So You’re Thinking of Living in…

Logan Square

The Swann Fountain on Logan Circle, with the Free Library (left) and Family Court (right) in the background

Logan Square is the only one of William Penn’s original five squares that’s easy to circle. That’s because, when the city built the Benjamin Franklin Parkway diagonally through the square in the early 1910s, it got turned into a traffic circle. Nonetheless, the neighborhood encompassing the circle continues to be called “Logan Square,” as does the circle itself by many.

Named for an early 18th-century mayor of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania statesman, James Logan, Logan Square – or Circle – is the northwestern of Penn’s five squares and the center of the neighborhood that bears its name, which is bordered by Broad Street on the east, the Schuylkill on the west, Spring Garden Street on the north and Market Street on the south. The Franklintown neighborhood lies entirely with its boundaries, and part of the neighborhood also lies within the territory known as the Art Museum Area. It is also the site of the most culturally rich real estate in Philadelphia (see below).

Attractions and Amenities

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Logan Square encompasses Philadelphia’s museum district, stretching from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts – the nation’s oldest art museum and school – on the east to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the west. In between these two anchors lie the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Franklin Institute science museum, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University – the nation’s oldest natural history museum – the Rodin Museum and the Barnes Foundation, home to one of the greatest collections of Impressionist, post-Impressionist and African art in the country. (The new Barnes gallery opens to the public in May 2012.)

Philadelphia Museum of Art

The neighborhood’s other chief asset is recreational: it is the gateway to Fairmount Park, with its hiking and biking trails, historic mansions and acres of woodlands and fields. The Schuylkill Banks park and trail form Logan Square’s western border as well.

Most other urban amenities are scarcer in Logan Square than in other parts of Center City, making the neighborhood a good choice for those seeking peace and quiet. The most popular dining options include:

Asia on the Parkway
Cherry Street Tavern
Chima Brazilian Steakhouse
The Fountain Restaurant and Swann Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel
Mace’s Crossing
Rose Tattoo Cafe
Table 31

Shopping in Logan Square is strictly a neighborhood affair, with clusters of neighborhood retail at various locations; the neighborhood has one supermarket – a Whole Foods Market at 19th and Callowhill streets.

The seat of the Catholic Archidocese of Philadelphia is the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul on Logan Square itself. The neighborhood is also home to two of the central institutions of the Quaker faith, the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and the neighboring Friends Center, home of the American Friends Service Committee, at 15th and Cherry streets. Other notable churches in the neighborhood are Arch Street Presbyterian Church and the Anglo-Catholic St. Clement’s Episcopal Church. Hahnemann University Hospital at Broad and Vine streets and Magee Rehabilitation Hospital at 16th and Race streets are the neighborhood’s two main medical facilities. Most Logan Square residents send their children to Albert M. Greenfield School at 22nd and Chestnut in Rittenhouse Square; those living north of the Ben Franklin Parkway send them to Laura Wheeler Waring School in eastern Fairmount.

Logan Square Real Estate

The bulk of the homes in Logan Square lie in the neighborhood’s southwest quarter, west of 19th Street and south of Vine, but residential pockets can also be found in the neighborhood’s northern half. These include several large apartment buildings, most notably the Park Towne Place complex on the Parkway and the One Franklin Town condominium on Franklin Town Boulevard, plus townhomes in the area west of 18th and north of Callowhill. John F. Kennedy Boulevard, which runs along the neighborhood’s southern edge, is lined with co-op apartment buildings from 17th to 20th streets.

Most of the heart of residential Logan Square consists of townhomes, many of relatively recent vintage. Along its western edge are several multifamily buildings, including the RiversEdge condominium and the Orens Bros. apartment building. The median sales price for homes in zip code 19103, which includes Logan Square, was $399,000 in December 2011.

–By Sandy Smith

All images from Wikimedia Commons