Redeveloping Penn's future beyond 40th Street

Out in the borderlands of University City, where things haven't changed for the better since the Eisenhower administration, something remarkable is happening. Slowly, and without any planning or direct investment, Penn's redevelopment of the 40th Street corridor is having a perceptible effect on this campus fringe. It's not Hallelujah Chorus urban renewal, but it's the first good thing that has happened to these blocks in a long time, and it's worth recording. Urban and Bye Realtor, a University City landlord that numbers me among its clients, moved its offices northwest over winter break. The old office was at 41st and Walnut; the new office is at 42nd and Chestnut, two blocks away and a world apart. The old office sat across the street from Beige Block, in a neighborhood of renovated apartments that is home to a good chunk of Penn's post-freshmen. It was only a block from campus, close enough so that most students wouldn't think twice about walking there at night. The office was, in fact, so well-located that Penn decided to kick out Urban and Bye in favor of a tenant that would contribute to the area's nightlife. The new office sits across from a bombed-out diner and an abandoned factory. A gap-toothed row of houses lines the cross street, the sidewalk gives concrete a bad name and the campus is decidedly not in sight. The most obvious effect of Urban and Bye's move west is that there is one less vacant storefront in West Philadelphia. But the move has also added a few more blocks to my mental map of University City. And not just mine -- the company estimates that up to half of its 180 units are rented to undergraduate tenants, each of whom must now walk two blocks further west to drop off their rent checks. A little further to the north and west, on the corner of 43rd and Market, is a piece of property that may be the future home of the McDonald's that currently sits at 40th and Walnut. The hamburger joint doesn't want to move any more than Urban and Bye did. But it, too, will likely be displaced by Penn's redevelopment plans for the 40th Street corridor. And it, too, will likely choose to move north and west, community opposition or not. What is happening to the northwest is the beginning of a process that has played out a dozen times as the Penn campus has moved westward over the last century. Urban and Bye's old location sat in the middle of the most recent area on the border of the campus to undergo gentrification. 40th Street's growth began in earnest with the 1998 opening of the University Police station at 4040 Chestnut, which made the northwest shoulder of campus feel safe for the first time in memory. An unprecedented number of good, cheap and ethnically diverse restaurants line the streets, a new supermarket is on the verge of opening its doors and someday, there may even be a new movie theater. The renewal effort has been such a success that Penn has extended its plans to properties like Urban and Bye's old offices at 41st. Once, that office was in an area where Penn students feared to tread. Now, as a direct result of gentrification, Urban and Bye has again been pushed further than most students are comfortable walking. Ten years ago, the area around Beige Block -- already the moniker for the then-unrenovated homes along 41st -- was full of crumbling, dilapidated apartments. The streets in the area were all pretty dark, which meant you had to watch your step, because the pavement wasn't in good shape. Many upperclassmen lived in the area, and crimes against their person and property were not uncommon. Outside of Burger King, on the southwest corner of 40th and Walnut, shootings were semi-regular occurrences. The blacktop parking lot across the street was empty by night, and the rundown Rotunda was never used for much of anything. Slightly to the north sat an abandoned blue warehouse; the nearest police station was out at 44th and Walnut. Students walked further north at their own risk, particularly after dark. To the south was Billybob, which sold cheesesteaks and beer -- just cheesesteaks and beer -- and next door was the video arcade, where fights broke out on a nightly basis, and twice a night on weekends. For a dime, you could call a University spokesperson and get him to call the whole complex a breeding ground for crime. Now, for 35 cents, you can get her to call it the future. Only you and I know that the future is to the west.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.