Philadelphia's next hot neighborhood? (Reading, Washington: for sale, real estate, loft)

[I'd love to travel]

twenty years ago northern liberties looked like north philly , Look at it now and G-Ho five years ago it was a getto . So you just never know what will be next .

[pman]

Originally Posted by Commuting North

Thanks pman, but I'm well aware that JUNGA is a realtor-created term (thus why I said as much in my post). In fact, if you want to get specific, just about every named section of neighborhood is a realtor-created, or city-created term to boost the appeal of the neighborhood.

Originally Posted by solibs

The neighborhood names that people are using these days correspond either to the historical names for the area (NoLibs, Fishtown, Pennsport, Brewerytown, etc) or, in the case of names that overlap two historical areas,

hmm. so libs, Penn's Port is a realtor name, the historical name, IMO, is better (southwark)...or am I confusing that with queen village? anyways, francisville isn't exactly a new name nor is it obnoxious like wannabe NY JUNGA

Originally Posted by Commuting North

I'm not sure I agree with Francisville improving in the near future. I see a lot happening there, and very real long-term potential, but it's a HUGE area with a tremendous amount of poverty and crime. I was just jogging through that area the other day and it's got a very long way to go. I'm a single male, very low-maintenence, and city born and bred, and there's no way I'd live in Francisville (except on a handful of streets). I just can't see families, single females or couples going anywhere near it for the forseeable future.

francisville is not huge nor is it that bad (like strawberry mansion). some parts are better than others. I see the pace of change highly dependent on the approved development for the entire block north of the park in spring 2010. the western portion of the neighborhood is Bache Martin, which may or may not turn around. the southeastern portion is Ben Franklin and Waring, the northern portion is Vaux. properties close to Broad and Girard are going student, gentrifiers are moving in along fairmount ave and east from fairmount. I think within five years you'll see a large difference. the main problem is the commercial district (or what used to be) on ridge is the worst part of the neighborhood. it's a short walk from the movie theater on Broad and the new Fresh Grocer, the trolley takes you to the piazza and the subway to center city and ballgames. we're a couple and are already going there. ten years ago the area SOUTH of fairmount ave was a dump. will it be hot? probably not, but we'll see what happens on north broad st. as for brewerytown, it shows the conceit of NTI. demolishing wholesale doesn't fix the problem. the area will change faster once west girard becomes a more desirable commercial strip

[solibs]

Originally Posted by pman

hmm. so libs, Penn's Port is a realtor name, the historical name, IMO, is better (southwark)...or am I confusing that with queen village? anyways, francisville isn't exactly a new name nor is it obnoxious like wannabe NY JUNGA

Actually, the term was JuNOGi.

Anyway, Pennsport is one word. Always has been. If you walk down 2 St. you see the name everywhere and some it is faded enough to have been there for 70 years.

Southwark included everything from South to Mifflin and, from what I've been told by old timers it was never used much in conversation.

Queen Village is named for Queen St. and was coined by the QVNA and realtors later picked up on it.

[G Goo]

Residing in Mt Airy as I do, I would love to see some love given to Germantown. I don’t know if “hot” would be the aim, but given its amazing (and intact) housing stock, its well positioned transportation (R7, R8) and its proximity to CC, suburbs, etc., it is ripe for a Mt Airy style comeback. Especially along Germantown Ave.

[Commuting North]

I heard Pennsport was thusly named by the city in the mid-70s when they were doing some kind of city-wide re-assesment and they needed to develop official neighborhood boundries to get state aid. Could be wrong, just what I heard.

I don't know pman, I don't see a lot of hope for Francisville. It's just surrounded by too much crap. Homeless shelters to the the East, Extreme ghettos to the North (esp. up Ridge Ave.), and desolate Northern CC to the South (think where the Inquirer bldg was). The only part that's decent is the far Western area which borders Corinthian Ave. I see that Eastern section of the Fairmount neighborhood leaking into Francisville, but I don't see it moving very far or very consistently.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by G Goo

Residing in Mt Airy as I do, I would love to see some love given to Germantown. I don’t know if “hot” would be the aim, but given its amazing (and intact) housing stock, its well positioned transportation (R7, R8) and its proximity to CC, suburbs, etc., it is ripe for a Mt Airy style comeback. Especially along Germantown Ave.

I think it's already happening west of Germantown Ave. Chelten Ave. could be a really happening strip. I'd consider living there if there was more going on.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by Commuting North

I don't know pman, I don't see a lot of hope for Francisville. It's just surrounded by too much crap. Homeless shelters to the the East, Extreme ghettos to the North (esp. up Ridge Ave.), and desolate Northern CC to the South (think where the Inquirer bldg was). The only part that's decent is the far Western area which borders Corinthian Ave. I see that Eastern section of the Fairmount neighborhood leaking into Francisville, but I don't see it moving very far or very consistently.

I see Ridge Ave. as the real boundary there. Not Girard Ave.

Ridge Ave. needs a lot of work. A lot.

That's why I say I think things will happen in Brewerytown before they happen north of Girard near Broad.

[pman]

Originally Posted by solibs

Actually, the term was JuNOGi.

the OP used JUNGA, but it's irrelevant what it wactually is, it's still stupid.

Originally Posted by solibs

Anyway, Pennsport is one word. Always has been. If you walk down 2 St. you see the name everywhere and some it is faded enough to have been there for 70 years.

I'm aware that it's written as one word, I wrote it that way to emphasize what it's saying.

Originally Posted by solibs

Southwark included everything from South to Mifflin and, from what I've been told by old timers it was never used much in conversation.

it's still the historically correct name, it dates to the 1700's while pennsport is a realtors creation since southwark didn't have a great reputation

Pennsport is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia. It is bounded on the west by Fourth Street, on the east by the Delaware River, on the south by Snyder Avenue, and on the north by Washington Avenue. According to residents, the name "Pennsport" was coined roughly 30 years ago. It came at a time when the federal government was spending money on urban renewal. Originally developed during the colonial period, Pennsport is architecturally rich. Considered one of the oldest sections of South Philadelphia, the neighborhood has properties with great historical significance with some homes dating back to 1815. Perhaps that most recognized in Pennsport are the Mummers. The first official Mummers Parade began in 1901 and brought something unique to the community every New Years Day on marching up South Broad Street as well as “2 Street.”

Popular Philadelphia Neighborhood Names and Histories

The historic district, as defined by the National Register of Historic Places[3], is bounded by 5th Street on the west, Lombard Street on the north, Washington Avenue on the south, and Front, Catherine, and Queen Streets and Columbus Boulevard (formerly Delaware Avenue) on the east... The General Assembly created the district of Southwark on May 14, 1762,

Southwark, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by Commuting North

I don't know pman, I don't see a lot of hope for Francisville. It's just surrounded by too much crap. Homeless shelters to the the East, Extreme ghettos to the North (esp. up Ridge Ave.), and desolate Northern CC to the South (think where the Inquirer bldg was). The only part that's decent is the far Western area which borders Corinthian Ave. I see that Eastern section of the Fairmount neighborhood leaking into Francisville, but I don't see it moving very far or very consistently.

Originally Posted by solibs

I see Ridge Ave. as the real boundary there. Not Girard Ave.
Ridge Ave. needs a lot of work. A lot.
That's why I say I think things will happen in Brewerytown before they happen north of Girard near Broad.

I agree with the assessment of Ridge being a major barrier. BTW, Francisville is NOT bordered by the Inky building which is south of spring garden st but by spring garden which has developed into a nice neighborhood. to the west it's bordered by fairmount. the "extreme ghetto" to the north is more likely to be developed before brewerytown, IMO, because brewerytown is bordered by strawberry mansion (the poorest neighborhood in a poor city), projects to the east. in contrast, east of ridge ave is likely to see significant investment from temple and, in fact, already is. the college somewhat separates francisville from the hardscrabble area right behind it. OTOH, Broad St is still a significant thoroughfare and will eventually attract more business like the new sports bar on Broad near parrish. the biggest downsides are the number of social services and PHA housing. Fairmount Ave remains somewhat depressed on the southern boundary because the Spring Garden CDC owns much of the property.

[pman]

Originally Posted by solibs

I think it's already happening west of Germantown Ave. Chelten Ave. could be a really happening strip. I'd consider living there if there was more going on.

me too

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

If anyone was in the Morningside Heights/Columbia University neighborhood ten years ago (and today), you would see some parallels. Columbia basically went on a spending spree and
bought every piece of property they could get their hands on within several blocks in any direction. They then utilized it for university purposes or sold/leased it out for more upscale commercial/residential use. It appears Temple is using a more slimmed down model, but still should prove effective in a few/several years.

That example works; my mom is a Barnard/Columbia graduate