The University City District released its annual “State of University City” report on Thursday night. It shows what most of us already know: home prices are up; new retail spots are opening left and right; and the population is growing and getting younger.

UCD roughly defines “University City” as the area bounded by the Schuylkill River to the east, 50th Street to the west, Market Street/Powelton Avenue/Spring Garden Street to the north and Woodland Avenue/University Avenue to the south.

Here’s what the report, which covers trends through 2016, shows in key areas:

Real Estate Development

During 2016, 28 projects were either completed or made significant strides toward completion. These include academic, commercial, medical and residential projects. Curbed Philly has a handy map with many of the new projects covered in the report.  Continue Reading

The Porch at 30th Street Station, built by UCD.

University City District, a nonprofit, had always insisted on building public spaces – parks, plazas, a composting facility – that were accessible to all. But, about two years ago, UCD’s Vice President of Planning and Economic Development, Andrew Stober, and his co-workers had a realization: When it comes to equity and inclusion, “We don’t really know what we’re talking about,” Stober said. With a new initiative called “Just Spaces,” they hope that will start to change.

UCD, which built The Porch at 30th Street Station, collects plenty of data on who uses its spaces and how, but it knows less about who doesn’t, and why not. Enter the group’s new self-audit, “Just Spaces,” which is focused on identifying groups that feel unwelcome at UCD’s public spaces, and to help welcome them instead. Most obviously, the initiative might examine proximity – Who can get to a space easily?; infrastructure, since even a swing-set can be inaccessible to some; and commerce, How expensive are the concession stands? Sometimes, inclusion just means selling something other than a gourmet hamburger.  Continue Reading

If you know someone who is interested in working in landscaping, pass this along. The University City District has received a $300,000 grant to launch Green City Works, “a social enterprise that provides high-quality groundskeeping services while developing job skills and advancement opportunities for low-income workers interested in landscaping trades,” according to a statement.

Green City Works will build on UCD’s efforts with the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, which connects West Philadelphians with employers offering “family-sustaining” wages.

Go to the Green City Works website to learn more.

                                Click to enlarge

The University City District has released its monthly crime update, which provides statistics on serious crimes in the area, such as aggravated assaults, robberies (armed and not armed), and burglaries. In October, 39 robberies, aggravated assaults and residential burglaries were reported in the area, and nine arrests were made in these cases, according to the report.

The report shows a sharp increase in residential burglaries – from five in July to over 20 per month in the period from August to October. This is also higher than in the fall of 2012-2014 when from 10 to 15 burglaries were reported monthly. The map shows an increase in burglaries in the western edge of the district.

Some good news is that after last month’s arrest of a suspect in connection with a string of burglaries in Powelton Village, crime numbers have fallen dramatically in that area.

Here are also useful tips from UCD on protecting your porch or residence:  Continue Reading

The numbers are in for “parklets,” those little curbside, pop-up platforms with tables and chairs found outside a few local businesses, and it turns out that people, and businesses, seem to like them.

The University City District studied parklet use in 2013 – observing and counting who used them and how – and released a report this week detailing what they found. The study included six parklets outside the Green Line Cafe on Baltimore Avenue, Honest Tom’s/Lil’ Pop Shop, Fu-Wah Market, Manakeesh Cafe, Little Baby’s Ice Cream in Cedar Park and Ramen Bar at 4040 Locust.

To get the data, the UCD parked an intern at each spot during the operating hours of the host businesses on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the spring and summer of 2013.

It shows that most of the people who use the parklets are patrons of the “host” businesses (you don’t have to be, but most were). In terms of daily unique users, the Honest Tom’s/Lil’ Pop Shop parklet (which both offer very portable products) saw the most traffic (just over 140 per day) with the Green Line spot second at about 60 visitors. The parklet outside of Manakeesh, which sits curbside along a busy section of Walnut Street got only a few visitors per day.

Use at the Honest Tom’s/Lil’ Pop Shop location spiked at about 2 p.m. and then again at about 6:30 p.m. Green Line’s parklet was busiest at about 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. and Little Baby’s parklet saw most of its daily use between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The others spiked during lunch and dinner times.  Continue Reading

University City District‘s program, West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI), is seeking West Philly residents for security jobs in the area. Training will be provided. Here are more details.

WPSI’s Connect to Success training program, which connects West Philadelphians with the region’s premier employers, is partnering with Allied Barton Security Services and will train and prepare security professionals for work on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. The next session for the program starts in November. In June, all graduates of this program received job offers from Allied Barton, according to a WPSI press release.

The Connect to Success program offers:

• 5 weeks of training and preferential candidate status with Allied Barton Security Services
• Performance-based stipends awarded for successful classroom performance
• Professional development and work-readiness skill-building
• Financial education and more

If you meet the criteria listed below, you’re welcome to apply for the program:

• Unemployed
• A resident of West Philadelphia – as defined by zip codes 19104, 19131, 19139, 19143, 19151
• A high school graduate or possess a GED
• Able to commit to at least 30 hours of weekly training beginning November 10, 2014
• Experienced in security, customer service, military, or hospitality (preferred)

Interested individuals can complete an online application here or download and print the program application (WPSI Application – Fall 2014_pdf) and then mail/fax it to WPSI. Application deadline is Friday, Oct. 24. There will be an information session about the program on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 3730 Walnut Street (Huntsman Hall, Room 240). Please RSVP by calling 1-888-291-5404. For more information about WPSI, visit their website. You can also check out their Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.