A Chilly Autumn Stroll through Philadelphia's Gem Neighborhoods

[Nexis4jersey]

Manayunk​

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Chestnut Hill ​

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~Corey

 

[itchy]

Great photos.

I'm a fan of Philly "in theory." I really want to like the city, but its grime is a little too much for me. It's the sort of place I want to see succeed; I would love to see Philly natives / grads of UPenn start more businesses and turn around and invest in the city. That seems to be happening, but Philly has a huge area of decrepit neighborhoods that it will need to fix.

Given that, it's sad to see that the city has been destroying a TON of its best architecture in recent years, especially its 100+ year-old churches.

A few examples:

-http://planphilly.com/eyesonthestreet/2013/11/07/lens-inside-st-bonaventure
-http://hiddencityphila.org/2013/05/benediction-at-st-john-the-evangelist/
-http://www.passyunkpost.com/2013/05/st-johns-church-demolition-looks-apocalyptic.html
-http://hiddencityphila.org/2013/04/top-ten-significant-vulnerable-churches/
-http://hiddencityphila.org/2013/04/day-of-reckoning-nigh-at-another-furness-church/
-http://hiddencityphila.org/2013/03/old-and-in-the-way-in-pennsport/
-http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2012/12/05/stunning-photos-of-the-interior-of-the-church-of-the-assumption.php
-http://nakedphilly.com/spring-garden/breaking-church-of-the-assumption-will-be-demolished/
-http://hiddencityphila.org/2012/10/update-church-of-the-nativity-demolition-underway/
-http://nakedphilly.com/graduate-hospital/demolition-begins-at-mt-olive-ame-church/
-http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2012/12/03/what-happens-now-to-the-church-at-27th-and-girard.php#more


Occasionally they decide to save them, which is nice:

-http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2013/10/21/germantown-saves-a-frank-furness-relic.php#more
-http://hiddencityphila.org/2013/05/how-to-reuse-a-church-our-top-ten/

 

[Nexis4jersey]

Those are religious places , residential places can be rehabbed and resold by a private developer or the city. A church is harder to repourse or rehab same is happening in NYC. But honestly I would not be concerned , unless they were demolishing a mass amount of residential buildings which not the case.

 

[Matthew]

Plenty can be done with desanctified churches.

My favorite is the Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh.

 

[George_Apley]

Those are religious places , residential places can be rehabbed and resold by a private developer or the city. A church is harder to repourse or rehab same is happening in NYC.

They're converting churches to housing all over the place here in the Boston area. There are what, two in the South End being converted. There's one in Union Square in Somerville. There are a couple in Watertown. Probably more I don't know about. It's not that uncommon.

 

[itchy]

But honestly I would not be concerned , unless they were demolishing a mass amount of residential buildings which not the case.

So why should nobody be concerned that a staggering number of 100-200 year old churches are being razed in Philly?

Churches represented the hopes and status of a community. People pooled their money to build a beautiful church, not a beautiful rowhouse. Until the 20th century, churches were the most impressive architectural structures cities built. If you go around razing them, you lose a lot - much more than razing residential from the same period, even.