CP Choice: Our City, Ourselves

Someone’s watching you: The Rittenhouse gauntlet (Rouge, Devon, Square Bar, et al) is the place to stare and be stared at.

Hottest corner to stare and be stared at

With Devon and The Square Bar, both rife in deep greens, dark browns and outdoor seating complete with requisite "beautiful people," the competition for Neil Stein’s Rittenhouse Square overlook Rouge 99 is steep. But all in all, this competitive sparring gives off the smell of bloodlust and money — a scent always appealing to short-skirted younger women looking for prey, long-skirted older women looking for prey and monied men of all ages looking for meat. The Square Bar, with its amber tiles and mod seating, dedicates itself coolly to more of a drinking crowd. Devon dedicates itself to warmth and food-ishness with fresh tasty seafood to go with its homey tapestries and booth seating. And Rouge is all about the Benjamins and sex. This troika offers a perfect respite on balmy fall nights, a chance to witness dull desperate conversations, peck-and-pick routines and the long slow tease.

—a.d. amorosi

Best place to have a birthday

I still remember the first birthday I saw celebrated at Judy’s Cafe. At least I think it was a birthday. The 70-something grande dame dancing up a storm with the waiter was definitely celebrating something, and not even a mid-whirl misstep (she fell and cracked her head on a table) could stop her from partying on. That was the late disco era; on a recent night at the restaurant it was clear that there’s still no place like Judy’s for a birthday girl. This time it wasn’t just a grandmother who got to get up and dance, but a granddaughter as well. With the soundtrack blaring Tom Jones’ "She’s A Lady," staffers dressed the two ladies in hoopskirts with pompoms attached and the pair proceeded to sashay their way into the hearts of everyone in the room. Much more fun than singing waiters and a cake with a sparkler on it.

—David Warner

Third and Bainbridge Sts., 215-928-1968

Best new reason to look up, #1

Now that the Meridian building is almost all the way gone, stand at the corner of Market and 15th and look up. There’s a whole new chunk of skyline now visible, including the upper reaches of Chestnut Street’s most venerable buildings (yes, there are venerable buildings on Chestnut Street)

—David Warner

Best new reason to look up, #2

The ever-more-startling façade of the Reading Terminal Headhouse — de-scaffolded, gussied up, gorgeous — is now showing off perhaps its most startling addition of all: human beings. Look up from across Market and you’ll see a second-floor balcony where on good days there’ll be people (probably guests of the Marriott) looking down at you. They don’t have much else to look at, considering what else occupies the 1200 block of Market (except for the PSFS/Loewe’s work in progress) but their presence is yet another encouraging sign of life on this gradually reviving street.

—David Warner

Best Cinderella act for a building

Irvine Auditorium. Long considered an architectural joke and one of the Penn campus’ ugly ducklings, this gaudy pile of bricks and mortar has been completely transformed after a three-year renovation. The capacity has been reduced, with the ridiculous side seating that had been perpendicular to the stage, removed. Best of all, the original polychromatic interior painting has been restored, cleaned up like the Sistine Chapel. Spectacular.

—Peter Burwasser

Most mysterious location filming

MTV’s Global Groove intercuts beautiful bodies from various spots all dancing under one sanitized groove. While it’s perversely pleasing to see Philly represented on the show every so often — nice to see MTV has room for us in their new world order — still a few questions must be raised. Where do they find these dancers? When do they film, and how come I never see them filming? Most importantly, why the hell was one segment filmed at what appeared to be The Gallery, which is neither the veritable hotbed of Philly dance culture, nor even very nice to look at?

—Michael Pelusi

Most ridiculous new signage

The French Quarter street signs posted at 17th and Sansom (in front of the new Sofitel Hotel) and 18th and Sansom are nothing more than a marketing ploy to promote the newest fake Philadelphia neighborhood. Time — and money — would be better spent on revitalizing real neighborhoods.

—Fern Sternberg

Most Inspiring Neighborhood Resource

Taller Puertorriqueño is celebrating 25 years of promoting arts and culture in the heart of the barrio. A bilingual bookstore and gallery plus a separate building devoted to classes offer both kids and adults a way to develop their personal expression and pride in their roots.

—Mary Armstrong

2721 N. Fifth St., 215-426-3311