Residential History Erased: The Last Row Houses of Logan Square, Philadelphia Are Being Taken Down…
Residential History Erased: The Last Row Houses of Logan Square, Philadelphia Are Being Taken Down…
It has long since been made clear that the developers and capitalists of the moment could care less about urban history and/or the historic built environment--this includes city government as well as the politicians who understand nothing about place. Historically, Philadelphia always prided itself as a city of private houses--much of which has been lost to the blight of areas like North Broad Street and development, as well as parking lots and grotesque buildings. While development and growth are important in an urban area, the demolition of more 19th century buildings will not lead to the betterment of a historic city. First and foremost, not even one more old building should be demolished until all of the ground level parking lots have been reused to house larger garages and/or other built resources. This is a horror. Logan Square, still a square, but with a Circle, within the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, was once completely residential. The row houses portrayed are among the last to exist in the vicinity of the old square.
