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jedilips t1_jdhvhiq wrote

In South Philly, if you abandon it, they will park in it. Without fail.

151

schwnz t1_jdhq9i1 wrote

I was walking past it this morning and wondered why nobody has snatched up the Melrose yet. Make that parking lot into an outdoor eating area. Passyunk between broad and 16th should be restaurants and shops. That whole piece could close down to traffic and be a cool open air market.

I don't get the love of dropping condos everywhere. It's weird to put condos and beer garden's everywhere and call it a day.

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misteryham OP t1_jdigcdl wrote

It feels like a waste of space. There’s not enough incentive to build, or too much incentive to hold

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huebomont t1_jdi89ep wrote

you don’t get why people would want to build housing?

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schwnz t1_jdjml4f wrote

I get it, I don’t get why it’s the only thing we build.

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Angsty_Potatos t1_jdlgf2y wrote

Housing: yes…. Another mostly empty dranoff condo thing? No

2

huebomont t1_jdmk4jd wrote

Either developers are greedy money grabbers or they’re building money-losing empty buildings, which is it?

3

chefNick92 t1_jdjq6da wrote

Because the owner is an asshole that wants to tear it down and is using every excuse possible to get the permits.

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yogaballcactus t1_jdkgy77 wrote

If he owns it then why should he need an excuse to tear it down and build something else?

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LocalOnThe8s t1_jdpkgsp wrote

zoning. you cant just throw up a condo building because you have the money to do so. could take 5 years just to break ground.

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Moose2157 t1_jdhemyj wrote

Not only functional, but also a real feast for the eyes.

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rossdowdell t1_jdhn17t wrote

Because people travel thousands of miles to see the wonderment of 15th and Passyunk with their own eyes.

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Moose2157 t1_jdhpoar wrote

It’s like the Grand Canyon: words and photos can’t approach the grandeur of the in-person experience.

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menunu t1_jdht95d wrote

I walk by this almost every day it's depressing. At least it's still a Pokemon Gym or whatever. Bring back my Melrose!!!! </3

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CerealJello t1_jdhfn3r wrote

What a waste of space that lot is. Keep the diner, but put 5 or 6 stories of apartments above it. Right next to the Snyder Station and directly along the 37 bus route which gets you to the airport in 30 min.

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[deleted] t1_jdhgmch wrote

[deleted]

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CerealJello t1_jdhh23c wrote

We really need a Land Value Tax. Everything within a block of a heavy rail transit stop should be valued much higher to spur development.

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TheGangsHeavy t1_jdibaou wrote

More Land value = more taxes = higher rent

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CerealJello t1_jdie0ys wrote

Not necessarily. If you shift the tax burden from land + improvement to just land, most property taxes probably won't be impacted unless it's a vacant or underutilized lot. Usually a tax policy change like that would have to be done on a revenue neutral basis to prevent the average homeowner from seeing a big spike in taxes owed.

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FormerHoagie t1_jdiudtu wrote

So everything within a block of an subway stop should be valued much higher? Like in poor neighborhoods?

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Aromat_Junkie t1_jdhno66 wrote

i mean ok, but then there's definitely not going to be any cool diners next to subway stops.

−10

CerealJello t1_jdho4dc wrote

Not true. You can have a diner below an apartment building. That kind of mixed use development creates a better, more walkable neighborhood.

Edit: Ellsworth Federal is one of the best examples of terribly used land. We have a surface lot in front of a diner at Ellsworth and a Pep Boys with a surface lot at Federal. Keep the businesses, remove the lots, upzone with more housing.

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Aromat_Junkie t1_jdhom8e wrote

Oh yeah I mean, there would definitely be places like diners that still exist, probably just with a lot less shiny siding and neon lights.

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Gobirds831 t1_jdhrmd8 wrote

What….the south street diner is not good enough for you

0

bobanforever t1_jdhmn6y wrote

Why is this getting upvotes lol

−14

CerealJello t1_jdhn4rr wrote

Because property is underutilized along our main transit corridors both in and out of the city limits. The tax structures make it so that land owners can sit on basically empty pieces of land right on top of subway stops for minimal cost as long as they don't build. Higher taxes on the land itself would force them to shit or get off the pot. This is why you see land in center city being used as surface parking lots. LVT makes it harder to hold empty plots of land (like Broad and Washington was for so many years) in order to speculate on the future value. Land speculation raises the price for the rest of us who want to actually use the land for housing or business.

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bobanforever t1_jdhnizi wrote

Ah, that makes sense. I’m just not a fan of the fill every space with shitty high rise condos trend

2

the_hoagie t1_jdi3s83 wrote

The options are either higher density buildings with more units, or more expensive houses.

6

apatheticwhiteguy t1_jdht3bl wrote

I believe that’s exactly what they’re doing.

plans

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CerealJello t1_jdi0lbp wrote

I want to believe, but the neighbors in South Philly can be ruthless. I wouldn't be surprised if the plan gets gutted to add more parking on site to appease the neighborhood.

3

jeffseidl92 t1_jdiaw87 wrote

So pissed about this still. Was so nice to walk there and get breakfast any time I wanted.

Regarding parking- Acme on East Passyunk isn’t even abandoned, yet that is like the most abused parking lot I can think of. You go there and it’s like a full lot, then there’s 10 people inside shopping 😂😂😂

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leninboarrir t1_jdj4h2w wrote

100%. This was my parking lot of choice when I went to visit friends who lived on Warnock or needed something from Bell’s before I lived here.

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jeffseidl92 t1_jdj96if wrote

Honestly, I don’t mind it because there’s still spots available and it’s never really that busy in there anyway, and since people aren’t actually shopping they tend to take the spots near the street- as opposed to the ones up front near the entrance. Seems like a functioning ecosystem to me.

It’s just funny bc you’d expect like 100 people in the Acme fighting to the death over the last bag of chips if you went by the parking lot alone without the local knowledge.

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Angsty_Potatos t1_jdlgaul wrote

I'm going to die mad about Melrose closing. Fuckin horse shit

3

jeffseidl92 t1_jdn05mj wrote

I could be eating a late breakfast right now, but now there’s no diner in my neighborhood.

Never gonna stop being mad about this one and I am stubborn as shit.

2

skip_tracer t1_jdhkvbz wrote

this is just a random story, but I was talking to my aunt about a month ago and telling her about a parking issue I had. About 35 years back she lived at 8th and Reed before moving to the burbs, and she said something to effect of "oh I used to just park in the lot there on the corner of 9th" (or something).

She asks if I just have a corner lot that residents park in, for free mind you, anywhere near me. I tried explaining that that's not a thing, and that there isn't a chance in hell that whatever lot she parked in from the mid 70's to mid 80's is still there. She refused to believe her lot was gone, and that the (nameless/faceless) owner of that property would ever undercut the neighborhood just to make a buck.

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justanawkwardguy t1_jdhxv2s wrote

The lot is 100% still there and free, unless they switched to it being paid in the last year

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skip_tracer t1_jdu13ml wrote

ok so I'm following up to your comment late here.

I was out on my motorcycle today for the first time this year burning off the old (but stabilized) gas. You're right. The lot she was referring to is on the Southeast corner of 9th and Reed. I cannot believe it's just free; you're telling me it's just a random lot that is first come first serve? No way. My friend lived half a block down on Reed at that side street and I don't recall ever being able to park there. Are we sure it's not connected to the adjacent property? Maybe for the residents of that? I need to know more, I just can't believe there's a communal free lot that anyone is welcomed to park in.

1

Ams12345678 t1_jdhmx11 wrote

Maybe it was the PPA lot at 9th and Reed?

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skip_tracer t1_jdhw8ru wrote

Yeah it’s that or maybe an Enterprise? I don’t know I rarely hit those cross streets

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77darkstar77 t1_jdhp5l5 wrote

To relate to this, before I lived in the city I used to drive to visit my friend at 10th and carpenter near the Italian market. It seemed to be a sort of unspoken rule that the residents were able to park in the paid lot across the street for free. I parked there almost every time and walked right past the attendant and into his house.

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skip_tracer t1_jdhwkoe wrote

Yo I had a similar deal in the early 2000s til about 08. We used to park in the school lot at 4th and George, they’d keep it open and the deal was just be gone 7am. New residents started abusing it so they started locking up; on the one hand I was pissed, but on the other I used to love seeing people bug out that their car was trapped

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SaltyLorax t1_jdhyndn wrote

I had their deluxe pancakes as a reward for passing a drug test. That was good breakfast cake, went right to bed.

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relocationist t1_jdisy80 wrote

Don’t forget, it’s also a crucial new bypass, to avoid the Snyder + Passyunk traffic light.

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misteryham OP t1_jdkf927 wrote

Haha can’t miss it! Walk by the thruway with my kids all the time now

1

CauliflowerFront3706 t1_jdhyz77 wrote

When did it close?

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VinoMaker65 t1_jdifn0p wrote

Is south filthy on oregon ave across from the new aldis, the only remaining business in the small strip mall is china house, parking lot is full. Uncle oogies left, pretzel factory left, jackson hewitt left, pella, all gone.

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misteryham OP t1_jdigqxl wrote

I just the other day saw that strip mall is empty. What happened to Uncle Oogie’s??

1

VinoMaker65 t1_jdijng6 wrote

They moved down to snyder and 2nd. Where the post office is

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NonIdentifiableUser t1_jdiy48t wrote

Nah they didn’t move, they always had that location. No idea why the other closed.

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N8TheGreat91 t1_jdm1ppy wrote

Melrose is where I closed out the night on a first date 5 years ago, we got apple pie and we’re so smitten of each other. Now she’s my wife, so heart broken over this place

3

NonIdentifiableUser t1_jdi6b7r wrote

It’s also littered with needle caps which is lovely. I will say that the Passyunk Avenue BID cleaning seems to have been extended somewhat at least to Snyder and maybe even to Jackson so that’s been nice.

2

7AutomaticDevine7 t1_jdigfki wrote

I saw a guy beating on cars in that lot about a month ago, for no reason other than drugs/mental illness

2

SBRH33 t1_jdklplz wrote

Wont be long before a South Philly Towing sign goes up.

2

golevka6489 t1_jdkp45w wrote

Buffalo chicken wrap there was dope. Shame the restroom urinal was a full ten inches higher than my pelvis as someone who is 5'10" I was always confused about that

2

SouthPhilly_215 t1_jdlnprt wrote

Hipsters wanna ban parking in parking lots now I see… The owner is a total slum lord about his stewardship of The Melrose. Why you riding for him?

2

PhillyHatesNewYork t1_jdne21n wrote

to be fair it’s south philly, what do you really expect ?

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am_gov t1_jdj4uhu wrote

Aw! When’d this close down??

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zocean t1_jdj5yzo wrote

wow. just wow. i really hope someone saves the diner

1

Darius_Banner t1_jdmnup8 wrote

That blue car and the minivan are never getting out

1