Chinatown

Chinatown is a very busy neighborhood just north of Center City, bound by Vine Street, Broad Street, 7th Street, and Arch Street. Over its long history, many attempts to destroy or shrink the district were enacted, including building the Vine Street Expressway, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, The Gallery at Market East, The Philadelphia Police Headquarters, The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, The IRS Philadelphia Offices, and The US Federal Courthouse-Philadelphia, among others. These buildings have helped form a ring around Chinatown, but even so, the district is still quite prosperous. Although not very large, Chinatown houses a great deal of Chinese and Vietnamese businesses. The community here is quite strong, and have resisted the closure of Chinatown Station on the Broad-Ridge Spur, as well as the closure of Holy Redeemer Chinese Catholic School & Church. Most residents of the neighborhood are low income recent immigrants from East Asia, though its proximity to Center City may change this. The neighborhood is mostly made up of mixed use residential and commercial buildings, with the area as a whole centering on the intersection of Race & 10th. Chinatown is extremely walkable, and bike lanes exist on 13th and 10th. SEPTA Rail operates the Broad Street Line's Race-Vine and Chinatown Stations, the former having Local and Express train stops, whilst the latter has Broad-Ridge Spur trains. SEPTA City Division operates the 4, 16, 23, 27, 47, 47M, and 61 buses. I would suggest adding bike lanes in more areas of the neighborhood, and allocating some housing for low-income residents so gentrification doesn't kill the area.

Callowhill

Callowhill could best be described as a neighborhood of extremes. In many areas, Callowhill is mostly vacant lots and abandoned railroad tracks, with a few empty factories mixed in. In other areas, Callowhill is filled with bars, lofts, bike lanes, and street life. Callowhill's borders are Broad Street, Vine Street, Spring Garden Street, and 8th Street. The area's population is rapidly increasing, and new apartments are built left and right. Although the neighborhood was traditionally industrial, not much of this industry remains today. However, much of this vacant land is being occupied again, especially on Ridge by Noble. In fact, today Callowhill is often called the "Loft District". Notable features of the neighborhood include the almost total absence of the Philadelphia rowhouse, SEPTA's only abandoned rail station, Spring Garden on the Broad-Ridge Spur, and the Reading Viaduct, an abandoned elevated railway line. The area is fairly walkable, and bike lanes are present on 13th and Spring Garden. SEPTA Rail and SEPTA City Division serve the neighborhood through the Broad Street Subway's Spring Garden and Race-Vine stations, served by Local and Express trains, as well as the 23, 43, 47, 47M, and 61 buses.

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.

Fishtown

Fishtown is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Philadelphia. Bound by Frankford Avenue, the Delaware River, and York Street, the area is very mixed socioeconomically, with gentrification only beginning to take hold in the neighborhood. Personally, I think neighborhoods in this stage are some the best overall, as people of all walks of life can work, live, and shop in the neighborhood. If rent control is not already practiced in the neighborhood, it should be instituted immediately to help keep the neighborhood socioeconomically diverse, so everyone is able to enjoy Fishtown! Historically, Fishtown was the center of Philadelphia's shad fishing industry, hence the name "Fishtown". The neighborhood consists primarily of working class Irish, as well as newer residents, many of which are hipsters and artists. Many murals and community gardens are spread throughout the neighborhood, as well as complex works of wrought iron. Businesses range from beer gardens and artisanal coffee shops to auto body shops, and a few factories still remain in Fishtown as well. Housing stock consists primarily of the common Philadelphia rowhouse and some walk up apartments, as well as some apartments above commercial spaces on main roads. The neighborhood is OK for biking and is quite walkable. Transit-wise, the neighborhood is served by SEPTA Rail, and SEPTA City Division. SEPTA Rail runs the Market-Frankford Line, offering fast, frequent service 24/7 via the Girard and Berks Stations. SEPTA City Division operates bus routes 5, 25, 43, and 89, as well as trolley route 15. The 5 from Front & Market to Frankford Transportation Center operates seven days a week, with good weekday and OK weekend headways. The 25 goes from Columbus Commons to Frankford Transportation Center, and operates seven days a week, with good weekday and OK weekend headways. Route 43 from 50th & Parkside to Richmond & Cumberland operates seven days a week, with OK weekday and bad weekend frequencies. The 89 goes from Arrott Transportation Center to Front & Dauphin, and has the worst headways of the routes serving Fishtown. Finally, the 15 from 63rd & Girard to Richmond & Westmoreland operates with 24/7 service, and good headways seven days a week.

Center City

In general, the City of Philadelphia is a lot like a busier, more dense version of the City of Saint Louis. Both have primarily mid-rise downtowns consisting of primarily 1890s-1930s buildings, both are very stereotypically "American" cities, both experienced heavy population loss to suburbs, and both have a generally Caucasian southern section and a generally African-American northern section. However, Philadelphia has begun to see population and job growth again, whereas Saint Louis hasn't. Because of these similarities, Downtown Philadelphia (known as "Center City") is a lot like Downtown Saint Louis. For one thing, building heights are quite low due to the commonly followed "gentleman's agreement" stating that no building should rise taller than City Hall. In recent years, this rule has been ignored, but its legacy can still be seen in the many turn of the century buildings present in Center City. Recently, the area has seen an explosion in the number of residents as lofts and high rises are constructed. The area defined as Center City is rapidly expanding, and the boundaries of the district push out in all directions. Center City is also Philadelphia's cultural hub, with most fine arts institutions located here. Of note is the former Reading Terminal, which has been converted into the Reading Terminal Market, a large indoor food market with a good diversity of businesses, ranging from fishmongers to bakeries. The area hosts many bike lanes, and is very walkable. Transit in the neighborhood is very good as well, with many frequent bus and rail lines converging on Center City. Honestly, I can't really think of any improvements to suggest, the area is near perfect by American standards already! 

Chestnut Hill

Chestnut Hill is a neighborhood in Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The area ranges from middle to upper class, and centers on the businesses along Germantown Avenue. The street, which is quite prone to congestion, is lined with duplexes that have been converted to shops, as well as some mid-density apartment buildings with commercial space on their ground floor. South of Germantown Avenue, the main housing stock is large duplexes, and although within the city limits these duplexes are often fronted by large lawns. North of Germantown Avenue, homes consist of smaller, more densely packed duplexes and rowhouses. The neighborhood is bound by Northwestern Avenue, Stenton Avenue, Cresheim Valley Drive and Cresheim Creek, and Wissahickon Creek. The neighborhood's buildings are for the most part quite old, as Chestnut Hill was once an independent village. The buildings are also very nice architecture-wise. Density in the neighborhood is quite low, especially for an area within the City of Philadelphia. Even so, Chestnut Hill is quite transit-friendly, and is very walkable and bikeable. The area is also a good place for families due to the large homes and ample green space. Transit in the neighborhood is made up of SEPTA City Division, SEPTA Suburban Division, and SEPTA Regional Rail. For SEPTA Regional Rail, the Chestnut Hill East and Chestnut Hill West Lines each have three stations in the neighborhood. However, frequencies on the line aren't very good at rush hour, and are horrendous on weekends and holidays, especially on the Chestnut Hill West Line. The SEPTA City Division service in the neighborhood consists of the 23, 77, and L. The 23 from Broad & Oregon to Chestnut Hill Loop is SEPTA's busiest bus route, with 24/7 Service north of Erie Station, and has very frequent service. The 77 from Roosevelt & Saint Vincent to Chestnut Hill Loop is a not very busy route, with service seven days a week, though with very low headways. Finally, the L from Olney Transportation Center to Erdenheim OR Plymouth Meeting Hall has seven day a week service, and operates fairly frequently from Chestnut Hill Loop to Olney all of these days. SEPTA Suburban Division service is made up of routes 94 and 97. The 94 from Montgomery Mall to Chestnut Hill Loop has the worst service of them all, although it does operate seven days a week. Lastly, the 97 from Norristown Transportation Center to Chestnut Hill Loop has bad service, operating seven days a week, with bad frequencies. Overall, Chestnut Hill is a nice neighborhood with a lot of history and a thriving business district, though it could benefit from some mixed income housing.

Saint Louis Public Transport

As part of an effort to close my other blog and move all of its transit-related posts over here, I will make Saint Louis's transit review on #Urban. Operated by Metro Saint Louis, Madison County Transit, and Saint Charles Area Transit, public transit in Saint Louis is...OK. On this trip I road the MetroLink Blue Line on the shared segment from Grand to Civic Center, and the MetroBus #70 Grand from Grand & Cherokee to Grand MetroLink Station. Both of these lines help form Saint Louis's measly frequent network, consisting of 5 lines. (These are the #11 Chippewa, #70 Grand, #99 Downtown Trolley, Red Line, and Blue Line.) Frequent transit is basically transit that runs so often you don't need a schedule to use it. The general definition is every 15 minutes or better, 7 days a week, for more than just peak hours, and in both directions. However, this being Saint Louis, they have no service at all fitting that description, so I changed the Saint Louis frequency definition to every 20 minutes, and all of the criteria listed above. Anyway, on to the reviews. The # 70 Grand is Saint Louis's busiest bus route, running along a very urban corridor. The line gets about 8,000 riders per weekday. Service is quite frequent, and my bus came very promptly. Bus stops are alright, with many just being a sign saying "MetroBus" and the stop ID, website, and route number(s). Some stops also had benches or shelters of varying quality, which unlike in Chicago, were NOT all in uniform design. The #70 Grand, in addition to using the standard Gillig Phantom and Gillig Low-Floor buses, also uses ex-Ottawa New Flyer D60LF buses, which are the first articulated buses in Metro Saint Louis's history! One problem with all the buses, though, is that only major stops are announced, as opposed to the CTA which announces every single stop on the line. Fares are currently paid through an archaic system of cash, transfers, and little paper-y passes, but the Saint Louis region is FINALLY attempting a smart card, the Gateway Card. The card will roll out very soon, and readers can already be seen at MetroLink stations, and on MetroBus fareboxes. Although I rode only the shared section of MetroLink between Grand and Civic Center stations, I DID ride on a Blue Line train, so I will refer to it as the "Blue Line". Service is relatively frequent on both the Blue and Red Lines, and schedules are fixed so that on even Sundays, the shared section gets headways of exactly 10 minutes between trains. The trains are OK, with MetroLink using Siemens SD400 and SD460 LRVs. Although technically a "light rail", MetroLink has a lot of metro-like features, such as no street running sections whatsoever, and a very "rapid" feel. The only street running sections are at level crossings, and those are mostly on the Red Line only segments on the Missouri and Illinois sides. One major problem I have is that there are not nearly enough stations in the more transit oriented inner ring suburbs, or in Saint Louis City. I would propose infill stations at Compton, Jefferson, Sarah, 71st (East Saint Louis), and Carlyle (Belleville). Vocals are non existent, with announcements made by the driver, which is not so good. At Civic Center, a HUGE transit center exists, where one can transfer between both frequent MetroLink lines, 16 infrequent MetroBus lines, 2 frequent MetroBus lines, 5 infrequent Madison County Transit lines, Greyhound intercity buses, and Amtrak intercity trains. An OK system, with room for improvement.

West University City

While the most exciting, central part of University City is definitely the Delmar Loop, there are other very urban, nice areas as well. The area I would call "West University City" is roughly between Hanley Road and North & South Road on Delmar Boulevard. While one would not expect this area to be very urban, The entire area was filled with apartments, urban houses, townhouses, duplexes, and even a few small mixed-use buildings. At the corner of North & South and Delmar, there was even a small, walkable, 1950's era business district, with mixed use buildings! Almost all businesses were local, and small offices sat above said businesses. The area is close(ish) to the frequent MetroLink Blue Line stations at Clayton and Forsyth, and has immediate access to the infrequent MetroBus #47 Hanley, #66 Clayton-Airport, and #97 Delmar, so West University City has OK transit access. A really cool neighborhood!

Don't forget to view my other blog:
http://urbantransit.webs.com/apps/blog/ 

Downtown

Downtown Saint Louis, though far from its former glory, has begun to pick up again. The population in 2000 was a mere 806 people, and has exploded to its current 3,721 inhabitants. Many new businesses can be seen, especially on Washington Avenue. However, due to being in Saint Louis, Downtown has many abandoned buildings, empty storefronts, decrepit properties, etc. Transit is good, with quite a few frequent transit lines! (These consist of the MetroLink Blue and Red Lines, and the MetroBus #11 Chippewa and #99 Downtown Circulator. However, there is always the problem of excessive parking, this being Saint Louis. When a lot becomes vacant downtown, the immediate course of action was to turn the space into surface parking. This means that what was once continuous  good, mixed-use, transit and pedestrian friendly development became marred by ugly patches of evil surface parking. An important development in this story is a downtown supermarket, Culinaria by Schnucks having recently opened, destroying Downtown's previous reputation as a food desert. A good are, with potential to be even more!

Cherokee Street

Like Chicago's "Community Areas", Saint Louis has official neighborhoods that are often groups of two or more unofficial neighborhoods. Some unofficial neighborhoods get divided along official neighborhood boundaries. This is the case of Cherokee Street. Divided by Marine Villa, Gravois Park, Benton Park, and Benton Park West all the way from Grand to Broadway, it is an extremely socioeconomically and culturally diverse neighborhood. From Broadway to Jefferson, most of it is in a historic district, with very upscale old apartments, homes, duplexes, etc. and very nice, hipster antique stores. This area is richer than the rest of the street, and is pretty nice. From Jefferson to about Nebraska the area is very Latino, with many bodegas, restaurants, etc. dotting the street. Past Nebraska, the area has far less business and becomes more residential, as well as more African-American and less Latino. After it hits Grand, it sort of becomes the southernmost edge of Tower Grove South. There is an extremely diverse range of housing stock and business variety, with housing dominated by turn of the century urban houses and two-flats. Businesses range from upscale antique shops to light industry to markets to print-shops. Transit-wise, the #73 Carondelet runs right down Cherokee Street, but is not very frequent. The #10 Gravois-Lindell, #30 Soulard, and #40 Broadway serve the area, but aren't very frequent either. The #11 Chippewa and #70 Grand also serve the area, and are quite frequent. A pretty good neighborhood, with a lot of diversity!