In West Philly

One thing happening with old crumbling Philly churches, whose stones once served as testaments to the eyes and ornaments of the West Philly skyline, is their use for emergency homeless shelters and community programs.

One example of this is the Christ Memorial Church, located at 4233 Chestnut St., where more than

In West Philly, residents are taking vacant, ignored, and unkempt city-owned lots that have existed in poor condition for decades, into their own hands.

Last March, members of the Walnut Hill Community Association (WHCA) received a roughly $10K grant from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia to transform two vacant 50th

In the next year or so, we could see a new retail building in the heart of University City, across the street from the Fresh Grocer. With this new development would, regrettably, come the loss of a beautiful church, a common theme we're seeing across the city these days.

The Fortieth

Back in June, we wrote a little story about the efforts of Errol McAlinden and Gerard Regan to bring new life to the 4000 block of Baring St., a rough-looking block with some unattractive buildings and lots of vacant land.

Having already constructed new buildings on the eastern end of the

We want to give a nod to the Philadelphia Veterans Comfort House, whose members were the recent recipients of a grant to renovate their entire West Philly home this October, from the Home Depot Foundation.

Since 1994, the Comfort House has served as a temporary residence for veterans across Pennsylvania who

Come winter 2013, West Philly parents will be able to bring their children to the new $30M, 52K sqft state-of-the-art Nicholas and Athena Karabots Primary Care Center on the 4800 block of Market St. CHOP broke ground at the site about a month ago.

Part of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Before yesterday, we'd never been to the 4500 block of Sansom St., but based on some of the blocks that surround it and a couple of buildings at the end of the street, we were not optimistic about its condition.

We were a little surprised by just how nice the block

About two months ago, we tipped you off about the creation of a new public space on the southern end of 30th Street Station. This new forty-foot wide space attempts to improve walkability at this meeting of West Philadelphia and Center City and is brought to us by the Planning

We were heading back to Center City after another maddening sheriff's sale and noticed that the front of Matheson Hall has been removed.

And then we went around the back and saw that the whole building is coming down. Demolition is expected to be completed in the coming months, and then

We've always been a little confused by Lancaster Ave. in West Philly. Close to Drexel and Upenn and possessing countless outstanding buildings, Lancaster Ave. is pretty well maintained for its first four blocks, but turns blighted and largely vacant on the 3800 and 3900 blocks. West of 40th St., Lancaster