Allegheny West is a neighborhood in the

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

section of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. It is named after an association formed by Pep Boys and Tasty Baking Company, among others, and the community bordering

East Falls East Falls (also The Falls, formerly the Falls of Schuylkill) is a neighborhood in the Northwest section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It lies on the east bank of the "Falls of the Schuylkill," cataracts submerged in 1 ...

, Strawberry Mansion and Tioga-Nicetown. Its location in the vicinity of Allegheny Avenue on the western side of Broad Street. Like many neighborhoods in North Philadelphia, Allegheny West is primarily a poor African-American enclave that has suffered post-industrial decline and

disinvestment Disinvestment refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change. The term was first used in the 1980s, most commonly in ...

. It faced one of the largest population losses of any neighborhood in Philadelphia between the 1990 and 2000 census. Vacant industrial sites, such as those once used to build commuter rail trains by

Budd Steel The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense products ...

(later obtained by Krupp), have in recent years been used in film productions. The former Tasty Baking Co. food production facility is undergoing renovation as a mixed-use site; The former headquarters has been leveled to make way for a 75000 sq. ft grocery-anchored outlet mall. Housing in Allegheny West is very affordable. In 2005, the 19132 zip code, which contains sections of Allegheny West and North Central, had a median home sale price of $26,450. This was the lowest median price of any zip code in Philadelphia. Housing appreciated by 9% between 2004 and 2005. Allegheny West, per modern definition of the area, also contains sections of the 19129 zip code which is disputably

Population

As of 2010, Allegheny West was 97.5% African American, 0.8% Hispanic, 0.7% white, 0.2% Asian, and 0.8% mixed.

Swampoodle

An older neighborhood name formerly in use within the Allegheny West area was Swampoodle. The name is now archaic, although SEPTA's proposed Swampoodle Connection was named for it as recently as the 1980s. Finkel defines Swampoodle as "Junction of three railroad lines, vic. icinityLehigh Avenue and 22nd Streets." He gives "(before 1926)" as the time period during which the name is attested in the sources that he and his contributors consulted. The Philadelphia Information Locator Service list,Philadelphia Information Locator Service: ''Philadelphia Neighborhoods and Place Names.'' augmented from the Finkel 1995 list, repeats the same definition. However, the junction of three railroads to which they refer would apparently be the junction at

North Philadelphia station North Philadelphia station is an intercity rail and regional rail station on the Northeast Corridor, located on North Broad Street in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Southeastern Pennsylv ...

, which clearly has been well east of 22nd Street since the 1890s or earlier. Perhaps Swampoodle extended throughout the entire area between North Philadelphia station and 22nd Street.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Allegheny West FoundationAllegheny West Redevelopment Area Plan
City Planning Commission, 2003 Neighborhoods in Philadelphia Upper North Philadelphia {{Philadelphia-stub