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If HBO's "Girls" With Lena Dunham Were Set in Philly...

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The much-anticipated HBO series Girls starts this weekend, the product of Lena Dunham who directed the film Tiny Furniture. Though we've only seen clips of Girls, we know that the character Dunham plays, Hannah, is broke and lives in a one-bedroom apartment somewhere in Brooklyn. We tried to imagine where Hannah might live if Girls were set in Philly.


? We started out with this brand-new one-bedroom (875 square feet) at Fourth and Girard. The photo shows someone sprucing up the place—maybe this is the landlord she could have awkward, vaguely sexual conversations with and then recount them to her friends. The apartment has a washer/dryer, which somewhat cuts down on the potential for awkward, vaguely sexual conversations at the laundromat, but there's always the Shrine of St. John Neumann, where any conversation is awkward because there's a dead body in a glass case and it's not Sleeping Beauty. Rent is $1,050.


? Here's a miniscule apartment (450 square feet) at 13th and Chancellor, an intersection guaranteed to be colorful. With the lesbian bar Sisters just around the corner, the location would be perfect for Hannah as she goes through her experimental phase (in case she didn't do so in college). There's also the pizza joint that sells really yummy slices to lines of clubgoers. Hannah could make a gay male bestie there who'd be a recurring character. Rent is $850.


? This Bella Vista one-bedroom at Eighth and Catharine provides ample opportunity for expanded story lines. Let's say Hannah goes through an artistic period, there's Fleisher Art School right around the corner. Let's say she starts drinking a lot, there are AA meetings two blocks down. What could be a better background for extended girl chat than John's Water Ice? The friends could take their different flavors (each one signifying something different) to Cianfrani Park, where they might even pet a dog. And the Italian Market? It's a natural. Plus, this place is enormous: 2,000-plus square feet. Rent is $1,100.
· HBO Girls