Anyone who’s spent time walking or driving around the Fishtown or East Kensington areas is well aware of their differences from the straightforward Center City grid. Tiny, hidden streets abound, and the numbering of the houses in the neighborhood could confound even the most experienced city planner. Streets don’t travel in the familiar north/south/east/west direction, and many streets actually change their direction on either side of Frankford Ave.

The other day, we spotted an ongoing development on a little, semi-hidden street that we had never noticed before. Two houses are going up at 554-6 E. Hewson St., and just to make it easier for non-Fishtowners, here’s a map.

Ah, there she is

The developers are constructing two single family homes on a block that currently has but two other homes and several fenced-in empty lots.

Framing the two homes. Fenced-in lots in the foreground

Closer look. Note the only other homes on the block are next door.

Sure, we tell you about the larger projects going on in the neighborhood, like the proposed ten (or maybe seven) unit development on Crease St., or the five homes replacing the triangular building near Palmer Park, or the large project around the corner that we’ll tell you about in the next couple of days. But smaller projects on little, out-of-the-way streets are also part of the story of the revitalization of this area. Plus, who can argue with the view that the future occupants of these houses will have?

Hey it is Opening Day, after all.

Hopefully, this development will spur construction on the rest of the block.

Play ball!