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The Climate Change Issue

It’s easy to feel hopeless. A global disaster-in-progress can do that to you. There are 8.2 billion of us humans on this planet, and we are each so tiny, and, on our own, we each have so little we can do to fight climate change and adapt, when adaptation so clearly requires large-scale action. In

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1 min read
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The Philadelphia Parks Issue

Philadelphia’s park system is many things. It is big, but much of it is difficult to access. Some sections are practically ancient, home to historic buildings hundreds of years old; one even dates back to New Sweden. At the same time, the system is constantly being renovated. If you’re lucky, you might have a new

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1 min read
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New book explores the 1950s transformation of Southwest Philadelphia and the social and environmental grassroots efforts that guided and opposed it

Will Caverly was one of the thousands of people who flocked to the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum during the COVID-19 pandemic. And like most of those people, he didn’t know much about Eastwick, the neighborhood next door. He wasn’t aware how, during the mid-20th century, it was the site of the largest

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5 mins read
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Editor’s Notes: Parks Need a Hero

Every year the Trust for Public Land releases its ParkScore ratings, and every year Philadelphians have something to be disappointed about: how little the City spends on its parks. ParkScore ranks the 100 most populous cities in the country using a list of measures gauging the size of the park system (acreage), what the parks

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2 mins read
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Parks advocate reflects on the last 40 years

In the spring of 2024 the board of trustees of Parks & Rec Heroes, previously known as the Philadelphia Parks Alliance, voted to wind down the organization’s operations. Originally called Friends of Philadelphia Parks, the group was founded in 1983. It lobbied for increased funding as well as a more inclusive and transparent Fairmount Park

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4 mins read
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Up Through the Ranks

Philadelphia climbed four spots in the Trust for Public Land’s latest ParkScore index, released today, May 21, rising in the rankings from 32 to 28 out of the country’s 100 most populous cities. The index scores city park systems in subcategories such as access, acreage, amenities, investment and equity. Two factors explain Philadelphia’s rise through

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1 min read
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Editor’s Notes: Resisting Resignation

A few years ago a friend moved to the suburbs after decades in Philadelphia. Last week she came over for dinner, and she joked about a chicken bone she stepped over on the sidewalk on her way to our West Philly door. There’s nothing like chicken bones to let you know you’re back in the

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2 mins read
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Area institution brings birding and citizen scientist groups together to strengthen community and build partnerships

The attendees came out for the living birds at the September 22 “Little Sit” held by the In Color Birding Club, the Feminist Bird Club, Philly Queer Birders, Disability Pride Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Center for Adapted Sports, but John Eskate showed up with dead birds in his bag. Eskate, the volunteer and civic engagement

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2 mins read
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