Upper Holmesburg residents have been waiting for the demolition of Liddonfield for five years. The civic association has worked with police, politicians and the Public Housing Authority over the years when problems have cropped up, and recently established its own committee to oversee the demolition and transition process.

And though the announcement at last night’s meeting of the impending demolition  from Richard Zappile, chief of police for PHA was music to residents’ ears, those who’ve been fighting Liddonfield for the last five years want to make sure the new homes aren’t host to the same problems.

“The community is a large part of this,” said Zappile that PHA homes often raise neighborhood property values because of their innovative design and clean appearance. continue reading »

Belongings and broken glass are all that remains of the families who once resided in the Liddonfield development.

As part of a two-part series, NEast Philly goes inside two housing projects to examine what works, what doesn’t and what’s to come. In the first part, we take a look at the soon-to-be-demolished Liddonfield.

No plans are set for the 32-acre site in Upper Holmesburg where construction crews will eventually demolish the 436-unit Liddonfield Homes, but many neighbors are breathing a sigh of relief at the public housing development’s closure.

“They were saying for years they were going to close Liddonfield, and it never closed,” Maria Asterga, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Cuba and moved across the street from the development in 1964, said. “It was trouble and drugs. The cops came a lot. As a child, I was worried about walking up there.”

Asterga and her parents said rumors flew around the community since they moved there that the development, built as military barracks in the ‘40s and converted to public housing in the ‘50s, would be shut down. continue reading »

On any given day, you’ll find Officer Michelle McMillian patrolling the streets of the Northeast. She’s not a police officer, or a parking authority employee, though she’s been mistaken as both.

McMillian is an officer with SWEEP, the Department of Streets’ Streets & Walkways Education and Enforcement Program. The 30-year city employee was at last night’s Upper Holmesburg Civic Association meeting to talk about recycling.

“This area is not doing that well,” McMillian told the 20 or so residents in attendance about their trash and recycling habits. She cited some of the main problems she and her colleagues see as they patrol the streets: continue reading »

Holmesburg Civic Association's December meeting. Photo by Christopher Wink for NEast Philly.

The main topic of last night’s Holmesburg Civic Association was Police Service Areas — and why a commander from the 8th District  wasn’t there to explain them.

As the 8th District gets ready to launch Police Service Areas — breaking the district into three patrol zones — residents of Holmesburg, which sits in half the 8th and 15th districts, have questions. continue reading »

Q: So they’re finally planning on tearing down Liddonfield Homes. Do you think the home values will really improve in Upper Holmesburg?

A: Yes.

Last year, the average sold price on the closest blocks adjacent to Megargee Street and Tolbut Street was $127,000, more than 5 percent lower than the rest of the 19136 zip code. This is a good example to show that all real estate is local. Very local. continue reading »