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Cheers,
Jayfar
--
“I am indeed well aware of the history of Conventional (sic) Hall, both globally and locally, and can assure you that we are carefully exploring avenues for its future.” -- Penn President Amy Gutmann 5 days before demolition began.

Interesting article.

I'd long wondered whether the real cuplrit is the section 8 housing. this article alludes to it although it only lists the addresses of the section 8 properties. someone shoudl tell the owner that having mirrors on the ceiling is certainly going to give people the impression the place is for hookers.

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"You down wit OPM?"
Fumo: "Yeah, you know me!"

Do they have pink champagne on ice?

This was a very good article. I'm looking forward to seeing the folow-up spots on some of the residents.

Me too.

The article didn't go into much depth on how much or how little prostitutes use the hotel, or if any johns go there. However, the hotel is the epicenter for the trans prostitutes who roam the area, and they generally stay between Walnut and Pine between Broad and 10th. Occasionally when South Street gets quieter, they can be seen further south. Obviously, the Parker sits almost in the middle of this hot pink epicenter.

No one disagrees though... the Parker is *the* spot for the wildness on 13th Street. If you want to soak all that is 13th, it would have to start here. Standing by Uhuru furniture and absorbing the streetlife you get exposed to a lot of interesting characters. It is a totally different experience from Market East which is more depressing. You can never go out between Locust and Pine on 13th and not be "bored" when you walk the sidewalks. Every day is a different adventure over there. I'm sure Pepperoni Sue knows, she's the PBer who works closest to it at night, and I know 1/2 the staff working in the Westbury, which I visit sometimes.

Sitting by the windows at the Westbury is a popular pasttime for the patrons of the bar (ask Kevin the door guy). The staff there can give you some good stories!

Between Pine and Chestnut the best things to do at night on 13th is to go drinking or clubbing, whether the Parker is the victim of circumstance or a cause is really of little concern. If there were a parking lot in its place you would see a big change in the daytime street life there (probably wouldn't change much at night--my side of 13th is just as busy with the freakazoids as the area where the Spruce is).

BTW, the Parker is not the only low-rent building in the neighborhood. There's quite a lot of "poor gays" living just a block away in another apartment building that is also low-rent. It just happens to not be a hotel, which is directly across the street from a rather drab looking condo tower with fabulous views.

13th is a goofball street in this city. It's "in-transition", but it's also not unsafe to be out here. If I was a single white female I wouldn't really mind being out here much, evidence by how many single girls I pass by along 13th and along Chestnut late at night.

My cousin lives in what used to be a really-shady area of Spanish Harlem, which is now going through lightning-fast gentrification. When he started noticing SWF joggers at night along his sidewalks then he knew the neighborhood had "turned."

I have yet to hear gunfire around here. The last killing anywhere nearby was at 11th and Pine, and that happened to be the crazy guy from Old City who ran over a 19 year old kid with his car, then emptied a revolver in him for stealing a necklace [plenty of posts about that on Phillyblog]

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Buh-bye.

Interestingly, many of the criticisms in that article from so-called "community leaders" are identical to the criticism of Signatures. Including the claims that it is the source of problems in the area. Guess they realize now they were wrong about Signatures and are looking for the next scape goat.

Though I have to say I found this statement a bit disconcerting:

"Carver and a manager, Betty Greenlee, say if any staffer smelled crack, they’d talk to the tenant. If the situation became chronic, they’d evict."

Ummm, how about calling the cops or throwing the bums out immediately?

Yeah, they oughta throw the bums out immediately for smoking crack, but that would hurt the bottom line, and businesses are for making money, not enforcing the law. That aside...

After reading this article, it makes more sense to me to open up more of these types of residences than to quash or convert the few remaining. Spreading them out over far areas (and I mean by a good 10 miles from each other) can help serve different parts of the city better, while not having the undesirable "tag-along" elements concentrate in one place. I'm half tempted to spend a night in this place myself now, just for the hell of it, and if it's not as bad as the people on the street late at night make it seem... people oughta cut the Spruce a break.

Someone had mentioned that they see community leaders, or people in general, complain about the Spruce as they did about Signatures. And even after Signatures has closed the problem persist, I don't believe closing the Parker Spruce would make the area any better.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, having this kind of element helps keep the city balanced and interesting. 5 blocks west from the Parker Spruce you're on the verge of Rittenhouse, 5 blocks north and you're at the edge of the Convention Center, 5 blocks south you're at my place, 5 blocks east and you're at??? something cool and totally different- Antique Row'ish?.
Anyway, I like the Spruce because of the interesting people there. As a straight guy, it's fun to play "guess the tranny" while getting pizza after a night at the bars. Also seeing all of the flamers, although sometimes it's unnerving.

Cheers to the Parker, cheers to the area, stop crying, learn to appreciate,

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Your favorite silly game is "I love pretzle." right?

You wonder how many more homeless people we'd have on the streets if it weren't for places like the Parker Spruce. I actually think it is providing a pretty good service.

I hated Nancy Alperin's quote. But then again, I can't stand her. Her company is far and away the worst of the city's local realtors that I've come across. She also thinks that she ranks farther up the realtor's ladder than she does. There are probably plenty of realtors in the city a la Atacan who sell MUCH more but don't make it a point to get their face on every possible article.