>4080 Olive Street

Urban development is a delicate balancing act, and sometimes we must say goodbye to cherished local destinations in order to make way for a plan that is ultimately more beneficial to the community and to the city at large. One of such trade-offs is slated to occur at 7619 Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy, Northwest Philadelphia, where the Trolley Car Diner is set to meet the wrecking ball, to be replaced by a six-story, mixed-use residential development designed by Morrissey Design. Although the charming chrome, neon, mural, and freestanding trolley of the diner will be missed, the proposal at hand makes for more effective use of the site, bringing significant residential density within a two0-block walk of the Mount Airy Station of the SEPTA Regional Rail and replacing the auto-centric restaurant with pedestrian-friendly retail.

The latest entry on Philadelphia YIMBY’s First Anniversary Countdown, which tracks the most frequently mentioned article categories over the course of the past year, looked at Northern Liberties, which placed at number 18 on the list. On Saturday we looked in closer detail at the neighborhood’s northeast quadrant, which is emerging as a distinct neighborhood in its own right. Today we inquire into Northwest Northern Liberties, the second of the three principal districts that comprise the neighborhood, and some of its salient ongoing development.