The construction of the University City Science Center required the demolition of the residential Black Bottom neighborhood in the 1960s. Households with a computer, percent, 2017-2021. Most recently many of these retail districts with the exception of 52nd Street have been converted to largely residential areas. The students of "West" were the children of middle-class black people, as well as of Irish, Jewish, Polish and other immigrant groups. Marsh, Margaret. One of the single largest sectors of the city of Philadelphia at almost fifteen square miles between the Schuylkill River to the east and Delaware County to the west, West Philadelphia at its peak, in the early twentieth century, attracted an influx of new residents to its verdant, suburban-feeling neighborhoods. Meanwhile, in many neighborhoods on the border of Delaware County and elsewhere, conditions worsened during the Great Recession and the subsequent decimation of the public sector workforce. The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (now USciences) was the nation's first pharmacy college. Read more about Scout's Demographic Data. 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. 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. Running above and, for a portion, under Market Street, this transportation link is one of Philadelphia's two major transit lines that transport hundreds of thousands of students and workers daily into and around the city. 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. (Author information current at time of publication.). Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and the SEPTA Media/Wawa Line to the south. West Philadelphia contains many places of worship. QuickFacts data are derived from: Population Estimates, American Community Survey, Census of Population and Housing, Current Population Survey, Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, State and County Housing Unit Estimates, County Business Patterns, Nonemployer Statistics, Economic Census, Survey of Business Owners, Building Permits. Philadelphia Population & Age Distribution Age. The educational status of the citys residents who are 18 and older. In 1854, the Act of Consolidation was signed, aligning Philadelphias borders with those of Philadelphia County. They were also discouraged, by legal means or by violence, from immediately following the white population into the growing suburbs. These include mosques such as Masjid Al-Jamia, a Sunni Muslim institution at 4228 Walnut Street. 1960 Census 1970 Census 1980 Census 1990 Census 2000 Census 2010 Census 2010 Census Tracts The demographic statistics for this exhibit have been compiled from Social Explorer by the staff of the University Archives of the University of Pennsylvania. Unlike the omnibuses, the streetcars were on rails that provided faster and more efficient travel. This photograph is from a street festival on Baltimore Avenue in the Cedar Park section of University City. 30 Years Later, I'm Still Trying To Make Sense Of The MOVE Bombing (National Public Radio), PhilaPlace: Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (AICP) An Interview with Linda Hauber (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). 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. Demographic data shown in this section was gathered from the latest U.S. Census Bureau release, the 2020 American Community Survey. 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. Today several bridges span the river, connecting West Philadelphia neighborhoods to the citys commercial heart. West Philadelphia has about 75 of Philadelphia's 196 blue historic markers, which note historically important birthplaces, homes, business and other places. 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. Statistics are provided for West Philadelphia as a whole and by individual census tract. Philadelphia. 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. 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. [28] After years of neighbor complaints regarding the group loudly broadcasting political messages and neglecting its children, MOVE was ordered to leave the property. Additionally, 6.11% of the population is represented by non-citizens. Abraham Browers innovative omnibus service, introduced to Philadelphia in 1831, allowed new settlers speedy access into the central city. Median household income provides the best measure of the budget of the typical family or other non-family household. . The main thoroughfare, Market Street, runs East and West, paralleled to the north and south by smaller streets named for tree species. 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. 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. Only two MOVE members, Ramona Africa and a child, Birdie Africa, survived the blaze. Thus, it is sometimes, but not always, possible to track changes over time. There are 200,637 residents in West Philadelphia, with a median age of 33.1. The Emerging Suburb: West Philadelphia, 1850-1880, Pennsylvania History, Vol. Source & Methodology. 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% The University of Pennsylvania was instrumental in coining the name "University City" as part of a 1950s urban renewal and gentrification effort. The university was not the only force at work; its efforts were aided by a nationwide decline in crime and marginal increase in the desire for urban living among a segment of the professional classes. [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.". The process began during World War I, as Black migrants arrived in the city in increasing numbers. [citation needed] Harrity Elementary School is a district-owned school operated by Mastery Charter Schools.[6]. 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. Immigration has become a major driver of population growth in Philadelphia in recent years, with long-term demographic and economic implications for the city and the region. New routes into the city aided this movement too, like the Chestnut Street bridge completed in 1866. Scope: population of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia -40% -20% -0% +20% % ref. An official website of the United States government. 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. . Today many parts of West Philadelphia retain the character of those early streetcar suburbs. 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. Along with a decrease in crime and a trend toward urban living, most of University City underwent gentrification. Many young professionals and families have moved into the area. The district still had fewer than a hundred thousand people in 1890, but every new census revealed meteoric growth. Route 36 terminates in Southwest Philadelphia at Island Avenue west and 73rd Street, near the Philadelphia International Airport. After generating area maps from Google Maps,they added census boundaries and census tract labels as needed. Originally, Philadelphia city extended only from the Delaware River west to the Schuylkill River and from Vine Street to South Street. Measuring America's People, Places, and Economy. Satterlee Hospital, one of the largest Union Army hospitals of the Civil War, operated from 1862 to 1865; part of its grounds are now the northern section of Clark Park. Other US patent applications are currently pending. We apologize for the inconvenience. Instead, it provided unarmed security services to patrol the area and exercised soft power to provide incentives to staff, from professors to janitors, to buy and repair homes in a catchment area around the university. Under the guidance of university president Judith Rodin (b. Other major thoroughfares include Chestnut and Walnut Streets, which together form Pennsylvania Route 3. In 1840, the property was transformed into a cemetery with an arboretum of over 1,000 trees. 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. (For example, 84th Street becomes Hook Road when it crosses into Sharon Hill.) Neither area proved popular at first, but as the city became more highly developed the lots began to sell. Living in same house 1 year ago, percent of persons age 1 year+, 2017-2021. 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. Multiple business corridors sprouted on Fifty-Second Street and Baltimore, Lancaster, Woodland, and Girard Avenues. 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. CLOSE. 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 This gradual elevation makes the skyline of Center City visible from many points in West Philadelphia. A reinforced, bunkerlike structure built on the roof supported this belief. According to the 2010 census, 216,433 people live among the ZIP codes of 19104, 19131, 19139, 19143 and 19151.[1](Map). The demographic statistics for this exhibit have been compiled fromSocial Explorerby the staff of theUniversity Archivesof theUniversity of Pennsylvania. It is situated directly across the Schuylkill River from Center City . Select your ideal criteria and let Scout do the rest. on the 200 block of West Queen Lane, in Philadelphia's . The Darby Road also ran up to this point, granting access to communities like Chester farther down the Delaware River. 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. 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. On the far side of the Schuylkill, the new housing developments were mostly marketed for the middle and upper classes, whose westward movement was further enabled by the replacement of the omnibus by horse cars in 1858. High school sports programs began in the nineteenth century in Greater Philadelphia. 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 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. The Wynnefield neighborhood is a location frequently used by photographers and organizers of civic events. 1944), who was born and raised in West Philadelphia, Penn promised to not repeat the aggressive steps taken in the 1950s and 1960s. Trains influenced suburban development and provide a green alternative to crowded highways systems. Estimates are not comparable to other geographic levels due to methodology differences that may exist between different data sources. A gunfight ensued and in the end, police officer James Ramp was dead and nine MOVE members, including Delbert Africa, shown here, were arrested. 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. In first decades of the twenty-first century, parts of West Philadelphia saw a revival. In the following decade, farther to the east, general violence continued to rise, as it did in the rest of the country. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. Airy, West Oak Lane, East Oak Lane, Rhawnhurst, Germantown, Mayfair, Tacony, Wynnefield and Olney. Philadelphia played a key role in the birth of the American pharmaceutical industry during the early nineteenth century. 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. The most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region. Much of the vacancy and crime that blighted West Philadelphia could be found in these areas, which were still cut off from legitimate employment and capital markets. Developers found they could increase profits by catering to this emerging group, shrinking lot sizes, and building more compact, less ornate houses. Allegheny West. 1 non-Hispanic 2 excluding black and Asian Hispanics. Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy, TheEncyclopedia With firefighters fearful of being fired upon, the blaze was allowed to burn. Different vintage years of estimates are not comparable. Arrivals from East Asia and Latin America, mainly Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans, have given the area small Hispanic and Asian American populations. 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. Immigration Surged The immigrant population spiked 59% in 17 years Shoppers at the Hung Vuong Supermarket on Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia. 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. Our nationally-comparable school ratings are covered under US Patent No. Northsouth streets are numbered, rising consecutively from 30th Street at the Schuylkill River to 77th Street on the far western edge near Cobbs Creek and to the block-long 90th Street in Southwest Philadelphia near the airport. In . 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. Professional basketball has a long history in the Philadelphia region, from the first professional league, formedin 1898,to the NBA. By the early twenty-first century West Philadelphia was about as populous as it had been in 1910, having lost more than a hundred thousand residents after 1950. West Philadelphia was divided into townships and districts with independent governments. They were also necessary to create a more walkable environment and additional housing for a growing student body. 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. From radios earliest days, Philadelphia-area college and high school students have tested its boundaries. 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. Total Population 1,576,251. In 1923 the Philadelphia Bulletin estimated that at least half the population of the district commuted in to center city every day. ofGreaterPhiladelphia. Miller, Rogerand Joseph Siry. The setback of these houses was 25 feet, allowing generous front yards. The teacher population of 32 teachers has declined by 17% over five school years. The consolidation was one of the many factors in West Philadelphias nineteenth-century population boom. By 1840, the tract was only ninety-two acres. 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. Similar homes for rent in Washington Square West, Philadelphia. 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. But over the course of the twentieth century, as the area became majority African American, it was hobbled by racist lending and employment practices. Users should exercise caution when comparing 2017-2021 ACS 5-year estimates to other ACS estimates. 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. When the smoke cleared, sixty-two houses had been destroyed and eleven people, including founder John Africa and five children, were dead. 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. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1990. Completed in 1907, this elevated subway line linked West Philadelphia, Millbourne and Upper Darby to Center City and then later to Frankford. Per capita is the best measure of the average spending power of each person in the city. As the student body swelled in the first half of the nineteenth century, the center city campus was expanded and new buildings were constructed to replace the Presidents House, but the school still needed more space. The cemetery is open daily to visitors and still allows up to one hundred burials per year; the mansion is open seasonally for tours. 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. In 1831, horse-drawn omnibus services were established in the city and some lines ran over the recently built Market Street Bridge into West Philadelphia, but it was not until they were replaced by horse-drawn streetcars in 1850 that development began in earnest. Methodology: . Hampton Demographics. In two of West Philadelphias most infamous turns of events, a conflict between the urban black liberation organization MOVE and the Philadelphia Police Department left people dead and many other West Philadelphia residents without homes. The map below highlights areas of . White 1 Hispanic 2 Black Asian Mixed 1 Other 1 -42.4% 35.3% 77.7% +6.3% 12.4% 6.12% +31.8% 42.9% 11.0% +3.8% 6.90% 3.14% +0.3% 2.05% 1.71% +0.2% 0.53% 0.28% 1 non-Hispanic 2 excluding black and Asian Hispanics Relative Ethno-Racial Composition by Age #3 One of West Philadelphia's most prominent features is the "El", or SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line or Blue Line. 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. This article is about the present-day area. 77th and 86th Streets run just a few blocks before they leave the city for surrounding jurisdictions. Some, like the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing, continue to educate men and women in the field. It was purchased by the Woodlands Cemetery Company that year for use as a rural cemetery. Count. These include five of Philadelphia's remaining six streetcar lines. West Philadelphia High School's student population of 372 students has declined by 22% over five school years. Hospitals and academic medical centers have played a central role in the economies of many major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia. The property was cut off from all city services, though sympathetic Philadelphians sometimes delivered food and other necessities. ET on Saturday, 3/4/2023. The group resurfaced in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood in 1981 and was again the subject of neighborhood complaints. West Poplar; Philadelphia Population Statistics. A pivotal factor in the development of West Philadelphia was the construction of the University of Pennsylvanias campus. Philadelphia police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 44-year-old man in Germantown. In 1850, it was destroyed by fire. By the 1940s, the new area of settlement stretched from the river out to Fifty-Ninth Street and housed about forty-four thousand African Americans, from poor and working class by the water to the Black elite in the northwestern neighborhoods closest to the Main Line. Please note: Unemployment data updated November 2022. After Hamiltons death, much of the land was sold for residential and commercial development. 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. In contrast, people younger than 25 and those older than 65 earn less, at $35,844 and $33,684, respectively. 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. Learn how and when to remove this template message, West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic District, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, National Register of Historic Places listings in West Philadelphia, "Studio 34's Eponymous Trolley, or, A Short History of Route 34", Mastery Charter Schools' big test in Philadelphia, "Commodore Theatre in Philadelphia, PA - Cinema Treasures", West Philadelphia Community History Center, Graduate Hospital / Southwest Center City. For the next half century at least, West Philadelphia largely became a suburb in the cityabetted by a series of advances in transportation technology, starting with the horsecars of the 1850s. Like the rest of the citys manufacturing sector, West Philadelphias industry enjoyed great diversity. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. Etienne, Harley F. Pushing Back the Gates: Neighborhood Perspectives on University-Driven Revitalization in West Philadelphia. Copyright 2000-2023 Location Inc.