Park

since 2002, drawn by the affordable townhouses, the proximity to downtown and the neighborhood feel that she compares to New York City’s Meatpacking District in the 1980s. The hair salon owner said she’s heard rumblings for nearly a decade about turning

the overgrown ruins of the rail line into a park, and she thinks it’s great it has finally come to fruition.

“It makes me feel excited for my neighborhood,” she said. “It is industrial and gritty but it is the real thing, and I think people will like exploring it.”

New York City’s High Line — a 22-block elevated park — has helped transform neighborhoods on

Manhattan’s West Side. Luxury condos, galleries, restaurants and boutiques have all but pushed out the industrial grime around the old freight route.

Proponents think the same could happen in Philadelphia, which is fine with Featherman.

“I’m a little worried about parking, but that’s about it,” she said.