Renovation activity at the Western Plaza at 30th Street Station is poised to give The Porch a new companion. But where there's been a chain link construction fence to the west of the Porch for months, there is now a temporary green wall.

“It really bothered me,” said Nate Hommel, capital projects manager

A few weeks ago, a reader checked in and gave us the heads up that an overgrown lot at Front & Spring Garden had been cleaned up. This lot was previously full of weeds, and featured little jersey barriers as well as a chain-link fence.

The owner of the property is

Now that attempts to transform a large vacant Spring Garden Street building into a single family home have petered out, a proposal is on the table for the site to become a daycare center. The other day, we spotted an orange zoning application in the window of 2225 Spring Garden

We've often wondered about a large, poorly maintained building at the corner of 10th & League. With numerous well-kept Bella Vista blocks immediately to the north, and the fabulous Bardascino Park just up the street, it's always seemed rather out of place, even if it does front Washington Avenue.

The address

A new Lebanese café is slated to open at 708 N. 2nd St. sometime this spring or summer. Members of the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association (NLNA) zoning committee tentatively approved the café at their Feb. 25 meeting.

The owners already operate two cafes, including Café Cleopatra in University City, a hookah bar that also sells coffee, tea and

A reader checked in recently, wondering about 1426-30 S. 6th St., the former home of Meglio Fresh Foods. Apparently, this business moved from the corner of 6th & Wilder to deep South Philly a couple of years ago, leaving these buildings empty for the time being.

With a footprint of 52'x70',

A couple of readers have checked in over the last couple of weeks, giving us the heads up that some construction activity is taking place at 731 S. 22nd St., in a long-dormant commercial space. The last tenant in this space was a shop named Flower Ring, which we don't

The University of Pennsylvania wants you; your opinion that is. Its 2013 Retail Market Survey contains questions that want to know where you shop, what you buy, how much you spend, and how often you do it. Does that sound like big brother to anyone else? Penn also wants to learn about some

Last summer, we wondered about 2417 Brown St., a blighted property in the Fairmount neighborhood. A former VFW Post, the building was an important fixture for army vets over several decades. From what we understand, however, it's been vacant for about twenty years.

But today we bring good news about this

A reader gave us the heads up that the Wine and Spirits Shop at 20th & Fairmount was closed for business today. Looking at the storefront, we saw signs that stated that the store was closed due to an emergency, and an L&I violation sign indicated problems with the rear