Why isn’t North Philadelphia (along the Amtrak route) fixed up? (York: hotel, neighborhood)

[GVLNATIVE]

I love Philadelphia. It’s an attractive, liveable city.

However, I’ve taken Amtrak along the Northeast Corridor for 25 years. As you head south into Philadelphia, it looks pretty rough, with lots of deteriorating, graffiti-covered buildings.

When did North Philadelphia fall into this condition, and why isn’t it cleaned up? At least getting rid of graffiti would help.

[cpomp]

There are plans to invest in the surrounding neighborhood and train station. I hope the plan is too delayed because of the shutdown.

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20190221.html

https://philly.curbed.com/2019/2/22/...transit-amtrak

That part of North Philadelphia was a major industrial corridor, those days are mostly gone, add on decades of population decline and disinvestment and that is the result.
But now that Philadelphia's core (Center City) is booming, its inevitable for development to stretch its arms and the eyes are now looking at the North Philadelphia Station corridor, which is a great investment due to its great transit access and easy connections to Center City and New York.

I always find the Amtrak ride through North Philadelphia interesting, huge old factories and graffiti, sad but there is a bit of fascination. I will add, every few months another factory along the line usually near Brewerytown starts some sort of renovation. Certain parts of North Philadelphia will probably look the same 10 years from now, but starting at Brewerytown going a bit North there is a noticeable change along the tracks.

[thedirtypirate]

Through out the entire city, from end to end, the worst looking parts follow the train tracks. It’s due to deindustrialization. The railways were lined with factories for easy transportation. Nearly every single one of them is now defunct. Most just sit vacant because they are privately owned and the owners don’t want to sell until they can make a nice profit. It’s a shame that a lot of people who ride through Philly just see those parts and imagine the entire city is an industrial wasteland. Philadelphia doesn’t have particularly high property taxes do owners see little incentive to do anything about it.

[Redddog]

Some of those areas are shoking to look at. It really does paint an unrepresentative picture of Philly as a whole.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by GVLNATIVE

I love Philadelphia. It’s an attractive, liveable city.

However, I’ve taken Amtrak along the Northeast Corridor for 25 years. As you head south into Philadelphia, it looks pretty rough, with lots of deteriorating, graffiti-covered buildings.

When did North Philadelphia fall into this condition, and why isn’t it cleaned up? At least getting rid of graffiti would help.

De-industrialization combined with white flight. I found it surprising how you don't know why. The same thing happened in other big industrial centers like Detroit and Baltimore.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by cpomp

There are plans to invest in the surrounding neighborhood and train station. I hope the plan is too delayed because of the shutdown.

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20190221.html

https://philly.curbed.com/2019/2/22/...transit-amtrak

That part of North Philadelphia was a major industrial corridor, those days are mostly gone, add on decades of population decline and disinvestment and that is the result.
But now that Philadelphia's core (Center City) is booming, its inevitable for development to stretch its arms and the eyes are now looking at the North Philadelphia Station corridor, which is a great investment due to its great transit access and easy connections to Center City and New York.

I always find the Amtrak ride through North Philadelphia interesting, huge old factories and graffiti, sad but there is a bit of fascination. I will add, every few months another factory along the line usually near Brewerytown starts some sort of renovation. Certain parts of North Philadelphia will probably look the same 10 years from now, but starting at Brewerytown going a bit North there is a noticeable change along the tracks.

Don't hold your breath. Developers(W Hotel for example) took on a ton of debt that they won't be able to handle in a massive recession which we are likely headed into.

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Don't hold your breath. Developers(W Hotel for example) took on a ton of debt that they won't be able to handle in a massive recession which we are likely headed into.

Got that right.

https://www.inquirer.com/business/ph...-20200420.html

Not good by any means.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by AJNEOA

Got that right.

https://www.inquirer.com/business/ph...-20200420.html

Not good by any means.

In a weird way that corner is cursed. The burned out tower from the Merdian Bldg fire. Years of nothing happening as law suits went back and forth. MarketEl can probably dig up particulars. Then, finally, after 20something years , a terrific hotel tower that would really bring Chestnut St back. Who knows how it will end up now. Sigh.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by kyb01

In a weird way that corner is cursed. The burned out tower from the Merdian Bldg fire. Years of nothing happening as law suits went back and forth. MarketEl can probably dig up particulars. Then, finally, after 20something years , a terrific hotel tower that would really bring Chestnut St back. Who knows how it will end up now. Sigh.

Quotes from ownership and the brand ensure that the hotel will open (now August of this year).
Obviously anything could happen, but this project is so far along that I would be very shocked if it fell apart this late in the game.
If it were a hole in the ground of a steel shell, then I would be worried, but the opening date pre Covid-19 was sometime in June.

I think huge projects under construction will recover fine (The W, Arthaus, The Laurel, Riverwalk, etc.), however, proposals or large projects that didn't break ground may sit, such as the wonderful (sarcasm) Toll Brothers project on Jewelers Row or Dranoffs other tower at Broad and Pine.

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Quotes from ownership and the brand ensure that the hotel will open (now August of this year).
Obviously anything could happen, but this project is so far along that I would be very shocked if it fell apart this late in the game.
If it were a hole in the ground of a steel shell, then I would be worried, but the opening date pre Covid-19 was sometime in June.

I think huge projects under construction will recover fine (The W, Arthaus, The Laurel, Riverwalk, etc.), however, proposals or large projects that didn't break ground may sit, such as the wonderful (sarcasm) Toll Brothers project on Jewelers Row or Dranoffs other tower at Broad and Pine.

OT, but do you have any sense of whether large brands (like W) could go bankrupt? I sense that no organization is exempt from the financial hardship of this disaster.