897 North 40th 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.

Construction has progressed at SEPTA’s Middletown Regional Rail extension. After decades of SEPTA’s transit coverage slowly shrinking, the project is an important step toward renewed expansion, making the regional rail network more easily accessible to a growing population area. The project will extend the line roughly three miles deeper into Delaware County, from the current Elwyn train station to where the former Wawa Station once stood. The station will be renamed Middletown when it opens later this year and will be the new terminus of the Media/Elwyn line, featuring a high-level island platform, a station building, and a 600-space parking garage to be used as a park-and-ride facility.