Lori Brennan recalls a period in the early 1990s when University City was so crime-ridden and unsanitary that area schools could not recruit the students and faculty they wanted.
Since that time, local universities and businesses have joined forces with neighborhood residents to enhance and promote the image of the neighborhood.
The overall effort is run by a non-profit group known as the University City District, for which Brennan is the spokeswoman.
The crime rate in the 2.2-square-mile neighborhood has dropped 44 percent since 1997, the same year in which community institutions created the private, non-profit UCD. The purpose of the District is to strengthen commercial and residential areas and to improve University City's marketability.
The UCD began mainly as a street-cleaning and neighborhood upkeep service, but has recently stepped up a more global efforts to make University City a Philadelphia destination.
The slogan for the campaign is "left of center," designed to draw attention to the unique attributes and proximity to Center City.
"We are geographically left of Center City, but we are also funky, a little bit different," Brennan said. "This area has a diversity unlike any other in terms of types of people, housing and restaurants."
And by some measures, the efforts of neighborhood residents have been working.
Recently, the area has become home to attractions such as World Cafe Live and Marigold Kitchen; the latter was recognized as the city's best new BYOB by Philadelphia magazine. This year for the first time, a majority of the events for the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and the Philly Fringe, another arts festival, will take place at University City venues.
"We now have a wealth of cultural offerings, ethnic restaurants, parks, commercial corridors," Brennan said. "There is really something for everyone in University City."
College sophomore Zack Moscow agreed that the neighborhood's restaurants are appealing, but said he would like to see a better sense of community in University City.
"If they had something like an outdoor concert every Friday night in University Square on Sansom Street, it would promote many more people to come out," he said.
Barry Grossbach, a UCD board member and 35-year University City resident, said that while the UCD has been instrumental in effecting positive change in the neighborhood, much of the improvement is also attributable to changing attitudes among the community institutions that collaborate with the district.
"It all goes back to a commitment and understanding on the part of institutions that their areas of comfort and responsibility extend beyond their immediate borders," Grossbach said.
The UCD, which also employs "safety ambassadors" and maintenance workers who patrol the streets in yellow and green clothing, is funded completely voluntarily. Most of its money comes from the institutions that its 25 board members represent. Penn and the Penn Health System are the largest contributors.
Representatives from local universities and residential communities make up part of the board, and UCD officials hope the initiatives it undertakes in conjunction with these two groups will help bridge the gap between them.
"Five years ago The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that students would not go west of 40th Street," Brennan said. "Now with places like Marathon Grill and Fresh Grocer, 40th Street has become a hub where residents from the west and students from the east meet."
Some students, however, feel that a divide between the two communities still exists.
"I think there is still a sense among Penn students that there is a line around 42nd or 43rd Street where Penn kind of stops and the rest of West Philly begins," College sophomore Alex Shapiro said. "People are less likely to go there because of the reputation it has."
