In Old City

It's still kind of flabbergasting to us that there are any blighted or vacant buildings in Old City. We've documented several over the years, and there are even more that we haven't touched on. Take, for instance, 18 N. 3rd St., which sits only a handful of steps from the

It seems like a lifetime ago that we first brought 263 N. 3rd St. to your attention, but according to Google it's only been like 2.75 years. Back then, we heard rumblings that work was getting started on the blighted and vacant former home of Lite Bite, but had no

We always thought that the corner of 3rd & Chestnut would be ideal for a museum. But in the 1970s, our City's leaders believed that this corner was an appropriate site for an architectural atrocity. In short, in the buildup to the bicentennial, a plan was hatched to move the

Last month, we told you that the old Shirt Corner buildings at 3rd & Market would be demolished. This represented a significant change of course from the original plan for this site, which was to retain and restore the original historic buildings. But structural defects, previously hidden behind drywall, made

For decades, Trenton China Pottery sold restaurant and kitchen supplies to restaurateurs and amateur chefs alike out of their large (and underheated) space at 2nd & Arch. Some years ago, the store closed and the buildings have been vacant ever since. In 2011, new owners purchased the property for $1.4M after

Old City is one of the more interesting places to live in Philadelphia. The neighborhood has historic buildings, art galleries, upscale apartments, fancy restaurants, quality drinking establishments, horrible drinking establishments, cinemas, waterfront access, theaters, and more. It seems reasonable that with all the things the neighborhood has going for it

A reader gave us a shout the other day, wondering why the fire station at 4th & Arch is boarded up. The thought on their end was that perhaps the home of Ladder 2 (and formerly Engine 8) was being eliminated, possibly in favor of a new development. Certainly, this

Last summer, we learned from Hidden City of plan to transform the iconic northeast corner of 3rd & Market. The fame of this corner came not from architectural creativity nor did it relate to any famous events that took place there. Instead, people know this corner by its sign. This

A reader tipped us off the other day that a new structure has risen on little Bank Street, which sits between Chestnut and Market, 2nd and 3rd Streets. For about a decade, 1 Bank St. was home to the Five Spot, a club that also hosted burlesque shows. We frequented

Old City has been many things over the course of its history, from a haven to sailors and longshoremen to a hub for the financial sector to a destination for nightlife seekers and art lovers.  Through the years, the northeast corner of 2nd & Chestnut has been reflective of all