South Street Renaissance men and women

It's not often that we here at Earth to Philly, the Daily News eco-blog, link to something from our upstairs sibling/rival, the Inquirer. But if I didn't, I'd have to basically write out this info myself, which I had intended to do if nobody covered this - the 40th anniversary of the "South Street Renaissance." Thankfully, they did.

Longtime Philly residents (and here I mean longer-time than me - I arrived in the mid-80s) know the story of the Crosstown Expressway that was set to obliterate then-downtrodden South Street until a bunch of hippie "bohemiams" moved in and opened funky businesses that defined the South Street that's now a venerable Philly landmark.

This is especially E2P-related because two of the visionaries most responsible for pulling that off are also Dumpster Divers, for which this will serve as the latest Dispatch.

Joel Spivak, who will be leading a walking tour on Saturday (starting at 2 p.m. at Head House Square - 2nd & Lombard) is no stranger to our readers, having been - among many other roles - the ringleader in opening the first Dumpster Divers gallery and now also the second one about a block away. The new gallery promises to feature the "best outfit made from trash/recycle" that shows up for the 11 am parade (6th and South).

And Isaiah Zagar is almost as much of a Philly icon himself as are his broken-glass mosaics that are visible all over the South Street area (as well as elsewhere in town) and especially at the Magic Gardens just off 10th and South. Of course, there were plenty of other people involved, and in fact many who have wound up in far-flung locations are returning to Philly just for this weekend.

Whether or not you were in Philly in the 60s or 70s, take a walk down memory lane with some of our previous E2P coverage of key players,and check out the events of the South Street Renaissance 40th Reunion. There will be a lot of people interested in this - but please: No flash mobs.