Nice Pennsylvania Real Estate photos

A few nice pennsylvania real estate images I found:

DSC_0603

Image by dziner

Nice Pennsylvania Real Estate photos

Check out these pennsylvania real estate images:

Detail of Chinese Friendship Arch 05 - Chinatown - DC

Image by Tim Evanson
Detail of the Friendship Archway in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown.

Determined to save Chinatown as a tourist attraction, in 1986 the city authorized the construction of the Friendship Archway, a million traditional Chinese gate which straddles H Street NW. It was designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu. Symoblizing not only Chinatown but D.C.'s "sister city" status with Beijing, the Friendship Arch is the largest freestanding traditionally constructed Chinese-style arch anywhere in the world.

D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884. But it wasn't where it is now.

The original Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met. This was the site of Center Market. Back in the days before refrigeration and corporate ownership of food distribution, people around the United States shopped at privately or publicly owned farmer's markets. D.C.'s food markets were almost all privately owned, and suffered from poor hygiene. Shopping for food meant hoping you didn't come down with the hershey-squirts from the diseases your food would be infected with. The city itself decided to act by building a state-of-the-art market, complete with running water, ice house, and mechanical refrigeration. This was Center Market, and it was so immensely popular that nearly all the downtown trolley lines converged there.

Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area around Center Market in noticeable numbers as early as 1880. By 1884, the area was known as "Chinatown." As many as 15,000 people lived there. That's an astonishing number, considering that most buildings were only two or three stories high. People were just jammed into Chinatown.

D.C.'s original Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935. Interestingly, throughout the 1800s, the federal government was so small that it could be housed in just five or six three-story office buildings. By 1900, however, it was clear that the federal government needed to grow. In 1926, Congress finally approved construction of six new massive federal office buildings. After two years of discussion, it was decided that the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue had to be totally torn down and these new office buildings constructed there. That was the beginning of Federal Triangle -- the largest conglomeration of federal office buildings anywhere in the country. The first buildings constructed were the Department of Commerce, the Internal Revenue Service building, and the Labor/ICC building (now the headquarters of the EPA). At first these buildings just uprooted the brothels, criminal hideouts, and gambling dens that formed D.C.'s infamous Murder Bay. But as Federal Triangle construction moved eastward, Chinatown had to go. Construction of the National Archives and the Apex Building (which houses the Federal Trade Commission) forced Chinatown to move.

Chinatown had a very well-organized community, however, composed of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and well-respected citizens. They quite literally looked for a place in the city where everyone could move together -- lock, stock, and barrel. They chose the current location on H Street NW.

At its peak, the "new" Chinatown extended from G Street NW north to Massachusetts Avenue NW, and from 9th Street NW east to 5th Street NW. But this only lasted for about 50 years. The 1968 riots which came after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many businesses to flee downtown D.C. Chinatown's businesses, too, fell on hard times and many of them closed. Wealthy and middle-class Asian citizens fled for the suburbs, leaving many houses and apartments unoccupied. A mainstay of the community was the OCA Bank, but when it closed Chinatown emptied even further.

Chinatown was saved when the Gallery Place Metro station (Blue and Orange lines) opened in 1976.

But Chinatown now is in serious decline. In 1993, Abe Pollin built the MCI Center on two whole city blocks bounded by 6th and 7th Streets NW and F and H Streets NW. The arena opened in 1997, and was renamed the Verizon Center after Verizon purchased the near-bankrupt MCI communications company.

In 1999, wealthy regional real estate investors built a vast new 13-story mixed-use shopping and housing complex over the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Gallery Place (the building) opened in the fall of 2004. It not only revitalized Chinatown, but revitalized the entire East End. Extensive construction began throughout the area as consumers, tourists, and young people flooded the area. Huge swaths of Chinatown were renovated and turned into restaurants, trendy bars, and up-scale shops.

Unfortunately, this caused rents to skyrocket, and pushed most of the Chinese population of D.C's Chinatown into Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Da Hua market, the last full-service Chinese grocery, closed in 2005. The D.C. Office of Planning created a "cultural redevelopment plan" aimed at bringing Chinese food street vendors back to the area and building an Asian-American international business center. But that was in 2008, and nothing has been implemented as of 2012.

Detail of Chinese Friendship Arch 04 - Chinatown - DC

Image by Tim Evanson
Detail of the Friendship Archway in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown.

Determined to save Chinatown as a tourist attraction, in 1986 the city authorized the construction of the Friendship Archway, a million traditional Chinese gate which straddles H Street NW. It was designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu. Symoblizing not only Chinatown but D.C.'s "sister city" status with Beijing, the Friendship Arch is the largest freestanding traditionally constructed Chinese-style arch anywhere in the world.

D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884. But it wasn't where it is now.

The original Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met. This was the site of Center Market. Back in the days before refrigeration and corporate ownership of food distribution, people around the United States shopped at privately or publicly owned farmer's markets. D.C.'s food markets were almost all privately owned, and suffered from poor hygiene. Shopping for food meant hoping you didn't come down with the hershey-squirts from the diseases your food would be infected with. The city itself decided to act by building a state-of-the-art market, complete with running water, ice house, and mechanical refrigeration. This was Center Market, and it was so immensely popular that nearly all the downtown trolley lines converged there.

Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area around Center Market in noticeable numbers as early as 1880. By 1884, the area was known as "Chinatown." As many as 15,000 people lived there. That's an astonishing number, considering that most buildings were only two or three stories high. People were just jammed into Chinatown.

D.C.'s original Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935. Interestingly, throughout the 1800s, the federal government was so small that it could be housed in just five or six three-story office buildings. By 1900, however, it was clear that the federal government needed to grow. In 1926, Congress finally approved construction of six new massive federal office buildings. After two years of discussion, it was decided that the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue had to be totally torn down and these new office buildings constructed there. That was the beginning of Federal Triangle -- the largest conglomeration of federal office buildings anywhere in the country. The first buildings constructed were the Department of Commerce, the Internal Revenue Service building, and the Labor/ICC building (now the headquarters of the EPA). At first these buildings just uprooted the brothels, criminal hideouts, and gambling dens that formed D.C.'s infamous Murder Bay. But as Federal Triangle construction moved eastward, Chinatown had to go. Construction of the National Archives and the Apex Building (which houses the Federal Trade Commission) forced Chinatown to move.

Chinatown had a very well-organized community, however, composed of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and well-respected citizens. They quite literally looked for a place in the city where everyone could move together -- lock, stock, and barrel. They chose the current location on H Street NW.

At its peak, the "new" Chinatown extended from G Street NW north to Massachusetts Avenue NW, and from 9th Street NW east to 5th Street NW. But this only lasted for about 50 years. The 1968 riots which came after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many businesses to flee downtown D.C. Chinatown's businesses, too, fell on hard times and many of them closed. Wealthy and middle-class Asian citizens fled for the suburbs, leaving many houses and apartments unoccupied. A mainstay of the community was the OCA Bank, but when it closed Chinatown emptied even further.

Chinatown was saved when the Gallery Place Metro station (Blue and Orange lines) opened in 1976.

But Chinatown now is in serious decline. In 1993, Abe Pollin built the MCI Center on two whole city blocks bounded by 6th and 7th Streets NW and F and H Streets NW. The arena opened in 1997, and was renamed the Verizon Center after Verizon purchased the near-bankrupt MCI communications company.

In 1999, wealthy regional real estate investors built a vast new 13-story mixed-use shopping and housing complex over the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Gallery Place (the building) opened in the fall of 2004. It not only revitalized Chinatown, but revitalized the entire East End. Extensive construction began throughout the area as consumers, tourists, and young people flooded the area. Huge swaths of Chinatown were renovated and turned into restaurants, trendy bars, and up-scale shops.

Unfortunately, this caused rents to skyrocket, and pushed most of the Chinese population of D.C's Chinatown into Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Da Hua market, the last full-service Chinese grocery, closed in 2005. The D.C. Office of Planning created a "cultural redevelopment plan" aimed at bringing Chinese food street vendors back to the area and building an Asian-American international business center. But that was in 2008, and nothing has been implemented as of 2012.

Cool Pennsylvania Real Estate images

Some cool pennsylvania real estate images:

02.MichaelNine.DupontCircle.WDC.26mar07

Image by Elvert Barnes
Michael Nine . Dupont Circle . NW WDC . Monday evening, 26 March 2007 . Elvert Xavier Barnes Photography

Michael Nine
Real Estate Agent
Licensed in VA & DC
Previews Property Specialist
Coldwell Banker - Residential Brokerage
2828 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
WDC 20007

www.Michael9RealEstate.com
cell 202-468-1080
MichaelNine@yahoo.com

Looking SE at Gallery Place Building 01 - Chinatown - DC

Image by Tim Evanson
Looking southeast down 7th Street NW at the Gallery Building in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown. The faux-Chinese rotunda with video screens stands atop the Gallery Place Metro station. The Friendship Archway is just visible to the left. The Verizon Center is just visible to the right (through the tree limbs).

D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884. But it wasn't where it is now.

The original Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met. This was the site of Center Market. Back in the days before refrigeration and corporate ownership of food distribution, people around the United States shopped at privately or publicly owned farmer's markets. D.C.'s food markets were almost all privately owned, and suffered from poor hygiene. Shopping for food meant hoping you didn't come down with the hershey-squirts from the diseases your food would be infected with. The city itself decided to act by building a state-of-the-art market, complete with running water, ice house, and mechanical refrigeration. This was Center Market, and it was so immensely popular that nearly all the downtown trolley lines converged there.

Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area around Center Market in noticeable numbers as early as 1880. By 1884, the area was known as "Chinatown." As many as 15,000 people lived there. That's an astonishing number, considering that most buildings were only two or three stories high. People were just jammed into Chinatown.

D.C.'s original Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935. Interestingly, throughout the 1800s, the federal government was so small that it could be housed in just five or six three-story office buildings. By 1900, however, it was clear that the federal government needed to grow. In 1926, Congress finally approved construction of six new massive federal office buildings. After two years of discussion, it was decided that the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue had to be totally torn down and these new office buildings constructed there. That was the beginning of Federal Triangle -- the largest conglomeration of federal office buildings anywhere in the country. The first buildings constructed were the Department of Commerce, the Internal Revenue Service building, and the Labor/ICC building (now the headquarters of the EPA). At first these buildings just uprooted the brothels, criminal hideouts, and gambling dens that formed D.C.'s infamous Murder Bay. But as Federal Triangle construction moved eastward, Chinatown had to go. Construction of the National Archives and the Apex Building (which houses the Federal Trade Commission) forced Chinatown to move.

Chinatown had a very well-organized community, however, composed of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and well-respected citizens. They quite literally looked for a place in the city where everyone could move together -- lock, stock, and barrel. They chose the current location on H Street NW.

At its peak, the "new" Chinatown extended from G Street NW north to Massachusetts Avenue NW, and from 9th Street NW east to 5th Street NW. But this only lasted for about 50 years. The 1968 riots which came after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many businesses to flee downtown D.C. Chinatown's businesses, too, fell on hard times and many of them closed. Wealthy and middle-class Asian citizens fled for the suburbs, leaving many houses and apartments unoccupied. A mainstay of the community was the OCA Bank, but when it closed Chinatown emptied even further.

Chinatown was saved when the Gallery Place Metro station (Blue and Orange lines) opened in 1976. Determined to save Chinatown as a tourist attraction, in 1986 the city authorized the construction of the Friendship Archway, a million traditional Chinese gate designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu. Symoblizing not only Chinatown but D.C.'s "sister city" status with Beijing, the Friendship Arch is the largest freestanding traditionally constructed Chinese-style arch anywhere in the world.

But Chinatown now is in serious decline. In 1993, Abe Pollin built the MCI Center on two whole city blocks bounded by 6th and 7th Streets NW and F and H Streets NW. The arena opened in 1997, and was renamed the Verizon Center after Verizon purchased the near-bankrupt MCI communications company.

In 1999, wealthy regional real estate investors built a vast new 13-story mixed-use shopping and housing complex over the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Gallery Place (the building) opened in the fall of 2004. It not only revitalized Chinatown, but revitalized the entire East End. Extensive construction began throughout the area as consumers, tourists, and young people flooded the area. Huge swaths of Chinatown were renovated and turned into restaurants, trendy bars, and up-scale shops.

Unfortunately, this caused rents to skyrocket, and pushed most of the Chinese population of D.C's Chinatown into Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Da Hua market, the last full-service Chinese grocery, closed in 2005. The D.C. Office of Planning created a "cultural redevelopment plan" aimed at bringing Chinese food street vendors back to the area and building an Asian-American international business center. But that was in 2008, and nothing has been implemented as of 2012.

The huge video screens, bright neon lights, trendy stores, and fast-food restaurants (like Chopt, Fuddruckers, TGI Friday's, Chipotle, etc.) draw hundreds of rowdy teenagers to Chinatown. The area is now rife with crime, and D.C. Police, D.C. Housing Police, and anti-gang detectives constantly work and patrol the area to stop street brawls between rival gangs. The Gallery Place metro station is the worst in the system for crime (largely stolen iPods, wallets, and cell phones). Many teens hang out on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery, a block south of this intersection -- taunting one another, eating food from McDonald's, and planning thefts.

I kid you not.

Chinatown has been called "D.C.'s Times Square." It has become a terrible problem.

Mixed-Density

Image by lsc21
This photo was taken a block or so off Spruce Street in Philadelphia's Society Hill. (thanks twoeightnine) Many of the townhomes in this district date back to the 19th and late 18th century. But this photo is a good example of how high density real estate is slowly chaniging the face of the city and the character of historic neighborhoods.

I've nothing against high-rises. In fact, I'm trying to talk my wife from our suburban home into one of the many high-rises sprouting up in Center City. It's just interesting to see these architectural styles juxtaposed.

Nice Pennsylvania Real Estate photos

Some cool pennsylvania real estate images:

Garage w/ Tree

Image by michaelgoodin
Neville Island, PA

Cool Pennsylvania Real Estate images

Check out these pennsylvania real estate images:

Landscape #73

Image by michaelgoodin
Beechview
Pittsburgh, PA

Yashica Mat TLR
Kodak Plus-X 125, 120 b&w film @ 250
HC-110, 1+50 @ 11:00 min

Cool Pennsylvania Real Estate images

A few nice pennsylvania real estate images I found:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Castle For Sale - Church For Sale In Pennsylvania

Image by International Real Estate Listings
This brand new Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Castle For Sale - Church For Sale In Pennsylvania image was just uploaded online at the World’s top international real estate site www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/

Check out the listing details here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/7638/philadelphia...

Check out all of its pictures here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/add_images/7638/c...

Social Media is an important part to online marketing these days and here at IREL we are in front of the competition. Let us make your real estate listing go viral by manually mass submitting it with Facebook “likes”, Twitter “retweets”, Pinterest “pin its”, and Google “plus ones.” And if for any reason we do not get you more social media interactions than we promise…we will give you (over) 2 in FREE site upgrades. Check out this link for full details

www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/social_media_blitz

DSC_0604

Image by dziner

Nice Pennsylvania Real Estate photos

A few nice pennsylvania real estate images I found:

Chinese Friendship Arch and Gallery Place Building 02 - Chinatown - DC

Image by Tim Evanson
Looking east down H Street NW at the Friendship Archway in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown. The building with the faux-Chinese rotunda, video screens, and beige and green towers is the Gallery Place building. The building to the left is Galley Tower, being renovated as of early 2012.

D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884. But it wasn't where it is now.

The original Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met. This was the site of Center Market. Back in the days before refrigeration and corporate ownership of food distribution, people around the United States shopped at privately or publicly owned farmer's markets. D.C.'s food markets were almost all privately owned, and suffered from poor hygiene. Shopping for food meant hoping you didn't come down with the hershey-squirts from the diseases your food would be infected with. The city itself decided to act by building a state-of-the-art market, complete with running water, ice house, and mechanical refrigeration. This was Center Market, and it was so immensely popular that nearly all the downtown trolley lines converged there.

Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area around Center Market in noticeable numbers as early as 1880. By 1884, the area was known as "Chinatown." As many as 15,000 people lived there. That's an astonishing number, considering that most buildings were only two or three stories high. People were just jammed into Chinatown.

D.C.'s original Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935. Interestingly, throughout the 1800s, the federal government was so small that it could be housed in just five or six three-story office buildings. By 1900, however, it was clear that the federal government needed to grow. In 1926, Congress finally approved construction of six new massive federal office buildings. After two years of discussion, it was decided that the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue had to be totally torn down and these new office buildings constructed there. That was the beginning of Federal Triangle -- the largest conglomeration of federal office buildings anywhere in the country. The first buildings constructed were the Department of Commerce, the Internal Revenue Service building, and the Labor/ICC building (now the headquarters of the EPA). At first these buildings just uprooted the brothels, criminal hideouts, and gambling dens that formed D.C.'s infamous Murder Bay. But as Federal Triangle construction moved eastward, Chinatown had to go. Construction of the National Archives and the Apex Building (which houses the Federal Trade Commission) forced Chinatown to move.

Chinatown had a very well-organized community, however, composed of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and well-respected citizens. They quite literally looked for a place in the city where everyone could move together -- lock, stock, and barrel. They chose the current location on H Street NW.

At its peak, the "new" Chinatown extended from G Street NW north to Massachusetts Avenue NW, and from 9th Street NW east to 5th Street NW. But this only lasted for about 50 years. The 1968 riots which came after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many businesses to flee downtown D.C. Chinatown's businesses, too, fell on hard times and many of them closed. Wealthy and middle-class Asian citizens fled for the suburbs, leaving many houses and apartments unoccupied. A mainstay of the community was the OCA Bank, but when it closed Chinatown emptied even further.

Chinatown was saved when the Gallery Place Metro station (Blue and Orange lines) opened in 1976. Determined to save Chinatown as a tourist attraction, in 1986 the city authorized the construction of the Friendship Archway, a million traditional Chinese gate designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu. Symoblizing not only Chinatown but D.C.'s "sister city" status with Beijing, the Friendship Arch is the largest freestanding traditionally constructed Chinese-style arch anywhere in the world.

But Chinatown now is in serious decline. In 1993, Abe Pollin built the MCI Center on two whole city blocks bounded by 6th and 7th Streets NW and F and H Streets NW. The arena opened in 1997, and was renamed the Verizon Center after Verizon purchased the near-bankrupt MCI communications company.

In 1999, wealthy regional real estate investors built a vast new 13-story mixed-use shopping and housing complex over the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Gallery Place (the building) opened in the fall of 2004. It not only revitalized Chinatown, but revitalized the entire East End. Extensive construction began throughout the area as consumers, tourists, and young people flooded the area. Huge swaths of Chinatown were renovated and turned into restaurants, trendy bars, and up-scale shops.

Unfortunately, this caused rents to skyrocket, and pushed most of the Chinese population of D.C's Chinatown into Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Da Hua market, the last full-service Chinese grocery, closed in 2005. The D.C. Office of Planning created a "cultural redevelopment plan" aimed at bringing Chinese food street vendors back to the area and building an Asian-American international business center. But that was in 2008, and nothing has been implemented as of 2012.

The building with the scaffolding is 675 H Street NW. In February 2011, it was purchased by local developer Douglas Jemal, who owns most of the western side of 7th Street NW. Called "Gallery Tower," the mixed-use development is asking a whopping 0 p.s.f. fo retail tenants -- a third higher than Union Station and more than 200 percent higher than in Georgetown (which rents are generally 0 to 0 p.s.f.) Jemal has said that he intends to alter the facade of the building so that it looks like his storefronts on 7th Street NW.

The huge video screens, bright neon lights, trendy stores, and fast-food restaurants (like Chopt, Fuddruckers, TGI Friday's, Chipotle, etc.) draw hundreds of rowdy teenagers to Chinatown. The area is now rife with crime, and D.C. Police, D.C. Housing Police, and anti-gang detectives constantly work and patrol the area to stop street brawls between rival gangs. The Gallery Place metro station is the worst in the system for crime (largely stolen iPods, wallets, and cell phones). Many teens hang out on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery, a block south of this intersection -- taunting one another, eating food from McDonald's, and planning thefts.

I kid you not.

Chinatown has been called "D.C.'s Times Square." It has become a terrible problem.

Dragon over banner - Chinatown - DC

Image by Tim Evanson
A Chinese-style dragon looms over a banner in Mandarin in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown.

D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884. But it wasn't where it is now.

The original Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met. This was the site of Center Market. Back in the days before refrigeration and corporate ownership of food distribution, people around the United States shopped at privately or publicly owned farmer's markets. D.C.'s food markets were almost all privately owned, and suffered from poor hygiene. Shopping for food meant hoping you didn't come down with the hershey-squirts from the diseases your food would be infected with. The city itself decided to act by building a state-of-the-art market, complete with running water, ice house, and mechanical refrigeration. This was Center Market, and it was so immensely popular that nearly all the downtown trolley lines converged there.

Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area around Center Market in noticeable numbers as early as 1880. By 1884, the area was known as "Chinatown." As many as 15,000 people lived there. That's an astonishing number, considering that most buildings were only two or three stories high. People were just jammed into Chinatown.

D.C.'s original Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935. Interestingly, throughout the 1800s, the federal government was so small that it could be housed in just five or six three-story office buildings. By 1900, however, it was clear that the federal government needed to grow. In 1926, Congress finally approved construction of six new massive federal office buildings. After two years of discussion, it was decided that the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue had to be totally torn down and these new office buildings constructed there. That was the beginning of Federal Triangle -- the largest conglomeration of federal office buildings anywhere in the country. The first buildings constructed were the Department of Commerce, the Internal Revenue Service building, and the Labor/ICC building (now the headquarters of the EPA). At first these buildings just uprooted the brothels, criminal hideouts, and gambling dens that formed D.C.'s infamous Murder Bay. But as Federal Triangle construction moved eastward, Chinatown had to go. Construction of the National Archives and the Apex Building (which houses the Federal Trade Commission) forced Chinatown to move.

Chinatown had a very well-organized community, however, composed of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and well-respected citizens. They quite literally looked for a place in the city where everyone could move together -- lock, stock, and barrel. They chose the current location on H Street NW.

At its peak, the "new" Chinatown extended from G Street NW north to Massachusetts Avenue NW, and from 9th Street NW east to 5th Street NW. But this only lasted for about 50 years. The 1968 riots which came after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many businesses to flee downtown D.C. Chinatown's businesses, too, fell on hard times and many of them closed. Wealthy and middle-class Asian citizens fled for the suburbs, leaving many houses and apartments unoccupied. A mainstay of the community was the OCA Bank, but when it closed Chinatown emptied even further.

Chinatown was saved when the Gallery Place Metro station (Blue and Orange lines) opened in 1976. Determined to save Chinatown as a tourist attraction, in 1986 the city authorized the construction of the Friendship Archway, a million traditional Chinese gate designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu. Symoblizing not only Chinatown but D.C.'s "sister city" status with Beijing, the Friendship Arch is the largest freestanding traditionally constructed Chinese-style arch anywhere in the world.

But Chinatown now is in serious decline. In 1993, Abe Pollin built the MCI Center on two whole city blocks bounded by 6th and 7th Streets NW and F and H Streets NW. The arena opened in 1997, and was renamed the Verizon Center after Verizon purchased the near-bankrupt MCI communications company.

In 1999, wealthy regional real estate investors built a vast new 13-story mixed-use shopping and housing complex over the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Gallery Place (the building) opened in the fall of 2004. It not only revitalized Chinatown, but revitalized the entire East End. Extensive construction began throughout the area as consumers, tourists, and young people flooded the area. Huge swaths of Chinatown were renovated and turned into restaurants, trendy bars, and up-scale shops.

Unfortunately, this caused rents to skyrocket, and pushed most of the Chinese population of D.C's Chinatown into Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Da Hua market, the last full-service Chinese grocery, closed in 2005. The D.C. Office of Planning created a "cultural redevelopment plan" aimed at bringing Chinese food street vendors back to the area and building an Asian-American international business center. But that was in 2008, and nothing has been implemented as of 2012.

Nice Pennsylvania Real Estate photos

Some cool pennsylvania real estate images:

Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, USA Castle For Sale - Church For Sale In Mt Carmel, Pennsyvani

Image by International Real Estate Listings
This brand new Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, USA Castle For Sale - Church For Sale In Mt Carmel, Pennsyvani image was just uploaded online at the World’s top international real estate site www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/

Check out the listing details here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/7623/mount_carmel...

Check out all of its pictures here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/add_images/7623/c...

Social Media is an important part to online marketing these days and here at IREL we are in front of the competition. Let us make your real estate listing go viral by manually mass submitting it with Facebook “likes”, Twitter “retweets”, Pinterest “pin its”, and Google “plus ones.” And if for any reason we do not get you more social media interactions than we promise…we will give you (over) 2 in FREE site upgrades. Check out this link for full details

www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/social_media_blitz

Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, USA Apartment For Sale - Church For Sale In Mt Carmel, Pennsyvan

Image by International Real Estate Listings
This brand new Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, USA Apartment For Sale - Church For Sale In Mt Carmel, Pennsyvan image was just uploaded online at the World’s top international real estate site www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/

Check out the listing details here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/7198/mount_carmel...

Check out all of its pictures here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/add_images/7198/a...

Imagine turning on your computer, and seeing in your inbox several international real estate deals that pique your interest? Now, imagine getting this service absolutely free? Watch this (free) video and get all of the details

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DSC_0596

Image by dziner

Looking SE at Gallery Place Building 04 - Chinatown - DC

Check out these pennsylvania real estate images:

Looking SE at Gallery Place Building 04 - Chinatown - DC

Image by Tim Evanson
Looking southeast down 7th Street NW at the Gallery Building in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown. The faux-Chinese rotunda (lower left) stands atop the Gallery Place Metro station.

D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884. But it wasn't where it is now.

The original Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met. This was the site of Center Market. Back in the days before refrigeration and corporate ownership of food distribution, people around the United States shopped at privately or publicly owned farmer's markets. D.C.'s food markets were almost all privately owned, and suffered from poor hygiene. Shopping for food meant hoping you didn't come down with the hershey-squirts from the diseases your food would be infected with. The city itself decided to act by building a state-of-the-art market, complete with running water, ice house, and mechanical refrigeration. This was Center Market, and it was so immensely popular that nearly all the downtown trolley lines converged there.

Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area around Center Market in noticeable numbers as early as 1880. By 1884, the area was known as "Chinatown." As many as 15,000 people lived there. That's an astonishing number, considering that most buildings were only two or three stories high. People were just jammed into Chinatown.

D.C.'s original Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935. Interestingly, throughout the 1800s, the federal government was so small that it could be housed in just five or six three-story office buildings. By 1900, however, it was clear that the federal government needed to grow. In 1926, Congress finally approved construction of six new massive federal office buildings. After two years of discussion, it was decided that the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue had to be totally torn down and these new office buildings constructed there. That was the beginning of Federal Triangle -- the largest conglomeration of federal office buildings anywhere in the country. The first buildings constructed were the Department of Commerce, the Internal Revenue Service building, and the Labor/ICC building (now the headquarters of the EPA). At first these buildings just uprooted the brothels, criminal hideouts, and gambling dens that formed D.C.'s infamous Murder Bay. But as Federal Triangle construction moved eastward, Chinatown had to go. Construction of the National Archives and the Apex Building (which houses the Federal Trade Commission) forced Chinatown to move.

Chinatown had a very well-organized community, however, composed of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and well-respected citizens. They quite literally looked for a place in the city where everyone could move together -- lock, stock, and barrel. They chose the current location on H Street NW.

At its peak, the "new" Chinatown extended from G Street NW north to Massachusetts Avenue NW, and from 9th Street NW east to 5th Street NW. But this only lasted for about 50 years. The 1968 riots which came after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many businesses to flee downtown D.C. Chinatown's businesses, too, fell on hard times and many of them closed. Wealthy and middle-class Asian citizens fled for the suburbs, leaving many houses and apartments unoccupied. A mainstay of the community was the OCA Bank, but when it closed Chinatown emptied even further.

Chinatown was saved when the Gallery Place Metro station (Blue and Orange lines) opened in 1976. Determined to save Chinatown as a tourist attraction, in 1986 the city authorized the construction of the Friendship Archway, a million traditional Chinese gate designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu. Symoblizing not only Chinatown but D.C.'s "sister city" status with Beijing, the Friendship Arch is the largest freestanding traditionally constructed Chinese-style arch anywhere in the world.

But Chinatown now is in serious decline. In 1993, Abe Pollin built the MCI Center on two whole city blocks bounded by 6th and 7th Streets NW and F and H Streets NW. The arena opened in 1997, and was renamed the Verizon Center after Verizon purchased the near-bankrupt MCI communications company.

In 1999, wealthy regional real estate investors built a vast new 13-story mixed-use shopping and housing complex over the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Gallery Place (the building) opened in the fall of 2004. It not only revitalized Chinatown, but revitalized the entire East End. Extensive construction began throughout the area as consumers, tourists, and young people flooded the area. Huge swaths of Chinatown were renovated and turned into restaurants, trendy bars, and up-scale shops.

Unfortunately, this caused rents to skyrocket, and pushed most of the Chinese population of D.C's Chinatown into Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Da Hua market, the last full-service Chinese grocery, closed in 2005. The D.C. Office of Planning created a "cultural redevelopment plan" aimed at bringing Chinese food street vendors back to the area and building an Asian-American international business center. But that was in 2008, and nothing has been implemented as of 2012.

The huge video screens, bright neon lights, trendy stores, and fast-food restaurants (like Chopt, Fuddruckers, TGI Friday's, Chipotle, etc.) draw hundreds of rowdy teenagers to Chinatown. The area is now rife with crime, and D.C. Police, D.C. Housing Police, and anti-gang detectives constantly work and patrol the area to stop street brawls between rival gangs. The Gallery Place metro station is the worst in the system for crime (largely stolen iPods, wallets, and cell phones). Many teens hang out on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery, a block south of this intersection -- taunting one another, eating food from McDonald's, and planning thefts.

I kid you not.

Chinatown has been called "D.C.'s Times Square." It has become a terrible problem.

Looking SE at Gallery Place Building 02 - Chinatown - DC

Image by Tim Evanson
Looking southeast across 7th Street NW at the Gallery Building in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown. The faux-Chinese rotunda with video screens stands atop the Gallery Place Metro station.

D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884. But it wasn't where it is now.

The original Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met. This was the site of Center Market. Back in the days before refrigeration and corporate ownership of food distribution, people around the United States shopped at privately or publicly owned farmer's markets. D.C.'s food markets were almost all privately owned, and suffered from poor hygiene. Shopping for food meant hoping you didn't come down with the hershey-squirts from the diseases your food would be infected with. The city itself decided to act by building a state-of-the-art market, complete with running water, ice house, and mechanical refrigeration. This was Center Market, and it was so immensely popular that nearly all the downtown trolley lines converged there.

Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area around Center Market in noticeable numbers as early as 1880. By 1884, the area was known as "Chinatown." As many as 15,000 people lived there. That's an astonishing number, considering that most buildings were only two or three stories high. People were just jammed into Chinatown.

D.C.'s original Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935. Interestingly, throughout the 1800s, the federal government was so small that it could be housed in just five or six three-story office buildings. By 1900, however, it was clear that the federal government needed to grow. In 1926, Congress finally approved construction of six new massive federal office buildings. After two years of discussion, it was decided that the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue had to be totally torn down and these new office buildings constructed there. That was the beginning of Federal Triangle -- the largest conglomeration of federal office buildings anywhere in the country. The first buildings constructed were the Department of Commerce, the Internal Revenue Service building, and the Labor/ICC building (now the headquarters of the EPA). At first these buildings just uprooted the brothels, criminal hideouts, and gambling dens that formed D.C.'s infamous Murder Bay. But as Federal Triangle construction moved eastward, Chinatown had to go. Construction of the National Archives and the Apex Building (which houses the Federal Trade Commission) forced Chinatown to move.

Chinatown had a very well-organized community, however, composed of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and well-respected citizens. They quite literally looked for a place in the city where everyone could move together -- lock, stock, and barrel. They chose the current location on H Street NW.

At its peak, the "new" Chinatown extended from G Street NW north to Massachusetts Avenue NW, and from 9th Street NW east to 5th Street NW. But this only lasted for about 50 years. The 1968 riots which came after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many businesses to flee downtown D.C. Chinatown's businesses, too, fell on hard times and many of them closed. Wealthy and middle-class Asian citizens fled for the suburbs, leaving many houses and apartments unoccupied. A mainstay of the community was the OCA Bank, but when it closed Chinatown emptied even further.

Chinatown was saved when the Gallery Place Metro station (Blue and Orange lines) opened in 1976. Determined to save Chinatown as a tourist attraction, in 1986 the city authorized the construction of the Friendship Archway, a million traditional Chinese gate designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu. Symoblizing not only Chinatown but D.C.'s "sister city" status with Beijing, the Friendship Arch is the largest freestanding traditionally constructed Chinese-style arch anywhere in the world.

But Chinatown now is in serious decline. In 1993, Abe Pollin built the MCI Center on two whole city blocks bounded by 6th and 7th Streets NW and F and H Streets NW. The arena opened in 1997, and was renamed the Verizon Center after Verizon purchased the near-bankrupt MCI communications company.

In 1999, wealthy regional real estate investors built a vast new 13-story mixed-use shopping and housing complex over the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Gallery Place (the building) opened in the fall of 2004. It not only revitalized Chinatown, but revitalized the entire East End. Extensive construction began throughout the area as consumers, tourists, and young people flooded the area. Huge swaths of Chinatown were renovated and turned into restaurants, trendy bars, and up-scale shops.

Unfortunately, this caused rents to skyrocket, and pushed most of the Chinese population of D.C's Chinatown into Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Da Hua market, the last full-service Chinese grocery, closed in 2005. The D.C. Office of Planning created a "cultural redevelopment plan" aimed at bringing Chinese food street vendors back to the area and building an Asian-American international business center. But that was in 2008, and nothing has been implemented as of 2012.

The huge video screens, bright neon lights, trendy stores, and fast-food restaurants (like Chopt, Fuddruckers, TGI Friday's, Chipotle, etc.) draw hundreds of rowdy teenagers to Chinatown. The area is now rife with crime, and D.C. Police, D.C. Housing Police, and anti-gang detectives constantly work and patrol the area to stop street brawls between rival gangs. The Gallery Place metro station is the worst in the system for crime (largely stolen iPods, wallets, and cell phones). Many teens hang out on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery, a block south of this intersection -- taunting one another, eating food from McDonald's, and planning thefts.

I kid you not.

Chinatown has been called "D.C.'s Times Square." It has become a terrible problem.

Nice Pennsylvania Real Estate photos

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it's official

Image by pwbaker
winner of the "Clumsiest and Most Inept Neighborhood Re-Naming in Philadelphia" Award: Port Fishington. Encompassing Port Richmond, Fishtown, and Kensington...each of which is, in fact, its own distinct beighborhood...

...And all of which were historically known for 200 years as Greater Kensington

Guess the real estate developers win this time...I mean, again

Bryant Park

A few nice pennsylvania real estate images I found:

Bryant Park

Image by peterjr1961
Gertrude Stein by Jo Davidson

One of five sculptures in the park, this statue honors the trailblazing American author and arts patron Gertrude Stein (1874–1946). Installed in 1992, this casting is based on a model made by Jo Davidson (1883–1952) in Paris in 1923. Its proximity to the New York Public Library reflects Stein’s significant literary contributions—from plays, librettos, and film scripts to biographies, autobiographies, lectures, essays, poems, and novels.

Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Stein was the granddaughter of German-Jewish immigrants. Her father Daniel made a fortune in street-railroads and real estate. Stein spent her early childhood in Vienna and Paris before moving with her family to Oakland, California. She studied psychology with the famous psychologist and philosopher William James (1842–1910) at Radcliffe College in Boston and conducted laboratory experiments there with Hugo Munsterberg. Stein nearly completed a medical degree at Johns Hopkins University, but in 1903 she chose to settle in Paris with her brother Leo, where they befriended Pablo Picasso and became champions of avant garde writers, musicians, and artists, including many early Cubist painters.

Stein’s early literary endeavors were inspired by the spatial concepts explored in Cubism. She developed an experimental use of language that relied upon the sound and rhythms of words as much as their content. In the 1920s she established a cultural salon in Paris, and influenced such writers as Ernest Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Some of Stein’s writings from these years include Three Lives (1909), The Making of Americans (written between 1906 and 1911; published 1925), and Composition as Explanation (1906), an essay based on lectures she had delivered at Cambridge and Oxford.

Her life and relationships were recounted in the humorous and trenchant work, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933), which reflected the life of her longtime companion. In 1934, she traveled to New York, where her opera Four Saints in Three Acts, with music by Virgil Thomson, was a great success performed by an all-black cast. After touring the United States, Stein returned to France, where she and Toklas remained through World War II, living in seclusion in country homes during the German occupation. Stein died on July 27, 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Thomson later wrote music to accompany her work for a posthumously published opera, The Mother of Us All, based on the life of feminist Susan B. Anthony. Stein posed for Jo Davidson in 1920 at his temporary studio in Paris (the sitting is documented in a photograph by Man Ray). Cross-legged and heavy-set, she presented an almost Buddha-like gravity. Davidson, a leading portraitist in twentieth-century America, studied at the Art Students League in New York and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. For a period of time he sculpted at the Bryant Park Studios located opposite this park at 80 West 40th Street. He also sculpted a 1957 portrait bust of Fiorello H. LaGuardia located in Little Flower Playground on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and a full-size figure of poet Walt Whitman at Bear Mountain State Park. This casting of the Stein statue is the eighth in an edition of ten - two others exist in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. The sculpture was a gift of Dr. Maury Leibowitz (1917–1992), vice-chairman and president of Knoedler-Modarco Galleries. It rests on a granite base designed by Kupiec & Koutsomitis, Architects. The statue was unveiled on November 5, 1992, a few months after the park reopened following an extensive redesign and restoration under the auspices of the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation. Now, to borrow a phrase from Stein’s lexicon, there is a “there there,” the sculpture occupying a place of prominence in this formerly empty terrace niche between two sycamores (Platanus occidentalis).

Sculptor:
Jo Davidson
Architect:
Kupiec Koutsomitis
Description:
Seated figure on pedestal on base
Materials:
Figure--bronze; pedestal--light gray "Stanstead" Rock of Ages granite (polished); base: charcoal Cold Springs granite (polished)
Dimensions:
Figure H: 2'9" W: 2' D: 2'; Pedestal H:4'2" W: 2'6" D: 2'6" (includes base); Weight: 225 pounds (figure only)
Cast:
1991
Dedicated:
November 5, 1992
Foundry:
Cavalier-Renaissance Foundry, 250 Smith Street, Bridgeport, CT 06607
Fabricator:
A. Ottavino Corp.
Donor:
Dr. Maury P. Leibovitz
Inscription:
Front of base

GERTRUDE STEIN
1874-1976
BY JO DAVIDSON, 1923
BRONZE CAST 1991 --

Rear of base

GIFT OF
DR. MAURY LEIBOVITZ
TO THE
CITY OF NEW YORK
1992

Exclusionary Covenants

Image by elycefeliz
Exclusionary covenants
In the 1920s and 1930s, covenants that restricted the sale or occupation of real property on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion or social class were common in the United States, where the primary intent was to keep "white" neighbourhoods "white".

Such covenants (also known as racial covenants or racial restrictive covenants) were employed by many real estate developers to "protect" entire subdivisions. The purpose of an exclusionary covenant was to prohibit a buyer of property from reselling, leasing or transferring the property to members of a given race, ethnic origin and/ or religion as specified in the title deed. Some covenants, such as those tied to properties in Forest Hills Gardens, New York, also sought to exclude working class people however this type of social segregation was more commonly achieved through the use of high property prices, minimum cost requirements and application reference checks.

In practice, exclusionary covenants were most typically concerned with keeping out African-Americans, however restrictions against Asian-Americans, Jews and Catholics were not uncommon. For example, the Lake Shore Club District in Pennsylvania, sought to exclude anyone of Negro, Mongolian, Hungarian, Mexican, Greek, Armenian, Austrian, Italian, Russian, Polish, Slavish or Roumanian birth.

Racial covenants emerged during the mid-nineteenth century and started to gain prominence from the 1890s onwards. However it was not until the 1920s that they adopted widespread national significance, a situation that continued until the 1940s.

Some commentators have attributed the popularity of exclusionary covenants at this time as a response to the urbanisation of black Americans following World War I, and the fear of "black invasion" into white neighbourhoods, which they felt would result in depressed property prices, increased nuisance (crime) and social instability, the consequent race riots of 1917-1921 and the 1917 US Supreme Court ruling of Buchanan v. Warley that invalidated the imposition of racially restrictive zoning ordinances (residential segregation based on race) on constitutional grounds.

During the 1920s, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) sponsored several unsuccessful legal challenges against racial covenants. In a blow to campaigners against racial segregation, the legality of racial restrictive covenants was affirmed by the landmark Corrigan v. Buckley 271 U.S. 323 (1926) judgment that ruled that such clauses constituted "private action" and as such were not subject to the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. As a result of this decision, racial restrictive covenants proliferated across the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. Even the invalidation of such a covenant by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1940 case of Hansberry v. Lee did little to reverse the trend because the ruling was based on a technicality and failed to set a legal precedent.

It was not until 1948 that the Shelley v. Kraemer judgment overturned the Corrigan v. Buckley decision in stating that exclusionary covenants were unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment and were therefore legally unenforceable

Racial Restrictive Covenants

Cogswell Temperance Fountain

Image by cliff1066™
Cogswell Temperance Fountain, 1880. Sculptor: Henry D. Cogswell. Location: Indiana Plaza (Pennsylvania Ave. & 7th). Henry D. Cogswell was an eccentric dentist from San Francisco who made a fortune from real estate and mining stocks. He wanted to be remembered forever. He also believed Americans were drinking too much alcohol. So, he paid for the building of a number of water fountains like this all over the United States. Cogswell himself designed each fountain and each is unique. Atop the DC fountain is a water crane; in the center are two entwined dolphins. The Cogswell Fountain in DC no longer has water, although there is a city water fountain located a few feet away. Given the notoriously poor quality of DC's water, one wonders whether Cogswell's scheme to get Washingtonians to drink water for their health is such a great idea. NOTE: For many years, DC had a Cogswell Society. The master of ceremonies at their dinner was known as the "lead Crane". He would offer a toast to Temperance; the proper response (with drink in hand) was "I'll drink to that!"

Nice Pennsylvania Real Estate photos

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.

Shamokin, Pennsylvania, USA Castle For Sale - Church Building For Sale In Shamokin, PA

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Shamokin, Pennsylvania, USA Castle For Sale - Church Building For Sale In Shamokin, PA

Image by International Real Estate Listings
This brand new Shamokin, Pennsylvania, USA Castle For Sale - Church Building For Sale In Shamokin, PA image was just uploaded online at the World’s top international real estate site www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/

Check out the listing details here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/2938/shamokin_pen...

Check out all of its pictures here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/add_images/2938/c...

GOLF COURSE LOT located in the Gran Pacifica development on the coast of Nicaragua. With currently around 200 completed condos, townhomes, and homes…this development is not some “future dream” but a paradise today. On offer is a golf course lot with over 1000 meters (about 11,000 square feet), and is walking distance to the beaches, tennis courts, and restaurants. Get more information (including property video) by following this link

www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/646/carlos_fonsec...

Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, USA Castle For Sale - Church For Sale In Mt Carmel, Pennsylvania

Image by International Real Estate Listings
This brand new Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, USA Castle For Sale - Church For Sale In Mt Carmel, Pennsylvania image was just uploaded online at the World’s top international real estate site www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/

Check out the listing details here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/7364/mount_carmel...

Check out all of its pictures here
www.internationalrealestatelistings.com/add_images/7364/c...

*JUST LAUNCHED* - We are the first online international real estate listing company (crazy enough) to offer a guaranteed service...and we are putting our own money where our mouth is. Place your real estate listing on our site, and our crack pot team of SEO magicians will work behind the scenes to get your listing to show up on page 1 of Google Search – or, we will give you over 2 worth of upgrades. Full details (with taped interviews) can be found here

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylhWVWgcElM

Castle of Sorrow - NY

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Castle of Sorrow - NY

Image by Forsaken Fotos
"Sitting high on a dark hillside outside of Roscoe, Dundas Castle looks like it escaped from the pages of Grimm’s fairy tales. Complete with Gothic windows, turrets, towers, steep parapeted roofs, crumbling walls, and a courtyard overgrown with shrubs and trees, the castle has been a landmark and a source of stories both real and romantic for almost 100 years.
Dundas Castle is the former estate of Ralph Wurts-Dundas. Wurts-Dundas, a grandson of William Wurts of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, was a wealthy and socially prominent New Yorker. The Dundas side of his family were wealthy, landed gentry from Scotland. They added to the holdings in America by marrying into the Philadelphia Wurts family, which had major coal holdings in northeastern Pennsylvania and had built the Delaware and Hudson Canal to carry their coal to market.

The castle is located in what locals know and some maps identify as Craig-e-C1air (also Craigie Clair). The almost thousand acres of land surrounding the castle was amassed in the late 1880s by Bradford L. Gilbert, a noted New York City architect. Gilbert built an estate known as “Beaverkill Lodge” on the property. The hamlet of Craig-e-Clair was named after an Irish fishing village and translates as “Beautiful Mountainside.” Gilbert’s wife was a native of Ireland and chose the name because the Catskill scenery reminded her of home. The property was sold in 1903 to Morris Sternbach. Wurts-Dundas purchased the land and buildings from Sternbach in 1907.

Like many wealthy men of his time he wanted a mountain hideaway for his family and friends. In 1907, he purchased 964 acres of forestland with a view of the Beaverkill near Roscoe. The land had been a fishing retreat complete with a “Swiss” style country house. Not satisfied with the existing structure, Wurts-Dundas set out to build the finest mansion possible incorporating the wooden country house. The design of the castle is thought to have been inspired by late nineteenth century interpretations of medieval European castles constructed in Scotland.

The castle had 36 rooms and legend passed down from generation to generation says that each room had steam heat and electricity long before any home in the township had them. According to Richard Barnes a student who researched the construction of the castle for his English Class, the only native product used in the construction was stone from the Beaverkill River. The roofing slate came from England, the marble for the floors, fireplace and staircases from Italy and the iron gates from France. The fireplace in the reception room was valued at over 00 in 1910. Gold leaf was used to cover it.

Construction on the castle was begun in the early years of the First World War, and ceased in 1924, three years after Wurts-Dundas’ death in 1921. Never fully completed, the building represents an impressive example of the romanticized medievalism that emerged in American culture at the turn of the twentieth century. Although they visited during the construction period, neither Wurts-Dundas and his wife, Josephine – nor anyone else since – has lived in the castle.

When he died in 1921, Wurts-Dundas, who had dropped the hyphenated surname in favor of Dundas, left a fortune of more than forty million dollars. Legend says that Josephine Wurts-Dundas died in a sanitarium not long after Wurts-Dundas died. The castle, property and fortune passed on to their daughter Murial. Murial married James R. Herbert Boone of Baltimore in 1930, but never returned to the Catskills to complete the family fortress.

Buildings on the property include the castle, tall ornate iron gates with stone piers, a one-lane stone bridge on the service road, several “service” buildings along Berry Brook Road and a farm complex in the southwest corner.

In 1949, the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the Masonic Order, a membership organization of African-American Masons headquartered in Manhattan purchased the property from Murial Wurts-Dundas Boone for ,500. The initial plan for the property was to establish a Masonic home for the aged and indigent. This never happened and for many years the property was used as a rural vacation retreat.

The Masons converted the barn at the farm complex into a recreation center and remodeled the old farmhouse for an administration center. The castle was used in the 1950s as a hunting and fishing resort. By 1964, the masons had built a swimming pool, dining pavilion and several new buildings and established Camp Eureka, a summer camp for inner-city youth. Camp Eureka is the property’s primary use today.

In July of 2005, the Masons and the Open Space Institute, Inc. (OSI) announced a cooperative agreement to protect 929 acres of the Camp Eureka/Dundas Castle property.

Through the Open Space Conservancy, OSI acquired a conservation easement from Prince Hall Temple Associates, Inc, a non-profit corporate affiliate of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge in the Beaverkill-Delaware region of the western Catskills.

The conservation easement limits future development of the property and prohibits residential subdivision. It will also establish new programs for Camp Eureka which for close to 50 years Prince Hall has operated to serve youth from inner cities throughout the state, such as Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and, of course, New York City.

This historic agreement between the Masons and the Open Space Institute not only preserves the property and the castle, it insures that generations of inner city youth will continue to enjoy Catskill summers and learn about the environment. Perhaps most important, the agreement preserves and perpetuates the stories and legends of the great mysterious castle on the hillside."

Taken from the page: beaverkillfriends.org/Pages/StoryV2Dundas.html
--
May 1, 2013 The castle sits empty guarded by a caretaker that lives above it on the premises. There is no legal parking to even stop and take a photo from the road of this beauty. No Trespassing Signs are up even on the river side.

Real Estate #31

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Real Estate #31

Image by michaelgoodin
Lawrenceville
Pittsburgh, PA

vacant

Image by Hugo90
Dallastown, Pennsylvania

City Hall, with the Land Trust Building and Annex and Girard Trust Building at left, and the Lincoln-Liberty, Real Estate Trust / Avenue of the Arts, and North American Buildings at right

Image by aidaneus
City Hall, with the Land Trust Building and Annex and Girard Trust Building at left, and the Lincoln-Liberty, Real Estate Trust / Avenue of the Arts, and North American Buildings at right

Yoder-Walker House, New Castle 3

A few nice pennsylvania real estate images I found:

Yoder-Walker House, New Castle 3

Image by Universal Pops
At present, I’m mostly inactive on Flickr for an indefinite period of time. However, I will continue posting photos. I am always appreciative of views and comments; thank you for taking time to look.

The Yoder-Walker House in New Castle, Craig County, Virginia, has an enviable view, situated on a hill with the town of New Castle spread out below and an expansive view of Craig Creek Valley. It’s a fascinating Queen Anne, built about 1890 by William Larose Yoder (1830-1900), formerly of Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, who apparently came to New Castle during the 1890s to participate in the exploitation of the county's mineral reserves. He was also involved in real estate development and speculation. Later it was the residence of Ed Lee Walker, a general merchant and druggist in New Castle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

With the numerous trees (and taken in bad light), this was a challenging house—unfortunately many details are not visible. The house is a 2-story brick structure (and according to the National Register of Historic Places [NRHP] nomination form, provided by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources [VDHR], double-pile brick, 7 course American bond with black penciling). The foundation is stone but faced with rock. It has a complex hipped roof with brick chimneys and numerous gabled dormers—the dormers sides are decorated with pressed metal sheathing in a floral pattern. The windows are 1/1 sash with segmental arched lintels, stone sills and shutters which are louvered and paneled. At the rear is a 2-story side porch with square balusters, and the upper level shows off the millwork with arched wooden spandrels and spindles. There are bay windows facing the porch and bay windows adjoining the 2-story rear porch. The porch entrance is pedimented decorated with a linear pattern inside a triangle; it’s flanked by two Doric-inspired columns on each side. The porch is a wraparound, the roof supported by a series of columns. The entry has two doors. Above the porch is a small balcony (screened in) with molded and chamfered posts and more pressed metal, this time with a diamond-pattern (a quilted look).

The nomination form also provides some information on interior details. Apparently there are also many stained-glass windows with a variety of shaped, but I didn’t see any. It is part of the New Castle Historic District (the 1993 boundary increase) National Register ID #93000497.

Further information is in the NRHP nomination form located at www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Craig/268-0016_Ne...

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Highland Building

Image by sportsedit15224
Like the dowtown Frick Building www.flickr.com/photos/29023375@N04/5829476559/, the Highland Building is another Pittsburgh skyscraper architect Daniel Burnham designed for Henry Clay Frick in 1909.

From about 1850 to 1950, the East Liberty neighborhood was the third-largest business district in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, so it's no surprise that Frick, whose returns from real estate deals nearly matched the pile he made from his coke empire and with Carnegie Steel, would want to be where the action was.

In his book “Pittsburgh, A New Portrait,” University of Pittsburgh professor Franklin Toker writes that Burnham copied features from buildings by his bête noire, Louis Sullivan, who has been called the father of modern American architecture.

Sullivan didn’t hide his distaste for the Beaux-Arts “White City” Burnham helped realize for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Sullivan, who coined the term “form follows function,” wrote in his autobiography that Burnham set the course of American architecture back “for half a century from its date, if not longer.”

In designing the Highland Building, Toker writes that Burnham took the terra cotta ornament design from Sullivan's Carson Pirie Scott Department Store in Chicago, and Sullivan's Guaranty Building in Buffalo inspired the cornice.

This East Liberty landmark, which has stood empty for decades, has been the target of several redevelopment plans – all of which failed.

But recent efforts to turn it into a hotel are getting closer to fruition as state funding for a parking garage, which the potential developers say they need to make the plan viable, has been approved.

While definitive plans for the hotel conversion still haven’t been put forward, the future of the Highland Building is brighter than it has been in nearly 40 years.

Cool Pennsylvania Real Estate images

Some cool pennsylvania real estate images:

Jesse W. Fell, a small marker for a charmed lawyer from Pennsylvania

Image by guano
Our funky little house was built in 1887, over on the high spot on the north side of the street. In 1917 it was moved to the south side of the street, to clear the high spot for a much more elegant house. We were told by the real estate folks that Jesse Fell, just before he died, had our house built for his two spinster daughters to live in. Old Jesse was a surveyor and lawyer who likely touched nearly all of our town in it's early days.

Fell helped found the Unitarian church here, where Rustie and I were married. I like to rub the nose of his bust for good luck after entering the church. Fell was a very lucky man.

Yeah, our house was built in 1887. It's been through hell and it certainly is no longer in "historical" condition. Hot in summer (no A/C), cold in winter, the basement leaks, and the whole house leans toward the back yard. We love it!

Assignment by George Shatto

Image by S A Shatto
For a valuable Consideration to me in hand paid I do hereby
assign set over and transfer unto Samuel Siders his heirs or Assigns
all such Leagcy or Legacies sum or sums of money Coming to or due
me or to which me or my heirs are entitled from the estate of my
father Anthony Shatto late of Juniata township formerly Cumberland
County now Perry County__ hereby giving said Samuel Siders his
heirs or assigns full power and authority to demand receive and
recover the said share or Legacy for his own use and benefit and
upon receipt of the same to give acquittances or other Releases
for the same___ In witness whereof I have hereunto set my
hand and seal November 3rd - 1821-
Witness – John Davies

Rec’d November 3rd 1821 of Samuel Siders the sum of thirty
dollars ____ for my share of my fathers estate whether
real personal or mixed
Witness – John Davies

Dauphin County – Before me the Subscriber a Justice of the Peace in
and for Dauphin County Came George Shatto & acknowledged the
above sale and transfer to be his act & deed to the intent that the
Same as such should be Recorded according to the law. In witness
where of I have hereunto set my hand and seal Novem 3rd 1821
John Davies

Looking SW at 7th St NW - Chinatown - DC

A few nice pennsylvania real estate images I found:

Looking SW at 7th St NW - Chinatown - DC

Image by Tim Evanson
Looking southwest at the west side of 7th Street NW in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown. All of these buildings are owned by local real estate developer Douglas Jemal. Just to the left is a big Greek Revival building. That's the National Portrait Gallery, which gives Gallery Place its name.

D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884. But it wasn't where it is now.

The original Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met. This was the site of Center Market. Back in the days before refrigeration and corporate ownership of food distribution, people around the United States shopped at privately or publicly owned farmer's markets. D.C.'s food markets were almost all privately owned, and suffered from poor hygiene. Shopping for food meant hoping you didn't come down with the hershey-squirts from the diseases your food would be infected with. The city itself decided to act by building a state-of-the-art market, complete with running water, ice house, and mechanical refrigeration. This was Center Market, and it was so immensely popular that nearly all the downtown trolley lines converged there.

Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area around Center Market in noticeable numbers as early as 1880. By 1884, the area was known as "Chinatown." As many as 15,000 people lived there. That's an astonishing number, considering that most buildings were only two or three stories high. People were just jammed into Chinatown.

D.C.'s original Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935. Interestingly, throughout the 1800s, the federal government was so small that it could be housed in just five or six three-story office buildings. By 1900, however, it was clear that the federal government needed to grow. In 1926, Congress finally approved construction of six new massive federal office buildings. After two years of discussion, it was decided that the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue had to be totally torn down and these new office buildings constructed there. That was the beginning of Federal Triangle -- the largest conglomeration of federal office buildings anywhere in the country. The first buildings constructed were the Department of Commerce, the Internal Revenue Service building, and the Labor/ICC building (now the headquarters of the EPA). At first these buildings just uprooted the brothels, criminal hideouts, and gambling dens that formed D.C.'s infamous Murder Bay. But as Federal Triangle construction moved eastward, Chinatown had to go. Construction of the National Archives and the Apex Building (which houses the Federal Trade Commission) forced Chinatown to move.

Chinatown had a very well-organized community, however, composed of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and well-respected citizens. They quite literally looked for a place in the city where everyone could move together -- lock, stock, and barrel. They chose the current location on H Street NW.

At its peak, the "new" Chinatown extended from G Street NW north to Massachusetts Avenue NW, and from 9th Street NW east to 5th Street NW. But this only lasted for about 50 years. The 1968 riots which came after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many businesses to flee downtown D.C. Chinatown's businesses, too, fell on hard times and many of them closed. Wealthy and middle-class Asian citizens fled for the suburbs, leaving many houses and apartments unoccupied. A mainstay of the community was the OCA Bank, but when it closed Chinatown emptied even further.

Chinatown was saved when the Gallery Place Metro station (Blue and Orange lines) opened in 1976. Determined to save Chinatown as a tourist attraction, in 1986 the city authorized the construction of the Friendship Archway, a million traditional Chinese gate designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu. Symoblizing not only Chinatown but D.C.'s "sister city" status with Beijing, the Friendship Arch is the largest freestanding traditionally constructed Chinese-style arch anywhere in the world.

But Chinatown now is in serious decline. In 1993, Abe Pollin built the MCI Center on two whole city blocks bounded by 6th and 7th Streets NW and F and H Streets NW. The arena opened in 1997, and was renamed the Verizon Center after Verizon purchased the near-bankrupt MCI communications company.

In 1999, wealthy regional real estate investors built a vast new 13-story mixed-use shopping and housing complex over the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Gallery Place (the building) opened in the fall of 2004. It not only revitalized Chinatown, but revitalized the entire East End. Extensive construction began throughout the area as consumers, tourists, and young people flooded the area. Huge swaths of Chinatown were renovated and turned into restaurants, trendy bars, and up-scale shops.

Unfortunately, this caused rents to skyrocket, and pushed most of the Chinese population of D.C's Chinatown into Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Da Hua market, the last full-service Chinese grocery, closed in 2005. The D.C. Office of Planning created a "cultural redevelopment plan" aimed at bringing Chinese food street vendors back to the area and building an Asian-American international business center. But that was in 2008, and nothing has been implemented as of 2012.

The huge video screens, bright neon lights, trendy stores, and fast-food restaurants (like Chopt, Fuddruckers, TGI Friday's, Chipotle, etc.) draw hundreds of rowdy teenagers to Chinatown. The area is now rife with crime, and D.C. Police, D.C. Housing Police, and anti-gang detectives constantly work and patrol the area to stop street brawls between rival gangs. The Gallery Place metro station is the worst in the system for crime (largely stolen iPods, wallets, and cell phones). Many teens hang out on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery, a block south of this intersection -- taunting one another, eating food from McDonald's, and planning thefts.

I kid you not.

Chinatown has been called "D.C.'s Times Square." It has become a terrible problem.

The National Portrait Gallery occupies the Old Patent Office Building. The Patent Office Building was designed by architect Robert Mills in the Greek Revival style. The porticos were modeled on the Parthenon of Athens. This was a major departure in D.C, where previously public buildings had been based on Roman and Renaissance structures. Construction began in 1836, and was complete in 1862. (United States patent law back then required inventors to submit scale models of their inventions, which were retained by the Patent Office and required housing.) It was only the third federal office building in the city.

During the Civil War, the building served as a military barracks, hospital, and morgue. Walt Whitman worked there as a nurse. It served as the venue for Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Ball in 1865.

The building continued to be occupied by the Patent Office until 1932. It housed the Civil Service Commission until 1953. A street-widening in 1936 sliced away the monumental stairs of the south portico (one of the worst building mutilations in the city's history). The building was due to be demolished in favor of a parking lot, but President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1958 giving it to the Smithsonian Institution. It sat empty until 1964. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965. After a four-year renovation, the museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building in 1968.

The building was closed again for extensive renovations in 2000. Warren Cox and Mary Kay Lanzillotta of Hartman-Cox Architects in Washington, D.C., oversaw the renovation, which included the design of several new interior spaces and a massive new atrium. When it reopened in 2006, new additions included revamped gallery space, and the Kogod Courtyard -- an interior atrium with a canopy designed by Foster and Partners and Buro Happold. The renovated museum was named one of the "new seven wonders of the architecture world" by Condé Nast Traveler magazine.

Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA

Image by dbking
Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the second major rural garden cemetery in the United States and one of the few cemeteries in the country designated as a National Historic Landmark.

John Jay Smith, a librarian and editor with interests in horticulture and real estate who was distressed at the way his deceased daughter was interred in a Philadelphia churchyard, founded Laurel Hill in 1836. He and some other prominent citizens decided to create a rural garden cemetery five miles north of Philadelphia that was viewed, at the time, as a safe haven from urban expansion and that would be a respite from the increasingly industrialized city center.

Famous Revolutionary War figures were initially relocated to Laurel Hill Cemetery to increase its cache including Continental Congress secretary Charles Thomson; Declaration of Independence signer Thomas McKean; Hugh Mercer, hero of the Battle of Princeton and director of the U.S. Mint, David Rittenhouse. During and after the American Civil War, Laurel Hill became the final resting place of hundreds of military figures including 42 Civil War era generals. Laurel Hill also became the favored burial place for many of Philadelphia’s most prominent political and business figures including Matthias W. Baldwin, founder of the Baldwin Locomotive Works; Henry Disston, owner of the largest saw manufactory in the world and Peter A.B. Widener, the financier.

Designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1998, Laurel Hill Cemetery with its spectacular vistas and thousands of 19th Century and 20th Century marble and granite funerary monuments encompasses 74 idyllic acres terraced above the Schuylkill River in the East Falls section of Philadelphia. Forests of obelisks dot the rolling terrain highlighted by elaborately sculpted hillside tombs and mausoleums. Overall, Laurel Hill contains more than 33,000 monuments and more than 11,000 family lots.

Designed by noted Scottish-American architect John Notman, Laurel Hill introduced new landscape ideas and burial concepts and became a model for the rural cemetery movement. Laurel Hill Cemetery stands as a rich repository of both art and historical artifacts. Its monuments embody the rich design, craftsmanship and iconography of 19th and 20th century American funerary art, from simple obelisks to elaborate mausoleums.

Much of the significance of Laurel Hill cemetery derives from its large number of mausoleums, built in a wide variety of styles by some of Philadelphia’s most distinguished families. Classic Revival, Gothic Revival, Egyptian Revival and other exotic styles are rendered in a wide palette of materials, including marble, granite, cast-iron and sandstone. Notable artists and architects, including Alexander Milne Calder, John Notman and William Strickland contributed their designs. These monuments tell many stories of the history and evolution of not only the cemetery’s growth, but also of social and economic changes, the legacy of wars and of the individuals who shaped our nation’s history.

From its inception, Laurel Hill was intended as a civic institution designed for public use. In an era before public parks and museums, it was a multi-purpose cultural attraction where the general public could experience the art and refinement previously known only to the wealthy. Laurel Hill became an immensely popular destination in its early years and required tickets for admission. The writer Andrew Jackson Downing reported “nearly 30,000 persons…entered the gates between April and December, 1848.”

In 1978, The Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded to support the cemetery. The mission of The Friends is to assist the Laurel Hill Cemetery Company in preserving and promoting the historical character of Laurel Hill. The Friends, in accordance with its by-laws, seek to achieve its mission by raising funds and seeking contributed services; by preparing educational and research materials emphasizing the historical, architectural and cultural importance of Laurel Hill Cemetery; and by providing tour guiding services so that the cemetery is available for educational use by the public.

As an important local destination, Laurel Hill is a cultural gem and a destination for historians and connoisseurs of architecture and horticulture as well as for the interested public. Laurel Hill provides a fusion of history and art and is the final resting place of many of Philadelphia’s famous and elite.

Looking SW at 7th St NW - Chinese poles and detail - Chinatown - DC

Image by Tim Evanson
Looking west at the west side of 7th Street NW in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown. All of these buildings are owned by local real estate developer Douglas Jemal. Note the Chines-style hangers on the side of the building. During special events, banners hang from them.

D.C.'s Chinatown was established in 1884. But it wasn't where it is now.

The original Chinatown existed along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 4th and 7th Streets, with the heaviest concentration of residences and businesses near where 4th Street, C Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue met. This was the site of Center Market. Back in the days before refrigeration and corporate ownership of food distribution, people around the United States shopped at privately or publicly owned farmer's markets. D.C.'s food markets were almost all privately owned, and suffered from poor hygiene. Shopping for food meant hoping you didn't come down with the hershey-squirts from the diseases your food would be infected with. The city itself decided to act by building a state-of-the-art market, complete with running water, ice house, and mechanical refrigeration. This was Center Market, and it was so immensely popular that nearly all the downtown trolley lines converged there.

Chinese and other Asian immigrants began moving into the area around Center Market in noticeable numbers as early as 1880. By 1884, the area was known as "Chinatown." As many as 15,000 people lived there. That's an astonishing number, considering that most buildings were only two or three stories high. People were just jammed into Chinatown.

D.C.'s original Chinatown existed as a vibrant community until 1935. Interestingly, throughout the 1800s, the federal government was so small that it could be housed in just five or six three-story office buildings. By 1900, however, it was clear that the federal government needed to grow. In 1926, Congress finally approved construction of six new massive federal office buildings. After two years of discussion, it was decided that the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue had to be totally torn down and these new office buildings constructed there. That was the beginning of Federal Triangle -- the largest conglomeration of federal office buildings anywhere in the country. The first buildings constructed were the Department of Commerce, the Internal Revenue Service building, and the Labor/ICC building (now the headquarters of the EPA). At first these buildings just uprooted the brothels, criminal hideouts, and gambling dens that formed D.C.'s infamous Murder Bay. But as Federal Triangle construction moved eastward, Chinatown had to go. Construction of the National Archives and the Apex Building (which houses the Federal Trade Commission) forced Chinatown to move.

Chinatown had a very well-organized community, however, composed of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and well-respected citizens. They quite literally looked for a place in the city where everyone could move together -- lock, stock, and barrel. They chose the current location on H Street NW.

At its peak, the "new" Chinatown extended from G Street NW north to Massachusetts Avenue NW, and from 9th Street NW east to 5th Street NW. But this only lasted for about 50 years. The 1968 riots which came after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many businesses to flee downtown D.C. Chinatown's businesses, too, fell on hard times and many of them closed. Wealthy and middle-class Asian citizens fled for the suburbs, leaving many houses and apartments unoccupied. A mainstay of the community was the OCA Bank, but when it closed Chinatown emptied even further.

Chinatown was saved when the Gallery Place Metro station (Blue and Orange lines) opened in 1976. Determined to save Chinatown as a tourist attraction, in 1986 the city authorized the construction of the Friendship Archway, a million traditional Chinese gate designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu. Symoblizing not only Chinatown but D.C.'s "sister city" status with Beijing, the Friendship Arch is the largest freestanding traditionally constructed Chinese-style arch anywhere in the world.

But Chinatown now is in serious decline. In 1993, Abe Pollin built the MCI Center on two whole city blocks bounded by 6th and 7th Streets NW and F and H Streets NW. The arena opened in 1997, and was renamed the Verizon Center after Verizon purchased the near-bankrupt MCI communications company.

In 1999, wealthy regional real estate investors built a vast new 13-story mixed-use shopping and housing complex over the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station. Gallery Place (the building) opened in the fall of 2004. It not only revitalized Chinatown, but revitalized the entire East End. Extensive construction began throughout the area as consumers, tourists, and young people flooded the area. Huge swaths of Chinatown were renovated and turned into restaurants, trendy bars, and up-scale shops.

Unfortunately, this caused rents to skyrocket, and pushed most of the Chinese population of D.C's Chinatown into Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Da Hua market, the last full-service Chinese grocery, closed in 2005. The D.C. Office of Planning created a "cultural redevelopment plan" aimed at bringing Chinese food street vendors back to the area and building an Asian-American international business center. But that was in 2008, and nothing has been implemented as of 2012.

The huge video screens, bright neon lights, trendy stores, and fast-food restaurants (like Chopt, Fuddruckers, TGI Friday's, Chipotle, etc.) draw hundreds of rowdy teenagers to Chinatown. The area is now rife with crime, and D.C. Police, D.C. Housing Police, and anti-gang detectives constantly work and patrol the area to stop street brawls between rival gangs. The Gallery Place metro station is the worst in the system for crime (largely stolen iPods, wallets, and cell phones). Many teens hang out on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery, a block south of this intersection -- taunting one another, eating food from McDonald's, and planning thefts.

I kid you not.

Chinatown has been called "D.C.'s Times Square." It has become a terrible problem.