Perhaps you've never heard of Act 135, passed in PA in 2009, which provides communities with one more tool to fight blight in their neighborhoods. In short, this act allows residents, businesses, or non-profits to take conservatorship over a blighted property, fix it up, and sell it off. One non-profit

About a year ago, we first brought 540 and 542 Lombard St. to your attention, two blighted properties owned by nearby Mother Bethel AME. In a neighborhood like Society Hill, that two adjacent properties could sit vacant for years seemed inconceivable. A couple of months ago, we gave you the good

Down on the waterfront, there’s a comprehensive Plan for the Central Delaware that envisions short- and long-term development along our urban riverbed. Among its various profferings is a 100-foot height limit on new structures. But nowhere in the current plans for a four-tower 1458-unit mixed use residential and retail development, known as Renaissance Plaza,

A reader gave us the heads up that a new Barre Focus Fitness will soon be arriving at 4145 Chestnut St., in University City. This new business will be taking over a second floor space at the corner, above hookah place Cleopatra Cafe. Smoky workout, anyone?

Looking around the area, you

In Northern Liberties, as zoning applications continue to pour in, members of the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association zoning committee are doing their part to levee the degree to which large-scale projects are built outside of code.

Big development projects of ten units or more are attractive to developers and buyers alike. But the

Step into Halloween and you will not regret your venture into this gallery of jewels and custom-crafted pendants. The majority of pedestrians simply stroll by this unassuming storefront at 1329 Pine St. without noticing the small sign on the doorway that instructs visitors to ring the gothic door bell (only

Don't ask why, but we were in the area today and came to the wonderful realization that 21st Street is being paved at last. You may recall, a water main break back in July has closed the 21st & Bainbridge intersection to vehicular traffic, which has created snarled traffic on

Last summer, work began on the construction of a 680-foot connector bridge between Schuylkill River Park and the Schuylkill River Trail. Construction of this bridge was necessary to resolve a law suit between the City of Philadelphia and CSX, the company that owns the rail line that separates much of

In recent weeks, we've covered a couple of examples of blight in the Francisville neighborhood, on Ridge Avenue. In both instances, vacant properties had been issued Doors & Windows violations, and the neighborhood is hopeful that this will either push property owners to clean up their buildings or sell them

Perusing the zoning dockets for the month, we came upon a project that will soon be coming to the 1200 block of Alter Street. Though we've covered a few Alter Street developments in Point Breeze in recent months, this particular block of Alter Street differs from those that we've previously written about.

The