While taking my daily lunch walk, I decided to take some pictures of the action occurring along Cecil B. Moore Ave in Sharswood/Brewerytown. I decided to do this spontaneously, so I didn't get a chance to snap pictures of some of the projects occurring on Ridge Ave north of Girard. I also didn't have time to take pictures of all of the projects occurring along the numbered streets directly to the north of Cecil B. Moore, but I'll get to them eventually. For now:

2500 block:

https://i.imgur.com/VdeKgjL.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/Li9QYOk.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/TKeNRFr.jpg?1

2600 block:

https://i.imgur.com/mVurT0n.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/P7nnnw2.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/oyMi03D.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/ndZCBZv.jpg?1

2800 block:

https://i.imgur.com/n84wZ8k.jpg?1


Aside from the dead stretches between 6th and 11th Street, and 19th and Ridge (both are in neighborhoods that are experiencing strong waves of new development), the section of Cecil B. Moore between Ridge Avenue and 33rd Street is the final stretch needed to patch the corridor together. I can see this part of the corridor coming together within the next 5-10 years.

^^Some nice infill to accompany those overhead wires.... Are trees or greenery of any type outlawed here?

I was gonna say... Infill and rehabs are nice, by my god those powerlines and electric meters are horrible, and not a tree or shrub insight, just cracked sidewalks... It honestly has a third world look to it (no offense to anyone who lives on that stretch, I'm speaking toward the mess of wires, cracked sidewalks and lack of vegetation).

A true dream, but why hasn't or why can't the city start a plan to bury utility lines?, even if it takes a decade... And mandating some sort of greenery component for all new construction, and fixing sidewalks.

I was gonna say...imagine how much nice it would look without a gutter full of garbage.

I agree, street cleaning, trees, and fresh sidewalks would make a huge difference along that section of the corridor. For now, this is a good start compared to how Cecil B. Moore Ave looked even two years ago. It's going to take a few years, but I can see the corridor getting better with time.

It wasn't that long ago that my section of Francisville (the SW side) looked similar to how Cecil B. Moore Ave looks today. Now, it's definitely the most desirable part of Francisville. Change will come.

This is a pretty sharp proposal. Now if only the PHA could get around to redeveloping that damn project right there, it feels like the biggest blight in the area (and that's saying something!).

Bloc24 Loses Some Units But Gets a Bit Taller

What used to be at the site:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/...1.00.32-AM.png

Current site:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/...0/IMG_3751.jpg

Old rendering:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/.../unnamed-6.jpg

New rendering 1:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/.../dEV8GTvw.jpeg

New rendering 2:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/.../0rRpnquA.jpeg

Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...ets-bit-taller

^ I like it. It reminds me a bit of the modern brick stuff that would go up in Society Hill in the 70s.

Awesome looking building, love the dark brick and curves. Good design is possible in Philadelphia :D

Wonder what kind of market will open since Giant Heirloom is next door, perhaps and expansion (if possible)?

I've wondered about this, since so many projects have been using the fresh food bonus. Is there anything in the language that forbids them from leaving it empty or in the future switching it to some other kind of retail? I just don't see how so many projects are going to actually end up with a good market.

Are most of these units going up single family home? Apartments? Condos? Change happens when you start seeing an increase mix of owners vs renters. People willing to throw up and maintain a window box, sweep up a block, or ask the city for a free street tree. Fishtown, NoLibs and GHo all had that in common - a huge percentage of owners early on committed to the 'hood which drove a ton of progress.

this is commonplace in the rowhouse parts of north and south philly, especially where the sidewalks are narrow.

you apparently havent seen much of Philadelphia outside of center city. None of what you are commenting on is rare or unusual in poor parts of the City. Make no mistake, the areas in those pictures are in very low income areas that havent seen development for the last 70 years aside from publically subsidized PHA type stuff.

How about window boxes and planters? What's the excuse?

It has nothing to do with street/sidewalk width at all (as evidenced by the dozens and dozens of narrow one lane streets in greater CC that have trees and greenery) and everything to do with interest in beautifying a block. Developers, renters, owners - in areas like this, they just clearly don't care about it. No excuses.

Stephen Rodriguez, the developer, mentioned in another discussion that it's likely to be an expansion of Giant Heirloom.

Meanwhile Bloc24 is getting mostly rave reviews in the Philadelphia Urban Planning, Policy and Design (UrbanPHL) fb group, and hateful rants in the SWCC group. :shrug:

While there are certainly a lot of apartments going up in the area, it also seems like there are some condos within these new buildings. One thing I didn't capture (due to time constraints) is all of the development occurring directly north of Cecil B. Moore. 25th, 26th, 27th, and some of the smaller streets have new apartments and single-family homes rising, as well as multiple rehabs of existing stock.

We're definitely in agreement on the residential mix. My side of Francisville tends to have higher rates of homeownership, and the blocks really showcase it. They look comparable to blocks in neighboring Fairmount. My girlfriend and I are currently renters, and we volunteer to sweep up our block. I think it's such an important thing for homeowners and renters alike to do, as we feel such a stronger connection to the block we live on.

The southern edge of Brewerytown already has a good mix, and it's going to expand north over time. Once the blocks surrounding Cecil B. Moore have a greater number of involved residents, a truly thorough transformation will begin to take hold.

I'd love to see you go around the neighborhood browbeating some impoverished people for not sweeping their gutters and installing some window boxes while yelling "no excuses!"

Jesus christ. :rolleyes:

Most of these pics show streets that look like old rentals that cater to people strapped for cash. Usually people that move a lot and have little connection to their surroundings. With the new, seems to be townhouses, maybe this will change. They are a little stark. Gentrification? The developers could have included a tree in front.
I would love to see the city step in with a city wide tree planting plan, new sidewalks etc.
Not trying to start this again but underground wires coming with new street construction.
$$$
One can hope.

Born and raised, attended Drexel, worked in city for many years, including an internship with PHA in which I traveled to sites around the corner from where these photos were taken (before any of this development started). Don't over analyze my post or make assumptions about where I have/have not been.
The problems I mentioned in my previous post exist in Center City too. But we can just settle the excuses.

PHS 2020 More Trees Please
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