News
Intentional Community Seeks Site On Germantown Avenue
Angela Taurino reports on Wissahickon Village Cohousing, a new intentional community trying to put down roots on Germantown Avenue in Mt. Airy > more
Blatstein Owns Burned Factory
The former L.H. Parke Coffee and Tea Importer under the El was owned by Tower Investments--and left unsecured. The fire closed the El > more
Hawthorne Community Park Opens
A sculpture by blacksmith Warren Holzman is an essential component of the brand-new Hawthorne Park. > more
Wawa Hoagie Day on Independence Mall
At the 2012 Wawa Hoagie Day on Independence Mall, an estimated 4.5 tons of hoagies were served. Wawa Italian Shorti hoagies, to be precise. Theresa Stigale has photos from the event. > more
100 Years Ago Today: Remembering Architect Frank Furness
We commemorate one of America’s great architects, Frank Furness, who passed away 100 years ago today. > more
Last Mass at St. Francis in Germantown
Days after Monsignor William Lynn is found guilty of child endangerment, Philadelphia Catholics face another trial: the final Mass at a beloved parish. St. Francis of Assisi in Germantown is one of several churches closed by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Ryan Briggs has the story. > more
ThinkBike: Dutch Bike Planning Comes To Philly
The key to urban bike safety is the use of parking lanes and collaboration with the police, say leading edge Dutch Bike planners, here to to explore the cycling possibilities. They'll present tonight in a public forum at Temple University > more
What’s Up With The Gretz Brewery?
In our second Beer Week installment, Dan Wisniewski finds another vintage brewing plant, the 1861 Gretz brewery, with some motivated advocates pushing for reuse, but no clear path forward > more
Goldtex Project Calls City-Wide Union Dominance In Construction Into Question
Ryan Briggs reveals what's at stake in the showdown between unions and Post Brothers, the developer who says all-union projects can't be built without public subsidy. The rub: Philadelphia has "Manhattan building costs with Baltimore rents" > more
Second Time’s The Charm
Rachel Hildebrandt on the Haddington apartment building that pioneered the combined use of historic and low-income tax credits 20 years ago, which just received a new--and powerfully evocative--renovation by BWA Architecture and Planning > more
New On The Market
The urban farmers market movement a decade old, Angela Taurino gives us tour of what's new this year at Philadelphia's markets--new locations in Mt. Airy, South Philadelphia, Norris Square, and at the Porch at 30th Street Station > more
Tin to Gold in Brewerytown?
A unusual building sheathed in metal both inside and out gets rehabbed on Bailey Street > more
Food Hub Revving Up In West Philadelphia
The Food Hub produce truck--farmer's market on wheels debuts tomorrow in Powelton Village. Angela Taurino talks with the organizers about short and long-term plans > more
In The Fire’s Aftermath, Fear And Uncertainty Lingers
Ryan Briggs has more on the owners of Buck Hosiery and speaks to neighborhood leaders, renovators, and residents, who fear another fire. Time to rethink the way we protect these kinds of buildings--they are assets for our future > more
Buck Hosiery Building Burns, Two Firefighters Killed
An absentee landlord failed to secure the building and piled up more than $60,000 in unpaid property taxes, liens and building code violations > more
Passing the Buck
Under the El in Kensington, the owners of the former Thomas Buck Hosiery, one of the last great mills, fail to protect their property--or pay their taxes > more
Plans for Manayunk’s Gleaming Beaux Arts Library Moving Ahead
The handsome 1909 Manayunk' branch of the Philadelphia Free Library has sat vacant for years. Contributor Zachary Lifton explores the building's past and discovers the plans for the future. Construction could begin this spring > more
Lower Merion To Assist In Funding Manayunk Bridge Trail
The protracted struggle to fund and realize a multi-purpose trail over the Manayunk Bridge gets a boost from Lower Merion's pledge of $500,000 > more
Water Department’s Green City Launches
Questions--and high expectations--as this new-style infrastructure project moves through "proof of concept" > more
Before And After Dyottville
I-95 reconstruction-related archeology reveals cascades of jewel glass, remnants of a century of glass making along the Delaware. Mike Szilagyi reveals even more about the site's past, present, and future > more
In The High Post
In Germantown, an infusion of stylish apartments five minutes from the Germantown and Chelten shopping district > more
Historic Trolley Substation In Germantown Succumbs
Demolition of the turn-of-the-century control house casts further doubt on the return of the 23 trolley to Germantown Avenue. > more
Manayunk Canal Restoration Begins
Dredging and maybe even hydroelectricity in the nearly 200 year old canal's future > more
New Life For Former Theater, Jazz Club
North Philadelphia's Tioga Theater, which once hosted jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan, will be reincarnated as a community-oriented banquet hall > more
Little Park, Long View
Long anticipated Hawthorne Community Park, slated to open this spring, is a window on shifting priorities in urban development > more
A Side Street Saga Continues
Figuring out whether tiny Irving Street is public or private has pitted neighbor against neighbor > more
Third Regiment Armory Pinned Down In Legal Crossfire
Stuck in a legal quagmire, the old Third Regiment Armory has been vacant for eight years--but help may be on the way > more
Frankford Avenue Drawing More Than A Dozen New Projects
With a hotel, theater, market, and new shops and restaurants coming, are the days of drag racing and short dumping over? We survey the scene and talk to some of the developers and observers close to the action > more
Changes Brewing on American Street
The former Ortlieb's bottling plant--once home to a brewpub, a baseball academy and the Fringe Festival Cabaret--will be converted to apartments > more
Manayunk Towpath Trail Reconstruction Nearly Complete
The widened trail is part of a series of improvements connected to the Schuylkill River Trail > more
Temple University Station Development Sister of New York "Legacy Project" Via Verde
The developer who created the Bronx's Via Verde, a new model for green, high density affordable housing, has the promising Paseo Verde, a North Philadelphia version, in the works > more
Drexel’s Master Plan Moving Forward
As the first large project breaks ground in 2012, Drexel finds itself in love with all things urban > more
The Art Beneath Your Feet
How a Philadelphia firm salvaged Coney Island boardwalk for the floor of the new Barnes Foundation museum on the Parkway > more
Occupied Under I-95
Police evicted Occupy Philly from Dilworth Plaza Tuesday night. Some of the homeless among them have pitched tents under I-95 in Port Richmond--to the dismay of local residents > more
West Philly Skyline Domes Restored
$2.5 million renovation of the historic domes of St. Francis de Sales in West Philly nears completion > more
Game Change at Occupy Philly
The OP vote to stay at Dilworth, an alleged rape, and the Mayor's reaction. Plus: watch the OP's response press conference live now. > more
Hope for 19th St. Baptist?
Furness Week, Day 4: Winter is closing in, and the most endangered Frank Furness building in the city still has two gaping holes in its roof. Help is on the way, but will it arrive in time? > more
Dilworth Due To Begin
After three years' planning, work on the remake of Dilworth Plaza set to begin in December--or is it? > more
Reoccupy Philadelphia?
With Dilworth Plaza's renovation looming, we gauge the impact on Occupy Philadelphia, which seems likely to relocate across the street > more
TEDxPhilly: All Eyes On The City
Hidden City checks in the TEDxPhilly organizer Diana Lind, one of a couple dozen presenters at tomorrow's event > more
30th Street Station Unveils Its “Porch”
Mayor Michael Nutter was proud to announce yesterday the beginning of a transformation of the urban space that had bewildered him for all his life > more
Wayne Junction Renovation to Begin
Key transit-oriented-development and preservation of historic station to take 3 years and cost $30 million. > more
“Fluidscape” Punctuates Seger Park Renovation
International design competition ends with interactive rain dance and splash pool scheduled for 2013 installation > more
Food Fueling West Philly Project
Construction is underway on 48th Street for the Center for Culinary Excellence, a multi-pronged approach to community development > more
Unoccupied Philadelphia
A successful and long-needed L&I crackdown on the owners of vacant buildings spreads from Port Richmond to the rest of the city > more
Key Germantown Ave Site Set for Rehab
Weinstein Properties renovating 19th century Charles Schaeffer School near Wayne Junction > more
Woodlands Digging for Direction
The new director of The Woodlands seeks to revitalize its historic mansion and reassert its historic landscape, home to the first American gingko tree. > more
Mural Fight
Bella Vista neighbors fight to save a beloved David Guinn mural at Ninth and Bainbridge > more
Occupation Begins
Philadelphians return to City Hall, resurrecting the meaning and potential of public space in the city > more
3RD Ward to Open in Spring or Summer
"Reinvention space" to transform corner of 4th and Thompson, in the shadow of the Crane > more
Shawmont Pumping Station Razed
The epic pump house in Fairmount Park, too long a ruins, is gone > more
On The Face Of It, Some Hope?
Francisville neighborhood group pushes to save the facade of the church in the Monastery of St. Clare > more
Chestnut Filling
Three important projects key Chestnut Street's latest evolution, filling the "hole in the doughnut" > more
A U.C. Pep Rally, Of Sorts
Big projects and ideas fertilizing the city's "intellectual ecosystem" > more
Wynne Theater Plans On Hold
Can recent neighborhood investment spur the theater project along? > more
Boyd Remains in Limbo
Fans of the historic Boyd Theater on Chestnut Street are still looking for a white knight to replace Hal Wheeler, who died in early 2010, before his plans to restore the movie palace could bear fruit > more
Say Goodbye to the Fortieth Street ME Church
Demolition is planned for the historic University City church > more
G-Ho Stirring
With development following infrastructure investment, design and preservation questions linger > more
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