Dale Corporation

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.

Earlier this month, Philadelphia YIMBY published two write-ups revisiting various street murals that we noted in our work over the years; today we share a third installment in the series. The City of Brotherly love is notable for its astounding amount of mural artwork, which number in the thousands. As such, it is only expected that such artwork regularly surfaces in our coverage of the city’s construction and real estate development, whether they are situated adjacent to planned projects, endangered by obstruction or demolition from new development, or proposed to beautify new buildings. Today we look at three very distinct murals, one representing an abstraction of the city’s textile industry, another memorializing a local community member, and a third celebrating the city’s Puerto Rican heritage.