Posted April 5, 200718 yr Manayunk is a neighborhood in the northwestern section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. Located on the banks of the Schuylkill River, it contains the first canal commenced in the United States (although not the first completed due to budget problems). The name comes from the language of the Lenape Indians (who were later renamed the Delaware Indians by Europeans). Manayunk, (or Man Yunk) is their name for the Schuylkill River which literally translates to "Indian with Canoe". Although historically a working class community, in recent years the neighborhood has been substantially gentrified. Today's residents are mostly middle to upper middle class. Housing in Manayunk is fairly expensive. In 2005, the median home sale price was $246,750. This was an increase by 34% over the median price in 2004. Wikipedia Manayunk website Flooding pictures: 2005 | 2006 Pretzel Park
April 6, 200718 yr It's really the Pittsburgh of Philadelphia. It's a shame that Manayunk isn't serviced by a subway (I'm well aware of the R-commuter rail line going through there, but more frequent service would help). Other than that, I absolutely love it. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 6, 200718 yr Very nice pics. Hope to see some more. If I ever decide to leave Northeast Ohio I'd probably move to Philly, Baltimore or DC, ta hell with the sunbelt lol.
April 6, 200718 yr Excellent tour, great photos! It looks like an interesting place; the big, old stone industrial buildings give it an interesting character.
April 6, 200718 yr ta hell with the sunbelt lol. I can sing along with that tune!!! Oh, and I'm loving Manayunk.....very nice!
April 6, 200718 yr It's a shame that Manayunk isn't serviced by a subway (I'm well aware of the R-commuter rail line going through there, but more frequent service would help). Other than that, I absolutely love it. What would a subway do that more service on the R couldn't?
April 6, 200718 yr More frequent times. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 7, 200718 yr It's really the Pittsburgh of Philadelphia. It's a shame that Manayunk isn't serviced by a subway (I'm well aware of the R-commuter rail line going through there, but more frequent service would help). Other than that, I absolutely love it. Manyunk is definitely Pittsuburgh-like; in many ways, it reminds me of an old, European hill/mill town... ^I don't get it, ColDay. That R-6 commuter rail line, which is electrified and rapid transit-like, has hourly service most of the day even though its elevated tracks (clearly photo'ed in this nice spread) have a station right in the heart of this compact district. Meanwhile everybody gripes about parking, which is scarce, and nabe visitors are left to fend with the parking robber Barron's, who often charge more than in Center City, it's absurd... Public transit, while extensive in Philly, is often treated in as an afterthought... Indeed, one could argue Philly has more going for it than most any town that, yet, it trashes (you even see this from the graffiti and trash in and around buildings even in this nice neighborhood... ... and as for Philly's seeming insistence on the auto while often turning its back on its massive, high-speed rail network: as one local pundit once quipped: Philly is Europe that's desperately trying to be Houston.
April 7, 200718 yr What a wonderful, fascinating neighborhood. It's on my must-see list the next time I'm in Philly. BTW, Manayunk has R-6 service only every half-hour during rush hours. That's not good. IMHO, I think a streetcar with signal pre-emption would work better for that compact, low-rise, euro-style neighborhood. Maybe they could extend the #10 streetcar from Ardmore?? Or restore the tracks on the big concrete bridge shown in several of the pictures and extend the R-6 from Bala Cynwyd so the trains could loop back to Norristown. I didn't realize there were no tracks on that bridge over the Schuykill until I checked http://maps.live.com. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 7, 200718 yr Those are great photos! Definitely makes me want to take a trip to Philly. I wonder how old some of those stone buildings are...
April 7, 200718 yr What a wonderful, fascinating neighborhood. It's on my must-see list the next time I'm in Philly. BTW, Manayunk has R-6 service only every half-hour during rush hours. That's not good. IMHO, I think a streetcar with signal pre-emption would work better for that compact, low-rise, euro-style neighborhood. Maybe they could extend the #10 streetcar from Ardmore?? Or restore the tracks on the big concrete bridge shown in several of the pictures and extend the R-6 from Bala Cynwyd so the trains could loop back to Norristown. I didn't realize there were no tracks on that bridge over the Schuykill until I checked http://maps.live.com. There was a commenter rail line on this bridge until the late 80s, it was actually the other end of the R-6 and it ended at nearby Ivy Ridge. The bridge, though historic and defining to Manyunk, was crumbling with chunks of concrete falling so much they had to install a net until, about 5 years ago, fed $ (FTA I think) restored the bridge though now devoid of tracks... History says this line originally went all the way out to Norristown, but the Pennsylvania RR lopped it off as it couldn't compete with the nearby Reading RR (which still goes to Norristown), and SEPTA cut it back to the single-track Cynwyd line which won a reprive from SEPTA's chopping block as Bala-Cynwyd neighbors objected the cut... now the outer route is a jogging/bike path that goes adjacent, often, to the Schuylkill River... SEPTA's talked on again, off again at restoring service and extending it all the way to Reading in a project called: Schuylkill Valley Metro... ... Manyunk's a great, interesting, though extremely dense/tight nabe but desperately needs better mass transit... Why SEPTA and Philly won't push for better R-6 service there is beyond me...
April 7, 200718 yr Lack of funds.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 8, 200718 yr Lack of funds.... Why don't you try the typical American refrain: 'if you can't afford wheels or our parking fees, you don't belong here.' Philly could have increased frequency to Manayunk if it wanted to.
April 9, 200718 yr It's really the Pittsburgh of Philadelphia. It's a shame that Manayunk isn't serviced by a subway (I'm well aware of the R-commuter rail line going through there, but more frequent service would help). Other than that, I absolutely love it. Manyunk is definitely Pittsuburgh-like; in many ways, it reminds me of an old, European hill/mill town... ^I don't get it, ColDay. That R-6 commuter rail line, which is electrified and rapid transit-like, has hourly service most of the day even though its elevated tracks (clearly photo'ed in this nice spread) have a station right in the heart of this compact district. But who wants hourly when you can get it ever 12 minutes? Or even quicker? "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 12, 200718 yr What would make you think that a subway to Manayunk would have more service than the R-6 (or any other method)? Personally, I think history conspire more against expanding subways in Philadelphia (in general) than anything else.
April 13, 200718 yr Because typically subways have faster service than commuter trains. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 14, 200718 yr ^I think, historically, subways were limited because of the electrification of the commuter (now regional) rail lines. Unfortunately, despite the Center City tunnel connecting the 2 large commuter systems here, the system is still very much a slow, clunky commuter rail system but with many many rapid transit features, including frequent stops... In Europe and Japan -- notably the outstanding S-Bahn system I experienced in Munich and Frankfurt, Germany, they've shown the ability to run commuter rail like a suburban rapid transit with lighter weight cars, multiple doors, wider aisles (with 2 + 2 seats, rather than 3 + 2 seating and narrow, single file aisles exiting from the ends of cars like in Philly), high platforms throughout and 20-minute base service throughout the day.... We don't think like that here in the USA, and Philly, despite its transit problems, is a Rolls Royce service by American standards. Bottom line is, there'd be no need to dig subways all the way out to Manayunk when a beef up of the existing R-6 to the heart of the district could be done for hundreds of millions (even billions) less.
April 14, 200718 yr Bottom line is, there'd be no need to dig subways all the way out to Manayunk when a beef up of the existing R-6 to the heart of the district could be done for hundreds of millions (even billions) less. Sounds good to me. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
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