Eastwick, Philadelphia

Eastwick
Neighborhood of Philadelphia
The public bathroom at the center of the Eastwick Loop station
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Philadelphia County
City	Philadelphia
Area code(s)	Area code 215

Eastwick is a neighborhood in the Southwest section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the southwesternmost neighborhood in the city, bordering Philadelphia International Airport and the city line with Delaware County, Pennsylvania at Cobbs Creek and Darby Creek. The Elmwood Park neighborhood borders it to the northeast.

The neighborhood is named for Andrew M. Eastwick. It was largely rural until the 1920s when swampy land was dredged to create room for an airport and other large-scale uses within the city limits. Much of the original housing built before the 1950s lacked sewer service and other urban conveniences. Residents referred to the neighborhood as "The Meadows."

Residents enjoyed the ability to have a rural lifestyle within city limits; nearby creeks provided recreation in the form of swimming, bathing, and fishing. An extensive crabbing home industry was based in The Meadows.

Homes ranged from traditional single-family residences with lawns and gardens to traditional Philadelphia-style row houses; sometimes, these two housing styles appeared on the same block. Brick was the predominant material used in construction. Homes were built from the early 19th century until the Second World War caused a shortage of material for new construction.

The city of Philadelphia, which had been under Republican control in the 1940s, shifted in the 1950s toward reform Democrats, whose policies included community redevelopment.

During the late 1940s, city planners began to view Eastwick's vast and relatively open spaces as a potential solution to the problem of residential displacement from redevelopment projects planned for largely black sections of North and West Philadelphia. In 1949, the (Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority) argued that low-income blacks in these areas could be relocated to a new, planned community in Eastwick that, in the words of one commentator, "would not only siphon off the black overflow but would be a low visibility cul-de-sac into which the burgeoning Negro population could be stuffed." (McKee 552)