Took a Swing Through Southwest Philly | Woodland Ave to Penrose Plaza | Philly Dally | Ambient Drive

Let's go on a Philly dilly dally, shall we? 📍 Southwest Philadelphia — a swing down Woodland Avenue and out through the far southwest 📅 Monday, August 3rd, 2026 · 11:00 AM ☀️ Warm and partly sunny, mid-80s Today we pointed the car at the forgotten corner of Philadelphia and hit the gas. Southwest Philly is the part of town most Philadelphians have somehow never driven through on purpose, and the spine of the whole thing is Woodland Avenue — "The Ave" — cutting diagonally across the street grid like it never agreed to the rules in the first place. It's one of the oldest and busiest commercial corridors in Philadelphia, a trolley street lined with a couple hundred shops, hair salons, and family restaurants. Over the last few decades it's become the heart of the city's West African and Caribbean community — you'll pass Senegalese kitchens, Jamaican takeout, and soul food all on the same block. It is loud, alive, and completely itself. Here's the part nobody tells you: this neighborhood is a factory for famous people, and most of them ran through one building — John Bartram High School over at 67th and Elmwood. Patti LaBelle, the Godmother of Soul, grew up right here in Southwest. Soul music pioneer Solomon Burke came out of the same halls. So did DJ Jazzy Jeff, the other half of a certain Fresh Prince. Wilson Goode, the first Black mayor in Philadelphia's history, is a Bartram man. And Joe "Jellybean" Bryant — Sixer, city legend, and the father of Kobe — was a Southwest Philly kid before his son ever picked up a ball. Comedian Michael Blackson too. Not bad for the corner of the city everybody forgets to visit. We took the swing through it all and rolled it out to the end, exiting Penrose Plaza down at Island Avenue and Lindbergh Boulevard, right where the city starts running out of room before the airport. No commentary, no music, no narration — just the road, the Ave, and a warm summer morning in Southwest. Part of the Delco Dilly Dally archive: an ongoing record of the roads, towns, and everyday scenery of Delaware County and the greater Philadelphia region. #PhillyDally #DelcoDillyDally #SouthwestPhiladelphia #WoodlandAvenue #Philly #AmbientDrive #PattiLaBelle #DJJazzyJeff #driving #ambientsounds #urbanexploration #philadelphia