Large empty lots, with weeds growing through cracked pavement and random debris scattered about, take up two corners of 55th and Popular streets in West Philadelphia.
In the coming months, crews will begin constructing 41 units — two- and three-bedroom houses — that will be sold as part of a new program to build 1,000 homes, officials said, an effort City Council President Darrell Clarke’s office called the largest investment in affordable housing in Philadelphia’s history.
“What you will see is a blank canvas,” said Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., gesturing toward the lots, “that can go either way. It can go into private hands, and it can be developed into housing that the people who used to live in this neighborhood cannot afford.”
