Strawberry Mansion, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Strawberry Mansion
Neighborhood of Philadelphia
Strawberry Mansion, under restoration in 2009, is located adjacent to the Strawberry Mansion community
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Philadelphia County
City	Philadelphia
Area code(s)	Area code 215

Strawberry Mansion is a neighborhood in the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, located east of Fairmount Park in North Philadelphia. The neighborhood is bounded by 33rd Street to the west, 29th Street to the east, Lehigh Avenue to the north, and Oxford Street to the south. As of the 2000 census, the neighborhood had a population of 22,562. It is often associated with the historic house of the same name, Historic Strawberry Mansion, located adjacent to the neighborhood and generally thought to be the source of the community's name.

In 2005, the 19121 zip code, which contains Strawberry Mansion, had a median home sale price of $47,900. This was an 85% increase, the largest of any zip code in Philadelphia, from the 2004 median sale price.

Formerly known as Summerville, the neighborhood takes its name from a house known as Strawberry Mansion, at one time housing a restaurant known for strawberries and cream. Strawberry Mansion was home to a number of Philadelphia's wealthiest families in the 19th Century. It became a mixed-income, predominantly Jewish neighborhood, but since the middle of the 20th century the neighborhood has been struck by economic decline and urban decay.

Modern Strawberry Mansion has acquired a reputation as one of the most dangerous areas of Philadelphia. The neighborhood is quite large in area and in population and has been difficult to police or maintain with historically inadequate city funding. However, as of 2005, the southern and western boundaries of Strawberry Mansion have shown signs of gentrification. Feeding off the mixed successes of neighbor Brewerytown to the south, artist lofts have been planned in derelict factories. Additionally, property values have risen dramatically on properties abutting Fairmount Park on the western boundary of Strawberry Mansion. A number of stately park-side homes in varying states of disrepair can be found in what was once one of the wealthiest areas in Philadelphia. Many structures have already been completely restored in an area that was ignored for decades, but crime continues to plague the area.