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[28] West Philadelphia's streets are laid out in a modified grid. In 1963, four stone eagles were added to the bridge approaches after being salvaged from New York Citys recently demolished Penn Station. West Philadelphia was also the home of American Bandstand, the popular dance show that launched the career of host Dick Clark and turned some local high school students into teen idols. For eight remarkable decades, local Philadelphia fans consistently supported a series of Black baseball clubs whose successes generated racial pride and represented a triumph of African American institution-building. "Match Any Neighborhood" calculates the Match Level of one neighborhood to another using more than 200 characteristics of each neighborhood. The then-scion of the family, William Hamilton (1745-1813), established the estates Georgian mansion and laid out. The houses melded the suburban principles of front porches and greenspace with the urban rowhouse form, producing profitable, yet desirable, middle-class suburban housing. Much of West Philadelphias housing stock was built on speculation during the nineteenth century, when revolutions in transportation allowed wealthier citizens to live outside of the crowded city center but still commute in for work. West Philadelphia is home to a slight majority of female residents (54.11%) and a minority of male residents (45.89%) with a median age of 32.9 years. 927 Spruce Street. The building, which still sports a large satellite dish on its roof, is now home to the West Philadelphia Enterprise Center. The topography of West Philadelphia is composed of rolling hills rising slowly from the Schuylkill River toward Cobbs Creek in the west and toward Belmont Plateau in the northwest. The vintage year (e.g., V2022) refers to the final year of the series (2020 thru 2022). U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Philadelphia city, Pennsylvania QuickFacts Table (a) Includes persons reporting only one race (c) Economic Census - Puerto Rico data are not comparable to U.S. Economic Census data (b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories Later renamed the Civic Center Museum, it closed in 1994. The most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region. Then on the far bank of the Schuylkill, port and mercantile infrastructure began to build up at this westward point of entry to the city. After generating area maps from Google Maps,they added census boundaries and census tract labels as needed. miles) 13.6 : Sex : Total Population: 275,579 : Male: 128,893: 46.8% The street was unified by front yards, and enclosed by decorative iron fences. The El once powered the economic engine of West Philadelphia. Thus, it is sometimes, but not always, possible to track changes over time. The Philadelphia Social History Project (PSHP) was an interdisciplinary project that played a central role in transforming the study of urban and social history by creating a computerized database to study the effect of industrialization and urbanization on Philadelphias minority populations between 1838 and 1880. Unlike the bucolic landscape of Stanfords park, the University City Science Center was to be located in the densely populated areas just north of the college campuses. Most recently many of these retail districts with the exception of 52nd Street have been converted to largely residential areas. With firefighters fearful of being fired upon, the blaze was allowed to burn. After a slow start, the Science Center eventually prospered. A handful of chestnut trees remain near Cobbs Creek. The earliest developments began in 1850 and the final period of mass construction ended in 1930. Unveiled at the University of Pennsylvanias Moore School of Electrical Engineering in 1946, the world's first nontechnical computer, the ENIAC, consisted of 40 nine-foot-high cabinets containing 18,000 vacuum tubes, 10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, and 1,500 relays. West Philadelphia drew national attention in 1978 and 1985 for violent clashes between police and an Afro-centric, back-to-nature group called MOVE. In 1831, horse-drawn omnibus services were established in the city and some lines ran over the recently built Market Street Bridge into West Philadelphia, but it was not until they were replaced by horse-drawn streetcars in 1850 that development began in earnest. By the 1930s one of the more notable developments in West Philadelphia was the growing number of Black residents and the discriminatory pressures that boxed them into an intensely segregated area stretching south to Market Street, west to Fifty-Ninth Street, and bounded to the north and east by the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the river beyond it. Other settlements followed, including Mantua Village, carved from the holdings of a local landowner, Judge Richard Peters (1743-1828), and laid out in 1809. Immigration has become a major driver of population growth in Philadelphia in recent years, with long-term demographic and economic implications for the city and the region. Residents complained of a bullhorn broadcasting political messages all day and accused the group of stockpiling weapons. Etienne, Harley F. Pushing Back the Gates: Neighborhood Perspectives on University-Driven Revitalization in West Philadelphia. Developers found they could increase profits by catering to this emerging group, shrinking lot sizes, and building more compact, less ornate houses. Click the Quick Info icon to the left of each row in TABLE view to learn about sampling error. The area's public schools are operated by the School District of Philadelphia. Source & Methodology. CLOSE. The western portion of the neighborhood was once home to some of the most expensive real estate in the country (and much striking Victorian-era architecture remains). Blocks away from "West" were the West Philadelphia Catholic High Schools for Girls at 46th Street and Boys at 48th Street, now consolidated into West Catholic Preparatory High School in the building at 46th Street. QuickFacts provides frequently requested Census Bureau information at the national, state, county, and city level. These include mosques such as Masjid Al-Jamia, a Sunni Muslim institution at 4228 Walnut Street. It was not until 1805 that the first bridge was constructed spanning the Schuylkill River at what is now Market Street. Small communities began to spring up to support these businesses, like Hamiltonville in 1804. The group refused to leave and a year-long blockade followed. One of the aggravating factors in this change has been the recent reconstruction of the EL which, due to detours of the "number streets" or numbered northsouth thoroughfares and closure of large portions of Market Street, have led to many remaining businesses failing. The NBC drama American Dreams is set in West Philadelphia in the mid-1960s. 1 Baths Ba; 320 S. 10th Street. A plethora of recreational bike trails and a bike sharing program provide cyclists with new options in the twenty first century. Running above and, for a portion, under Market Street, this transportation link is one of Philadelphia's two major transit lines that transport hundreds of thousands of students and workers daily into and around the city. Users should exercise caution when comparing 2017-2021 ACS 5-year estimates to other ACS estimates. Miller, Rogerand Joseph Siry. Starting at $1,192 USD /mo. The Black neighborhoods closest to the river, and therefore closest to Penn, tended to be those with the lowest income and the least political power. It remained to be seen whether the ascendancy of the eastern section of West Philadelphia, where old industries and worker housing were giving way to new investment, would be enough to buoy the fortunes of the outlying, formerly middle class areas. Follow Backgrounders on Twitter 47, No. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. . An official website of the United States government. In later decades, many of these large row houses were subdivided into apartments and were joined by larger multiunit buildings as the neighborhoods continued to boom. The Route 10 trolley runs along Lancaster Avenue from 63rd and Malvern Avenue through to 36th and Ludlow Streets where a portal allows access to the subway tunnel into Center City. Professional basketball has a long history in the Philadelphia region, from the first professional league, formedin 1898,to the NBA. Public sector employment in city government and the school district offered a wide range of employment opportunities for Black workers, from professional positions as managers and teachers to jobs that required less formal education, like sanitation and transportation. In May 1985, an attempt to evict MOVE again escalated to violence. The numbering pattern is mixed; someone traveling along Market Street into Upper Darby would cross 62nd Street, then Cobbs Creek Parkway/63rd St, then several named streets until finally arriving at 69th Street, skipping 6468. Trains influenced suburban development and provide a green alternative to crowded highways systems. They were also discouraged, by legal means or by violence, from immediately following the white population into the growing suburbs. Per capita is the best measure of the average spending power of each person in the city. Black Bottom was a traditionally black, working-class neighborhood along the Market Street corridor, between the Powelton Village and Mantua neighborhoods and the campuses of Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. Originally, Philadelphia city extended only from the Delaware River west to the Schuylkill River and from Vine Street to South Street. 1 non-Hispanic 2 excluding black and Asian Hispanics. The law profession in Philadelphia dates back to the days of William Penn. The renowned Penn Relays draw high school and college track and field athletes from around the country. These include five of Philadelphia's remaining six streetcar lines. The population density in City Center West is 97% higher than Philadelphia; The median age in City Center West is 7% higher than Philadelphia; In City Center West 78.92% of the population is White; In City Center West 6.11% of the population is Black; In City Center West 11.66% of the population is Asian In addition, one of Philadelphia's six streetcar lines, the Route 10 Green Line, transports commuters and students daily along Lancaster Avenue from 36th and Ludlow streets to 63rd and Malvern Avenue in Wynnefield. By the 1840s developers in Philadelphia, which was the second-largest city in the United States at the time, were already looking beyond the Schuylkill for fresh land. Housing was at a premium, and due to the desirability of the area, the newspaper of record noted that more than any other section of the city, West Philadelphia encouraged the construction of apartment buildings and the subdivision of old mansions to accommodate the boom. The home, a Federal-style mansion with a two-story columned portico, sat on a 250-acre parcel of land when it was constructed in 1770. What is the population of West Philadelphia? The main thoroughfare, Market Street, runs East and West, paralleled to the north and south by smaller streets named for tree species. In 1900 West Philadelphia had 148,548 residents, in 1910 the number grew to 247,928, and by 1920 there were 359,601. Much of the vacancy and crime that blighted West Philadelphia could be found in these areas, which were still cut off from legitimate employment and capital markets. The NeighborhoodScout search engine is covered under US Patents No. The 36 trolley leaves the 40th Street transit tunnel running along Woodland Avenue until 49th Street where it turns south to continue along Lindbergh Boulevard turning at Elmwood Avenue starting at 55th Street. None of the households in Philadelphia, PA reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. In 1840, the property was transformed into a cemetery with an arboretum of over 1,000 trees. Finally, the Route 36 trolley is the longest trolley Green Line service. High school sports programs began in the nineteenth century in Greater Philadelphia. In the 1980s some immigrants began to move into the area, chiefly African and Cambodian, although the latter population would almost entirely decamp for other parts of the city by the beginning of the twenty-first century. QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. The Media/Wawa Line also serves University City and portions of Southwest Philadelphia before continuing to Media and points beyond. All the trademarks displayed on this page are the property of Location, Inc. By 1950, West Philadelphia had lost a quarter of its Irish-American and 11 percent of its Italian-American population, while the African American population increased by 72 percent. By the 1940s, the new area of settlement stretched from the river out to Fifty-Ninth Street and housed about forty-four thousand African Americans, from poor and working class by the water to the Black elite in the northwestern neighborhoods closest to the Main Line. 77th and 86th Streets run just a few blocks before they leave the city for surrounding jurisdictions. Grades Offered Grades 9-12 Total Students 372 students Gender % Total Classroom Teachers 32 teachers Students by Grade School Rankings Philadelphia was at the forefront of the early nursing profession and its prestigious nursing schools set new standards for professionalism in the field. The map below highlights areas of . Mummies have captured the imagination and sparked the curiosity of Philadelphians since the Colonial Era. In the early days of decline, the major universities reacted to changes in their surrounding areas aggressively, displacing residents and creating barrier zones between their campuses and city residents. and the West Virginia border. During this period, the university adopted the moniker University City for the surrounding neighborhoods. Other developments introduced urban density and architectural uniformity: the Queen Anne style with columned porches and decorative spindlework, brickwork and corbelling; steeply pitched gables with fishscale slate shingles; turrets; balconies; and windows with a single pane surrounded by small panes. Jake Blumgart is a reporter for WHYYs PlanPhilly. This photograph is from a street festival on Baltimore Avenue in the Cedar Park section of University City. But farther from the university in other West Philadelphia neighborhoods, like Kingsessing and Cobbs Creek on the Delaware County line, conditions stagnated or worsened as the Great Recession eliminated many public sector jobs. [4], The Philadelphia Police Department divides West Philadelphia into four patrol districts: the 16th, 18th, 19th, and 92nd.[5]. Some of the largest concerns included the metal workings at Job T. Pughs Auger Works, the Otto Gas Engine Manufacturing Company, and the Allison & Sons Car & Tube Works, one of the biggest wagon firms in the nation until its destruction by fire in 1872. A major wagon route, Lancaster Pike, ran through the area, and in 1805 the first permanent bridge was built over the Schuylkill at Market Street. Starting at $1,020 USD /mo. The 77th Street in Overbrook is not contiguous with the 77th Street in the column of streets that ends with 90th Street in Southwest Philadelphia. 1944), who was born and raised in West Philadelphia, Penn promised to not repeat the aggressive steps taken in the 1950s and 1960s. Retail districts lined every street where there was a station as well as along Market Street. The Cynwyd Line is a limited-service express line from Center City to the Bala Cynwyd neighborhood of Lower Merion Township. A reinforced, bunkerlike structure built on the roof supported this belief. Despite the industry clustered along the areas shores, development in this period remained largely residential in the rest of West Philadelphia. The original bridge, often called the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge, was first built with exposed trusses, but covered a few years after its completion with a wooden roof and walls adorned with sculptures by William Rush. Community opposition fell on deaf ears and the city demolished vacant houses, declared Black Bottom a blighted neighborhood, and purchased it through eminent domain. American Bandstand (1952-89) was a massively popular music television program with strong Philadelphia roots, storied national success, and the power to shape the music industry and society. Second, the questions asked by census takers usually vary from one census year to the next. West Philadelphia is also served by five of SEPTA's thirteen Regional Rail Lines, which transport thousands of commuters daily to and from Center City and University City, and provide a quick and inexpensive link to the Philadelphia International Airport. This process accelerated with the full extension of the Market-Frankford line in 1907, which boosted settlement, including that of immigrant and Black laborers living close to the line. The area's African American population began growing in the 1880s through the migration of blacks from the southern states; white flight in the early 1960s completed the transition to a majority-black population. Along with a decrease in crime and a trend toward urban living, most of University City underwent gentrification. School Dropout Rate for Population 16 to 19 Years : Civilian Population 16 to 19 Years Old: 17,540 : Not High School Graduate, Not Enrolled (dropout) 1,023: 5.8%: High School Graduate, or Enrolled (in school) 16,517: 94.2% : Employment/Unemployment for Civilian Population in Labor Force Age 16 Years and Over : Civilian Population in Labor Force . A gunfight ensued and in the end, police officer James Ramp was dead and nine MOVE members, including Delbert Africa, shown here, were arrested. University Archives staff created the census tract maps found here. The land also houses over 750 historic plants and trees, some grown from seeds brought to Philadelphia by the 1804 Lewis and Clark expedition. The property was cut off from all city services, though sympathetic Philadelphians sometimes delivered food and other necessities. The western reaches of West Philadelphia included miles of two-story rowhouses with bay windows above classical columned front porches. The intersection of 52nd Street and Market Street in West Philadelphia was listed number eight in a 2007 list of the city's top ten recreational drug corners according to an article by Philadelphia Weekly reporter Steve Volk. 1960 Census 1970 Census 1980 Census 1990 Census 2000 Census 2010 Census 2010 Census Tracts The demographic statistics for this exhibit have been compiled from Social Explorer by the staff of the University Archives of the University of Pennsylvania. University City Science Center, the nation's first urban research park was conceived as an ambitious urban renewal project, but ignited racial tensions in a city marred by poverty. The eastern side of West Philadelphia is also known as University City. The Airport Line serves University City at University City Station in the University of Pennsylvania, going on to southernmost Southwest Philadelphia and the airport. After that, the population exploded from eleven thousand in 1850 to twenty-three thousand in 1860. Population : 275,579 : Population Density (per sq. On the morning of August 8, 1978, Mayor Frank Rizzo ordered police to enter the property by force. On Chestnut Street, Drexel Universitys WKDU regularly welcomed local talent into its studio for live events, as did WPEN, which lent its studio to college broadcasters. Read more about Scout's Demographic Data. These are the most common groups that city residents self-reported as their ancestry. The construction of the University City Science Center required the demolition of the residential Black Bottom neighborhood in the 1960s. In first decades of the twenty-first century, parts of West Philadelphia saw a revival. In that year, 40% of the city's households were cost-burdened, a figure that is in line with many other major cities. 85.6%. Today, Penns influence can be felt throughout the University City neighborhood it inhabits, from displacement of working-class black neighborhoods in the mid-twentieth century to more recent campaigns to revitalize the neighborhood and provide services and better schools for its residents. A bustling light industrial sector continued to grow south of Market Street on land adjacent to the river, relying on the Pennsylvania Railroads infrastructure around 30th Street Station to convey the sectors goods efficiently. Beginning in the 1990s, the University of Pennsylvania began a process of community engagement to help rebuild the surrounding neighborhoods by providing an unarmed security force in University City and establishing the university-affiliated Sadie Alexander School. Total Population by Neighborhood#5 [7] Founded in the late 1980s, Masjid Al-Jamia is located in the former Commodore Theatre, a cinema which opened in 1928 and which was built in the Spanish Colonial or Moorish architectural style. The educational status of the citys residents who are 18 and older. West Philadelphia contains many places of worship. It is situated directly across the Schuylkill River from Center City . Most of these passenger trips originate outside of the city, but more West Philly residents are using SEPTA's multi-ride "Transpass"[citation needed], which allows unlimited rides on SEPTA vehicles within the city limits. The police department made matters worse by becoming the first U.S. law enforcement institution to bomb its own city. The Orlons, who recorded the hit song 'South Street,' formed at Overbrook High School in West Philadelphia in the 1950s. Everything from printers and bakeries to slaughterhouses and mirror manufacturers dotted this slice of the landscape. Arrivals from East Asia and Latin America, mainly Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans, have given the area small Hispanic and Asian American populations. Date(s) & Update Frequency: Philadelphia After the 1854 Act of Consolidation. The West Indian population is largely concentrated in West Philadelphia, with smaller numbers in the Southwest and Northeast sections. In 2014, President Barack Obama designated a swathe of West Philadelphia neighborhoods, including Mantua, as one of twenty-two national Promise Zones. By sending this Report you agree to NeighborhoodScout's, Real Estate in Popular Philadelphia Neighborhoods. Lancaster Avenue begins at 34th street near Drexel University; runs westward to the city line at City Avenue; and continues on as U.S. Route 30 to Lancaster, York, Pittsburgh. Professional, scientific, and technical services, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders. Multiple business corridors sprouted on Fifty-Second Street and Baltimore, Lancaster, Woodland, and Girard Avenues. Language other than English spoken at home, percent of persons age 5 years+, 2017-2021. According to the 2010 census, 216,433 people live among the ZIP codes of 19104, 19131, 19139, 19143 and 19151.[1](Map). The Paoli/Thorndale Line serves Overbrook and Wynnefield, and continues to the Main Line communities and Paoli. The impetus for Penns expansion came from an infusion of government research funding along with the urban renewal dollars made available by the national Housing Act of 1949. Every day, thousands of vehicles travel this route, which is one of the major commuter routes into and out of Philadelphia from Delaware and Chester Counties. Under the guidance of university president Judith Rodin (b. The Route 13 trolley runs along Chester Avenue from the transit tunnel at 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue to 67th Street where it turns off Chester Avenue and continues along PA Route 13 into Yeadon, Delaware County on to its terminus at Green Lane. For the first time in West Philadelphia, houses had garages. 1 Beds Bds; . To examine these statistics, go to the page for a given census year and follow the links for aggregate statistics and for statistics for individual census tracts. These houses are typical of the early 20th-century developments in West Philadelphia, and are unified by rhythmic patterning of porch and gable features. New routes into the city aided this movement too, like the Chestnut Street bridge completed in 1866. Since the dawn of rail transportation, Philadelphia has been home to a number of grand railroad stations. Abraham Browers innovative omnibus service, introduced to Philadelphia in 1831, allowed new settlers speedy access into the central city. In 1850, it was destroyed by fire. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and the SEPTA Media/Wawa Line to the south. These neighborhoods were subjected to redlining, a discriminatory practice that prevented residents of undesirable neighborhoods from procuring mortgages or loans and exacerbated the poverty. Discover your neighborhood's best match, anywhere. The new bridge spurred growth, prompting a network of industries, including stockyards, lumber mills, slaughterhouses, coal yards, foundries, and glass factories to serve the city across the river. Farther west, African American neighborhoods tended to be more stable, with larger populations of public sector workers and private sector white collar workers, but that was little comfort to the displaced residents of Black Bottom. One of the first homes built in West Philadelphia, in an area that was then Blockley Township, was William Hamiltons country estate, the Woodlands.