💪🏽 Spas, treadmills, and bikes build up home gyms | Real Estate Newsletter

If your New Year’s resolution was to hit the gym more, how’s that going? Would it make a difference if you just had to walk across the hall?

Home gyms became even more popular early in the pandemic when fear of the coronavirus was high, commercial gyms were closed, and people started spending more time at home.

Whether it’s a corner in a spare room or a club-level workout space, home gyms are here to stay.🔑

We’ll also get into shockingly high heating bills, a Victorian home in Bucks County, and why a developer is suing a group of Northeast Philly residents.

📮 Are you Team Home Gym or Team Away Gym? Why? Email your reasons to me at realestatenewsletter@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.

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— Michaelle Bond

Garrett and Jennifer Miller of West Mount Airy lucked out with their home gym. They finished building it in 2020, days before the pandemic shut everything down.

In their basement, they’ve set up a treadmill, bike, rowing machine, Pilates reformer, and weight bench. Their attached spa includes an infrared sauna and a sound system.

Danielle and Mike McCoy of Jenkintown started taking virtual fitness classes when their gym closed. Now they have gym equipment in their new home, which also has a full basketball court.

Read on to learn the most popular piece of cardio equipment that home gym owners buy and tips to consider for your own home gym.🔑

A group of neighbors in Far Northeast Philadelphia has spent almost five years fighting a plan to build a million-square-foot UPS warehouse. It would be among the largest warehouses in the Philly region.

Residents and local businesses say the project is too big, and its trucks would add traffic to their roads.

Now the St. Louis-based company behind the project has sued the Greater Bustleton Civic League and a business working with the group to oppose the development. It wants a minimum of $50,000 because of interference and delays.

The company accuses neighbors of “continually perverting the legal process for the illegitimate goal of preventing the lawful development of the site,” according to the legal complaint.

Real estate developers regularly clash with neighborhood groups. Read on to find out why this case is unusual.

One of my favorite things about living in the city is being able to walk to many places. And a new report likes that about Philly, too.

The Philadelphia metro area ranked 10th in a list of most walkable urban areas, according to a report released by Smart Growth America and Places Platform LLC. The report’s authors ranked places based on the percentage of their real estate (by square footage) that is in walkable areas.

Walkability promotes health, reduces pollution and traffic from cars, and drives economic activity. And it makes celebrating the Eagles more fun.

People want to live in urban, walkable areas, and that demand drives up prices for housing and commercial spaces in these places, according to the report.

During the pandemic, both walkable urban places near downtowns and urbanizing suburbs grew.

The Philly area ranked 5th in “social equity,” or equitable access to walkable neighborhoods for various socio-economic and racial groups.

Here are the report’s top 10 most walkable metros: 1) New York; 2) Boston; 3) Washington; 4) Seattle; 5) Portland; 6) San Francisco; 7) Chicago; 8) Los Angeles; 9) Pittsburgh; and 10) Philadelphia

Last month, I was one of those residents.

I treated myself to some warmth on those freezing (and way below freezing) December days and nights. And then I paid for it in January. My bill stunned me. I even called Peco to ask if there had been some mistake. (Unfortunately not.)

A bunch of factors have caused higher heating bills for customers in the region: Record inflation. Supply chain issues. Russia’s war on Ukraine. And, of course, the region’s colder-than-average December.

No matter what fuel source you use, consumer reporter Erin McCarthy has some tips for how you can lower your heating bills.

Linda Manzo has always had a thing for Victorians.

So in the late 1960s when she heard about an “unlivable” historic stone Victorian in Bucks County that was on the chopping block to make way for a housing development, her family jumped on it.

She said she and her husband at the time “ignored the broken windows, damaged plaster ceilings, and the resident rodents, and bought it that night for $24,000.” They spent two decades restoring it.

Read on to find out why Manzo sold the home decades ago and how she got it back.

Philadelphia’s open-air Southeast Asian Market attracts close to 200,000 visitors per year, according to the city. For decades, vendors have sold meals, produce, clothing, and other goods at the market.

Question: Where will the cultural landmark find a permanent home? This story has the answer.

Do you know the location this photo shows?

📮 E-mail your answer and any memories of the spot to realestatenewsletter@inquirer.com for a chance to be featured in my newsletter.

Did you move out of state last year? Nationwide, fewer people did. The ones who did moved to Florida and Texas (for some reason). Those states gained hundreds of thousands of new residents. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania and New Jersey lost tens of thousands of people.

But at least we’re still here, right? Enjoy the rest of your week.