Residents discussing 4224 Baltimore Ave. design plans at one of community meetings in 2013.

A coalition of community groups are urging Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell to introduce legislation that would help move along the large residential and commercial complex proposed for 43rd and Baltimore, across from Clark Park.

The project has stalled because the property owners do not want to navigate Philadelphia’s zoning process.

So the Friends of Clark Park are circulating a petition asking Blackwell to take “swift action” to prevent the property owners from abandoning a proposal that has been devised after a series of public meetings. (For a full history of the project, click here.)

The Spruce Hill Community Association and the University City Historical Society have also sent letters to Blackwell asking her to introduce an ordinance that would exempt New York-based Clarkmore LLC from the zoning process, which can be a gauntlet of delays and even legal challenges. Clarkmore already has the right to build a no-frills 92-unit building on the property at 4224 Baltimore Avenue as it is currently zoned and the firm is reportedly willing to go ahead with that plan rather than go through the zoning changes required to build the 132-unit complex proposed after more than a year of consultation with the community.

“We do not want to see that ‘by right’ project to go through,” said Barry Grossbach, chair of the Spruce Hill Community Association’s zoning committee. “It’s going to be a box and it’s going to be ugly.”  Continue Reading

The University of Pennsylvania has expanded its home-buying program out to 56th Street, according to the university’s Department of Home Ownership Services. The program is designed to entice full-time staff and faculty to live in West Philly.

The new western boundary will extend from 52nd Street to the east side of 56th from Market Street south to Paschall Avenue (see map below). The eastern boundary is unchanged, running along the Schuylkill River. The northern boundary runs along Haverford Avenue to 44th Street where it switches to Market Street. These are the first changes to the program, which provides a $7,500 forgivable loan toward the purchase or improvement of a home, since 2004.

The loan benefit also applies to employees of the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

The area shown in purple reflects the new boundaries of Penn’s housing loan plan.

Architect Nancy Bastian from Cecil Baker and Partners shows preliminary drawings of a proposed affordable housing building at 46th and Spruce during a meeting of the Spruce Hill Community Association planning committee on Monday evening. (Photo by West Philly Local)

A non-profit told the Spruce Hill Community Association and a handful of nearby residents that it hopes to construct a four-story affordable housing building on the site of a burnt-out one-story structure at 46th and Spruce.

The Mission First Housing Group‘s building would include 24 one- and two-bedroom rental apartments aimed at people with a household income of $32,000 a year or less, according to Mark Deitcher, Mission First’s director of business development.

“Our plan is to replace affordable housing with affordable housing,” he said.

The burnt-out building at 46th and Spruce.

A fire gutted the building in February 2011, essentially putting out of business the non-profit that ran an assisted care living facility on the site. The insurance proceeds from the fire were not enough to cover rebuilding. Mission First is currently managing the property on the owner’s behalf and recently shored up the building’s roof and replaced windows by city order.

The project depends on a successful application for funding from the state. Mission First would own the property and fund the building’s construction through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s low income housing tax credit program, which would provide funding for the project. Deitcher said he expects the project to cost about $7 million, or about $200 per square foot. Funding applications are due late this year or maybe early next year, so completion of the project, if approved, is still a couple of years away. Mission First would also manage the building once constructed.  Continue Reading

A West Philly based activist and programmer has built an app that allows people to visualize changes in income and racial diversity in their neighborhoods.

Aaron Kreider’s JusticeMap.org, an open online map layering race and income data across the United States, allows residents to analyze and visualize neighborhood’s socioeconomic shifts. Using data pulled by the U.S. Census Bureau, the comprehensive high resolution map — created with the support of the Sunlight Foundation — features the breakdown of race by block, county, census, and block group, while household income data are available by county or census tract. So, for example, JusticeMap.org allows you to easily find out the majority of residents in the 19143 zip code have a household income of $40,000 or less.

A map showing income levels for the 19143 zip code. Source: JusticeMap.org

“For several years I have wanted to make maps of the race and income data from the U.S. Census to help people visualize the large differences in race and income between counties, cities, neighborhoods and even blocks,” Kreider, who runs CampusActivism.org, wrote in a blog post for Sunlight Foundation in late January. “My goal is to help people, who do not have any map making or geographical information systems experience, to create maps that combine these open map layers with their own data.”

JusticeMap.org also includes some intriguing features that make visualizing and saving data with the open online map both easy and innovative. Users can save the map as an image, make their own map and host on their own site, add shapes to the map, use tile layers on an existing map, conduct statistical comparisons and different geographical intersections, and download the data. We’ve included a map of income levels in Philadelphia for readers to test below, but we suggest you head to the site and go through the data hands-on.

-Annamarya Scaccia

Redcap’s Corner’s second home as of next month (Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

Hear-ye, Hear-ye, Baltimore Avenue gamers! Come early next month, West Philly’s gaming hub, Redcap’s Corner, will open its second shop in the area – at 4812 Baltimore Avenue in the storefront space of HOW Properties’ new apartment building on the corridor.

According to co-owner Benn Roe, who runs Redcap’s with Adam Friedman, the new shop will differ from its Drexel University-area flagship at 3617 Lancaster Avenue by becoming more family-oriented. While the Baltimore Avenue location will carry a very similar gaming product line, there will be a strong emphasis on Pokémon rather than Magic the Gathering, Roe said. Additionally, the calendar of events for Redcap’s 2 will differ drastically from the original shop—instead of tournaments and competitive game-play that attracts serious gamers and college students, the new place (which seats only 30) will focus on learn-to-play demos, family board game nights, casual and after-school leagues, and open-play nights.

“We’ll run tournaments here and there, but our focus will be on less competitive fun and giving kids somewhere safe to hang out after school,” Roe told West Philly Local. “Pokémon is popular with kids, and we’ve been getting increasing interest in Pathfinder from young role-players, so it’s a safe bet that those games will make it onto the calendar.”

While opening dates are not set in stone since construction is still happening at the new location, Roe did assure they will throw a grand opening party once Redcap’s 2 opens its doors in early July. West Philly Local had a chance to chat with Roe more about Redcap’s second shop, why they chose Baltimore Avenue, and why they chose to focus more on families this time around.

Continue Reading

52nd Street Corridor manager Akeem Dixon will be the special guest at this week’s Garden Court Community Association‘s Annual Meeting, which will take place on Thursday, June 19 at Community College of Philadelphia West (4725 Chestnut St). Mr. Dixon will provide an update on 52nd Street happenings.

All are invited to attend the meeting, where there will also be an opportunity to meet new GCCA Board members and hear about the great things going on in the neighborhood.

The event will begin at 6:00 p.m. with a potluck (the meeting starts at 7 p.m.). For more information, visit: http://www.gardencourtca.org/.