205-209 S. 12th Street
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| What a sad-looking piece of fuck. |
Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!
"The best blog I've ever seen" -Ben Franklin
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Empty Lot of the Week-- November 27th
Unwashed Lot of Wash West
205-209 S. 12th Street
This is one of those empty lots that doesn't seem like that big of a deal... its small, its mid-block. Nonetheless, after walking/biking/driving/canoeing past this lot day after day, it grates at your nerves. This is a high-density area-- why should there be such a shitty surface parking lot here? Worst yet, why should there be a shitty surface parking lot here for SEVENTY-FOUR YEARS!?!?!
Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!
205-209 S. 12th Street
Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!
Monday, November 26, 2012
Old-Ass Building of the Week-- November 26th
Charlton Yarnall House
235 South 17th Street
At the northeast corner of 17th and Locust sits and office building like no other, tucked behind a canopy of trees. This is one of those beasts that gets overshadowed by its neighbors and goes unnoticed despite being an incredibly beautiful structure. The stonework... the stained-glass... the facade. Once you discover this one, you can't look away.
Read more at the Hidden City Daily!
235 South 17th Street
At the northeast corner of 17th and Locust sits and office building like no other, tucked behind a canopy of trees. This is one of those beasts that gets overshadowed by its neighbors and goes unnoticed despite being an incredibly beautiful structure. The stonework... the stained-glass... the facade. Once you discover this one, you can't look away.
Read more at the Hidden City Daily!
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- November 20th
Corestates Financial Center
800 Market Street
You know what? Fuck Market East! Especially between 7th and 11th Streets. This area seems to be some kind of development vacuum-- even when an experienced developer comes along to blast the hell out of it and bring it back to life, this cursed location finds some kind of way to bring them down. After spending over a century as one of the most premiere shopping streets in America, Market East is now a big sopping pile of dogshit.
Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!
800 Market Street
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| This low-res corner of a picture from an unrelated dead-ass proposal is the only surviving picture of this one. |
Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Empty Lot of the Week-- November 13th
Benezet Raspberry Lot
Southeast Corner of Locust and Hutchinson Streets
This spot looks pretty innocent but it hasn't seen a building in over 70 years-- and probably will last another 70. This pile of shit snuck its way into existence and has managed to keep itself flat as fuck for a long goddamn time. Could there ever be a future for this lot? All signs point to FUCK NO, except for a historical marker, MAYBE.
Read more later today on the Philadelphia Citypaper's Naked City Blog!
Southeast Corner of Locust and Hutchinson Streets
This spot looks pretty innocent but it hasn't seen a building in over 70 years-- and probably will last another 70. This pile of shit snuck its way into existence and has managed to keep itself flat as fuck for a long goddamn time. Could there ever be a future for this lot? All signs point to FUCK NO, except for a historical marker, MAYBE.
Read more later today on the Philadelphia Citypaper's Naked City Blog!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Old-Ass Building of the Week-- November 12
223-227 Chestnut
What's the deal with this? Though they appear to be two separate buildings, this once-beautiful set of facades have been one combined building for the vast majority of their history. While literally everything within sight of 223-227 Chestnut has been renovated, updated, or upgraded, this building sits boarded up and unused in one of the city's most tourist-exposed areas. On top of that, the origin of the two original buildings is spotty at best.
Read more at the Hidden City Daily!
What's the deal with this? Though they appear to be two separate buildings, this once-beautiful set of facades have been one combined building for the vast majority of their history. While literally everything within sight of 223-227 Chestnut has been renovated, updated, or upgraded, this building sits boarded up and unused in one of the city's most tourist-exposed areas. On top of that, the origin of the two original buildings is spotty at best.
Read more at the Hidden City Daily!
Friday, November 9, 2012
Show Hidden City Some Support!!
Philadelphia, PA
Hidden City Philadelphia is pretty much the highest quality Philadelphia-related site there is. All other Philacentric sites wish they had the level of good shit Hidden City whips out on a daily basis. Hidden City represents the future of publication--- newspapers and magazines as you know them are dying a sad and painful death. Sites like Hidden City are pioneering a new form of media... a media built by small groups of individuals instead of big-ass newspaper/magazine conglomerates busting out crappy rags people subscribe to out of Publisher's Clearing House. Hidden City is a FUBU for Philaphiles.
The thing is this-- all that high-quality crap that Hidden City does costs lots and lots of $$$$$. Show your support for these folks by throwing some scrilla to their cause. Get over to this site and make a nice contribution. If you want to throw down some REAL money, there are special rewards being offered, like a personal tour of small streets by Deputy Motherfucker for Planning and Economic Development and Director of Commerce, Alan Greenberger. That tour has the bonus feature of passing by Philaphilia's Fabulous Secret Headquarters!!! It won't be labeled or anything, but the one-of-a-kind flag from Philadelphia history flying out front gives the PFSH away.
On another note, a few weeks back I asked for ideas for a PSFS Building mural. I've only received two entries, so here they are:
This first one is by Mike Izzo from the JKR Partners firm, headquartered in the old S.S. White Office Building on 12th Street. This multi-colored idea takes advantage of the "With Love" tourist campaign. Pretty cool. That building they're in is pretty cool too... it was constructed as a shorter building and then got an addition of a few floors afterward... not that unusual, except that the entire cornice and shit was moved up with it. Here's the other one:
This one is from some dude named Daniel Toms. He describes it like this:
" It should have a constant audio loop. It starts with "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, I HAVE JUST BEEN SHOT - BUT IT TAKES MORE THAN A BULLET TO KILL A BULL MOOSE!" Then an air raid siren followed with the first 1:02 of audio from this scene: http://www.youtube.com/
Haha, that's awesome. I guess he's referring to the time Theodore Roosevelt, one of history's greatest badasses, got shot in the gut and made a speech afterward like it was nothing. Send me some more submissions! I'll be happy to put them up. Also, if you want to support history's greatest LIVING badasses, support Hidden City Philadelphia!
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| Photo from Hidden City, obviously. |
The thing is this-- all that high-quality crap that Hidden City does costs lots and lots of $$$$$. Show your support for these folks by throwing some scrilla to their cause. Get over to this site and make a nice contribution. If you want to throw down some REAL money, there are special rewards being offered, like a personal tour of small streets by Deputy Motherfucker for Planning and Economic Development and Director of Commerce, Alan Greenberger. That tour has the bonus feature of passing by Philaphilia's Fabulous Secret Headquarters!!! It won't be labeled or anything, but the one-of-a-kind flag from Philadelphia history flying out front gives the PFSH away.
On another note, a few weeks back I asked for ideas for a PSFS Building mural. I've only received two entries, so here they are:
This first one is by Mike Izzo from the JKR Partners firm, headquartered in the old S.S. White Office Building on 12th Street. This multi-colored idea takes advantage of the "With Love" tourist campaign. Pretty cool. That building they're in is pretty cool too... it was constructed as a shorter building and then got an addition of a few floors afterward... not that unusual, except that the entire cornice and shit was moved up with it. Here's the other one:
This one is from some dude named Daniel Toms. He describes it like this:
" It should have a constant audio loop. It starts with "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, I HAVE JUST BEEN SHOT - BUT IT TAKES MORE THAN A BULLET TO KILL A BULL MOOSE!" Then an air raid siren followed with the first 1:02 of audio from this scene: http://www.youtube.com/
Haha, that's awesome. I guess he's referring to the time Theodore Roosevelt, one of history's greatest badasses, got shot in the gut and made a speech afterward like it was nothing. Send me some more submissions! I'll be happy to put them up. Also, if you want to support history's greatest LIVING badasses, support Hidden City Philadelphia!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- November 6th
Parkway Plaza
1501 Arch Street
As anyone who reads my little blog knows, I hate surface parking lots with a passion. What REALLY irks me, however, is when a surface lot stays barren for years on end because of a Dead-Ass Proposal. This is one of those proposals. One that contributed to the emptiness of a high-visibility lot for at least 7 years.
Read more at the Philadelphia Citypaper's Naked City Blog!
1501 Arch Street
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| This piece of shit scan from a copy of the Inquirer is the only surviving image of this proposal. |
Read more at the Philadelphia Citypaper's Naked City Blog!
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