It's been a few months since we were here, so of course it's time to revisit Ridge Avenue in Francisville with info about some new development. We found ourselves in the area the other day and a relatively new pile of bricks suddenly caught our gaze. Until somewhat recently, there was a

Walk around Old City long enough, and you'll eventually encounter some people touring the area in a horse drawn carriage. We've always found this phenomenon to be a little strange, and after a couple of unfortunate incidents, we learned that it's extra important to look down when crossing the street in

Forgive us for stating the obvious, but zoning fundamentally shapes real estate development in every neighborhood in Philadelphia. When a developer purchases a property that cannot be redeveloped without some kind of variance, they assume the risk that they won't be able to procure zoning relief and will be stuck

The 2000 block of Gerritt Street is undergoing a serious transformation, the likes of which we've seen before on other blocks in this very neighborhood. Turning back the clock just a couple of years, this block was split roughly 50/50 between two-story homes and vacant lots. When a block is

We've made it a habit to complain that the City owns a ton of vacant land but doesn't generally show much interest in selling it off. In our defense, this is a real problem, with City agencies collectively representing the largest vacant land ownership group in Philadelphia. These numbers are perhaps a little old

The Garden Court Plaza building at 4701 Pine St. possesses an altogether unique presence in West Philadelphia, an Art Deco building standing fourteen-stories high in the middle of a mostly low rise residential area. The building was designed to be the centerpiece of the Garden Court neighborhood, which runs from 46th

12th Street Gym has been a fixture in the Gayborhood for roughly 30 years, but an ownership change and fire code violations could result in its closure at some point in the relatively near future. A couple of readers have reached out to us in recent weeks, sharing the news

We passed through Temple's campus shortly before the calendar flipped to 2018, and as we were traveling up North Broad Street, some demolition activity caught our eye. For those that went to Temple undergrad, you might recognize this building, located at the northeast corner of Broad & Norris, as Peabody Hall.

It just so happened that we were traveling up 5th Street past South yesterday, and found ourselves thunderstruck to see that Johnny Rockets had closed after a very lengthy run on the northeast corner. We weren't sad per se, as Johnny Rockets wasn't exactly the straw stirring the drink of the Philadelphia

Roughly two years ago, we told you about South Square, a project on the 100 block of W. Berks St. from AGA Developers that called for 19 residential units and two retail spaces. We were a little skeptical about the project, given that we'd seen relatively little development this far north in