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. In 2008, the area around the Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia Zoo, and the Mann Music Center was designated the Centennial District: an area to be revitalized by the country's 250th birthday in 2026. Everything from printers and bakeries to slaughterhouses and mirror manufacturers dotted this slice of the landscape. There are 200,637 residents in West Philadelphia, with a median age of 33.1. Trains influenced suburban development and provide a green alternative to crowded highways systems. As of early 2017, large proposed developments in West Philadelphia include the 30th Street Station District and Schuylkill Yards. In the latter decades of the twentieth century West Philadelphia kept changing as the white population continued to drain out of the city. University of Pennsylvania Library and College Hall. Most of the houses in West Philadelphia are row houses, although there are areas of semi-detached and detached houses. Marsh, Margaret. The topography of West Philadelphia is composed of rolling hills rising slowly from the Schuylkill River toward Cobbs Creek in the west and toward Belmont Plateau in the northwest. The Woodlands mansion and cemetery continue to operate today. Only two MOVE members, Ramona Africa and a child, Birdie Africa, survived the blaze. West Philadelphia is also served by five of SEPTA's thirteen Regional Rail Lines, which transport thousands of commuters daily to and from Center City and University City, and provide a quick and inexpensive link to the Philadelphia International Airport. 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. 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. In addition, one of Philadelphia's six streetcar lines, the Route 10 Green Line, transports commuters and students daily along Lancaster Avenue from 36th and Ludlow streets to 63rd and Malvern Avenue in Wynnefield. 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. 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. American Bandstand (1952-89) was a massively popular music television program with strong Philadelphia roots, storied national success, and the power to shape the music industry and society. West Philadelphia High School's student population of 372 students has declined by 22% over five school years. A reinforced, bunkerlike structure built on the roof supported this belief. 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. Date(s) & Update Frequency: More than half the world's population . 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. This section compares the 50 most populous of those to each other. An additional but smaller and less ornate 16 Italianate, brownstone, semi-detached houses, similar in form to the initial houses, were built around Chester Avenue. 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. The law profession in Philadelphia dates back to the days of William Penn. [citation needed], The nation's oldest zoological garden, the Philadelphia Zoo, has exhibitions and educational programs. Hamiltonville as a continuation of Penns grid in Philadelphia proper. [7] Founded in the late 1980s, Masjid Al-Jamia is located in the former Commodore Theatre, a cinema which opened in 1928 and which was built in the Spanish Colonial or Moorish architectural style. Estimates are not comparable to other geographic levels due to methodology differences that may exist between different data sources. QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. Philadelphia's love affair with the bicycle began with its public debut at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, held in Fairmount Park. 927 Spruce Street. Miller, Rogerand Joseph Siry. Neither area proved popular at first, but as the city became more highly developed the lots began to sell. The least populous of the compared neighborhoods has a population of 11,228. Other high schools include University City High School; William L. Sayre High School, formerly Sayre Middle School; Robert E. Lamberton High School; Mastery Charter Shoemaker Campus, formerly William Shoemaker Middle School; and Overbrook High School. In 1840, the property was transformed into a cemetery with an arboretum of over 1,000 trees. Beginning in 1801, the university occupied the Presidents House, a building constructed on Ninth and Market Streets in the hopes that George Washington would reside there during his presidency, but it was never used for this purpose. 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. The construction of the University City Science Center required the demolition of the residential Black Bottom neighborhood in the 1960s. In 1900 West Philadelphia had 148,548 residents, in 1910 the number grew to 247,928, and by 1920 there were 359,601. University City is the easternmost portion of West Philadelphia, encompassing several Philadelphia universities. Check out how our partner Point2 can help you generate more leads by making your listings and profile stand out. The first building constructed, College Hall, was designed by the universitys professor of architecture, Thomas Webb Richards, and clad in green serpentine, giving it its distinctive color. Read more about Scout's Demographic Data. The search engine finds the neighborhoods that are the optimum fit to the set of criteria you choose. [4], The Philadelphia Police Department divides West Philadelphia into four patrol districts: the 16th, 18th, 19th, and 92nd.[5]. 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. Data.census.gov, Census Data API, and Census Search will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Finally, the Route 36 trolley is the longest trolley Green Line service. Most of these passenger trips originate outside of the city, but more West Philly residents are using SEPTA's multi-ride "Transpass"[citation needed], which allows unlimited rides on SEPTA vehicles within the city limits. First, census tracts may vary from census year to census year, both with regards to boundaries and numbering. 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. DJs have shaped musical tastes since the 1950s, broadcasting from stations such as WFIL, originally located at 4548 Market Street (the Enterprise Center in 2016). Starting at $1,140 USD /mo. 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. Penn also invested in local public schools, founding the Sadie Alexander School, for pre-K through eighth grade. 3,248,528. The Black neighborhoods closest to the river, and therefore closest to Penn, tended to be those with the lowest income and the least political power. Arrivals from East Asia and Latin America, mainly Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans, have given the area small Hispanic and Asian American populations. This gradual elevation makes the skyline of Center City visible from many points in West Philadelphia. The main thoroughfare, Market Street, runs East and West, paralleled to the north and south by smaller streets named for tree species. Throughout the eighteenth century much of what would become West Philadelphia remained sparsely populated farmland. The police department made matters worse by becoming the first U.S. law enforcement institution to bomb its own city. University Archives staff created the census tract maps found here. Both College Hall and the library remain standing and are West Philadelphia landmarks. The intersection of 52nd Street and Market Street in West Philadelphia was listed number eight in a 2007 list of the city's top ten recreational drug corners according to an article by Philadelphia Weekly reporter Steve Volk. They were also necessary to create a more walkable environment and additional housing for a growing student body. West Philadelphia's streets are laid out in a modified grid. Route 36 terminates in Southwest Philadelphia at Island Avenue west and 73rd Street, near the Philadelphia International Airport. In later decades, many of these large row houses were subdivided into apartments and were joined by larger multiunit buildings as the neighborhoods continued to boom. The western reaches of West Philadelphia included miles of two-story rowhouses with bay windows above classical columned front porches. Grades Offered Grades 9-12 Total Students 372 students Gender % Total Classroom Teachers 32 teachers Students by Grade School Rankings 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. Many public sector unions became majority African American, or at least enjoyed large minorities of Black members, giving their neighborhoods larger political and economic anchors. But the expansion into surrounding residential neighborhoods embittered many residents. 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. 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. The Media/Wawa Line also serves University City and portions of Southwest Philadelphia before continuing to Media and points beyond. According to the 2010 census, 216,433 people live among the ZIP codes of 19104, 19131, 19139, 19143 and 19151.[1](Map). . The Darby Road also ran up to this point, granting access to communities like Chester farther down the Delaware River. But he abandoned the idea by 1684, two years after his arrival. The process began during World War I, as Black migrants arrived in the city in increasing numbers. ofGreaterPhiladelphia. Unlike standardly available Census demographics, NeighborhoodScout uses dozens of custom models to transform 8.5 million raw demographic data elements from government sources into proprietary indices and insights. Two other trolley lines originally ran through West Philly. The 77th Street in Overbrook is not contiguous with the 77th Street in the column of streets that ends with 90th Street in Southwest Philadelphia. Age is classified into groups; each percentage listed is that group's percentage of the total population. Rural cemeteries were promoted in the mid-nineteenth century as a solution to crowded city churchyard and municipal cemeteries that also provided residents of the citys crowded center with green space for recreation and fresh air. Median household income provides the best measure of the budget of the typical family or other non-family household. Different vintage years of estimates are not comparable. 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). Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. William Penn wrote that the area is likely to be a great part of the settlement of this age and intended to expand settlement across the river. West Philadelphia did not exist until the middle of the nineteenth century. The Airport Line serves University City at University City Station in the University of Pennsylvania, going on to southernmost Southwest Philadelphia and the airport. 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. Our nationally-comparable school ratings are covered under US Patent No. 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. 16.5%. The area has declined in prominence over the last 50 years, thanks in part to increasing crime and the migration of many middle and upper-class residents to suburbs and other sections of the city. Housing was at a premium, and due to the desirability of the area, the newspaper of record noted that more than any other section of the city, West Philadelphia encouraged the construction of apartment buildings and the subdivision of old mansions to accommodate the boom. Lancaster Avenue begins at 34th street near Drexel University; runs westward to the city line at City Avenue; and continues on as U.S. Route 30 to Lancaster, York, Pittsburgh. CLOSE. Although this part of the region witnessed small settlements of Lenape and Swedes who established Lutheran churches and log cabins on the west side of the Schuylkill, it was not included in the original plan of Philadelphia. Raw data sources: 1 Beds Bds; . 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. Later renamed the Civic Center Museum, it closed in 1994. 47, No. The Orlons, who recorded the hit song 'South Street,' formed at Overbrook High School in West Philadelphia in the 1950s. When the smoke cleared, sixty-two houses had been destroyed and eleven people, including founder John Africa and five children, were dead. In 1923 the Philadelphia Bulletin estimated that at least half the population of the district commuted in to center city every day. Suburban Lives. Nestled in the center of Fairmount Park, it is near Memorial Hall, the current home of the Please Touch Museum, Kelly Pool, The Carousel House, and the new Microsoft partner high school, the "School of the Future". The city was later ordered to pay a settlement to MOVE, which continue to have a presence in Philadelphia and to fight for the release of the MOVE Nine arrested in the 1978 gunfight. Data Tool U.S. and World Population Clock See U.S. population by date, region, age and sex, and the top 10 areas by people and density. In May 1985, an attempt to evict MOVE again escalated to violence. Apartment buildingsunusual in this row-house-dominated citybegan to spring up as well. A click on a specific census tract as found in either the list or the map for a given census year will present a detailed map with a link to the demographic statistics for that census tract. By the 1930s one of the more notable developments in West Philadelphia was the growing number of Black residents and the discriminatory pressures that boxed them into an intensely segregated area stretching south to Market Street, west to Fifty-Ninth Street, and bounded to the north and east by the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the river beyond it. The remaining African American neighborhoods continued to suffer discrimination in access to jobs and capital while many of the jobs that previously fostered economic stability were lost or undercut by the flight of manufacturing firms. In contrast, people younger than 25 and those older than 65 earn less, at $35,844 and $33,684, respectively. 302 South 12th Street. Elementary schools include Morton McMichael Elementary School and Lea Elementary School. 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. 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. Other US patent applications are currently pending. Total Population 1,576,251. 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. 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. For the first time in West Philadelphia, houses had garages. Living in same house 1 year ago, percent of persons age 1 year+, 2017-2021. Puckett, John L. and Mark Frazier Lloyd. The group resurfaced in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood in 1981 and was again the subject of neighborhood complaints. 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. The 5 largest ethnic groups in Philadelphia, PA are Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (40.1%), White (Non-Hispanic) (34.1%), Asian (Non-Hispanic) (7.36%), Other (Hispanic) (6.86%), and White (Hispanic) (5.2%). Community opposition fell on deaf ears and the city demolished vacant houses, declared Black Bottom a blighted neighborhood, and purchased it through eminent domain. The vintage year (e.g., V2022) refers to the final year of the series (2020 thru 2022). In 1854, the Act of Consolidation was signed, aligning Philadelphias borders with those of Philadelphia County. Rodin, Judith. Computer and Internet Use. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. West Philadelphia's population expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thanks in large part to horsecars, then streetcars, and Schuylkill River bridges that allowed middle-class breadwinners to commute into the Central Business District a few miles to the east. Of this, 45.85% are males and 54.15% are females. None of the households in Philadelphia, PA reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. 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 houses melded the suburban principles of front porches and greenspace with the urban rowhouse form, producing profitable, yet desirable, middle-class suburban housing. At the same time, new development moved beyond Forty-Fifth Street out to Cobbs Creek, the border with Delaware County. In the twenty-first century, portions near the University of Pennsylvania, in particular, enjoyed a resurgence. 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. 85.6%. 8,376,755. The average annual household income in Overbrook Park is $63,686, while the median household income sits at $47,174 per year. A pivotal factor in the development of West Philadelphia was the construction of the University of Pennsylvanias campus. [28] With firefighters fearful of being fired upon, the blaze was allowed to burn. This photograph is from a street festival on Baltimore Avenue in the Cedar Park section of University City. Rows of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style houses were built much further from the city center in neighborhoods like Cedar Park and Kingsessing and commercial corridors developed down streets like Baltimore Avenue and Fifty-Second Street. Many young professionals and families have moved into the area. Total Population by Neighborhood#5 The numbering pattern is mixed; someone traveling along Market Street into Upper Darby would cross 62nd Street, then Cobbs Creek Parkway/63rd St, then several named streets until finally arriving at 69th Street, skipping 6468. In 1850, it was destroyed by fire. The educational institutions and city planners wanted to establish a research park like Stanford Universitys Industrial Park to revitalize the community. These houses are typical of the early 20th-century developments in West Philadelphia, and are unified by rhythmic patterning of porch and gable features. Social Explorer was created by a group of New York demographers to provide online access to U.S. socioeconomic data from a variety of sources, including the United States Census. Originally, Philadelphia city extended only from the Delaware River west to the Schuylkill River and from Vine Street to South Street. The North Philadelphia neighborhood, which straddles Germantown Avenue just west of Broad Street and Erie Avenue, has seen its population rise 4 percent (above the city's 1 percent increase), its housing prices rose 11 percent again above the citywide average. During this period, the university adopted the moniker University City for the surrounding neighborhoods. Philadelphia After the 1854 Act of Consolidation. From designs evoking Greek temples built at the dawn of the automobile age to the ubiquitous utilitarian structures of the twenty-first century, gas stations have become a fixture of the Philadelphia area's landscape. This situation was counterpoised by the rise of University City, which was quickly becoming a rival for Center City in term of jobs and investment. Copyright 2000-2023 Location Inc. This postindustrial economic vise resulted in the kind of divestment and shadow economy dealings that blighted many other inner city neighborhoods. In the early days of decline, the major universities reacted to changes in their surrounding areas aggressively, displacing residents and creating barrier zones between their campuses and city residents. Much of West Philadelphias housing stock was built on speculation during the nineteenth century, when revolutions in transportation allowed wealthier citizens to live outside of the crowded city center but still commute in for work. Multiple business corridors sprouted on Fifty-Second Street and Baltimore, Lancaster, Woodland, and Girard Avenues. 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. In that year, 40% of the city's households were cost-burdened, a figure that is in line with many other major cities. 1 non-Hispanic 2 excluding black and Asian Hispanics. 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. The Route 13 trolley runs along Chester Avenue from the transit tunnel at 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue to 67th Street where it turns off Chester Avenue and continues along PA Route 13 into Yeadon, Delaware County on to its terminus at Green Lane. Hospitals and academic medical centers have played a central role in the economies of many major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia. The demographic statistics presented here include all variables found in the "Comprehensive Reports" generated by Social Explorer for the census years since 1940. As the century wore on, the only corners of West Philadelphia that were not overwhelmingly Black were immediately around Drexel and Pennsylvania universities and in a band of neighborhoods to the west of the higher education cluster that remained racially mixed from the 1960s onward. The Route 11 trolley runs along Woodland Avenue from the transit tunnel at 40th Street to the city line at Cobbs Creek and continues into Darby Borough. 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. Its western majority African American neighborhoods were declining in population and median income. In the following decade, farther to the east, general violence continued to rise, as it did in the rest of the country. Philadelphia Population & Age Distribution Age. Measuring America's People, Places, and Economy. Social Explorer was created by a group of New York demographers to provide online access to U.S. socioeconomic data from a variety of sources, including the United States Census. The second story, projecting, semi-hexagonal bay is incorporated into this design, an element which defines the later rowhouses. He noted there was $60 million in manufacturing capital invested in the district, mostly by the river, and fifteen banks with total deposits of $40 million. 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.