Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- April 9th

Centennial Tower

Fairmount Park

               Now this is crazy as shit. This was Philly's attempt at an Eiffel Tower-style structure well before Eiffel was ever a thought. Had it been executed, this gigantic tower would still be the tallest building in the city.
                Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!

Empty Lot of the Week-- April 2nd

Drexel Greenville Pre-NIMBY Lot

3428-3442 Lancaster Avenue

               Lancaster Avenue gets no damn respect. This road was once a major thoroughfare-- one of the most important single streets in early America. This surface lot that sits on its 3400 block sucks ass. Though the lot's days SHOULD be numbered, a small group of angry NIMBYs is determined to keep it a surface lot for the rest of time.
              Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!

                 
             

Old-Ass Building of the Week-- April 1st

Northeastern Title and Trust Company/Flomar Building

3160 Kensington Avenue

Photo by Brad Maule for Hidden City

                This big-ass building down at K & A is like the Kensington Empire State Building. Read all about it at the Hidden City Daily!

Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- March 26th

River's Edge Corporate Center/Campbell's Soup HQ Tower

Camden Waterfront

The only living rendering is this overhead view from an old Camden Waterfront Master Plan. Yes, it would have included that huge parking lot.

            You think Philly's Delaware Riverfront is development-cursed? Check out Camden's. Camden's waterfront has many development-driving advantages over Phiadelphia's. There's no gigantic interstate highway running alongside, the real estate is much more abundant (and much less expensive), and the view of Philadelpia's skyline from Camden is about 10,000 times better than the reverse. Despite all that, Camden's waterfront has been through just as many goofy waterfront proposals as Philly's in the last 30 years. This is the story of one that was pretty certain to happen until it all went to shit.
          Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!!!

Empty Lot of the Week-- March 19th

PennDot PPA Realen Fail Lot

Bounded by Spring, 15th, 16th, and Vine Streets with a parking garage in the middle

This is the only way to see both sides of the lot. Image from Google.

                  Though most empty lots piss me off, I can understand how they form. Sometimes its a patch of old buildings too far gone to save that get knocked down. Sometimes there's actually a need for surface parking in the area. Sometimes an owner just doesn't have the resources to save it. This one, however, pisses me off like no other. This is a lot that was cleared for development that was a shitty idea from the rip. On top of that, I hate empty lots that take over what were previously a whole bunch of little streets, and this is one of those as well. Wanna know what else I hate? Parking garages that are right next to surface parking lots. This is one of those, too!!! Even worse, the garage has empty lots on both sides. How much worse can it get? Much worse.
                   Read more at the Philadelphia City Paper's Naked City Blog!

Old-Ass Building of the Week-- March 18th

Green Hill Market

1632 Poplar Street

             Check this shit out-- a leftover farmer's market that barely appears on any lists of surviving Philly markets from the olden days. This crazy motherfucker, 153 years old, has managed to outlive two of its replacements. Gotta love Francisville!!

            Read more at the Hidden City Daily!

Dead-Ass Proposal of the Week-- March 12th

Powelton Avenue Bridge

Spanning the Powelton Yards and Schuylkill River at Powelton Avenue



Where it would be if it was ever built. Original aerial from Google.

             Ya know, its one thing to have a Dead-Ass Proposal that was active for 5, 10, or even 20 years. That's shitty in itself. But a Dead-Ass Proposal brought up again and again and AGAIN over the course of nearly 90 years? That rigoddamndiculous!!!! Well that's this one. This bridge proposal was attempted numerous times in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and failed every last time. This is the Powelton Avenue Bridge.
             Read more at the Philadelphia Citypaper's Naked City Blog!