PHILADELPHIA – A touristy shopping strip is battling the economic crunch by turning over vacant storefronts to artists, hoping the creative community will again breathe new life into a neighborhood it brought back from the brink in the 1970s.

The plan is to establish a “creative incubator” on the South Street corridor by giving artists nearly free rehearsal or work space (they pay utilities but no rent) in a high-traffic area they couldn’t otherwise afford – giving their endeavors a wider audience while enlivening a barren building.

More than 200 applications have been submitted from musicians, dancers, artists, graphic designers and photographers vying for roughly a half dozen empty storefronts, mainly along five blocks at the eastern end of the strip. In Philadelphia, the South Street corridor was a thriving business and entertainment district before being largely abandoned amid demolition plans – later halted- for a 1960s proposal for a crosstown expressway that would have buried the neighborhood under an eight-lane highway.

It began developing into a bohemian enclave in the late 1960s as young creative types moved in to take advantage of the cheap real estate, when run-down storefronts could be had for as little as $75 a month. As the counterculture colony took shape, curious tourists and suburbanites soon followed – and spent their money in South Street’s then-fledgling stores and restaurants.

By the 1990s, many of the quirky, artist-run stores, cafes and bookshops that lined South Street during its heyday left as rents increased. The national retail chains and fast-food restaurants that took their place are largely where the now-shuttered storefronts now stand.

The hope is that art galleries, dance studios, design firms and other shoestring endeavors will develop into successful, rent-paying businesses that re-ignite South Street’s artistic energy in the process.The initiative, called Arts on South, is the work of property owners, businesses, residents and the neighborhood civic organization.”Almost all storefronts were filled a year ago,” said Bill Curry, a business owner. The sagging economy, along with a project that chased away crowds, provided a one-two punch that flattened many businesses, he said.