The 52nd Street business corridor will get improvements ahead of Philadelphia’s Juneteenth Parade and Festival, thanks to funding received as part of Wells Fargo’s “HOPE 2.0” initiative. The $250,000 in funding, presented to The Enterprise Center today, is a continuation of Wells Fargo’s “HOPE, USA” initiative, which pledged more than $1 million in support for the 52nd Street corridor ahead of the 2021 holiday shopping season and encouraged residents to shop local in support of small businesses.

The funding will be used for continued façade improvements and enhancements along the 52nd Street commercial corridor. This includes new signage, gates and doors, power washing and graffiti removal for a number of small businesses on the 300 block, as well as sidewalk repairs. New planters will be placed along the corridor, and street banners designed by local female-owned artist collective Hagopian Arts with the phrase “Never Lose Hope” will run from Market to Larchwood Street. Continue Reading

Construction of an addition to the Garden Court Plaza, located at 4701 Pine St., has begun. The work is currently taking place at the back of the building on 47th Street between Pine and Spruce, which will be the primary access to the construction site, according to the Garden Court Community Association. The sidewalk on the west side of the whole block is closed due to the construction.

As a reminder, the plan includes the construction of a six-story, 220-unit addition above the Plaza’s parking garage (see rendering below). Continue Reading

New Chestnut Street layout after the completion of the project.

Construction activities for the Chestnut Street Repaving and Safety Project, which will provide traffic calming and create a high-quality bicycle connection between West Philly and Center City, are scheduled to begin Tuesday, June 7, according to an announcement today by the City of Philadelphia Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability (OTIS).

In addition to repaving Chestnut Street with fresh asphalt, the following improvements are planned from 34th to 63rd Streets:

• New lane lines and roadway layout
• New crosswalks and flexible delineator posts
• A new parking separated bikeway from 63rd to 45th Streets Continue Reading

Indego bike share stations in West Philly.

The city’s bike sharing program, Indego, continues its expansion in West Philadelphia. The organization recently announced its plans to bring more bike share stations to the Spruce Hill area. Currently, these plans include the installation of new stations at the following locations:

• 40th and Walnut

• 41st and Chestnut

• 41st and Woodland

In addition, the Indego system has continued its expansion further west in the recent months. Since the beginning of the year, new bike docking stations were installed at 53rd and Baltimore, 50th and Haverford, ParkWest Town Center (1575 N 52nd St) and other locations. Plans for this year also included the installation of Indego stations in the Kingsessing area. To see the map of all Philly bike share stations, go here. Continue Reading

West Philly Porchfest, the annual DIY music festival where anyone with a porch can host a show, is back this Saturday, June 4. The festival kicks off at Noon with most performances scheduled south of Baltimore Avenue from 40th to 54th Street. Then from 2 to 4 p.m., most shows will take place north of Baltimore from 42nd to 48th Street. Finally, from 4 to 6 p.m., most performances will be held north of Baltimore, from 48th to 52nd (see the full map here).

West Philly Porchfest provides an opportunity to local musicians to play and to West Philly residents and guests to enjoy free shows in various music genres. For the full list of performers and schedule, visit the West Philly Porchfest website.

Saint Joseph’s University‘s acquisition of USciences, located on Woodland Ave. in West Philly, became official today. UScience’s campus near the southern tip of Clark Park is now the “University City Campus” of St. Joe’s, making it the fourth largest university in the city behind Temple, Drexel and Penn.