Bella Vista (Italian for beautiful vista) belongs to the area originally known as Moyamensing (Lenape Indian word for place of judgment). The Italian Market along 9th Street lies within. Over the past 25 years, the rapidly changing historic commercial corridor has experienced decline, blight, and renewal that has coincided with the arrival of Mexican nationals, which have given new life to the stretch between Wharton Street and Washington Avenue.

Some may argue that the most recent arrivals are simply part of an immigration cycle which has brought many groups into this area, ranging from Lithuanians, Irish after the Great Famine, Black Americans during Reconstruction and The Great Migration, and, of course, Italians after Unification. Today’s the most recent group are Mexicans.

 Welcome to Puebladelphia

During my conversations with the Head Consul of Mexico, Carlos Obrador, and Consul Valeria Ramirez-Siller, Obrador recounted that many transplants to Philadelphia are originally from the Mexican state of Puebla, causing Philly to be referred to as Puebladelphia. Many other people came from the central states of San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato, Tlaxcala, and the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. When I asked how and when Mexican nationals started their mass migration into the region, Obrador replied, “mushrooms.”

In the 1970s, the Philadelphia region became an attractive economic destination for the massive influx of Mexican migrants due to the demand for labor at the many mushroom farms throughout Kennett Square, Oxford, Avondale, and Toughkenamon, Pennsylvania. Many of these migrants stayed and became nationalized under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

By the 1990s, a large wave of Mexican nationals arrived in Philadelphia because of its low cost of living and labor opportunities. These new groups settled in Norristown, North Philadelphia, and South Jersey. Yet, after the installation of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) in 1994, they found themselves pushed out of the many temporary migrant laborer positions.

El Mercado de la Calle Nieve

From the late 1990s to the 2000s, South Philadelphia, specifically the 9th Street market area, was hit by hard times. According to a Philadelphia Planning Commission report in 2000, the area was labeled as blighted due to the many vacant buildings, tax delinquencies, and open spaces.

In 2006, the late Frankie Tartaglia, former owner of music venue Connie’s Ric Rac (now Casa Mexico), told PhilaPlace.org, “If you go past Washington Avenue, that’s where all the business is. People on the other side of 9th Street say this is where people go to die.”

To get a clear idea of what transpired during this period, I contacted Michele Gambino, a life-long resident, acting business manager of the South Ninth Street Business Association, and producer of the annual Italian Market Festival, who has worked in many roles around the market for over 20 years. Gambino explained that “Every neighborhood has its high and low points. Unfortunately, a number of elder residents decided to move on, leaving many store fronts vacant.”

A new period of migration began around 2006 when the market began redevelopment projects to revitalize the area. It was also during this time a high number of Mexican workers seeking employment opportunities also appeared.

For background context, Obrador was quick to point out that Philadelphia has always had close ties to Mexico. This relationship is primarily due to the long-standing reputation of Philly being a city proud of its history and support of immigrants. The connection became heightened when anti-migrant sentiments flared in the early 2000s causing migration from primary destinations such as New York to more community-based areas. This is reflected in census data, which highlights that up to 15,500 people of Mexican heritage claimed Philadelphia as their home between 2000-2010.

Always a Migrant Community

Gambino recounted the 2006 incident at Genos cheese steak stand owner Joey Vento posted an offensive, now long gone sign that read “This is AMERICA. When ordering, speak English.” She explained that only a small minority of people along 9th Street felt that way. “The market has always been a place for immigrants. A place where they live and where they work and where their children attend the local schools. Gambino said that the neighborhood still has that feel. “Now there are different types of immigrants. That’s the fabric of South Philadelphia. It may see different types of immigrants, but it is still a great place. Same idea. Same takeaway.” 

As Gambino and I discussed the shops along the market, I imagine a walk along 9th Street from Washington Avenue to and Christian Street where you will still see the many long-standing Italian shops, such as DiBrunos, Isgros, and Villa di Roma. As you progress south, the Mexican shops, which include the Blue Corn Restaurant, Tortilleria San Roman, and Alma del Mar, appear before giving you one little bit of nostalgia upon arriving at Fante’s Kitchen Shop, Espositos, and Giordano’s Fruit and Produce. At the intersection of 9th Street and Washington Avenue you begin to notice the South East Asian influence in the area as well.

The space parallel to the original site of Anastasi Seafood, which was demolished in 2022 for the dormant Icebox condominium construction project of Midwood Investment & Development, has come alive with new shops and restaurants like San Miguel Archangel with Quincerea dresses in the window, Arepa Grub Spot, and Discolandia. The Michelin-star-winning South Philly Barbacoa and Casa Mexico lead visitors down to South Philadelphia’s dueling cheesesteak triangle, Pat’s and Genos.

 Is It Still the Italian Market?

A review of property records throughout the market highlights a different 9th Street. Along with the long-term Italian-owned properties are a high number of Asian-owned buildings in the formerly blighted areas purchased during the 2000s, with very few properties belonging to persons with Hispanic names.

Although both Gambino and Obrador professed excitement over future neighbors and changes, while I tend to be more pessimistic. Someone once summed up gentrification as taking what’s interesting or ethnic about a community and gutting it in preference to what the new community prefers with only the shell remaining from what was there before.

A 2016 article, “South Philly via Palermo, Puebla, and Saigon,” by Thomas Fox Parry tells the stories of various business owners and how they earn just enough to support families and keep going, but their profits are slim. As property values increase, what will the 9th Street Market become as older generations retire and new generations find that working long hours for decent, but not substantial pay is not attractive How will this be impacted by the addition of newer neighbors who may be less interested in placing roots and more interested in being in a trendy, developing neighborhood?

The Icebox condominium project appears be stalled and, ironically, the empty, fenced-in lot is currently a blight itself along 9th Street. However, eventually something residential and expensive will be built in that space. Whether it will improve or change the neighborhood has yet to be seen.

A few years ago articles appeared pondering whether the Italian Market should be renamed. I believe that the point is moot. Names of neighborhoods simply tell us how a community began. Today, the Mexican American community in the market is now part of the rich historical narrative of 9th Street and the surrounding neighborhood.

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