If you're familiar with Philadelphia and its many neighborhoods, then you are definitely familiar with Graduate Hospital; a tiny, well-defined neighborhood in South Philadelphia (or Southwest Center City, it just depends who you ask).
G-Ho, Grad Hosp, and South-of-South are all common names for this nabe, but the real success of Graduate Hospital was kickstarted by Naval Square almost 10 years ago. Toll Brothers purchased this abandoned Naval Academy, which also happened to be the country's first, back in 1988 as a portfolio project. But it wasn't until 2005 that the first new homes were built and sold in this gated community.
Fred Glick and I created some informative videos on Graduate not too long ago, so if you haven't seen them before I've posted the links below for you:
Graduate Hospital - Part 1
Graduate Hospital - Part 2
Graduate Hospital - Part 3
Although Naval Square ignited G-Ho's real estate success, it was the efforts of individual investors/developers who really moved it forward. Philadelphia's older neighborhoods consist of rowhomes, twin homes, and the like. Which means there are many more homes/parcels on 1 city block than on 1 suburban block. Which also means that you need a lot of like-minded people on board if you want to turn things around. They banded together, and now South-of-South is also known as one of Philadelphia's top family-friendly neighborhoods.
What was once known as an undesirable place to live due to the threat of a new expressway cutting across its core, has since become one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city.
This article is a great place to start if you are unfamiliar with G-Ho.
