Atrios pegged it: “Assholes. Move back to the suburbs.”

Because for more than two years, the 32-story Symphony House, the new kid on the block, has been embroiled in a pitched battle with the venerable Jamaican Jerk Hut, the popular eatery two blocks away that has been a South Street mainstay for more than 20 years.

Some Symphony House residents want to pull the plug on the Jerk Hut’s live reggae music, which it offers to customers on the lot next to the restaurant on weekends in spring and summer months.

That the city Zoning Board of Adjustment in July ruled in the Jerk Hut’s favor hasn’t stopped Symphony House from filing an appeal with Common Pleas Court.

Which means thousands of dollars more in attorneys’ fees out of owner Lisa Wilson’s pocket.

“This has been killing our business,” laments Wilson, whose outdoor operation, which accounts for 70 percent of business, was forced to go dark in 2009 while she waited for the Zoning Board’s decision.

“They’re hoping to get us to go away,” sighs Wilson, who concedes it might just happen. “I hate to say it, but I can’t continue to fight with these people.”

via Annette John-Hall: Jamaican Jerk Hut vs. Symphony House | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/07/2011.

The city is loud and interesting and unique and crowded and diverse and it has value. If you move downtown in the 6th largest city in America, for the summer months and on holiday weekends and the like: you are going to see/hear people celebrate, perform or express themselves. If you don’t like that, move to the suburbs.