PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread

[summersm343]

Amazon opens first Pennsylvania grocery store in Bucks County

The first Amazon Fresh store in Pennsylvania has opened at the Creekview Center in Warrington as others are in the works for the region.

The Bucks County store at 389 Easton Road totals 35,000 square feet and nearly backfills a 49,000-square-foot space vacated by Giant. Amazon.com Inc. declined to specify how many full and part-time employees are working at the store other than to say it is "creating hundreds" of jobs. The store sells beer and wine.

It is planning to open another store in Bucks County in 41,000 square feet of a former Kmart at the Brookwood Shopping Center on Street Road in Bensalem as well as in about 40,000 square feet at a mixed-use project at 5th and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia.

The company also intends to open a store at 2940 Springfield Road in Broomall, where it has also secured a liquor license to sell wine and beer, according to Marple documents. The company is also reportedly seeking to open a store in a former LA Fitness at 403 West Chester Pike in Havertown.

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...arrington.html

[DIESELPOLO]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Construction Progresses At West & Main, A SORA West Hotel In Conshohocken, PA

Rendering:


Current progress:


Read/view more here:
https://phillyyimby.com/2021/07/fram...shohocken.html

That parking garage is insanely huge.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by DIESELPOLO

That parking garage is insanely huge.

I pass by there often and thought the same thing. It's too bad that they didn't put a rooftop park on top or something.

[summersm343]

With $112M Seven Tower Bridge completed, Hamilton Lane moves into its new headquarters in Conshohocken

Article behind paywall below, but you can see photos of the new completed 14-story highrise building in Conshohocken:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...-moves-in.html

[TonyTone]

Anyone know what the numbers were for Wilmington, DE census one site said it dropped to 69,584

I hope that isn't true, all the growth Wilmington has had so far and its still declining.

At least Philly and the surrounding area is growing

[mcgrath618]

-snip-

I confused Wilmington DE with Wilmington NC

[MyDadBuiltThat]

Wilmington gained 47 people
Population, Census, April 1, 2020 70,898
Population, Census, April 1, 2010 70,851

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by MyDadBuiltThat

Wilmington gained 47 people
Population, Census, April 1, 2020 70,898
Population, Census, April 1, 2010 70,851

Well that's better then nothing or losing people so there's that I assume by the next census maybe we will see 75,000 due to all the efforts and projects currently going on.

[SEFTA]

It has been a very rough couple of decades
For the region, for the state
Being older I can recognize what the loss of jobs and population has done to the psyche here.
The fact that it is better than leveling off is a huge deal.
It's time to crawl out of that post-manufacturing slump that was inflicted upon us.
This is in fact a huge deal in my mind.

[jonesrmj]

The problem I think with Wilmington and the Philly Metro area as a whole is that is just isn't viewed as a great place for opportunity the same way people look at NYC, San Fran, Austin, etc. I think we just get completely overshadowed by the other cities. And the crime doesn't help either.

On the bright side, all of the top 20 largest US cities (including Philly) saw population growth for the 2020 Census, so all the claims by the media and some articles that everyone is leaving cities is just false:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._by_population

I still can't fathom though how Phoenix could possibly be bigger than Philly.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

The problem I think with Wilmington and the Philly Metro area as a whole is that is just isn't viewed as a great place for opportunity the same way people look at NYC, San Fran, Austin, etc. I think we just get completely overshadowed by the other cities. And the crime doesn't help either.

On the bright side, all of the top 20 largest US cities (including Philly) saw population growth for the 2020 Census, so all the claims by the media and some articles that everyone is leaving cities is just false:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._by_population

I still can't fathom though how Phoenix could possibly be bigger than Philly.

At the risk of beating a horse that has been dead, is decaying, and will soon be nothing but dust, it’s not.

They expanded their city borders to include much of the surrounding suburban communities. If you laid Philadelphia’s borders atop Phoenix it would be much smaller, and vice versa. Phoenix city limits are huge. That list even shows you that Phoenix is five times bigger that Philadelphia land-area wise.

Is there an argument to perhaps drop the whole city-county idea and maybe expand Philadelphia’s limits to include parts of Delco and Montco? Maybe. But that’s not something I’m willing to touch on here.

It’s also a difference of 5,000 people. Considering that as climate change gets worse, Phoenix will become even more unlivable, I don’t see it being above us for very long.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

The problem I think with Wilmington and the Philly Metro area as a whole is that is just isn't viewed as a great place for opportunity the same way people look at NYC, San Fran, Austin, etc. I think we just get completely overshadowed by the other cities. And the crime doesn't help either.

On the bright side, all of the top 20 largest US cities (including Philly) saw population growth for the 2020 Census, so all the claims by the media and some articles that everyone is leaving cities is just false:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._by_population

I still can't fathom though how Phoenix could possibly be bigger than Philly.

That phenomenon is changing. The city is improving, the metro is overall quite prosperous, the economy is growing and diversified, and importantly, the COL is lower than many other large US cities.

5.1% growth isn't mind-blowing, but its healthy and ahead of Chicago and LA. 2030 is a ways off, but I would not be surprised if that rate ticked and several other hotspot cities slowed down. Plus, climate change is a real thing, and thankfully the Philadelphia region will fare better than other areas.

Separately, the density of the region is impressive and I hope the densification of suburban centers continues (Media, Ardmore, KoP, Conshohocken, West Chester, etc.)

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Plus, climate change is a real thing, and thankfully the Philadelphia region will fare better than other areas.

In comparison to some places that may be totally submerged maybe but I think it's going to be tough here as well if we don't do something soon (on a local scale better flood management and emergency preparedness).

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

In comparison to some places that may be totally submerged maybe but I think it's going to be tough here as well if we don't do something soon (on a local scale better flood management and emergency preparedness).

Not even just flooding. The heat will be killer in places like Houston, Phoenix, and LA.

[SEFTA]

Great points all.
It is beating a dead horse but needs repeating at the drop of hat.

Spent a lot of time in Scottsdale. Each house a bubble (granted a bubble with a pool)
Each street lined with garage doors.
They're going to try to steal water from the great lakes
Isolation

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

In comparison to some places that may be totally submerged maybe but I think it's going to be tough here as well if we don't do something soon (on a local scale better flood management and emergency preparedness).

I want to point your attention to this flood map, https://ss2.climatecentral.org/#13/3...feet&pois=hide

The Northeast fares much better than the South East which as you see Florida is completely gone & the West Coast with LA is devastated as well.

Now what's interesting is Delaware loses a lot of land as well & that's because its mostly flat.

PA & NY Fare well due to the hilly geography but South Philly will see a little flooding if we don't fix that.

Also another interesting note the Caribbean islands which I thought would be destroyed don't even see any flooding I thought they were at low sea level but I guess not.

Very interesting stuff.

[jonesrmj]

I think the Great Lakes Region, including cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Buffalo, etc will fare the best with climate change in the US because they are decently inland and high enough up elevation wise to escape rising sea levels. They also are far enough north and the Great Lakes give them a cooler climate which will help with rising temperatures. Plus having direct access to the biggest bodies of fresh water in the world is a huge plus.

On the other end, I think Miami, Houston, and Phoenix are the most vulnerable major US cities that will suffer first. Based on current projections, Miami will be mostly underwater within a few decades, Houston will have extreme floods and humidity, and Phoenix will become extremely hot and eventually run out of water supply.

I think Philly will be mostly fine temperature wise, but it still is susceptible to rising sea levels since it's only 39 feet above sea level. That being said, if current projections say that sea levels will rise 8 feet by 2100, then it will be far in the future until it becomes a major concern for Philly.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

I want to point your attention to this flood map, https://ss2.climatecentral.org/#13/3...feet&pois=hide

The Northeast fares much better than the South East which as you see Florida is completely gone & the West Coast with LA is devastated as well.

Now what's interesting is Delaware loses a lot of land as well & that's because its mostly flat.

PA & NY Fare well due to the hilly geography but South Philly will see a little flooding if we don't fix that.

Also another interesting note the Caribbean islands which I thought would be destroyed don't even see any flooding I thought they were at low sea level but I guess not.

Very interesting stuff.

Interesting stuff indeed!

[PHLtoNYC]

What new census data tell us about Pa.’s politics: More influence for Philly and Latinos, and a shrinking white vote

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/el...-20210815.html

Interesting article about demographic and potential political shifts in the state. In short, Philadelphia and its suburbs (and Lehigh Valley) are the dominant forces and hopefully more moderate/liberal politics will follow. Evening out the Harrisburg circus would certainly benefit Philadelphia.

[JohnIII]

"They expanded their city borders to include much of the surrounding suburban communities. If you laid Philadelphia’s borders atop Phoenix it would be much smaller, and vice versa. Phoenix city limits are huge. That list even shows you that Phoenix is five times bigger that Philadelphia land-area wise.

Is there an argument to perhaps drop the whole city-county idea and maybe expand Philadelphia’s limits to include parts of Delco and Montco? Maybe. But that’s not something I’m willing to touch on here."

I've been literally saying this same thing since Ed Rendell was mayor of Philadelphia; the very reason why Phoenix is a big city is also why Houston is; they both annexed their suburbs and if Philadelphia does we'll get less and less money and go the way of Boston.

If Philadelphia annexed suburbs like Houston did and Phoenix is now how big would Philadelphia have been? How many people would live in a larger city of Philadelphia if we did this the last 40 years?

On thing about Philadelphia I never liked is that we catch on to things way, way, way to slow and other cities seem to catch on much faster

I don't know if this is a true assessment so feel free to chime in but this my perception after 50 years of watching this city.