Explore Philadelphia building permits, police crime data, and RSA-5 and I-2 zoning in Upper Kensington, around McPherson Square.
Search this neighborhoodUpper Kensington is a North Philadelphia neighborhood of about 19,500 residents along the Market-Frankford Line, between Fairhill, Hunting Park and Harrowgate. RSA-5 rowhouse lots cover about 23% of it, medium industrial land 14% and multi-family RM-1 13%.
McPherson Square, Sergeant John J. McVeigh Recreation Center, Jose Manuel Collazo Park, Marian Winfield Hissey Recreation Center and Hope Park are inside the boundary, as is the Somerset station on Kensington Avenue. SEPTA routes 3, 57, 60, 76 and 428 also serve it.
CivicScout shows Philadelphia Police Department reported incidents within a half-mile of any address in Upper Kensington. Philadelphia publishes no neighborhood field for crime, so counts near the edge of Upper Kensington include adjacent neighborhoods. Crash data is not available for Philadelphia.
View safety data →L&I issued 1,441 permits in Upper Kensington from January 2024 through October 2026, 168 of them building permits (0 for new construction) and 33 for demolition; the rest are trade, zoning and site permits. Building permits are almost all for alterations and additions to existing buildings, with little new construction.
View permits →Major construction and high-impact permits — see what’s changing across the neighborhood.
View new construction →The largest zoning district in Upper Kensington by area is RSA-5 (attached single-family houses and rowhouses), covering about 23% of the neighborhood, followed by I-2 (medium industrial land) at 14% and RM-1 (multi-family housing) at 13%.
View zoning →The zoned public schools assigned by attendance boundary.
View schools →Location reports for Upper Kensington addresses surface City of Philadelphia L&I building permits, code violations, 311 requests, nearby parks and the applicable Philadelphia Zoning Code district.
Search an address →Search an address in Upper Kensington to see building permits, safety data, zoning details, and AI-powered neighborhood reports.
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