Quote:
Originally Posted by jjv007
Yeah, as a Temple student who takes the time to traverse extensively off campus, North Philly's suburban-esque nature in certain areas is quite unfortunate.
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I'm a Temple student (if you can't tell by the neighborhood lol) who does the same thing and feels the exact same way. I now live on 19th and Berks, and I don't even like walking along 19th Street due to not feeling like I'm in the city. This kind of land use is indicative of how those in power felt about Philly in the 90s and early 2000s. They thought that land in certain areas of North and West Philly (take, for instance, the land surrounding the 46th and 40th Street stops) never be developed with the prevailing market forces of the time. That short-sightedness is why Poplar will remain underdeveloped for a while, and why we need to scrutinize every detail of a new PHA plan (if that development is indeed PHA housing). Fortunately, the Sharswood development embraces principles of Mew Urbanism.
Here is one thing I will never get about those decisions, however: why build suburban-style housing when there is a waiting list of people who need PHA housing? Also, why build these when rehabbing the sturdier brick rowhomes would have costed WAY less per square foot?