East Coast feel coming to West neighborhoods

There are rare opportunities, at best, if you have grown up on the East Coast, to recapture the spirit and essence of the neighborhood environment prevalent in the East and lacking in the West. From Boston and down the coast, neighborhoods are a vital part of what makes East Coast cities so pleasurable and emotionally memorable. For me, South Philadelphia left an indelible mark on my soul forever. I grew up there.

Living most of my adult life here in the West, I have never lost my fondness for the East Coast neighborhood and I think, not finding that environment easily here, has only strengthened my longing and my spiritual search.

As a native son of Philadelphia, over the years, from across the miles and on numerous visits, I have observed the City Of Brotherly Love, the fourth largest city in the nation, clean up, grow up and reach out to inform the world it is not just New York City's little sister anymore. Standing on a corner where Adams and Jefferson had late night conversations over wording in the Declaration of Independence is just one of the many mythical experiences this historic city offers.
But, what Philadelphia still has besides "we got culture here," is the most basic form of urban communication, neighborhoods.

Out here, there is an impressive attempt, that in its scope, might eventually aid the quest for a sense of neighborhood. We call it a village. The village concept for living is alive in Southern California. By votes from a City Council, villages have sprung up all throughout the area and Burbank is no exception.

Burbank has taken the concept one step further and now intends to call a building a village. Burbank's Village Walk, currently under construction, will be flats and lofts. It is a daring experiment, claiming the concept to be true urban. Meshing the environment of the East Coast neighborhoods with the new West Coast style would be a very interesting direction. However, it is not as easy at it might appear. Neighborhoods evolve, villages are created.

What is at stake in the new village approach is an overnight acceptance of what took years in developing a neighborhood.

In downtown Los Angeles, the builders of a project simply called Eleven (11) because of the address, are claiming they want to "create neighborhoods. Urban development is about making small towns." Tony's Market, a Burbank neighborhood market on Glenoaks Boulevard, is a perfect example of that East Coast feel. It takes understanding, endurance and the charm of years to make a Tony's successful. The cast of characters come and go daily, and owner Dominic Manente is the showman who envelops all who enter Tony's Market.

This market has earned a gallant place in the neighborhood. Within the confines of Tony's world, ideas are shared, voices heard, good and bad news acknowledged. It is a world of steady, reliable and colorful people from all walks of life.
Manente and his crew understand and share in everyone's small victories and defeats and that is the crux of a true neighborhood. Earning the peoples trust and allowing them to have a strong sense of identity is the essence of every neighborhood I have ever known. Are these buildings, now being called Villages, going to provide that essence?

Philadelphia, much to my personal pleasure, has pronounced influence here in Burbank, and it is not such a bad marriage of ideas and ideals. Burbank and Philadelphia should become sister cities. The longer I live in Burbank, the more I discover Philadelphia coming out. I can now get an authentic Philly cheesesteak right at South Street, on Victory at Olive.

They carry Tastycakes and soft pretzels and their Italian water ice is exactly from the old neighborhood. I am not a food critic, but I am a Philadelphian and a Burbanker and I am thrilled that Philadelphia's South Street franchise chose Burbank for one of their establishments. The South Street cheesesteak is the very best I have ever found in my 41 year search for a good Philly cheesesteak.
It is hard to guess if Burbank's Village Walk will be a success, but I am certain that if the people behind it take serious lessons from the East Coast neighborhood mentality, understanding that people and their customs make a neighborhood, not a building, they may just have a chance and, at $500,000 a pop, it could be quite a little neighborhood.

Joseph Di Sante

Burbank