Back to the OP's question...

To elaborate on Spring Garden, it's true that it's pretty gritty & kind of desolate to the east, though there a few little surprising gems in that stretch (a little Mexican hole-in-the-wall called Jose's with supposedly very good food - I have yet to try it - on 10th a block south of SG, for example). Then, when you reach 5th, you have Northern Liberties off to the north, which is very interesting & well worth a visit. From Broad & SG it's a short ride on the 43 bus eastbound (though check the schedule on septa.com before you go - the 43 runs pretty infrequently).