Poplar

Poplar is a typical struggling urban neighborhood destroyed by suburbanization, urban renewal, and deindustrialization in Near North Philadelphia. The neighborhood is in the square formed by Girard Avenue, Spring Garden Street, Broad Street, and 5th Street. The area is filled with vacant lots, and the buildings which are still standing are for the most part vacant, even on main roads such as Girard and Broad. Poplar has a fairly high crime rate as well, however as gentrification moves northward in Broad this may begin to change. Although there were many vacant lots, there was also very heavy pedestrian traffic on Broad. Notable buildings include the former Metropolitan Opera House on Broad & Poplar, now partially occupied by a church, and the former Divine Lorraine Hotel, which is being renovated and will be converted into condos, at the triangle formed by Broad, Ridge, and Fairmount. However, the neighborhood is showing signs of recovery. Former high rise housing projects are being converted to low rise duplexes, and some formerly empty commercial spaces are seeing life again, with a few art galleries present near the Callowhill border. Housing stock in the neighborhood is primarily owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, with a few privately owned residences present, especially on the eastern edge along 5th Street. Transit in the neighborhood mainly consists of SEPTA Rail's Broad Street Line, with stations at Girard, Fairmount, and Spring Garden. Of these, Girard serves Local, Express, and Broad-Ridge Spur trains, Fairmount serves Local and Broad-Ridge Spur trains, and Spring Garden serves Local and Express trains. SEPTA City Division runs the 4, 16, 23, 43, 47, 47M, and 61 buses through the neighborhood, as well as the 15 trolley. A not so great neighborhood at the moment, but its proximity to Center City should help spur redevelopment.