Kensington is a neighborhood in Philadelphia that belongs to Lower Northeast. As with all neighborhoods in the city, the lack of any official designation means the boundaries of the area vary between sources over time and are disputed among locals. Kensington, as most long-term residents view it, refers generally to the area consisting of Kensington, East or Lower Kensington, West Kensington , and Harrowgate. The adjacent Fairhill and Norris Square neighborhoods are more separate but may be included in Kensington; Fishtown and South Olde Kensington were historically included.
The most conservative boundaries of the neighborhood, shown in the map below, are Front Street and 5th Street to the west, the Amtrak train tracks to the North, Trenton Avenue, the Trenton Avenue train tracks, and Frankford Avenue to the east, and Cecil B. Moore Avenue to the south. Kensington is a primarily low income and working class area, and it experienced increasing poverty after the loss of its industries in the s during deindustrialization.
Disinvestment and general neglect has led to high abandonment in some sections of the neighborhood, catalyzing several grassroots actions from its residents. Communities of Polish Americans and Asian Americans also make up the neighborhood. Additionally, there is a large population of homeless individuals. The neighborhood also recently has seen a large influx of primarily white young urban professionals and gentrification , particularly in Fishtown [ 3 ] β which is no longer considered to be Kensington β and in Olde Kensington, Norris Square, and East Kensington.
Since the s Kensington has been an open-air drug market due to the area's favorable conditions for one including empty factories and buildings where drugs could be stored, sold and used, easy access to the neighborhood for customers via SEPTA trains or I , and neglect by Philadelphia government and law enforcement.
As with all neighborhoods in the city, the lack of any official designation means the boundaries of the area vary between sources over time. These boundaries have since shifted so that a large area north of Lehigh Avenue is now considered part of Kensington, while Fishtown is no longer considered part of the neighborhood.
