A reinforced, bunkerlike structure built on the roof supported this belief. For the first time in West Philadelphia, houses had garages. Puckett, John L. and Mark Frazier Lloyd. The Big 5, an association of local college basketball programs, played at the University of Pennsylvania's Palestra arena from the time of its formation until 1986. On Chestnut Street, Drexel Universitys WKDU regularly welcomed local talent into its studio for live events, as did WPEN, which lent its studio to college broadcasters. Source & Methodology. A few African American neighborhoods close to campus were largely destroyed by eminent domain as a result, most famously the area known as Black Bottom that stood between the university and Powelton Village. Like The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Facebook, Follow The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Instagram, Like The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia on Facebook, Philadelphia, the Place that Loves You Back, (Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries), International Peace Mission Movement and Father Divine, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum), Community leaders to unveil plans for a new West Philadelphia bicycle track (WHYY, May 5, 2012), Taking refuge in West Philadelphia's Clark Park (WHYY, July 26, 2012), Store front church a safe haven for kids in West Philly neighborhood (WHYY, August 3, 2013), Why parts of West Philly not getting the boost from attracting artists (WHYY, August 29, 2014), Philly Love Note: The 'Love Letters' of West Philly's El riders (WHYY, September 4, 2014), HUD chief tours West Philly 'Promise Zone' (WHYY, September 5, 2014), University City Science Center plans expansion that will double its size (WHYY, June 2, 2015), Area near Drexel in West Philly wins big school grant (WHYY, December 22, 2016), Historical marker coming to site of MOVE debacle (WHYY, March 31, 2017), New mural to honor Philly native Ed Bradley of '60 Minutes' (WHYY, May 3, 2017), West Philadelphia Community History Center (University of Pennsylvania Archives and Records Center), West Philadelphia Italianate (PhillyHistory Blog), West Philadelphia: A Suburb in a City (PhillyHistory Blog), An Iron Baron's West Philadelphia Castle (PhillyHistory Blog), Decidedly Different West Philadelphia Twins (Hidden City Philadelphia), New Apartments, Old Glory in West Philadelphia (Hidden City Philadelphia), A Place for Enlightenment in Southwest Philadelphia (Hidden City Philadelphia), West Philly Home Still Sings the Praises of Paul Robeson (Hidden City Philadelphia), PhilaPlace: 4228 Walnut Street: Masjid al-Jamia (Historical Society of Philadelphia), I'm From Philly. The process began during World War I, as Black migrants arrived in the city in increasing numbers. Philadelphia played a key role in the birth of the American pharmaceutical industry during the early nineteenth century. Similar homes for rent in Washington Square West, Philadelphia. Both College Hall and the library remain standing and are West Philadelphia landmarks. Most recently many of these retail districts with the exception of 52nd Street have been converted to largely residential areas. The Route 38 trolley, running from Wynfield to Center City via Belmont Avenue, and the Route 31 trolley, running from Overbrook to Center City via Haverford Avenue, were replaced by diesel buses when the Philadelphia Transportation Company transferred control of the trolley service to National City Lines. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}395833N 751246W / 39.975709N 75.2129W / 39.975709; -75.2129. School Dropout Rate for Population 16 to 19 Years : Civilian Population 16 to 19 Years Old: 17,540 : Not High School Graduate, Not Enrolled (dropout) 1,023: 5.8%: High School Graduate, or Enrolled (in school) 16,517: 94.2% : Employment/Unemployment for Civilian Population in Labor Force Age 16 Years and Over : Civilian Population in Labor Force . In the 1960s and 1970s, illuminated signs announced what speed to drive to travel 4.3 miles into Center City without stopping for a red light. Over the city's three centuries, it has evolved into a diverse and vital aspect of the city community. The Wynnefield neighborhood is a location frequently used by photographers and organizers of civic events. This photograph is from a street festival on Baltimore Avenue in the Cedar Park section of University City. University Archives staff members Mary D. McConaghy and Michael L. Ellerson gathered these statistical tables from the professional version of Social Explorerthen edited them for use here. ofGreaterPhiladelphia. Today, Penns influence can be felt throughout the University City neighborhood it inhabits, from displacement of working-class black neighborhoods in the mid-twentieth century to more recent campaigns to revitalize the neighborhood and provide services and better schools for its residents. A handful of chestnut trees remain near Cobbs Creek. Police bombarded the home with water cannons and teargas, and the sides exchanged gunfire. The introduction of electric streetcars in the 1890s further altered the area, as those with more resources moved farther out, leaving behind a more broadly based middle class. It remained to be seen whether the ascendancy of the eastern section of West Philadelphia, where old industries and worker housing were giving way to new investment, would be enough to buoy the fortunes of the outlying, formerly middle class areas. The Woodlands mansion and cemetery continue to operate today. Everything from printers and bakeries to slaughterhouses and mirror manufacturers dotted this slice of the landscape. These are the types of employers who city residents work for. The district still had fewer than a hundred thousand people in 1890, but every new census revealed meteoric growth. It is situated directly across the Schuylkill River from Center City . Jake Blumgart is a reporter for WHYYs PlanPhilly. Starting with the first wave of Irish immigrants in the early 19th century, West Philadelphia was home to large numbers of European immigrants and their descendants. Penn also competed with other parts of the city for urban renewal funds (much of the money allocated within West Philadelphia went to the universitys ends). The streets were once lined with American Chestnut and walnut trees that touched across the five lanes of roadway, but many were removed due to Chestnut blight and replaced with a mix of sycamore and poplar trees. The Route 10 trolley runs along Lancaster Avenue from 63rd and Malvern Avenue through to 36th and Ludlow Streets where a portal allows access to the subway tunnel into Center City. Becoming Penn: The Pragmatic American University, 19502000. It holds the graves of many famous Philadelphians. Median household income provides the best measure of the budget of the typical family or other non-family household. The NeighborhoodScout search engine is covered under US Patents No. To examine these statistics, go to the page for a given census year and follow the links for aggregate statistics and for statistics for individual census tracts. 2 (April 1980), pp. But the expansion into surrounding residential neighborhoods embittered many residents. The site of Philadelphia General Hospital became the multi-institution Philadelphia Center for Health Care Sciences. West Philadelphia High School was one of the biggest and most diverse schools in state when it was opened in 1911. Often branded the 'Surekill Distressway,' the Schuylkill Expressway, connecting the Heart of Philadelphia to the northwestern suburbs, has been on of Pennsylvania's popular and congested highways. Miller, Rogerand Joseph Siry. An alternate definition includes all city land west of the Schuylkill; this would also include Southwest Philadelphia and its neighborhoods. Largely commissioned by speculative developers and designed by some of the city's most prolific architects, they were purchased by industrial managers and other professionals who led the first movement of upper and middle class from the more crowded city center. In 1854, the Act of Consolidation was signed, aligning Philadelphias borders with those of Philadelphia County. By sending this Report you agree to NeighborhoodScout's, Real Estate in Popular Philadelphia Neighborhoods. The second story, projecting, semi-hexagonal bay is incorporated into this design, an element which defines the later rowhouses. [8], The area gained some fame through the DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince song "Yo Home to Bel-Air", which became the theme song to the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which Wynnefield native Will Smith raps, "In West Philadelphia, born and raised.". Philadelphia police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 44-year-old man in Germantown. As of early 2017, large proposed developments in West Philadelphia include the 30th Street Station District and Schuylkill Yards. Allegheny West. In recent years, parts of West Philadelphia have undergone "Penntrification," a term that reflects the University of Pennsylvania's role in gentrification of the neighborhood; including a campaign to rename part of the area University City (the designation now appears on maps as well as public street signs and government listings). They were also necessary to create a more walkable environment and additional housing for a growing student body. Demographic data shown in this section was gathered from the latest U.S. Census Bureau release, the 2020 . The Black residents of West Philadelphia were forced to contend with redlining and other discriminatory practices that limited access to capital and higher-paid employment for many residents. 1 Baths Ba; 320 S. 10th Street. The home, a Federal-style mansion with a two-story columned portico, sat on a 250-acre parcel of land when it was constructed in 1770. Other US patent applications are currently pending. None of the households in Philadelphia, PA reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. The decline of the neighborhoods after World War II allowed many of these old homes to be preserved by neglect as they were not under the pressures of more central neighborhoods to develop during the urban renewal movement of the mid-twentieth century. This process accelerated with the full extension of the Market-Frankford line in 1907, which boosted settlement, including that of immigrant and Black laborers living close to the line. The average annual household income in Overbrook Park is $63,686, while the median household income sits at $47,174 per year. Estimates are not comparable to other geographic levels due to methodology differences that may exist between different data sources. For a complete list of the variables and breakdowns of data available, consult the professional version of Social Explorer available from the University of Pennsylvania Libraries and other institutional subscribers. Community groups have called on SEPTA to reopen closed Regional Rail stations in areas further away from the Market-Frankford Line and the Broad Street Line. Philadelphia. In West Philadelphia, this incorporated the West Philadelphia and Belmont districts as well as Blockley and Kingsessing Townships into the city. The University and Urban Revival: Out of the Ivory Tower and Into the Streets. Philadelphia's love affair with the bicycle began with its public debut at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, held in Fairmount Park. Finally the decision was made by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Gregore Sambor to drop an incendiary device on the bunkerlike structure to weaken MOVEs position. As African Americans began living in more neighborhoods, the white population began fleeing to the expanding suburbs. Another development on Locust Street, a project by banker and West Philly resident Clarence Howard Clark, comprised three-story, two-bay, brick, restrained Queen Anne rowhouses. Black Bottom was a traditionally black, working-class neighborhood along the Market Street corridor, between the Powelton Village and Mantua neighborhoods and the campuses of Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. Statistics are provided for West Philadelphia as a whole and by individual census tract. One of the first homes built in West Philadelphia, in an area that was then Blockley Township, was William Hamiltons country estate, the Woodlands. But over the course of the twentieth century, as the area became majority African American, it was hobbled by racist lending and employment practices. Farther west, African American neighborhoods tended to be more stable, with larger populations of public sector workers and private sector white collar workers, but that was little comfort to the displaced residents of Black Bottom. top Male population 45.52% Female population 54.48% Citizen US Born 88.53% Citizen not US Born 5.24% Not Citizen 6.24% Moved from Abroad 0.94% Moved from Same County 9.19% Moved from Same State 2.37% Moved from Different State 3.65% Same House as Last Year 83.85% By 1950, West Philadelphia had lost a quarter of its Irish-American and 11 percent of its Italian-American population, while the African American population increased by 72 percent. Etienne, Harley F. Pushing Back the Gates: Neighborhood Perspectives on University-Driven Revitalization in West Philadelphia. The impetus for Penns expansion came from an infusion of government research funding along with the urban renewal dollars made available by the national Housing Act of 1949. It was not until 1805 that the first bridge was constructed spanning the Schuylkill River at what is now Market Street. Another major transit link in West Philadelphia are the five Subway Surface Lines, often called the Green Lines for their representation on SEPTA route maps. Philadelphia Population & Age Distribution Age. QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. After 1880 the larger houses closer to the river and the university, which dated to earlier in the century, began to be carved into smaller units. 7,043,501 and 7,680,859. At the time, the majority of residents were working classabout half immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and Englandand settlements of any density tapered off at what would become the boundaries of Fortieth Street, with the wealthy clustered along Walnut and Chestnut near this westward extremis. Despite the industry clustered along the areas shores, development in this period remained largely residential in the rest of West Philadelphia. View All Data Tools and Apps Finally, note that Social Explorer has included in its Comprehensive Reports most, but not all, of the variables available for each census year. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. The Cynwyd Line is a limited-service express line from Center City to the Bala Cynwyd neighborhood of Lower Merion Township. During a confrontation at the fortified compound of the anarcho-primitivist group MOVE in 1985, the police attempted to drop a high explosive on a bunker atop the radicals home. By 1840, the tract was only ninety-two acres. The world view has basic facts, trade, and projections by country. Every day, thousands of vehicles travel this route, which is one of the major commuter routes into and out of Philadelphia from Delaware and Chester Counties. Using interactive maps and data reports, Social Explorer makes available detailed information from the United States Census, beginning with the first census of 1790 and continuing to the present. As of 2010, there were 24,608 people of West Indian ancestry living in Philadelphia, representing about 1.6 percent of the city, the vast majority of which are Haitians and Jamaicans. Measuring America's People, Places, and Economy. After generating area maps from Google Maps,they added census boundaries and census tract labels as needed. Modeled after the Crystal Palace Great Exhibition in London, the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 exhibited national pride and belief in the importance of education and progress through industrial innovation. Population : 275,579 : Population Density (per sq. Language other than English spoken at home, percent of persons age 5 years+, 2017-2021. From radios earliest days, Philadelphia-area college and high school students have tested its boundaries. The street was unified by front yards, and enclosed by decorative iron fences. Many young professionals and families have moved into the area. 2023 University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center, The West Philadelphia Community History Center is sponsored by the, University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center. For eight remarkable decades, local Philadelphia fans consistently supported a series of Black baseball clubs whose successes generated racial pride and represented a triumph of African American institution-building. Persons per household, 2017-2021. The western portion of the neighborhood was once home to some of the most expensive real estate in the country (and much striking Victorian-era architecture remains). Count. But farther from the university in other West Philadelphia neighborhoods, like Kingsessing and Cobbs Creek on the Delaware County line, conditions stagnated or worsened as the Great Recession eliminated many public sector jobs. Follow Backgrounders on Twitter The Media/Wawa Line also serves University City and portions of Southwest Philadelphia before continuing to Media and points beyond. The show was produced in Studio B of television station WFIL-TV (Channel 6, now WPVI-TV), located in the station's then-new addition at 4548 Market Street. A plethora of recreational bike trails and a bike sharing program provide cyclists with new options in the twenty first century. Airy, West Oak Lane, East Oak Lane, Rhawnhurst, Germantown, Mayfair, Tacony, Wynnefield and Olney. This section compares the 50 most populous of those to each other. The student body continued to grow into the twentieth century and by 1900 the campus had expanded to thirty buildings including dormitories, laboratories, and the Frank Furness-designed library shown at left in this postcard. During the latter confrontation, police firebombed the group's headquarters, killing 11 people and destroying an entire block of Osage Avenue and Pine Street. The construction of the University City Science Center required the demolition of the residential Black Bottom neighborhood in the 1960s. By the end of the 1920s, 220,000 African Americans lived in Philadelphia, and they desperately needed housing beyond the older Black ghetto in North Philadelphia. West Philadelphia has about 75 of Philadelphia's 196 blue historic markers, which note historically important birthplaces, homes, business and other places. From 2000 to 2016, the number of foreign-born residents rose by roughly 95,000 while the number of U.S.-born Philadelphians fell by 44,500. Living in same house 1 year ago, percent of persons age 1 year+, 2017-2021. Founded in 1897, the Commercial Museum promoted the merits of international trade. Trains influenced suburban development and provide a green alternative to crowded highways systems. The Callowhill Depot built by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company to house their fleet of streetcars. Retail districts lined every street where there was a station as well as along Market Street. QuickFacts provides frequently requested Census Bureau information at the national, state, county, and city level. The educational institutions and city planners wanted to establish a research park like Stanford Universitys Industrial Park to revitalize the community. The information is updated yearly, as soon as new data is made available by the US Census Bureau. The group resurfaced in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood in 1981 and was again the subject of neighborhood complaints. The map below highlights areas of . Penn also invested in local public schools, founding the Sadie Alexander School, for pre-K through eighth grade. The educational status of the citys residents who are 18 and older. Since the dawn of rail transportation, Philadelphia has been home to a number of grand railroad stations. Computer and Internet Use. West Philadelphia is the home to several universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and Saint Joseph's University. [3] One of the major retail strips in West Philadelphia, it is lined with shops and restaurants through to 64th Street in the Wynnefield neighborhood. Multiple business corridors sprouted on Fifty-Second Street and Baltimore, Lancaster, Woodland, and Girard Avenues. Cultural venues include the Mann Music Center of the Performing Arts and the Bushfire Theater of the Performing Arts on 52nd Street. A few large estates were built during this time as well, most notably the Hamilton familys Woodlands with its iconic Georgian mansion and that of John Bartram (1699-1777), the renowned botanist and Quaker who cultivated extensive gardens along the banks of the Schuylkill. American Community Survey, U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Education, 50 state departments of education, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 18,000+ local law enforcement agencies, Federal Housing Finance Agency, U.S. Geological Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service. In 2014, President Barack Obama designated a swathe of West Philadelphia neighborhoods, including Mantua, as one of twenty-two national Promise Zones. No representation, guarantee or warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information modified or aggregated for specific neighborhoods and/or zip codes. Most of the houses in West Philadelphia are row houses, although there are areas of semi-detached and detached houses. A major wagon route, Lancaster Pike, ran through the area, and in 1805 the first permanent bridge was built over the Schuylkill at Market Street. Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. This is how city residents have self-reported their race and ethnicity to the US Census. Starting at $1,020 USD /mo. In the 1980s some immigrants began to move into the area, chiefly African and Cambodian, although the latter population would almost entirely decamp for other parts of the city by the beginning of the twenty-first century. For more than 150 years streetcars have served the Philadelphia area and helped Center City Philadelphia retain its commercial, retail, and entertainment supremacy in an ever-expanding region. By the twentieth century many of the wealthy residents who remained in West Philadelphia located away from the Market-Frankford elevated line or the multiplicity of trolley lines, further accelerating the growth of the Main Line suburbs in the process. The original bridge, often called the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge, was first built with exposed trusses, but covered a few years after its completion with a wooden roof and walls adorned with sculptures by William Rush. Professional, scientific, and technical services, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders. Thus, it is sometimes, but not always, possible to track changes over time. The majority race in Philadelphia overall is white at 62.2% of residents. The population density in City Center West is 97% higher than Philadelphia; The median age in City Center West is 7% higher than Philadelphia; In City Center West 78.92% of the population is White; In City Center West 6.11% of the population is Black; In City Center West 11.66% of the population is Asian Streetcar suburbs blossomed throughout the Philadelphia area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as streetcar lines radiating from the city's heart allowed people to move further into its fringes. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The new bridge spurred growth, prompting a network of industries, including stockyards, lumber mills, slaughterhouses, coal yards, foundries, and glass factories to serve the city across the river. Other developments introduced urban density and architectural uniformity: the Queen Anne style with columned porches and decorative spindlework, brickwork and corbelling; steeply pitched gables with fishscale slate shingles; turrets; balconies; and windows with a single pane surrounded by small panes. West Philadelphia was among the early streetcar suburbs, and a portion of it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic District. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Count White 1 Hispanic 2 Black Asian Mixed 1 Other 1 4.4% 629 2.8% 400 87.3% 12.4k 2.8% 395 2.2% 312 0.5% 71. A pivotal factor in the development of West Philadelphia was the construction of the University of Pennsylvanias campus. A controversial Philadelphia-based organization often associated with the Black Power movement, MOVE is best known for a 1985 incident in which the Philadelphia police dropped an incendiary device on their West Philadelphia headquarters. Beginning in the 1990s, the University of Pennsylvania began a process of community engagement to help rebuild the surrounding neighborhoods by providing an unarmed security force in University City and establishing the university-affiliated Sadie Alexander School. Select your ideal criteria and let Scout do the rest. Blocks away from "West" were the West Philadelphia Catholic High Schools for Girls at 46th Street and Boys at 48th Street, now consolidated into West Catholic Preparatory High School in the building at 46th Street. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1990. It stood divided, like much of the city and the country, between the haves and the have nots. After several high-profile murders of Penn graduate students living in the mixed- race neighborhoods beyond the campus borders, which had lost much of their white population during the 1990s, the university began to again be active in the community. All of this information was taken from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau. This gradual elevation makes the skyline of Center City visible from many points in West Philadelphia. Photo: Lexey Swall/GRAIN for The Pew Charitable Trusts Users should exercise caution when comparing 2017-2021 ACS 5-year estimates to other ACS estimates. (For example, 84th Street becomes Hook Road when it crosses into Sharon Hill.) One of West Philadelphia's most prominent features is the "El", or SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line or Blue Line. [All 13 serve 30th Street Station on the edge of West Philadelphia.] Penn took full advantage of postwar federal largesse, competing successfully with its counterparts in higher education for research and development grantsespecially after the flood of funding following the Soviet Unions Sputnik success in 1957. The area's African American population began growing in the 1880s through the migration of blacks from the southern states; white flight in the early 1960s completed the transition to a majority-black population. Age is classified into groups; each percentage listed is that group's percentage of the total population. Its western majority African American neighborhoods were declining in population and median income. Philadelphia was at the forefront of the early nursing profession and its prestigious nursing schools set new standards for professionalism in the field. The highest numbered street to run any considerable distance contiguously is 58th Street, which runs from the northern frontier of West Philadelphia at City Avenue south to the Schuylkill River. We apologize for the inconvenience. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. There are more white people in the northwest areas of the city. mile) Land Area (in sq. In the twenty-first century, portions near the University of Pennsylvania, in particular, enjoyed a resurgence. More than half the world's population . All the trademarks displayed on this page are the property of Location, Inc. People who identify as black are most likely to be living in the central places. Some early residential developments along streetcar lines developed charters to preserve the residential character of the neighborhood by stipulating no undesirable industry could be established nearby. of Pa. U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum and Library, National Museum of American Jewish History, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Philadelphia&oldid=1128789657, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox settlement with no coordinates, Articles needing additional references from July 2017, All articles needing additional references, Articles to be expanded from December 2009, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2009, Articles needing additional references from December 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2010, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Non-Hispanic Black or African-American: 164,921 (76.2%), Non-Hispanic White/European: 37,010 (17.1%), This page was last edited on 22 December 2022, at 00:50.

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