Cedar Park | |
|---|---|
 Home in Cedar Park | |
  Cedar Park | |
| Coordinates:39°56′49″N75°12′58″W / 39.947°N 75.216°W /39.947; -75.216 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Philadelphia |
| City | Philadelphia |
| Area codes | 215, 267, and 445 |
Cedar Park is aneighborhood ofPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the largerWest Philadelphia district, it stretches north to Larchwood Avenue, south to Kingsessing Avenue, east to 46th Street, and west to 52nd Street.[1][2]
Previously outlying farmland, Cedar Park was built between 1850 and 1910 as astreetcar suburb[3] ofCenter City. Its development as a suburb accelerated with the installation ofhorsecars in the 1850s and again with the arrival of electrictrolley lines in 1892.[4]
The name of the neighborhood is derived from a city owned park, also called Cedar Park, that is at 50th Street andBaltimore Avenue. The land was purchased by the city in 1908 and acity ordinance was signed into law in 1911 declaring it Cedar Park. There is no official explanation as to the name, but it may have been derived from the Cedar Avenue Improvement Organization, who led efforts into ensuring there was a park.[5]
The neighborhood is racially and ethnically diverse, and much of the historicQueen Anne-style architecture still stands.
Since the late 1990s, the neighborhood has been undergoinggentrification, stimulated by theUniversity of Pennsylvania's redevelopment plan for West Philadelphia. There is a distinct progressive-politics mien to the neighborhood and a sizableAfrican immigrant community located along and nearBaltimore Avenue between 45th and 52nd Streets. Cedar Park's residents are predominantlyJamaican/Caribbean andAfrican immigrants, but many are U.S.-bornAfrican-American,Asian-Anerican, or white. As of the 2020 Census, there were 8,752 people residing in Cedar Park. The racial composition of the neighborhood was 52.6% White alone, 31.0% Black alone, 5.4% Asian alone, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 2.0% some other race, and 8.7% multiracial. 7.1% of residents were Hispanic or Latino.[6]
The neighborhood is host to Saint Francis de Sales School, a private, Catholic School located in the St. Francis De Sales Church at 47th Street and Springfield Avenue.[7] TheSchool District of Philadelphia operates Henry C. Lea Elementary School just outside the neighborhood at 47th Street and Locust street.[8]
SEPTA services the neighborhood withbus routes, twosubway–service trolley lines), and oneregional rail stop along theMedia/Wawa Line.[9] The regional rail stop is49th Street Station, located at 49th Street and Chester Avenue.
