Philly's biggest eyesores, according to readers

While Philly has plenty of world-class architecture and historical charm, it also has its share of flops and fails.

State of play: We asked readers to call out the worst offenders in the City of Brotherly Love and they delivered.

• Yes, but: No clear consensus emerged. Readers spread their disdain throughout the city.

Here are a few of our favorite answers:

25th Street Viaduct in South Philly

This eyesore is not only crumbling and dangerous but it's a magnet for illegal dumping.

• The hulking railroad bridge stretches over a mile and ugly netting was installed to catch collapsing concrete from its underside.

What they're saying: "It not only looks straight from a scary movie, it is also collapsing on moving vehicles and pedestrians in real time," Axios Philly reader Perla C. writes.

The intrigue: Transportation company CSX, which owns the bridge, has yet to follow through with promises to renovate the dilapidated viaduct for years.

The Philadelphia Mint

This faceless building on N Independence Mall East is an easy target to loathe.

Reader Marcus S. writes that the huge, industrial U.S. Mint facility's lack of windows isn't even in "mint" condition.

• "It needs to be torn down in favor of homes, businesses, historic educational and recreational spaces," he said.

Of note: The Philadelphia Mint is the largest mint in the world, covering more than five acres.

PECO Building

Some could do without the 27-story PECO building and its crown of lights that overlook the Schuylkill River on Market Street.

What they're saying: "I have a grudge against the PECO building for being so hideous and for blasting every window in a 15-block radius with moving, changing, colored lights all night," wrote one reader.

Comcast Technology Center

OK, I was a little surprised by this one.

The slender, 60-story glass-and-steel tower is the tallest in the city and among the tallest in the U.S. — if you count the switchblade mast.

• It was completed in 2019 and cost $1.5 billion.

What they're saying: "I'm all for a little Philly sass, but does our city's most prominent building really have to be flipping us all off?" writes Anne C.

• She also called out the "building's stiff, central appendage" for being purely to score additional height.

Thought bubble: The building looks like a giant vape pen to me!

Hyatt Centric Center City

This modernist hotel seems a little out of place among its historic neighbors, according to one reader.

• Located in Rittenhouse Square at 17th and Chancellor Streets, the hotel opened its doors in 2020 in the teeth of the pandemic.

What they're saying: "It belongs in a shopping mall not in a historic area where its ugly flat motel room exterior rear overwhelms beautiful St. Marks Church and the other historic buildings," writes Bonnie S.

Flashback: The development led to the demise of the much-loved Little Pete's diner, which sat on the ground floor below a parking garage.

And, some notable mentions:

• The light poles along North Broad Street
• All of I-76
• S Christopher Columbus Boulevard and "all its strip clubs"