Radian and New College House West

HOUSING

Besides promoting homeownership in West Philadelphia, Penn also initiated many student housing projects, including the Radian built in 2008 and the New Colledge House West. According to John Puckett, these projects “were strategically designed in part to lure undergraduates who lived in West Philadelphia… back to the campus, with the intent of forcing a downturn in the area’s student-housing market and freeing up these rental properties for sale to families.” (Puckett & Lloyd, 2015) Take a look at the orientation of this new college house to campus and the surrounding community. Relative to previous campus planning, does the design and orientation suggest additional walling off or a more porous engagement with the university’s neighbors? 

The growth of student housing, developed by both the university and private developers, raised the discourse of “studentification” (Foote, 2017; Kinton, Smith, & Harrison, 2016) in University neighborhoods. Some student housing projects, such as Good Food Flats at 4000 block of Baring Street and Usciences at 4600 Woodland Avenue, have pushed the traditional boundaries of University City further west up Chestnut Street and Market Street. The experience is much sharper in a neighborhood like “TempleTown” that has a large gap in middle and affordable housing and a clear preference for developing student housing. 

Figure 12. Rendering of the New College House West. © Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. https://www.bcj.com/projects/university-of-pennsylvania-new-college-house-west

Source:

Foote, N. S. (2017). Beyond studentification in United States College Towns: Neighborhood change in the knowledge nodes, 1980–2010. Environment and Planning A, 49(6), 1341-1360. 

Kinton, C., Smith, D. P., & Harrison, J. (2016). De-studentification: emptying housing and neighbourhoods of student populations. Environment and Planning A, 48(8), 1617-1635. 

http://www.westphillylocal.com/2015/12/17/new-student-apartmentsretail-building-opens-on-a-changing-4600-block-of-woodland/

http://www.westphillylocal.com/2016/01/27/student-housing-for-foodies-to-open-in-fall-2016-in-powelton