There are two letters from readers sitting on my desk, each one tugging at me, competing for my mood and mindset. I may be an optimist, but I’ll start with the more negative of the two. It comes from a reader in Oreland, a response to editor’s notes I had written about the ill-conceived idea
More
Some people call me a "scrapper.” Some people call me a "garbage picker.” I call myself “Philly Green Man, Environmental Superhero.”It’s hard to say exactly where it began. I had what people would consider a respectable job, teaching architecture for nine years with some of the greatest students in Dobbins High School history. But even
More
It wasn’t long ago that a budding environmentalist had only a handful of choices in higher education. But about a decade ago, this all began to change. As sustainability became a major cultural watchword, many students—some new to academia, some returning after losing jobs—were searching for a modern kind of major, and the stage was
More
There was little public fanfare when Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s bill establishing new parking regulations in the Mantua section of West Philadelphia passed, easily, in City Hall.As any Philadelphian will tell you, parking is perhaps the most contentious issue in the entire city—and Blackwell has often acted as the commander-in-chief of parking wars, most recently fighting
More
Someday the row of young elm trees will transform this sunbaked stretch of Delaware Avenue, but first they have to survive the next couple years. To the west is the Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant. To the east is a Sanitation Convenience Center (where you can drop off hard-to-dispose-of items like tires and mattresses) and
More
As a preschool teacher at Moonstone in South Philadelphia, Kate Leibrand was always thinking of new, creative lessons to do with her students. After mastering the art of papier-mâché, Play-Doh making, and the always-popular slime, she attempted to make chalk with her class. It was a disaster.“Between inaccurate measuring and drying times, we were left
More