When Jerome Shabazz started Overbrook Environmental Education Center (OEEC) in 2002, he set about transforming a former EPA brownfield site into a community space where the neighborhood could connect with nature. Today, it’s a verdant oasis on Lancaster Avenue’s commercial corridor. “It’s the intersection of environment, public health and community,” Shabazz says. But OEEC doesn’t
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Around 200,000 ash trees stand in the city of Philadelphia’s watershed parks. But in the next five to 10 years, most will be gone—killed by the emerald ash borer, an invasive species of beetle that has destroyed tens of millions of American ash trees in the Midwest and Northeast since it arrived in Detroit from
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When costume designer Heidi Barr looks out the window of her Wissahickon home, she doesn’t see rowhouses, paved streets, parked cars and tidy front yards. Instead, she envisions the Northwest Philly neighborhood as it would have looked 200 years ago, when lush fields dotted with farmhouses sloped toward the banks of the Schuylkill River. Back
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Photograph by Tyler Holmberg Make Your Bed Story by Alexandra Jones In a city where arable land can be hard to come by, farmers and students from Sankofa Community Farm are building free garden beds for Southwest Philly residents with aspiring green thumbs. The farm, located at Bartram’s Garden, has served as a place where
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By Alexandra JonesNine Philly-area summer camps for the mini environmental activist.
MoreBy Alexandra JonesThe teen years are an opportune time to learn smart money habits. High school students are on the verge of making big decisions—choosing colleges and career paths, opening bank accounts and sometimes getting their first cars and credit cards—that may have long-term effects on their lives. A few fundamental lessons can set them up
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By Alexandra JonesOn the two-acre Henry Got Crops urban farm at W.B. Saul High School in Roxborough, it’s easy to forget you’re still in the city. Lambs frolic near their mothers on green pastures while ruddy-colored cows placidly chew their cud. Salad greens grow green, purple, and red in tidy rows, destined to be harvested
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by Alexandra JonesIf things had gone the way she wanted, Carla J. Fisher probably wouldn’t have become an artist. Instead of working away in her bright, colorful studio on Cherry Street Pier, starting new pieces in between boxing up art destined for buyers in South Korea and exhibitions in Luxembourg, the 60-something woman might still be
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On two legs, museums make sense. You’re able to see and be seen over the ticket counter or visitor information desk. Informational panels next to objects are relatively close to eye level. It’s easy to spot signage pointing you upstairs to another collection—and easy to get up those stairs once you do.For a wheelchair user,
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Philadelphia is America’s Garden Capital, with a whopping 36 public gardens within 30 miles of the city—a distinction that no other city in America can claim. Peruse our guide to these glorious green spaces to plan your next garden trip.
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