301 W. Queen Lane (PHA Tower) to be vacated?

**billy ross** · 01-05-2012, 10:10 PM

Originally Posted by Kukla65th

I quite agree the Queen Lane Apts must go.

What I am curious about is whether we can argue it in and of itself did such major damage to southwest Germantown. I say this because the project and the surrounding low-rise dwellings that came along with it and are actually a bit older than the tower, existed for years while some adjacent areas were arguably better kept than they are today. I use the example of the old Southwest Germantown Council and how active it was for years, and all the people I knew who lived (and some still do) along Pulaski below Manheim, and west to Wissahickon Avenue, who recalled the community being stronger in the years when the Queen Lane Apartments were yes, newer, but still impoverished and troubled. I"m talking the 60's and 70's. I'm referring to stories I have heard about Kelly School being seen as just as viable as Mount Airy schools like Henry, etc. because people were so active in the school community. Certainly the concentration of poverty and social problems there increased crime (though seeing such data would be interesting). But I wonder how big a roll it took in affecting community-wide change in that area.

I don't mean any of this as provocative. I'm just thinking that either these apartments initiated a slow, festering decline in that area, or a whole other force of demographic change was a larger deteriorating factor. You have to consider population change patterns. I just can't imagine the projects were, for example, the bellwether factor in why Wayne Avenue so rapidly went from being a functional, much cleaner business district since the 1970's, to a place that is laden with police cameras, vacant buildlings, loitering, etc. today.

Just my thoughts...not an indictment of anyone else's thoughts. Indeed I appreciate all the other thoughts on this topic.

You're delusional. North of Queen Lane the neighborhood is dramatically better east of Wayne Avenue. South of Queen Lane the neighborhood is dramatically better west of Wayne Avenue. The changes are stark and disorienting. The reason is that the area around the tower is horribly banged up because it declined so, Penn-Knox stayed relatively nice, Fernhill Park stayed relatively nice, but the area closer to Wayne Junction and Happy Hollow fell to North Philly spreading up into Germantown. Put another way, there's a block and a half or so of mess around the tower, then the area gets much nicer again, past School House Lane, past Schuyler Street, past Hansberry Street. Of course the tower caused this mess. The only towers like that (i.e. similar era and design) that are still nice are in Society Hill, and they maintain extremely strict standards. I walked through them on Second Street yesterday and they still gave me the creeps, as if someone was going to get me.

**Kukla65th** · 01-12-2012, 08:39 AM

I'm not sure how referencing experiences of long-tenured neighbors about the community, or posing some questions, makes me delusional. The reality is that the towers were built in a pocket that was already in decline by the 1950's, surrounded by areas that at that time were better than they are now. I don't know why we can exhibit more courtesy in posting here sometimes.

**billy ross** · 01-12-2012, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by Kukla65th

I'm not sure how referencing experiences of long-tenured neighbors about the community, or posing some questions, makes me delusional. The reality is that the towers were built in a pocket that was already in decline by the 1950's, surrounded by areas that at that time were better than they are now. I don't know why we can exhibit more courtesy in posting here sometimes.

The fact that you can even wonder aloud "whether we can argue it in and of itself did such major damage to southwest Germantown" shows that you don't live in the real world. There's a reason Atlanta got rid of ALL of its projects. The correlation between housing projects and blight is 100%, and between removal of housing projects and removal of blight is also 100%. The world is real - it is not some imagined place. The nastiness of the pocket at Queen and Pulaski was due to the tower being there. Check murder maps of the city going back a few years, for instance. I think two years ago there were five shootings at that intersection, leading to three murders. With the tower vacated the murders have dropped off a cliff, and now it is quiet around there.

**NickFromGtown** · 01-17-2012, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by billy ross

The fact that you can even wonder aloud "whether we can argue it in and of itself did such major damage to southwest Germantown" shows that you don't live in the real world. There's a reason Atlanta got rid of ALL of its projects. The correlation between housing projects and blight is 100%, and between removal of housing projects and removal of blight is also 100%. The world is real - it is not some imagined place. The nastiness of the pocket at Queen and Pulaski was due to the tower being there. Check murder maps of the city going back a few years, for instance. I think two years ago there were five shootings at that intersection, leading to three murders. With the tower vacated the murders have dropped off a cliff, and now it is quiet around there.

I totally agree with this post.

**billy ross** · 04-04-2012, 05:44 PM

It looks like it'll be coming down soon. The neighborhood has gotten eerily quiet.

**daveydoo** · 04-04-2012, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by billy ross

It looks like it'll be coming down soon. The neighborhood has gotten eerily quiet.

I talked to the guys working on the Habitat rehab on Priscilla St. and they were under the impression that the abatement hadn't even started yet. Perhaps they need to send in the workers in astronaut suits first to clean it out?

**ChaseFoxy54** · 04-21-2012, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by billy ross

My long-term plan is to buy it and restore it if noone else beats me to it. I've just got to clear my to-do list first. I heard that Rouse bought it and tried to restore it. I believe that it is Wissahickon Hall, but I'm not sure.

The present management doesn't realize what they have. It is an amazing building.

did you ever follow through with that billy ross? I drive by there daily on my way home and noticed last night a ladder in the window (obviously someone working in side light was on and all) looked like they were painting or something. You're right it is a great spot-wha's the rent? lol

**billy ross** · 04-21-2012, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by ChaseFoxy54

did you ever follow through with that billy ross? I drive by there daily on my way home and noticed last night a ladder in the window (obviously someone working in side light was on and all) looked like they were painting or something. You're right it is a great spot-wha's the rent? lol

Still busy dealing with turnover. If someone else beats me to it I don't mind. I have a few studio and 1BR vacancies if anyone is looking, plus upcoming 2 & 3 BR vacancies. When I'm caught up I'll move forward. Until then I'm just trying to get everything in order. I'd love to expand, but only when the numbers add up to what they need to.