In Francisville

As recently as a decade ago, the northeastern section of Francisville was in rough shape. Years of disinvestment combined with wholesale demolitions of vacant properties during the Street administration had left a tremendous amount of vacancy in this part of the neighborhood. There were numerous blocks where empty lots outnumbered buildings,

The Philadelphia Housing Authority is perhaps best known for its sizable developments that cover several consecutive city blocks (often with unfortunate suburban-style architecture), but PHA also owns a ton of scattered site properties which are supposed to blend in with their surroundings. Not surprisingly, these units are much more difficult to manage

Francisville, we hardly recognize you these days. So many blocks in this neighborhood have changed so much over the last decade or so, but we were dumbfounded recently by the complete transformation of Ridge Avenue between Vineyard and Ginnodo. Turn back the clock just half a dozen years, and it was home

We've always appreciated the architecture of two yellow buildings at the corner of 19th & Harper, even though they've been showing their age for quite some time. That condition is probably due to the fact that metalworker Komplete Welding occupied the two buildings for a number of years, and let's

For as long as we can remember, 808 N. 19th St. has been home to an auto garage, the misleadingly named Girard Body Shop. Of course, the auto-centric use dates back to at least the 1940s, much further back than we can remember. Interestingly, it seems the property hasn't been

"No comments from the peanut gallery," is an expression beloved by dads and high school teachers alike, often directed in response to smart aleck kids. The phrase dates back to the days of vaudeville theatre, when patrons sitting or standing in the least expensive section of the theater were known to heckle performers

We've been tracking the situation at 875 Corinthian Ave. for a few years now, and indeed things have changed quite a bit during that time. Back in 2016, we noticed a 'For Sale By Owner' sign at the property and we wondered whether the party that would eventually buy the property would

Traditionally, 1802 Francis St. was used as a side yard for 1804 Francis St., the home next door. It was well maintained, fenced-in, landscaped, and an old listing indicates that it was also used as a small garden. When the owners of the home at 1804 decided to sell last

Turn back the clock a hundred years, and North Broad Street was one of the ritziest areas in Philadelphia, home to some of the fanciest mansions you've never seen. We say that of course, because many of those amazing buildings were demolished over the subsequent decades, as the shine came

Ridge Avenue has experienced an avalanche of new construction over the last handful of years, as developers have bought up vacant or blighted properties and constructed modern mixed-use buildings in their place. As we've documented, these are unusually forward thinking projects, as businesses haven't exactly been rushing to fill those commercial spaces to