Urban Renewal: The Remaking of Society Hill

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Philadelphia: The Great Experiment
Webisode: Urban Renewal
Learn about urban renewal in the Reform Movement in Philadelphia.
Watch more at www.historyofphilly.com
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[@can72287]

SocietyHill. The pinnacle of city planning. To this day; a beautiful building and the blueprint for redevelopment.

[@drnoir33]

Thank you to History Making Productions for these outstanding videos. I thought I knew my natal city, but I learned more with each viewing. Speaking specifically to the creation of Society Hill, I tell the story of Metropolitan Hospital, where I was born in September 1966, in my book INTERROGATING MEMORY: FILM NOIR SPURS A DEEP DIVE INTO MY FAMILY HISTORY...AND MY OWN, a heart-felt love letter to Philadelphia. Metropolitan had occupied a converted "90,000 square-foot, eight-story concrete and steel former textile factory" on the southwest corner of 3rd and Spruce, in a decaying neighborhood, since August 1955. A 1941 film called "A Place to Live" reveals this decay. Serving as Metropolitan counsel was former Assistant City Solicitor Herman Modell, the man who arranged my private in utero adoption - but that is a story for a different time. ;) While the hospital was an ultra-modern facility which served its community well, Metropolitan relocated in April 1971. Metropolitan President Dr. David Silverman chose not to expand the 300 Spruce Street site "because of the redevelopment of the surrounding Society Hill neighborhood." As much as Edmund Bacon tried to demolish AND renovate to create Society Hill, the departure of Metropolitan Hospital suggests more *renovation* could have been done, had Bacon listened attentively to the existing community. To be fair, Society Hill - excluding the hideous Towers - is legit beautiful and a powerful tourist attraction...AND the area became unaffordable for its current residents. True urban renewal needs to balance present and future as much as it can. It is also a lesson in prevention - this area should never have been allowed to decay in the first place.

[@GrabASpriteB]

If only all Urban Renewal projects were this well-thought out and spearheaded.

[@PandoraKyss]

Society Hill is now one of the most expensive neighborhoods in this city. Those hateful towers are still there, rising like sores above the historic rowhomes. I don't know what's worse, Society Hill Towers or the 1950's era highrises of Penn Center west of City Hall. Thankfully, we've moved away from 'futuristic' boxes into sleeker skyscrapers. Bacon was one of the men that railed against building anything taller than the statue of William Penn atop City Hall, effectively squashing the city's skyline. Thankfully, Liberty One broke that glass ceiling, and now we have a skyline on equal footing with other cities.

[@drowsy_mouse8406]

society Hill towers are such an eyesore

[@PandoraKyss]

Agreed. I've heard - and I imagine - that the views are incredible, but the architectural style of those and most of the earlier Penn Center highrises are grim.

[@GIRLRAZR]

Actually Society Hill towers not that bad. But those two penn center bldgs and municipal services bldg need to go!

[@can72287]

Agreed. The contrast is what makes them. And I normally don’t like 50/60s architecture those are stunners.
We literally have no buildings like them in the city. Floor to ceiling windows but not a glass curtain.

[@paulwolinsky1538]

This is not too shabby, for a "start".

[@user-oy2xc7yf4i]

Philadelphia is a unique place. Society Hill was almost destroyed by urban renewal.IMPeis ugly buildings dot the city especially the Society Hill towers. Fortunately the Crosstown Expressway was stopped,it was a Robert Moses style horror that would have cut Center City off from South Philadelphia. Unfortunately I95 was built and there’s no through streets between Race and Washington,except for a Mickey Mouse crossing at Market street. I won’t even mention the Disneyland of University City,for that’s a tale for another time.

[@cheasyfries334]

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