How has the real estate market and improvements(or lack thereof) been going in Kensington these days? I'm aware of the massive gentrification completed to nearby areas Fishtown and Northern Liberties, and it seems to make sense that if this process continues, that South Kensington will be next, and the gentrification will sweep northbound. Any news of any improvements, such as new buildings or shopping centers? Or any news of plans to construct anything new soon?

I think Kensington is well overdue for a makeover. It's sad to hear about how nice and slightly upscale(??) it used to be, back in the days before the factories closed and the town went downhill. It'd be nice to see it come around again. Plus, it's a very convenient area...close to the El for rapid transportation into the city, not too far from center city, close to I-95 for taking visits up into the suburbs, and filled with quaint little houses and shops. There's some areas of vacant empty spaces overgrown with weeds, and it'd be nice if they were turned into parks or playgrounds. It'd be nice to see a makeover that involves bringing in more local businesses, such as pubs, restaurants, clothing boutiques, deli/markets, etc...basically the same types of businesses that probably existed in Kensington back in its heyday, in the early-to-mid 1900s. Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me to see drastic changes being made to this area within the next 10-15yrs(esp since changes have already gone underway to the Northern Liberties and Temple Univ./North Philly areas).

So has there been any progress yet? Any new plans for it?

I think that depends where you consider kensington. South kensington (if I'm not mistaken, would be just above girard and that area has major devlopment in the works.

and East Kensington has a lot of young people moving in, fixing up places, a great neighborhood organization.

I even know of plenty of young people/artists/musicians who have made their way up towards the notorious K&A and bought warehouse space.

Ok, I'll bite. What 'major' is in the works?

The area just north of Girard (JUNOGI) is gentrifying pretty rapidly with the overflow from Northern Liberties. The rest, not so much. There are young people moving in, but it's far from gentrified. The area around Berks stop is filthy and not getting any better, plus there are vast empty lots with no signs of development. East Kensington is not too bad, Yards has been a tremendous neighboor and does alot for the community, but even that area has a long way to go....

Yeah, I guess I didn't really notice the word "gentrified" in the title.

If you mean gentrified, then no, it's not happening... if you mean a place that young people are moving to and is rapidly changing for the better, then yes.

Large parts of Kensington have come back. It's just that people refuse to call these places "Kensington."

Kensington's traditional boundaries are 6th Street on the west, the Delaware River and Frankford Creek on the east, as far north as maybe Wingohocking, and as far south as Girard Ave. (Now, some would argue that Port Richmond has to be carved out of this definition because it's not really part of Kensington and I'll accept that.) Some will tell me the western boundary is Front St. not 6th St., but that's not true historically; the Front St. boundary is probably a legacy of the fact that whites fled the area west of Front St. in the early 70's. From the early 70's to the early 90's, Front St. was the boundary of white Kensington.

So what do we find within these boundaries? Well, first of all, we find Fishtown, which has always been a neighborhood within Kensington not a neighborhood apart from Kensington. (Hence, the fact that the New Kensington CDC serves Fishtown.) Fishtown is a rapidly reviving area which has had 4 restaurant openings in the last month. Then, beyond Fishtown, between Frankford Ave. and the Delaware, we have what used to be plain-old Kensington, but which is now referred to as "Upper Fishtown." Also, a rapidly reviving neighborhood, although a few paces behind Fishtown proper. Then, turning westward, we have that sliver between Kensington and Frankford Ave. south of Lehigh, which some call East Kensington. This area is steadily reviving, but still rough around the edges and pioneer territory. And, yes, Yards Brewery has been a force in reviving it.

Then, going west of Front St., we have Old Kensington/South Kensington occupying an area from Front to 6th, and from maybe Susquehanna down to Girard. This area is also rapidly reviving, but it unfortunately appears desolate because historically it was dominated by industry not residences, so the residences are scattered. The closer to Girard you get, the greater the revival. Above Berks up to Susquehanna, the change is much slower.

Well, we have just carved off maybe 30 to 40% of Kensington's land area with these reviving areas. The remaining 60% + is just as distressed as it ever was. That would mean everything north of Susquehanna west of Front, west of Kensington Ave. below Lehigh and west of Amber St. above Lehigh.

So my point is that people who demean Kensington as a whole are not being terribly accurate. I suspect it's because a lot of people might have had family members who lived in places like E & Clearfield or H & Willard that are still shiitholes. When those people refer to Kensington, they are really referring to a smaller section west of Kensington Ave. that suffered from white flight (and Asian and Puerto Rican flight for that matter) and drug problems in the 1990's.

I think Sharkfood said it about revival vs. gentrification. A lot of the revival is residences. One look at Frankford Ave. past York tells you about the state of retail business revival. It's slow.

I'm very curious to see what it'll be like in the next year or 2, especially with the real estate slow down and the looming prospect of the casinos. I hope the momentum continues.

It's gentrifying...in the truest sense of the word. Young people moving in, buying warehouses, the Coral Street Arts house, even developers doing loft renovations...sure. I'd say there hasn't been much gentrification above Norris Square (at Berks).

No, it's nowhere near where Fishtown and No. Libs are but then again, most gentrifiers can't really afford $150K+ for a house.

__________________
Resident of Fishtown, Moderator of Fish/No. Libs/Kenzo forum, Real Estate Agent-Prudential Fox & Roach

I've cut and pasted some Kensington South N.A.C. emails about zoning meetings in the area. These are the latest proposals for the area:
-113 Master, for a new 3 story house w/ decks and a 2 car garage.
- 1326-36 Mascher, 18 homes with parking.
-a city block bounded by Mascher, Jefferson, Oxford and Howard
Streets, 37 homes, plus 5 duplexes, all with parking.
-plans for a mixed residential/commercial development at 1729 N.
5th Street.
single family homes and 5 duplex residential units with parking on
1501 block of N. Mascher Street.
-plans for approximately 100 rental units at 100-110 W. Jefferson Street.
-7 homes at 3rd and Thompson.

A couple of these may be shot down by the community, companies may back out, but that's the word. There are also about 3 or 4 new factory conversions I've noticed in South Kenzo, and some new blocks of rowhomes closer to the El. A couple new restaurants over the last few months too. So, things are going well in this part of Kensington, which is to say west of Front. However, north of Susquehanna there has been virtually no new investment save a few new biz on Lehigh.