Literally means to find east. The streets may be laid out parallel and perpendicular in Center City, but they are not true north or magnetic north.
There are hundreds of round signs with maps on them posted throughout
Center City. Walk! Philadelphia and Direction Philadelphia. Center City
is divided into quadrants that are color-coded. I have seen one comprehensive
Walk! map of Center City. Is located at the 8th Street PATCO entrance
just beyond the turnstiles. So, if you aren’t riding PATCO, you
must pay $1.15 to study it. 
Should be orientated thus: 
INFO
The Independence Visitor’s Center is located on the north
side of 6th and Market.
It moved from J.F.K. Plaza on J.F.K. Blvd between 15th and 16th Streets.
It is open daily from 8:30 to 5. http://www.independencevisitorcenter.com/
215 965 7676
How to read a Street Sign
The city is divided up into 4 portions by three major thoroughfares: Market,
Front and Germantown. [see AAA diagram] There is one N-S divider, that
is Market Street. Front Street divides its east and west numbering system.
Germantown also forms an east-west divider.
By looking at most street signs on the intersection corners you can tell
where in the city you are located. If you know you are on an E-W street
and the sign has a 700 W, then you are between 7th and 8th Streets and
west of Front Street. If you are on a N-S street, such as North 3rd, and
the sign has a 700 N over the street designation, then you are between
seven and eight major E-W streets north of Market. The Blocks are not
evenly spaced from E-W, less so from N-S.
One odd thing about Philly, though, most intersections have just two street
signs: One for each street, and they are not on the same corner. Another
oddity is, there are major intersections that are missing one or both
signs. A few places have an additional sign hanging over the intersection
on a wire. I saw one on Market Street.
If you are on an E-W street you should be able to tell which numbered
streets you are between by looking at the addresses of buildings. If on
a major E-W street you see 1701 this would be the northeast corner, or
the beginning of the 1700 block. Even numbers are on the west side and
south side of a street, Odd numbers on the north side and east side. This
would appear to be the convention.
If you are on a N-S street and you see 701, it means you are Seven major
E-W blocks away from Market Street. You could be by Fairmount (N) or Bainbridge
(S).
I have not come across fractional addresses as some cities have. 141½ Church Street, for example.
There was a Rand McNally Map & Atlas store on Chestnut
in Liberty Plaza, accessible from the Chestnut Street.- CLOSED
e-maps
You can purchase map service for your cell phone! Complete with color
and zoom.
$5 for Cingular. Available from Rand McNally. http://maps.rmservers.com/
- SEPTA metro - free
- The Philadelphia Inquirer published an axonometric map of the lower east side of Center City (West Washington Square, Society Hill, Old City. That I found most useful. You can see pictures of the buildings populating blocks - how tall they are.
- StreetWise, a plastic-coated, color, tri-fold like brochure with the subway lines and major bus routes. $5.95
- SEPTA comprehensive bus route map, which over due for a an up-date $8.50
- City Slicker
City Slicker truncates the peak of Fairmount and cuts off Bainbridge, and covers from the Delaware to 40th Street, cutting off 41st. There is no color delineation of the various subway lines. So, SEPTA is indistinguishable from PATCO and it appears as though you could get off at 19th Street without changing lines from the Market Street to Green line. The street map is more detailed and indicates the location of car parks, which Streetwise does not.
Hospitals are easier to locate on the Streetwise map than City Slicker.
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