University City is the easternmost portion of
West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. 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 nort ...
, encompassing several
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
universities. It is situated directly across the
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...
from
Center City.
The
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
was instrumental in coining the name "University City" as part of a 1950s
urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
and
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...
effort.
University City is also home to
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, ...
and the
University City campus of Saint Joseph's University.
The eastern side of University City contains the Penn and Drexel campuses, several medical institutions, independent centers of scientific research,
30th Street Station
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
,
Cira Centre
The Cira Centre is a 29- story, office high-rise in the University City section of Philadelphia, directly connected to Amtrak's 30th Street Station. Developed by Brandywine Realty Trust and designed by César Pelli, it was built in 2004-05 on a ...
, and
Cira Centre South
Cira Centre South is a complex of two skyscrapers in the University City district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, directly across the Schuylkill River from Center City Philadelphia. The complex is between Walnut Street and Chestnut Street south ...
. The western side contains Victorian and early 20th-century housing stock and is primarily residential.
Demographics
The University City neighborhood consists of 25,183 males and 25,783 females. The area population has grown 2.6% from 2000 to 2014 and 0.7% from 2010 to 2014. There are 32,935 white collar workers and 11,555 blue collar workers.
[
The area is ethnically and economically diverse, although the compositions of its 12 census tracts vary widely; for example, the population in the mid-2000s of the easternmost tract was about half white and one-third Asian, while that of the northwesternmost tract was almost entirely black.
]
History
Before the European colonization of the Americas, Philadelphia was home to the Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...
people, whose land, known as Lenapehoking
Lenapehoking ( Unami: ''Lënapehòkink'') is widely translated as 'homelands of the Lenape', which in the 16th and 17th centuries, ranged along the Eastern seaboard from western Connecticut to Delaware, and encompassed the territory adjacent to th ...
, covered much of the Atlantic coast from western Connecticut to Delaware.
In 1677, William Warner purchased from the local Indian tribe and named it Blockley after his native parish in England. Blockley Township
Blockley Township is a defunct township that was located in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Incorporated in 1704, the township was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia under the 1854 Act of Consolidation.
History
An irregularly shaped ...
had a poor reputation in the 19th century. "It was an ideal hideout for shadowy characters and evil-doers who crossed the river in skiffs after a thieving or smuggling job south of the city. As late as 1850 it was considered hazardous to be abroad alone in this area." The Blockley Almshouse
The Blockley Almshouse, later known as Philadelphia General Hospital, was a charity hospital and poorhouse located in West Philadelphia. It originally opened in 1732/33 in a different part of the city as the Philadelphia Almshouse (not to be conf ...
, later known as Philadelphia General Hospital, was there. Though Blockley was founded five years before Philadelphia, people soon referred to it as "West Philadelphia". Later, parts of Blockley were carved out to form the District of West Philadelphia.
In 1735, Andrew Hamilton, a "Philadelphia Lawyer", purchased in Blockley Township. The area came to be known as Hamilton Village and The Woodlands, a sprawling botanical garden and mansion, was built there. The gardens is now the Woodlands Cemetery, while much of the rest of Hamilton Village is covered by the 40th Street retail corridor.
A small section on the northern side of this area was once known as Greenville. Situated near Lancaster Ave., Powelton Ave., and Market St., Greenville served as a waypoint for travelers and cattle drivers, and many taverns and inns were established. Later, the area expanded in all directions with many German immigrants and offered much more than simple taverns. By the mid-20th century, the Greenville area had changed again, to a neighborhood that was colloquially referred to as the Black Bottom, signifying the neighborhood's racial and economic status. Much of this neighborhood was destroyed as part of a gentrification plan in the 1960s.
The arrival of electrified streetcars in the 1890s kick-started development to the west of 43rd Street, and bridges and a tunnel in the first decade of the 20th century allowed people to easily commute into Center City. This led to rapid development within the borders of University City and far beyond. It was around this time that the "local" neighborhood names like Spruce Hill and Cedar Park were established.
In the mid-1950s, two realtors and Penn graduates coined the name "University City" in an attempt to attract Penn faculty back to the neighborhoods near Penn. The boundaries were defined as extending from the "Schuylkill River to 52nd Street, and from Haverford Avenue to the Media-line railroad tracks south of Kingsessing Avenue — though over the years many have viewed it as a smaller domain". This has led to some community tension; some saw it as an attempt to secede from West Philadelphia.
Boundaries
University City's boundaries, as defined by the non-profit University City District organization and the City of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
, are the Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...
to the east; Spring Garden Street, Powelton Avenue, and Market Street to the north; 52nd Street to the west; and Woodland Avenue, University Avenue, and Civic Center Boulevard to the south. Within these boundaries are the local neighborhoods of Cedar Park, Garden Court, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, Powelton Village
Powelton Village is a neighborhood of mostly Victorian, mostly twin homes in the West Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a national historic district that is part of University City. It extends ...
, Walnut Hill, and Woodland Terrace. The boundaries also encompass several historic districts, including the West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic District
The West Philadelphia Streetcar Suburb Historic District is an area of West Philadelphia listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It represented the transformation of Philadelphia's rural farmland into urban residential development, m ...
, and the ZIP codes 19104, 19139, and 19143.
Image:Springfield3.jpg, Homes in Cedar Park
Image:Garden_Court_HD_Philly.JPG, Homes in Garden Court
Image:Houses_in_Powelton_Village,_Philadelphia.jpg, Homes in Powelton Village
Powelton Village is a neighborhood of mostly Victorian, mostly twin homes in the West Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a national historic district that is part of University City. It extends ...
Image:WoodlandTerrace.jpg, Homes in Woodland Terrace
Town–university relations
University City has a history of strained town and gown
Town and gown are two distinct communities of a university town; 'town' being the non-academic population and 'gown' metonymically being the university community, especially in ancient seats of learning such as Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, and St ...
relations, particularly with the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
("Penn" for short), the city's largest private employer and the second-largest private employer in Pennsylvania. During the 1960s, Penn led a series of gentrification and redevelopment programs that have changed the character of the area.
Opened in 2001, the Penn Alexander is neighborhood public elementary school which Penn helped to build and subsidizes. It is open to students inside a "catchment" defined by the School District of Philadelphia and Philadelphia City Council. The Penn Mortgage program is a grant made by Penn to any of its staff towards the purchase of a home in West Philadelphia or to be used for the improvement of any staff that currently owns a home in West Philadelphia. The university is also an active participant in branding the area as "University City", with its logo showing up next to the name on signs and bridges (not including street signs directing to University City, which are erected by the city, state, and federal governments).
For decades, 40th Street was generally considered the "invisible campus boundary" between the residential neighborhoods to the west and the Penn campus to the east. In recent years, the "Penn bubble" is said to have expanded further west.
Major redevelopment projects
West Philadelphia Corporation
As part of the Housing Act of 1949
The American Housing Act of 1949 () was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President Harry Truman's program of domestic legislation, the Fai ...
, Congress established the "Slum Clearance and Community Development and Redevelopment" program, commissioning federal funds to "assist local communities in eliminating their slums and blighted areas and in providing the maximum opportunity for the redevelopment of project areas by private enterprise." A few years prior, in 1945, the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia (RDA) was formed with the power to acquire and redevelop land through condemnation proceedings. This power to take land reached University City when The West Philadelphia Corporation (WPC) was formed in 1959 by a group of local institutions including Penn. A 1965 map shows the "units" identified for redevelopment.
Unit 3
Unit 3, the largest of the identified areas, spanned roughly from 34th to 40th streets and North of Chestnut to Lancaster and Powelton streets, covering most of the Black Bottom neighborhood. By 1965, the WPC had developed a plan to demolish homes in Unit 3 and redevelop the land into a center of private scientific research, an expanded hospital, and a large new high school. This particular development was covered in Penn's student newspaper by a five-part series called "The Quiet War" that ran from January 23 to January 27, 1967.
Within four years, the University City Science Center
The University City Science Center (UCSC) was established as the first and largest urban research park in the United States. It was established in 1963, within the demolished Black Bottom neighborhood of Philadelphia, now known as University Cit ...
had been established and most of the buildings on Market St. between 34th St. and 40th St. had been demolished.
University City High School was opened in 1972, after years of planning by the WPC and the School District of Philadelphia
The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the 8th largest school district in the nation, by enrollment, serving over 200 ...
and conflict with the displaced community.
Unit 4
Much of what is now the center of Penn's campus, including Locust Walk and Superblock, was part of the redevelopment of Unit 4.
Over the course of 1968 to 1970 and with the assistance of the local redevelopment authorities, Penn acquired, cleared and redeveloped the four-block area between 38th, 40th, Spruce, and Walnut streets. The primary features of this area, which became known as "Superblock", are three high-rise apartment-style dormitories. The key purpose of creating these high-rises was to accommodate 3,500 more students at the university. The whole superblock project and especially the high-rise design were widely criticized, but this view is not held by everyone.
Other activity
WPC also guided several other redevelopments that directly benefited Penn and Drexel. Project "A" was the plan to redevelop Units 1a, 1b and 2, the land between 32nd, 34th, Walnut and Chestnut. This resulted in Penn's Women's Dorm (now Hill House) and several Drexel buildings along Chestnut. Additional areas were carved out for Penn's Wharton and Annenberg schools and Physics department. Unit 5 was reserved for Drexel.
Schuylkill riverfront
Along the west bank of the Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...
lie several large parcels of land that have historically seen large-scale non-residential use. As of the 1960s, the most prominent uses of this area were for Philadelphia's main train station, post office, and civic center. Since then, these and other nearby parcels have seen significant redevelopment.
Rail yards
Of particular interest for redevelopment have been the large rail yards near 30th St. Station, now owned by Amtrak. Several plans were made to cover and build over this area. As of 2015, most of these plans, including a baseball stadium and grounds for a World's fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
have been scrapped, but a new plan called "30th Street Station District
The 30th Street Station District, also referred to as the 30th Street District, is a proposed urban development located in West Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The area will be home to eight modern skyscrapers or highri ...
" is in the works. The Schuylkill Yards
__NOTOC__
Schuylkill Yards is a $3.5 billion, masterplanned development project by Brandywine Realty Trust in West Philadelphia. The project was announced in a press conference in March 2016. The project is being designed in phases. Groundbreak ...
project is also in this area.
A small part of this area was used to build the Cira Centre
The Cira Centre is a 29- story, office high-rise in the University City section of Philadelphia, directly connected to Amtrak's 30th Street Station. Developed by Brandywine Realty Trust and designed by César Pelli, it was built in 2004-05 on a ...
, a 29-story, crystal-shaped office tower with distinctive LED lighting visible at night.
Civic Center complex
Beginning in 1991, Penn publicly expressed official interest in acquiring the to the southeast of its campus occupied by the Philadelphia Civic Center
The Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center – more commonly known simply as the Philadelphia Civic Center – was a convention center complex located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It developed out of a series of buildings dedicated to ...
complex. After the opening of the Pennsylvania Convention Center
The Pennsylvania Convention Center is a multi-use public facility in the Market East section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, designed to accommodate conventions, exhibitions, conferences and other events. The "L"-shaped complex occupies four ci ...
in 1992, the Civic Center was mostly unused. In 1998, a City Council resolution was put forth to turn over much of this property to Penn and CHOP. The initial plans were not fully developed, but did not call for the demolition of Convention Hall, the location of several historic events. By 2005, plans had been expanded and the whole site, including Convention Hall, was slated for demolition to make way for a new clinical care facility attached to the hospital. Many local preservationists were opposed to this. Some were mollified by an exhaustive study commissioned by Penn to find alternate uses for the buildings and demolition continued. The last remaining building in the complex, Pennsylvania Hall, was demolished on March 3, 2007. Penn's Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine
The Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine is a specialized medical facility located at 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, on the former site of the Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center, Philadelphia Civic Center, o ...
was officially opened on October 2, 2008.
Postal lands
In 2007, Penn bought between its campus and the Schuylkill river, an area formerly occupied by the United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...
known as the Postal Lands. (A 1994 map shows the area before the GE building
30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...
was refurbished into the Left Bank and the Cira Centre was built.) Penn repurposed the Postal Lands into a new high-rise office and residential complex, Cira Centre South
Cira Centre South is a complex of two skyscrapers in the University City district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, directly across the Schuylkill River from Center City Philadelphia. The complex is between Walnut Street and Chestnut Street south ...
, and a public park with University athletic facilities, Penn Park. In addition, the former post office building has been turned into office space for the IRS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
.
Penn Park opened in September 2011 as a new urban park that stretches from Walnut Street to South Street featuring a fabric of tightly interwoven recreational and athletic components. The project also includes underground cisterns that collect and repurpose rainwater.
Cira Centre South was developed by Brandywine Realty Trust
Brandywine Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust that invests in office buildings in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Austin.
As of December 31, 2019, the company owned interests in 173 properties containing 24.3 million net rentab ...
and completed in 2016. Two new towers replaced a one-time truck annex for the Post Office and now include the headquarters for the FMC Corp., a parking garage with a green roof open to the public, an apartment building, and street-level retail. The 49-story FMC Tower in this complex is the tallest building in University City.
University City District
University City District (UCD) is the name of a private, non-profit organization created by the University of Pennsylvania and other local institutions in 1997 in an effort to provide University City with additional safety, cleanup, and marketing services as well as help in coordinating district initiatives.
UCD demographics report
In 2007, the University City District released a new edition of its University City Report Card, based on 2006 demographic statistics.
The report said the area had 45,787 people living in 16,625 households, 29% of which are classified as "family" households and the rest as "non-family". The average household size was two people, whose median age was 23.8 years. Median household income was $23,749; median "family" household income was $40,042. 8.1% of households had incomes of $100,000 or more and 35.2% had incomes of less than $15,000. The racial makeup of University City was about 42% Black, 35% White, 18% Asian/Pacific Islander, 4% Hispanic, with the remainder not classified.
The report said local businesses employed 63,878, with educational services employing 53.1% of them and health care services 21%. The largest employers were Penn, with 13,239 employees; Penn Health, 11,136; CHOP, 6,855; Drexel-Main, 2,706; AMTRAK, 2,551; and the VA, 2,100.
The median price of homes purchased in 2006 was $312,000, up 22% from 2005. The average monthly rent for a studio apartment was $667; a one-bedroom apartment, $823; and a two-bedroom apartment, $1,174.
Local institutions
Higher education
Sorted by number of students in 2006:
* University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
(23,704): Founded in 1740, moved to current location in 1872.
* Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, ...
(Main Campus: 18,466): Founded in 1891 at current location.
* University City campus of Saint Joseph's University (formerly the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (3,008): Founded in 1821, moved to current location in 1928.)
* Community College of Philadelphia
The Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) is a public community college with campuses throughout Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The college was founded in 1965 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. It offers over 1 ...
, West Regional Center (748): Founded in 1965, West campus established in 1985.
* Lincoln University (School of Adult & Continuing Education: 596): Main campus in Chester County founded in 1854, University City location opened in 1976.
* The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College
The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College (aka just Walnut Hill College) is a private, for-profit, family-run, culinary school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
History
The school was founded in 1974 as America's first private college to offer c ...
(535): Founded in 1974, moved to current location in 1992.
* Philadelphia Divinity School
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
(0): Founded in 1858, built campus at 42nd and Spruce in 1921, left neighborhood in 1974.
* Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (0): Founded in 1899, built campus at 48th and Spruce in 1929, left neighborhood in 1977.
* Middle States Commission on Higher Education
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...
(0): Accreditation authority, not a school.
Medical
* Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is a children's hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with its primary campus located in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia in the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The ...
("CHOP"): Children's hospital
* Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is the flagship hospital of Penn Medicine and is located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. It is consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the United States.
Histor ...
("HUP"): General hospital
* Penn Presbyterian Medical Center ("Presby"): General hospital
* VA Medical Center, Philadelphia ("The VA"): Veterans' hospital
* Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office
* National Board of Medical Examiners
The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), founded in 1915, is a United States non-profit which develops and manages assessments of health care professionals. Known for its role in developing the United States Medical Licensing Examination (U ...
: Co-sponsor of the USMLE
The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is a three-step examination program for medical licensure in the United States sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). ...
Scientific
Not including the scientific departments of the local universities
* Monell Chemical Senses Center
The Monell Chemical Senses Center is a non-profit independent scientific institute located at the University City Science Center campus in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania. Monell conducts and publishes interdisciplinary basic research on taste, smel ...
: Leader in research on smell and taste.
* University City Science Center
The University City Science Center (UCSC) was established as the first and largest urban research park in the United States. It was established in 1963, within the demolished Black Bottom neighborhood of Philadelphia, now known as University Cit ...
: Focuses on commercialization.
* Wistar Institute
The Wistar Institute () is an independent, nonprofit research institution in biomedical science, with expertise in oncology, immunology, infectious disease and vaccine research. Located on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Wistar was ...
: Leader in research on the causes and cures of disease.
Cultural
* A-Space, an anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...
community center
* Free Library of Philadelphia
The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia gover ...
, Walnut Street West BranchWalnut Street West Branch
Free Library of Philadelphia
The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia gover ...
. Retrieved on October 19, 2012.
*
Philadanco, a professional dance company
* University of Pennsylvania institutions include:
**
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a theatre, dance and world music venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It helped to popularize the works of composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass; the Center has also hosted shows by performe ...
, theaters for professional and student productions
**
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Penn's
modern art
Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...
museum
**
, also called "The Penn Museum"
Charitable
*
Neighborhood Bike Works
Established in 1999, Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW) is a nonprofit educational organization in West Philadelphia. The mission of NBW is to inspire youth and strengthen Philadelphia communities by providing equitable access to bicycling and bike rep ...
: Donates bicycles and helmets to local kids. Offers training in bicycle repair.
* Philadelphia
Elwyn
Elwyn is an unincorporated community located in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Middletown Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 15,807 at the 2010 census. The Pennsylvania ...
: Care for the mentally disabled.
*
Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House: A "home away from home" for families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at nearby hospitals.
Legal
*
American Law Institute
The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs ...
: Provides ''
Restatements of the Law
In American jurisprudence, the ''Restatements of the Law'' are a set of treatises on legal subjects that seek to inform judges and lawyers about general principles of common law. There are now four series of ''Restatements'', all published by the ...
''.
*
Dechert
Dechert LLP () is an American multinational law firm of more than 900 lawyers with practices in corporate and securities, complex litigation, finance and real estate, financial services, asset management, and private equity. In 2021, the firm ra ...
: Large Philadelphia law firm
Primary and secondary education
* Public (
School District of Philadelphia
The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the 8th largest school district in the nation, by enrollment, serving over 200 ...
)
** Henry C. Lea School (K-8): 47th and Locust St.
** Middle Years Alternative & Parkway School (6-12): 49th and Chestnut St.
**
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (January 2, 1898 – November 1, 1989), was a pioneering Black professional and civil rights activist of the early-to-mid-20th century. In 1921, Mossell Alexander was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. i ...
University of Pennsylvania Partnership School (K-8): 42nd and Locust St.
** Samuel Powel School (K-4): 36th and Powelton Ave.
**
West Philadelphia High School
West Philadelphia High School is a secondary school located in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the intersection of 49th Street and Chestnut Street.
History
The original West Philadelphia High School (WPHS) building ...
(9-12): 48th and Chestnut St.
* Private
** Christ Memorial Day School (K-6): 43rd and Chestnut St.
** HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy (ages 2–21): 4400 Baltimore Ave.
** Jubilee School (pre-K-6):42nd and Chester Ave.
** Spruce Hill Christian School (K-8): 42nd and Baltimore Ave.
**
St. Francis de Sales School (1-8): 912 S. 47th St.
**
West Philadelphia Catholic High School (9-12): 45th and Chestnut St.
Transportation
With its compact development and high proportion of students, many people can and do walk and bicycle around, to, and from University City. Additionally, multiple highway, rail, and bus routes pass through University City, including major intercity and regional routes.
Road
The most prominent highway through the region is the
Schuylkill Expressway (
I-76
Interstate 76 may refer to:
Interstate Highways in the United States
* Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska)
* Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania
Video gaming
* ''Interstate '76
''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular c ...
).
I-676
Interstate 676 (I-676) is an Interstate Highway that serves as a major thoroughfare through Center City Philadelphia, where it is known as the Vine Street Expressway, and Camden, New Jersey, where it is known as the northern segment of the ...
from New Jersey and Center City Philadelphia terminates in University City at I-76.
US-30 follows I-76 and I-676.
US-13 and
PA-3
PA3 may refer to:
* ALCO PA-3, a diesel locomotive
* ''Paranormal Activity 3'', a 2011 American horror film
* Pennsylvania Route 3
* Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district
Pennsylvania's third congressional district includes several areas o ...
follow local streets. Of historical note are the
Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike
The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, first used in 1795, is the first long-distance paved road built in the United States, according to engineered plans and specifications. It links Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia at 34th Street, st ...
and
Baltimore Pike
The Baltimore Pike was an auto trail connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Today, parts of the road are signed as U.S. Route 1 (US 1), US 13, and a small portion of Pennsylvania Route 41 (PA 41). A section of the ro ...
, now known as Lancaster Ave and Baltimore Ave. Additionally, Philadelphia's historic
Market Street runs through the area, where it is known as the
Avenue of Technology
Avenue of Technology is a city designated technology-based district on a segment of Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The area is known for being the "portal of technology" of the city that includes the University City Science Cent ...
.
There are several
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
lines that serve University City.
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes
The City Transit Division of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) operate almost all of Philadelphia's public transit, including all six trolley, three trackless trolley, and 70 bus lines within city limits. Some of the ...
21, 30, 40, 42, 78 are active here, as is LUCY, the "Loop through University CitY". Regional bus operators
Megabus Megabus may refer to:
* Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro.
* Megabus (North America), a low-cost bus service in the United States and Canada owned by Variant Equity Advisors.
* Megabús, a ...
and
BoltBus
BoltBus was an intercity bus common carrier and a division of Greyhound Lines that operated from March 2008 until July 2021 in the northeast and western United States and British Columbia, Canada.
As least one ticket on every bus was randomly ...
offer service from near 30th & JFK to NYC.
Rail
The area is served by four distinct types of passenger rail transportation: intercity, regional, metro, and trolley.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
's
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, ...
and
Keystone Corridor
The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line, which hosts SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale ...
intercity routes, as well as all of the
SEPTA Regional Rail
The SEPTA Regional Rail system is a commuter rail network owned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and serving the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelp ...
routes and
NJT's
Atlantic City Line
The Atlantic City Line (ACL) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit (NJT) in the United States between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey, operating along the corridor of the White Horse Pike. It runs over trackage ...
, include a stop at
30th Street Station
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
.
SEPTA
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...
's
Market–Frankford Line (MFL, also known as "the El") and
Subway–Surface Trolley Lines stop at the adjacent
30th Street subway station.
There are also several other SEPTA stations in University City, including two more Regional Rail stations:
Penn Medicine
The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) is a major multi-hospital health system headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. UPHS and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania together comprise Penn Medicine, a ...
and
49th St; three more MFL stations:
34th St.,
40th St. and
46th St.; three more underground trolley stations:
33rd St.,
36th St.,
37th St.; and two trolley portals:
36th St. and
40th St. West of the portals, the trolleys run on the streets.
An
elevated freight line also runs above 31st Street, with connections to several other lines at the Zoo and Arsenal Interlockings, to the north and south, respectively.
Government representation
See also
*
Templetown, Philadelphia – North Philadelphia neighborhood surrounding Temple University
*
University Park, Pennsylvania
University Park (also referred to as Penn State University Park) is the name given to the Pennsylvania State University's main campus located in both State College and College Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus post office was ...
– The Penn State University campus in central Pennsylvania
References
External links
University City DistrictOfficial website for non-profit organization.
WestPhillyNews.orgWest Philly News - Local news and information. Home of the West Philly Forum, a
community bulletin board (CBB).
WestPhillyLocal.comWest Philly Local - A local, independent website that covers West Philadelphia and University City.
- history of the area now known as West Philadelphia
''Philadelphia Weekly'' Article Recounting University City's Recent History, Including Changes in the Penn/Community Relationship(PW - Sept. 2006)Photo tour of University CityPhotos of the Area- from the Penn Library's InfoResources project.
Historical
University City Historical Society (UCHS)- Local history organization.
*
University of Pennsylvania Archives (UPA)- University Archives and Record Center.
neighborhoodBasefrom Penn's Cartographic Modeling Laboratory.
- The Plan for West Philadelphia, 1994.
{{West Philadelphia
Neighborhoods in Philadelphia
Academic enclaves
Historic districts in Pennsylvania
Historic districts in Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...