For many Temple students, Broad and Cecil B represents their first look at campus in the morning and their last look at campus in the evening as they arrive and depart on the Broad Street Line. This intersection, home to the school’s book store, the Shops at Avenue North, and a giant, slowly nearing completion construction site, presents a snapshot of the Temple student experience of today and tomorrow.

In either direction, Cecil B. Moore Ave. has seen new development. To the east, the Goldenberg Group is finally moving forward with a huge project at 11th Street, on the site of the former Wanamaker School. To the west, at 18th and 19th Streets, smaller developers have constructed student housing units, replacing blighted buildings and vacant lots. Somehow though, there is still plenty of vacant land and numerous buildings that look totally horrible.

Case in point.

Take 1630-34 Cecil B. Moore Ave.– please! Sure, there’s some commercial use on the first floors of two of the buildings, but just look at the total package. The second and third floor windows are all boarded up (or not). Ditto the retail space in the middle. Oh, and the color of the corner property, the horror! How incredible is it that development is booming in every direction, one of Philadelphia’s top educational institutions is located three blocks away, and this miserable looking collection of buildings continues to look the way it does?

Remarkably, all of these buildings have changed hands in the last few years. Also amazing is that none have received any violations over the last year or two. And there’s no real tax delinquency to speak of, either.

So buckle up folks, it may be quite awhile before anything changes on this corner. Such a bummer.