Probably the best known tourist destination in South Philadelphia is South-Street. From shopping, to Restaurants, to Bars and entertainment you can find it on South Street. South Street is considered to be the northern border of South-Philly.

History of South Street!

Originally named Cedar Street in William Penn's plan of Philadelphia, South Street was the traditional southern boundary of Philadelphia's city limits before the townships of Passyunk and Moyamensing were annexed to the city.

Prior to and until the 1950s, South Street was known mainly as a garment district, featuring a number of (mostly Jewish-owned) men's suit stores and other clothing stores. At approximately that time, city planner Edmund Bacon and others proposed the construction of the "Crosstown Expressway"- a short limited-access expressway connecting the Schuylkill Expressway and I-95 by cutting a swath along South Street. Although that project never got further than the planning stage, the drop in real estate values that resulted from the uncertainty attracted artists and other counterculture-types.

South Street was very different in the 1960s-1970s than it is today. Back then, it was filled with clubs and bars, most of them promoting live local music. It was on South Street that the Philadelphia local music community began. Most people who frequented South Street actually lived in South Philadelphia, unlike today where it is populated by the inhabitants of North/West Philadelphia, suburban Philadelphia and New Jersey.

The 1960s and 1970s saw South Street grow to become a huge clubbing and live music area for Philadelphia. It was not uncommon to see South Philadelphians go "bar-hopping" across the clubs, listening to live bands along the way. It was this time when many artists, including Kenn Kweder, George Thorogood and Robert Hazard got signed because of this community of fans on South Street.

However, towards the 1980s South Street began getting more famous, quickly becoming one of Philly's tourist attractions. Tourists flocked to the nocturnal community that South Street had accumulated over the years, and the "neighborhood" community aspect was stripped from it. Many of the South Street clubs closed, replaced by chain stores and shops to cater to the tourists who came down.

from Wikipedia