^I get updates from YIMBY Philadelphia, and it looks like they've got lots going on. 

Wow, between the Laurel and Arthaus I am renewing my jealousy subscription of downtown Philly for yet another year

The Drexel building reminds me a bit of the Sandcrawler. 

This is still in the planning stages so it could fall through but I'm really excited about this as well. It's currently a massive empty lot at 1001 S Broad, one block from a subway station. Plus I just love the aesthetics of it. Some are disappointed, hoping for a taller building but I'm happy with it. 



P.S. announcement time: I moved to Philadelphia on July 1st of this year. Feel free to request any photos or reviews of any projects. Or let me know if you have any other questions. I obviously love the density and better transit. But the city doesn't do historic preservation nearly as well as STL. New infill townhomes tend to be very lazy contemporary architecture and usually downright ugly. There are sections of center city (greater downtown) that have well preserved rows of 1880s-ish townhouses but the absolutely incredible stock of turn of the century row houses in the rest of the city are either poorly maintained or badly renovated. It's a complicated issue for sure. The city's terrible segregation is also striking, even coming from STL. 

From a trip in 2016. Lots of infill. It's also where I learned that transit in the middle of a highway is horrible.

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sc4mayor wrote: ↑

Dec 30, 2020

^^ Speaking of new (and ugly) infill townhomes, AP, I just read this the other day in the paper:
https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/in ... 01223.html

I heard about this. Losing this for 5 units would be upsetting. I don't know whole lot about the project so not sure where I ultimately stand on it though. 

not positive the horse is dead yet so... meh, not a fan. trash everywhere. way too much concrete. not enough green, and the green that exists is not terribly inspiring. (i know we often lament green space on here, but while St. Louis falls on the "maybe too much" end of the spectrum, Philly falls on the "definitely not enough" end.) and vast swaths of the city are just in terrible condition. just MHO, but i would much rather live in DC or Boston (or even Baltimore for that matter).

i mean, a LOT of the city looks like the image below (which i find to be soul-crushing). what you don't see in this image is how many people park their cars on the sidewalks in front of their homes because they have crazy-narrow streets instead of alleys. but, to each their own, of course.

GoHarvOrGoHome wrote: ↑

Dec 29, 2020

Wow, between the Laurel and Arthaus I am renewing my jealousy subscription of downtown Philly for yet another year

I'm not really jealous of Downtown Philly, or really the entire city of Philadelphia for that matter, mostly because they're a far bigger city than us. The Laurel and Arthaus do look nice though and I wouldn't mind them here. I've never been to Philly and have been meaning to go, so my opinion is skewed on it as is. If anything, just by looking at this thread so far, St. Louis's neighborhoods appear to be more visually interesting and higher quality than Philly's.

STL pedestrian infrastructure is WORLD CLASS....compared to Philadelphia. I’ve been here pretty much since feb 21 and staying here until April 1 and it is absolutely horrendous- cars are parked on sitewalks, In crosswalks and in the middle of the road (blocking sight lines).

^ yeah, Philadelphians' penchant for parking wherever the hell they want is pretty infuriating. it's maybe less of an infrastructure problem and more of an attitude/lack of enforcement problem, though. they have the sidewalks, they're just unusable in a lot of places.

urban_dilettante wrote: ↑

Mar 18, 2021

^ yeah, Philadelphians' penchant for parking wherever the hell they want is pretty infuriating. it's maybe less of an infrastructure problem and more of an attitude/lack of enforcement problem, though. they have the sidewalks, they're just unusable in a lot of places.

South Philly is just a madhouse.  Im doing some work with the school district (which doesnt bus, kids walk to school a lot) and it involves infrastructure and im like how are kids suppose to walk here when the sidewalks are used to store cars, one had a literal junk yard on the sidewalk and then there is trash- not in roll cats up just in bags all over sidewalks.    
I dont know if its an enforcement problem as much as its just what they do here, the roads are so narrow and its pretty dense. 

^^ & ^ i've spent most of my time in west Philly so far but it's the same. what would be alleys elsewhere are narrow residential streets in Philly. so in order to not clog up the street they just park on the sidewalks in front of their homes. the city was definitely not built to accommodate individual car ownership. and, yeah, trash everywhere, again because no alleys and insufficient street cleaning. my spouse was telling me recently that Philly bought a bunch of brand new street cleaners and then discovered they were too big to fit down most city streets. from what i can tell, Philly's civic leadership is about as dysfunctional as STL's.

agree, density is great but alleys are a thing of beauty.

^I never realized how lovely alleys were until I moved to a city with none. Funny that you should mention the sidewalks and density. I love Vietnam, but it's a bit of an adventure to walk anywhere in most ordinary neighborhoods, since the ample sidewalks are largely taken up with cafe seating, moped parking, stored stuff, cars, merchandise, market stalls, etcetera, etcetera, und so weiter. I love density, and I want more of it, even if it means cars parked on sidewalks. (Personally.) But fewer cars and better public transportation would definitely be a much better solution.