The morning after Hurricane Ida devastated Manayunk in September 2021, John Hunter stood looking over the intersection of Main Street and Shurs Lane, watching floodwaters carry away the back deck of the former Mad River building. “As the waters were flying by, it got to the point where this bar became detached from its foundations
More
On a typical Monday at Fishtown Pickle Project, cucumbers are everywhere: being rinsed, flying through the spear cutter—affectionately named Britney Spears—and getting stuffed into jars with garlic and seasonings. The aroma of vinegar wafts down the hallways of their manufacturing center in the Globe Dye Works building in Frankford, where the staff processes roughly 3,000
More
When Robert Thomas, 78, was 11 years old, he envisioned a hiking trail in Northwest Philadelphia that would follow the corridor of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s abandoned Fort Washington branch. He even gave a presentation about the idea to his sixth-grade class. “It was my first feasibility study for a trail: ‘Why we should connect the
More
Olga Sorzano has a simple mission of making delicious, farm-to-bottle kombucha. In the ten years since she founded Baba’s Brew, the brand has bloomed, with a new boosted kombucha flavor hitting shelves, and even more new product ventures on the way. Baba’s Brew is named after Sorzano’s grandmother, whose portrait hangs on the wall behind
More
Have you ever made an appointment with a physician, only to wait weeks or months to speak with your doctor for less than ten minutes? Ashvin Vijayakumar, M.D., founder and physician at Fishtown Medicine, aims to eliminate obstacles to primary care visits by offering his patients unlimited access to his care. “Whether it’s a text
More
On the first warm Saturday of the year, Taylor Bakeman organized a seed packing event to restock The Discovery Center’s new native seed library. Just a few weeks after opening, its seed supply was already running low. A dozen volunteers spent the day counting and sifting tiny seeds of New York ironweed, anise hyssop and
More
The internet’s latest viral skincare ingredient might surprise you. Many are raving about the many potential skin benefits of using soaps and moisturizers made from beef tallow — yes, rendered cow fat. While the popularity of these products has been on the rise since about 2022, one Philadelphia-based soap company was years ahead of the
More
In 2024, there were 220 fatal shootings in Philadelphia, a sharp decline from 375 such deaths the previous year. While city leaders celebrated this improvement, professor and writer Julien Suaudeau, 49, wondered how the community could be satisfied with that number. “The fact that it was almost hailed as a miracle — like it was
More
For Philadelphia startup Coblr, reducing consumption is more than just the latest social media trend: empowering consumers to repair rather than buy new is their entire mission. Cofounded by Emily Watts and Leslie Bateman in 2023, Coblr’s online store offers mail-in repair services for a variety of footwear and leather goods. Watts and Bateman, who
More