Large crowds are expected to cheer the cyclists as they whiz down Manayunk's Main Street and then tackle that urban Himalaya The Wall - which, more than anything else, has given the CoreStates event cachet and has put the urban neighborhood of Manayunk on many maps.
Manayunk, a one-time mill town flanked by Roxborough and the Schuylkill, was annexed to Philadelphia in 1854 and endured decades of commercial decline before launching a slow but steady comeback in the 1970s. In the last few years, the resurgence has really taken off, thanks in no small part to the bike race and the hard work of farsighted neighborhood leaders.
Today there are good, hip restaurants, such as Jamey's and Jake's, and a nifty assortment of art galleries and specialty shops - some trendy, some offbeat - occupying Manayunk's refurbished 19th-century buildings.
These businesses share the Main Street area with such fixtures as the Propper Bros. furniture store, founded in 1888, and A. I. Poland jewelers, there since 1899.
Main Street is now the place to go for those searching for that delicate blend of chic, quaint and funky.
Among the first to rediscover Manayunk were artists and crafts workers who began moving to the area in the early 1970s, when the neighborhood was about as well-known to the average Philadelphian as Madagascar.
Over time, Manayunk has developed into an art-gallery center, a real alternative to the Center City scene. All the galleries show inventive work and, with other neighborhood shops, will sponsor a juried outdoor art festival at the end of the month. On June 30 and July 1, Main Street will be closed to traffic and - shades of the Left Bank of Paris - lined with outdoor cafes complete with umbrella-topped tables.
Cyclists and artists have helped, but what truly kicked Manayunk's commercial rebirth into a higher gear was its restaurants.
