The Porch Improves Scene Around 30th Street Station

Thursday, April 19, 2012

by Sandy Hingston

If you’re looking to take a stroll this weekend, head for 30th Street Station and the Porch public space that was created by the University City District last autumn. Thanks to the mild winter, it’s already become a hangout of choice for travelers as well as students and passersby. Along with funky, colorful café tables and chairs at which you can sit and savor a latte or iced tea from one of the eateries inside the station, the plaza has glorious views of the river and nearby historic buildings as well as first-class people-watching. And it’s all been built on what used to be an eyesore parking lot. The Porch hosts a farmers’ market every Wednesday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., regular yoga and zumba classes (for those who don’t mind stretching and shaking it in public), jugglers and circus performers, pop-up opera, and a ton of other fun stuff. But you should go this weekend because the planters designed by Julie Bush for LRSLA Studio are coming into their own, and are full of the amazing Allium schubertii, relatives of onion and garlic that are on the cusp of busting into pink-and-green fireworks. It’s just the beginning of a rotating series of plantings to be featured here.

Click here for the original article on Phillymag.com