In the 1960s, the City condemned four square blocks between 3rd and 5th Streets, Christian Street and Washington Avenue, to establish the Southwark Public Housing Project. As we've told you previously, PHA built three towers here, ultimately demolishing two of them in the early 2000s and constructing a couple hundred

We'll forgive you if you've never heard of Dakota Street, as it's one of those streets that disappears and reappears in Fishtown, seemingly with little rhyme or reason. It's even more understandable if you couldn't find the 2300 block of E. Dakota St. on the map, since it doesn't show up

It takes a lot to impress architecturally in West Philadelphia. This section of the city is home to more amazing edifices than we can count, ranging from institutional buildings at Penn and Drexel, numerous churches, the Provident Mutual building, and more Victorian homes than you can shake a stick at. Among

When we first brought the former Gretz brewery at 1524 Germantown Ave. to your attention over seven years ago, we wondered whether the handsome but blighted property could get redeveloped or whether it would eventually fall down or get demolished after decades of vacancy. The latter scenario seemed quite likely less than

Isn't it great that we live in a big city with hundreds of little convenience stores dotting the neighborhoods, allowing us to skip a grocery store trip if we only need a can of beans or a couple tomatoes? Sure, the grocery store has more options and better prices, but that little

If you've spent even five minutes in Fishtown over the last number of years, you've surely caught wind that Frankford Avenue is one of the most exciting commercial corridors in Philadelphia. Countless businesses have opened on the corridor, including independent stores, local chains, bars, restaurants- and national retailers are even starting

Roughly 2 years ago, we wrote a story titled Not to Worry, Escape the 1980s Isn't Going Anywhere. This was written in response to a zoning notice posted outside Escape the 1980s escape room at 1804 E. Passyunk Ave., which several readers interpreted to mean an end of the line for the business. As the

When the Emanuel German Lutheran Church appeared on the corner of 4th & Carpenter in 1869, the neighborhood looked a little different than it does today. First and most obviously, Carpenter Street ran past the building, uninterrupted. Trains rumbled down Washington Avenue. A large coal yard operated around the corner. And the

Tiffin is one of our favorite Indian restaurants in town, and we remember back when they only had one location, on the 700 block of Girard. That location opened over a decade ago, at a time that this stretch of Girard was in pretty rough shape. In the time since

2501 Wharton St. is a bit of an odd property. From the outside, it looks like a large industrial building. But upon closer examination, it's actually a series of warehouses, surrounding a parking lot in the middle. These buildings house a collection of small businesses, including a doggie day care, an