west philadelphia demographics west philadelphia demographics

Today several bridges span the river, connecting West Philadelphia neighborhoods to the citys commercial heart. Blocks away from "West" were the West Philadelphia Catholic High Schools for Girls at 46th Street and Boys at 48th Street, now consolidated into West Catholic Preparatory High School in the building at 46th Street. 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. The demographic statistics presented here include all variables found in the "Comprehensive Reports" generated by Social Explorer for the census years since 1940. Different vintage years of estimates are not comparable. 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. 1 Beds Bds; . 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. Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. 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. In that year, 40% of the city's households were cost-burdened, a figure that is in line with many other major cities. [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.". At the same time, new development moved beyond Forty-Fifth Street out to Cobbs Creek, the border with Delaware County. In May 1985, an attempt to evict MOVE again escalated to violence. 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). ofGreaterPhiladelphia. Promise Zones are advertised as entities organized to "leverage federal resources to increase economic activity and opportunity, create jobs, improve education and reduce violent crime. 2020 (latest available). Click the Quick Info icon to the left of each row in TABLE view to learn about sampling error. The map below highlights areas of . Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy, TheEncyclopedia The most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region. Penn also invested in local public schools, founding the Sadie Alexander School, for pre-K through eighth grade. View All Data Tools and Apps Community opposition fell on deaf ears and the city demolished vacant houses, declared Black Bottom a blighted neighborhood, and purchased it through eminent domain. In recent years, parts of West Philadelphia have undergone "Penntrification," a term that reflects the University of Pennsylvania's role in gentrification of the neighborhood; including a campaign to rename part of the area University City (the designation now appears on maps as well as public street signs and government listings). Of this, 45.85% are males and 54.15% are females. 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. By the 1840s developers in Philadelphia, which was the second-largest city in the United States at the time, were already looking beyond the Schuylkill for fresh land. Other US patent applications are currently pending. In the twenty-first century, portions near the University of Pennsylvania, in particular, enjoyed a resurgence. In 1924, the president of Drovers and Merchants National Bank argued that West Philadelphia should have its own seat on the local Federal Reserve Board. 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. (Author information current at time of publication.). Over the city's three centuries, it has evolved into a diverse and vital aspect of the city community. Two other trolley lines originally ran through West Philly. 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. 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. As African Americans began living in more neighborhoods, the white population began fleeing to the expanding suburbs. According to the 2010 census, 216,433 people live among the ZIP codes of 19104, 19131, 19139, 19143 and 19151.[1](Map). 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. Later renamed the Civic Center Museum, it closed in 1994. The consolidation was one of the many factors in West Philadelphias nineteenth-century population boom. Users should exercise caution when comparing 2017-2021 ACS 5-year estimates to other ACS estimates. 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. 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). In contrast, people younger than 25 and those older than 65 earn less, at $35,844 and $33,684, respectively. Public sector employment in city government and the school district offered a wide range of employment opportunities for Black workers, from professional positions as managers and teachers to jobs that required less formal education, like sanitation and transportation. Additionally, 6.11% of the population is represented by non-citizens. The street grid ends at Cobbs Creek Park along with the western political boundary of Philadelphia, but many of the street names and a roughly similar street grid (it begins to degrade outside the city) continue beyond the city limits into Upper Darby Township, into which Market Street runs uninterrupted to 69th street at the El terminal, where it turns into West Chester Pike and runs through Delaware County and into Chester County. 77th and 86th Streets run just a few blocks before they leave the city for surrounding jurisdictions. It was the first covered bridge in the United States. By 1820, residents of these neighboring suburbs outnumbered those of the city proper. University Archives staff created the census tract maps found here. 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. [3] One of the major retail strips in West Philadelphia, it is lined with shops and restaurants through to 64th Street in the Wynnefield neighborhood. 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. People who identify as black are most likely to be living in the central places. 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. Starting with the first wave of Irish immigrants in the early 19th century, West Philadelphia was home to large numbers of European immigrants and their descendants. These houses are typical of the early 20th-century developments in West Philadelphia, and are unified by rhythmic patterning of porch and gable features. Philadelphia's love affair with the bicycle began with its public debut at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, held in Fairmount Park. on the 200 block of West Queen Lane, in Philadelphia's . Scope: population of Philadelphia and Allegheny West. During the latter confrontation, police firebombed the group's headquarters, killing 11 people and destroying an entire block of Osage Avenue and Pine Street. 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. The cemetery is open daily to visitors and still allows up to one hundred burials per year; the mansion is open seasonally for tours. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Neighborhood Map Area: 0.192 square miles Population: 2,019 Population density: 1,660 71.5% Black 231 9.9% White 173 7.4% Hispanic or Latino 147 6.3% Asian 64 2.8% American Indian 48 2.1% Two or more races Median household income in 2019: Distribution of median household income 198 Less than $10,000 169 $10,000 to $19,999 In the latter decades of the twentieth century West Philadelphia kept changing as the white population continued to drain out of the city. In 1923 the Philadelphia Bulletin estimated that at least half the population of the district commuted in to center city every day. Like the rest of the citys manufacturing sector, West Philadelphias industry enjoyed great diversity. They were also necessary to create a more walkable environment and additional housing for a growing student body. 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 group refused to leave and a year-long blockade followed. Discover your neighborhood's best match, anywhere. ET on Saturday, 3/4/2023. Copyright 2000-2023 Location Inc. 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 students of "West" were the children of middle-class black people, as well as of Irish, Jewish, Polish and other immigrant groups. Hampton Demographics. Originally, Philadelphia city extended only from the Delaware River west to the Schuylkill River and from Vine Street to South Street. The educational status of the citys residents who are 18 and older. What resulted was a collection of Colonial Revival houses with Arts and Crafts influences, which reflect the sophisticated tastes of post-World War I Philadelphians. 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. It was purchased by the Woodlands Cemetery Company that year for use as a rural cemetery. Marsh, Margaret. [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. Unlike the omnibuses, the streetcars were on rails that provided faster and more efficient travel. Chinese and Koreans, were living in the Oxford Circle/Castor section of lower Northeast Philadelphia (ZIP code 19149), West Philadelphia (19104), and Chinatown (19106 . Residents complained of a bullhorn broadcasting political messages all day and accused the group of stockpiling weapons. There are more white people in the northwest areas of the city. The NBC drama American Dreams is set in West Philadelphia in the mid-1960s. Per capita is the best measure of the average spending power of each person in the city. City officials found these species much more tolerant of the urban environment and resistant to disease. In West Philadelphia, this incorporated the West Philadelphia and Belmont districts as well as Blockley and Kingsessing Townships into the city. As African Americans began living in more neighborhoods, the white population began fleeing to the expanding suburbs. QuickFacts provides frequently requested Census Bureau information at the national, state, county, and city level. New routes into the city aided this movement too, like the Chestnut Street bridge completed in 1866. Finally, the Route 36 trolley is the longest trolley Green Line service. 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. This set the living pattern apart from its counterparts in North and South Philadelphia, where row houses were interspersed with factories and warehouses. 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. During this period, the university adopted the moniker University City for the surrounding neighborhoods. 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). This section compares the 50 most populous of those to each other. Small communities began to spring up to support these businesses, like Hamiltonville in 1804. 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. Here, middle neighborhoods are places like East Mt. The demographic statistics for this exhibit have been compiled from Social Explorer by the staff of the University Archives of the University of Pennsylvania. Scope: population of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia -40% -20% -0% +20% % ref. Arrivals from East Asia and Latin America, mainly Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans, have given the area small Hispanic and Asian American populations. The Woodlands Cemetery, which is located near the west bank of the Schuylkill River, was originally the estate of Andrew Hamilton who bought the property in 1735 from descendants of Blockley Township's founder, William Warner, who hailed from Brockley, England. Only two MOVE members, Ramona Africa and a child, Birdie Africa, survived the blaze. After generating area maps from Google Maps,they added census boundaries and census tract labels as needed. The Cynwyd Line is a limited-service express line from Center City to the Bala Cynwyd neighborhood of Lower Merion Township. 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. Its western majority African American neighborhoods were declining in population and median income. 1944), who was born and raised in West Philadelphia, Penn promised to not repeat the aggressive steps taken in the 1950s and 1960s. This photograph shows two clusters of houses on an otherwise vacant street, awaiting the relocation of residents before demolition. [4], The Philadelphia Police Department divides West Philadelphia into four patrol districts: the 16th, 18th, 19th, and 92nd.[5]. West Philadelphia did not exist until the middle of the nineteenth century. Community groups have called on SEPTA to reopen closed Regional Rail stations in areas further away from the Market-Frankford Line and the Broad Street Line. The building, which still sports a large satellite dish on its roof, is now home to the West Philadelphia Enterprise Center. 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. QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. Updated annually. 1 non-Hispanic 2 excluding black and Asian Hispanics. In first decades of the twenty-first century, parts of West Philadelphia saw a revival. When the smoke cleared, sixty-two houses had been destroyed and eleven people, including founder John Africa and five children, were dead. 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. This gradual elevation makes the skyline of Center City visible from many points in West Philadelphia. number of members in ethno-racial group. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. The property was cut off from all city services, though sympathetic Philadelphians sometimes delivered food and other necessities. Documentationon the census data and variables is available onSocial Explorer. The University and Urban Revival: Out of the Ivory Tower and Into the Streets. The city held public unwrappings in the nineteenth century and is home to several important collections, including the holdings of the Penn Museum. More than half the world's population . To accommodate the bourgeoning population, in 1844 Hamiltonville, Mantua, and Powelton joined together to incorporate as the borough of West Philadelphia, before being brought into the city proper with the consolidation of 1854. The process began during World War I, as Black migrants arrived in the city in increasing numbers. A major wagon route, Lancaster Pike, ran through the area, and in 1805 the first permanent bridge was built over the Schuylkill at Market Street. 927 Spruce Street. 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. 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. Some, like the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing, continue to educate men and women in the field. The Route 10 trolley runs along Lancaster Avenue from 63rd and Malvern Avenue through to 36th and Ludlow Streets where a portal allows access to the subway tunnel into Center City. One of the first homes built in West Philadelphia, in an area that was then Blockley Township, was William Hamiltons country estate, the Woodlands. For the first time in West Philadelphia, houses had garages. It is situated directly across the Schuylkill River from Center City . Along with a decrease in crime and a trend toward urban living, most of University City underwent gentrification. A series of wooden and iron bridges were constructed to replace it until the modern-era span was completed in 1932. 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. St. Thomas More High School for Boys at 47th and Wyalusing Avenue was closed in 1975 and now houses the Sr Clara Muhammad School. 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. The main thoroughfare, Market Street, runs East and West, paralleled to the north and south by smaller streets named for tree species. 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. The western portion of the neighborhood was once home to some of the most expensive real estate in the country (and much striking Victorian-era architecture remains). The vintage year (e.g., V2022) refers to the final year of the series (2020 thru 2022). Other major thoroughfares include Chestnut and Walnut Streets, which together form Pennsylvania Route 3. These are the most common groups that city residents self-reported as their ancestry. Demographic data shown in this section was gathered from the latest U.S. Census Bureau release, the 2020 . The show was produced in Studio B of television station WFIL-TV (Channel 6, now WPVI-TV), located in the station's then-new addition at 4548 Market Street. Finally, note that Social Explorer has included in its Comprehensive Reports most, but not all, of the variables available for each census year. Population : 275,579 : Population Density (per sq. 47, No. 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. Puckett, John L. and Mark Frazier Lloyd. Philadelphia police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 44-year-old man in Germantown. 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. High school sports programs began in the nineteenth century in Greater 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.