What It's Like Living in Brewerytown, Philadelphia
Brewerytown is a North Philadelphia neighborhood that is rich in history and is in the middle of rapid development and change.
The neighborhood just outside of Center City owes its name to its former status as home to nine breweries in the late 19th century. The Prohibition era during the 1920s caused all of the breweries to go bust, but today Brewerytown’s beer scene is back and booming in the form of microbreweries and craft beer bars.
Brewerytown itself is in the middle of a renaissance, with a burgeoning commercial corridor and lots of new development taking up real estate block by block. Find out more about what it’s like living in this North Philadelphia neighborhood on the rise.
Brewerytown Real Estate
Brewerytown once fell prey to the boom and bust industrial days of the city, but the neighborhood’s stock has been rising for the better part of the late 2000s as people look for more affordable rental and home prices.
Because of its industrial history, Brewerytown’s landscape is dotted with old warehouses, along with stretches of rowhomes. As the neighborhood continues to change, its historic warehouses are being repurposed into loft-style rentals and rowhomes are being renovated left and right.
That said, it’s getting harder and harder to find a budget-friendly home for sale in Brewerytown. According to neighborhoods.com, the median sale price here is in the mid-$300s—well above the city’s overall average. You can find some modest rowhomes and fixer-uppers in the low $100s here, but current inventory stretches up to the high $600s for brick rowhomes completely renovated with high-end fixtures.
View homes for sale in Brewerytown
Where to Eat and Drink
With a name like Brewerytown, it’s no surprise that there are plenty of places to grab a drink here. There’s the microbrewery Crime and Punishment on Girard Avenue for those looking for funkier flavors in an intimate setting. To get a feel for the neighborhood dive bar, head to Era, an Ethiopian spot on the corner 28th and Poplar streets.
Once you’re on Girard, stay put if you want a bite to eat. This retail corridor is lined with a variety of restaurants. Try Rybrew for delicious sandwiches and beer.
Coffee spots are also plentiful and come with a twist. Le Cat Cafe on one side of Girard lets coffee drinkers enjoy the company of cats, while the Monkey and the Elephant on the other side of the avenue offers coffee for a cause—it doubles as a nonprofit that employs former foster youth.
Things to Do
Besides brewery-hopping, Brewerytown offers easy access to the largest park in the city, Fairmount Park, making it another Philadelphia neighborhood that’s great for lovers of the outdoors. The neighborhood actually borders the park, where there are hiking trails, playgrounds, sport fields, and more to explore.
If you continue walking west along Girard Avenue, you’ll eventually make it to the Philadelphia Zoo, which happens to be the first zoo in the U.S.
Want to get a real vibe on Brewerytown? Take a walk around the neighborhood past the variety of architectural styles mixed in with blocks of new development—you might even stumble upon a neighborhood block party, a common occurrence around here.
Getting Around
Like much of Philadelphia in general, Brewerytown is a very walkable neighborhood—even from its most northern edge, Girard Avenue is just five blocks away.
Getting to other parts of the city is pretty easy via public transportation, too. Brewerytown is serviced by the 15 Septa Trolley line—it’s the only trolley line that uses old-school heritage streetcars. Brewerytown residents can also hop on multiple bus lines to get to Center City, North Philly, and West Philly.
And while you don’t need a car to live in Brewerytown, if you have one it’s an easy ride to the nearest highway for those days when you want to get out of the city.