March 3: Drexel and Brandywine unveil Schuylkill Yards | Food delivery apps and transportation | Swampoodle

Jacob Adelman has the details on Drexel and Brandywine’s plans to develop a Schuylkill Yards district behind 30th Street Station in University City. “The decades-long project will involve the development of about eight million square feet of mixed-use real estate – equal to about 61/2 Comcast Center towers – over an area twice the size of Rittenhouse Square.”

“We’re learning how to be a growth city as opposed to a city that was managing decline,” says Anne Fadullon, the new Director of Planning and Development, in an interview with Dave Heller. Fadullon will be appearing at WHYY for a conversation with former Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger and our own Jared Brey on March 29th, hosted by PlanPhilly and Design Advocacy Group.

Aaron Moselle has a new Every Zip radio piece on the push to re-popularize Swampoodle as the neighborhood name for the area between 24th and 30th Street, Hunting Park and Allegheny Avenue. “Swampoodle hasn’t been used for generations and largely faded from memory. The neighborhood was once home to the old Connie Mack Stadium and Italian, then Irish immigrants. It later became a predominately African American neighborhood as a result of de-industrialization and the growth of suburbs such as Levittown in Bucks County.”

Some Sharswood residents whose properties are being taken under eminent domain say the Philadelphia Housing Authority is low-balling their property values, reports Sam Newhouse. One property owner produced “a letter from the PHA offering $20,000 for a property that real estate website homesnap.com lists as having an estimated value of $100,000. Scott, who is appealing the use of eminent domain with an attorney, said PHA’s offers don’t take into account the renovations he’s performed on his properties.

The golden age of restaurant delivery apps is changing the Philly restaurant economy, writes Samantha Melamed, and it raises questions for streets and transportation policy too. “The bicycle couriers and double-parking drivers clogging the city’s streets of late are delivering more than just food. They’re also bringing a transformation of how it’s consumed, and how restauranteurs are willing to serve it.”

The demolition site at Broad and Locust is causing great consternation on Philly Reddit. Some argue that the site protrudes way too far into the street, creating unsafe pedestrian conditions, while others say this is an appropriately-sized footprint for demolishing a large parking garage. What do you think?

Frontier Airlines is applying for weekly non-stop flights between Philly and Cuba, as well as one-stop flights that touch down in Miami.