Olde Kensington, also known as South Kensington, is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

located in

North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as ...

section of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. South Kensington is north of

Northern Liberties Northern Liberties is a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is north of Center City along the Delaware River. Prior to its incorporation into Philadelphia in 1854, it was among the top 10 largest cities in the U.S. i ...

, south of Norris Square, east of

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

, and west of Fishtown. The boundaries of the neighborhood are Berks St. (north), Girard Ave (south), Front St (east) and 6th St. (west). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, many neighborhoods in Philadelphia experienced a long period of decline,

deindustrialization Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry. There are different interpr ...

, and residential abandonment. In recent years, however, South Kensington has been increasingly

gentrified Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been us ...

, following a similar pattern observed in adjacent

and Fishtown. Although some industrial activity has continued along the American Street corridor, a historic location for

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

, a growing number of formerly vacant factories are being turned into lofts, condos, and artist workspaces. The zip code for the area is 19122. There are two associations that serve the neighborhood
South Kensington Community Partners
(SKCP) and Olde Kensington Neighbors Association (OKNA).

Population

As of 2021, Olde Kensington was 57% non Hispanic white, 25% Hispanic, 8% non Hispanic black, 7% Asian, and 3% other. Median household income is $117,904.

Public Transportation

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

provides various options of public transportation for the neighborhood, and Center City is about 2 miles or 10 minutes away. The neighborhood is served by:

Buses 57, 5 Elevated Train (the EL) at Girard Station Trolley 15 through Girard Ave

Also, buses 3 and 47 pass nearby the neighborhood, and the EL Berks Station and SEPTA rail at Temple University Station are within reasonable walking distance. Additionally, many residents ride their bicycles as their preferred mode of transportation. Indego Philly has a bike share station at 3rd & Girard and multiple peripheral stations: 2nd & Germantown Ave, 1176 Leopard Ave. (Girard Station, MFL), 1424 Frankford Ave. (City Fitness), 1902 N. Front St. (Berks Station, MFL), and 527 W. Berks St.

PhillyCarShare PhillyCarShare was a non-profit car-sharing organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania established in 2002. The service was acquired by Enterprise in 2011, and was renamed Enterprise CarShare in 2014. PhillyCarShare has cars available for use 24 ...

(now known as Enterprise CarShare) vehicles are available at 6th & Girard Ave, 100 W. Oxford St. and Frankford & Thompson St. Zipcars are located at Front & Master, Frankford & Master, Frankford & Palmer, and 6th & Girard.

References

Neighborhoods in Philadelphia Irish-American neighborhoods Upper North Philadelphia Kensington, Philadelphia {{PhiladelphiaPA-geo-stub