Some cool pennsylvania real estate images:
Pittsburgh - East Liberty: Motor Square Garden
Image by wallyg
Motor Square Garden, also known as East Liberty Market, at 5900 Baum Boulevard, was built from 1898 to 1900 to the design of Peabody and Stearns. It originally served as a retail market, financed by the by the Mellon family as a city market after one of their real estate subdivisions failed to sell enough houses, but in 1915 was bought by the new Pittsburgh Automobile Association as a site for its auto shows. but in 1915 the. In the 1920s, it came into use as a sports venue, especially for boxing, and was used intermittently as the home court of the University of Pittsburgh's basketball team until the opening of Pitt Pavilion inside Pitt Stadium in 1925. By the 1940s it was used as a new car dealership. In 1988, the Automobile Association of America (AAA) bought the property. Landmarks Design Associates of Pittsburgh redesigned it as an upscale shopping mall. The retail mall failed, but AAA expanded to occupy the building, along with a tenant, the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing.
The exterior of the beaux arts building features a large tin-clad, steel-framed blue dome and a yellow brick facade. The industrial interior has a large atrium with exposed steel girders and skylights above.
Motor Square Garden was designated a landmark by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation in 1975.
National Register #77001121 (1977)
Philadelphia - Society Hill: South Street
Image by wallyg
This arch, looking west down South Street, is situated over I-95 and the walkway connects pedestrians with Penn's Landing and Columbus Boulevard.
Originally named Cedar Street in William Penn's plan of Philadelphia, South Street was the traditional southern boundary of Philadelphia's city limits before the townships of Passyunk and Moyamensing were annexed to the city. Until the 1950s, South Street was known mainly as a garment district when city planner Edmund Bacon proposed the construction of the "Crosstown Expressway"- a short limited-access expressway connecting the Schuylkill Expressway and I-95 by cutting a swath along South Street. Although never progressing past the planning stage, the drop in real estate values resulting from the uncertainty attracted artists and counterculture-types. Throughout the 60's and 70's, South Street thrived as the center of the local music community and launched many careers including that of Kenn Kweder (The Bard of South Street), George Thorogood and Robert Hazard. As the calendar turned to the 80's, South Street's fame grew, and with it an influx of tourism that infringed on the neighborhood community. Many of the famous clubs closed, replaced instead by large chain stores and shops. Today the bohemian vibe still survives to a point, but instead embedded in a large outdoor mall setting.
