At least it has gotten a lot better.
The Bad Old Days were when heavy industry was concentrated along the river, which is much less true today. Up until the mid-20s the same river also provided drinking water around here ( :eek: ), and the development of Fairmount Park was in part to keep some green around the river. (The holding tank for water pumped out, then gravity fed to he city, is now the site of the Philadelphia Museum of Art). You can learn a lot more about all of that at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center.
