Rocky Balboa is from Kensington, not South Philly. And a new mural should help raise awareness.
Social media personality The Philly Captain took this footage of the mural at the intersection of Kensington Ave. and Tusculum St. That's just down the block from 1818 E. Tusculum, which served as the location of Rocky's apartment in the original 1976 film.
New in Kensington pic.twitter.com/jfdFLxM0mR
Many of the most iconic locations in the Rocky series (and the Creed series, for that matter) are found in Kensington. Not, as many believe, in South Philadelphia.
The lack of an El in South Philly should be a dead giveaway. But South Philly typically gets the lion's share of the city's attention from tourists, sports fans, and national media. Kensington, meanwhile, is best known from crime-porn videos shared by racist uncles living in Bucks County.
Balboa is Italian of course, and South Philly is filthy with Italians has a rich Italian cultural heritage, which helps skew perceptions of the locations found in the movies. And the logistics of Balboa's training montages are famously nonsensical: Philadelphia Magazine's Dan McQuade once measured a run from Rocky II at over 30 miles.
Here's a Google Earth shot of the home on Tusculum St. as it looks today:
The owner of the property in the 1970s, Eleanor O'Hey, was paid $50 when Rocky was filmed. Public city records show that O'Hey (or someone by the same name) is still one of the home's owners. Public records also show that 1818 E. Tusculum was most recently assessed at $85,000 for tax purposes.
The home still attracts tourists, but as one online review notes, visiting the neighborhood isn't for everyone:
Maybe stick to Pat's and Geno's, roadtripper1731741. But if you do visit our fine neighborhood, check out the new mural!
