is an Englishman, said, "I never thought I'd see anything like this in America. It is like Dickensian London." Today the good life continues in Rittenhouse Square. Annual events include the Rittenhouse Square Flower Show and the Fine Arts Annual, an outdoor juried art show.

Four blocks east of the square is the Avenue of the Arts, also known as Broad Street. "Let us entertain you" could be the theme of the ambitious cultural development project that has transformed North and South Broad Street from a commercial thoroughfare to a performing arts district. Dramatic performance spaces have been built, old landmarks have been refurbished, and South Broad Street has been spruced up with landscaping, cast-iron lighting fixtures, special architectural lighting of key buildings, and decorative sidewalk paving.