Port Richmond is officially a thing, folks. We say this as we write from the friendly confines of River Wards Cafe, a neighborhood coffee shop that opened at 3118 Richmond St. a few months ago. And did you know that the folks from Loco Pez opened Bait & Switch Seafood

If you live in Manayunk or if you drive past it on I-76, perhaps you've noticed that a big building has sprung up next to the Schuylkill River in the last year. We last visited 1 Cotton St. about a year ago, when it looked like this vacant parcel was finally getting

By now, perhaps you've heard of Skygarten, the "beer garden" at 1717 Arch St. on the 51st floor of Three Logan Square. We like beer, we enjoy the occasional beer garden, and we happened to have an event there so we checked it out earlier this week. For those wondering there

A few readers have reached out to us over the years, wondering about the history of the large building at 508 Moore St., which is presently home to a retirement home called Our Mother of Good Counsel. It's a unique building for any neighborhood in Philadelphia, but it especially sticks

Take a look at this section of the 900 block of S. 5th St. back in 2007.The view back in 2007Passing by this area today, we see a very different scene, with previously vacant and blighted buildings either renovated or replaced. And one new building, at 934 S. 5th St.,

It's been about two years since our last visit to 2301 Front St., a building next to the El that was once the Bromley carpet mill. You may recall, this building sat mostly vacant for many years, though new ownership in 2012 had created some optimism that renovation was on the horizon.

On the one hand, the Vine Street Expressway (aka I-676) is great. For those of us with cars who want to get across town quickly or get from the Ben Franklin Bridge to I-76, it's pretty handy. Except when there's traffic. Then there's the other side of the coin. The

We visited the 1900 block of Fernon Street a few months ago and discovered a block under heavy construction. Perhaps this redevelopment effort was spurred by the renovation of the adjacent Ralph Brooks Park, or maybe it happened because development is moving ever further south in Point Breeze and this

When they come back from summer vacation this fall, students at the Chester Arthur school on the 2000 block of Catharine Street will find some major changes at their school yard. A couple of weeks ago, construction began in earnest here, or we'd be more on point to describe it

Papa John's offered better ingredients and better pizza at 2100 Market St. for quite awhile, but closed their doors a couple years back. The building has sat vacant ever since, though an LLC related to Brandywine Realty Trust purchased the property as part of a larger assemblage last year. A