Northern Liberties: ‘Health Craze’ Overtakes Neighborhood

Today Northern Liberties is generally known as a hip neighborhood that many enter to try new restaurants and fitness classes.

Jessica Read is a new resident in Northern Liberties and decided to move to the neighborhood because of the numerous young residents and the convenient walking distance to all her favorite cafes.

“The term hipster is thrown around loosely when people describe Northern Liberties because a lot of young people live here, and that’s why I moved here but I stayed because it’s well-located. I can walk to so many different types of restaurants and yoga studios, it’s a great set up” Read said.

The young hipster crowd is commonly associated with the Northern Liberties neighborhood so businesses have moved in or changed to fit the needs of the residents in order to survive. One major theme seen in numerous restaurants, cafes and gyms in Northern Liberties is the ‘health craze.’

Business owners have been aware of the needs of residents and continue to adapt in order to please. Multiple cafes and restaurants have added healthier choices along with vegan and organic meals to their menus to attract more residents. “The vegetarian and vegan options are definitely on the rise, you see more and more cafes offering healthier choices, my favorite is Soy Café,” local resident Josh Craft said.

As people become more health conscious they begin to demand more from their food providers. If resident are not happy with the options offered by local cafes and restaurants they find other alternatives. Many residents have begun to plant vegetables in their own backyard or the community garden located in Liberty Lands Park.

“A lot of my friends actually have their own gardens they work on and I’ve seen a lot of people in the community garden too but I usually just go out and buy the organic options at restaurants or farmers markets,” Northern Liberties resident Ann Hanson said.

Healthy food options are not the only concerns for local residents of Northern Liberties. Fitness classes and gyms are also on high demand. As you walk around Northern Liberties you are sure to notice numerous different fitness studios scattered around the neighborhood. There are multiple yoga and pilates studios such as Trullo Pilates, Amrita Yoga and Wellness, Ploome and Sankhya Yoga School & Wellness Center.

Daniela Galdi is the owner of Trullo Pilates in Northern Liberties. The studio offers individual and group pilates classes along with rehabilitation exercises. Trullo Pilates focuses on building core strength and aims to achieve the perfect posture for its clients. The studio’s clientele varies from young to old and male to female. “We get all types of people coming into Trullo Pilates, you’d be surprised at the different age groups that come in here” Galdi said.

Cookie Mahon has been a client at Trullo Pilates for five years and continues to come back for a great workout. “I have a lot of back problems and Trullo Pilates gives me a lot of comfort. I love to work out on the Cadillac and with any type of springs,” Mahon said.

Along with yoga and pilates studios a number of different gyms and fitness studios are located in Northern Liberties as well. Tim Lu is a Northern Liberties resident who is always looking for new fitness classes. “I’ve been meaning to try Muay Thai for awhile, I use to do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so I definitely want to try Muay Thai,” Lu said.

Cool Hearts Muay Thai Camp offers Muay Thai training with former world champion fighters who are now highly experienced instructors. The training does not only consist of Muay Thai curriculum but a general lifestyle program as well. The program includes strength training, yoga meditation and encourages healthy nutrition that aids training and fitness goals.

There are numerous types of fitness studios in Northern Liberties that attract different types of people looking for new and unique ways to stay fit. Along with fitness classes the residents of Northern Liberties enjoy various healthy food options from local cafes and restaurants as well.

The health craze has taken over Northern Liberties and the residents are enjoying every minute of it. New cafes and fitness studios are dispersed throughout the neighborhood and have become easily accessible to the residents. Northern Liberties continues to grow and expand and the fairly new healthy lifestyle trend helps to attract new residents while pleasing old ones.