When a crowd comprised of more than 60 renters, homeowners, organizers and representatives gathered on May 7 in Southwest Philadelphia’s Kingsessing neighborhood, they had one message: “The renters united will never be defeated.” Led by One PA, a statewide community organizing group, the rally was the latest move in the ongoing effort to secure 925
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On April 13, the day Mayor Cherelle Parker declared Vegan Cheesesteak Day, the American Vegan Center, headquartered in Old City, held its annual vegan cheesesteak contest, but with a record-breaking challenge: create the longest vegan cheesesteak, totaling 76 inches as a tribute to the revolutionary year of 1776. Vegetarianism and Philadelphia may seem like odd
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By Julia Lowe and Gabriel Donahue Nature lovers, mark your calendars for Love Your Park Week 2026. One hundred forty park friends groups care for the city’s parks year-round and are calling for volunteers to join the cleanup and beautification days hosted from May 9-17. “I think it’s a great way to be outside with
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When entering Cobbs Creek Park at Florence Avenue and Cobbs Creek Parkway, a mural on the sidewalk asks, “How far can you hop?” On an adjacent wooden display, a spinning wheel lists actions inspired by reptiles and amphibians in the creek — slither, crawl, jump — and challenges the player to cross a series of
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The overgrown lot at 5308 Parrish St. in the Haddington neighborhood of West Philadelphia is getting back to its roots. After sitting abandoned, accumulating trash, construction debris and dumped car parts for over a decade, a new project is in progress to restore the space to a new iteration of its past life as a
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A 1970s-era stereo receiver. Red leather boots. Nine fully intact eggplants. These are just a few of the unexpected objects the Cobbs Creek Ambassadors have come across while cleaning up Cobbs Creek Park in West Philadelphia. But most of what they pick up is just typical litter: bottles, cans, food wrappers, old tires. And the
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Germantown Kitchen Garden’s farmer, Amanda Staples, who hails from Upper Darby, did not grow up on a farm. Although her grandparents operated a Christmas tree farm near Clarks Summit, Lackawanna County, Staples’ initial hands-on contact with farming was growing lima beans in her backyard for an elementary school assignment. After graduating from Temple University with
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It was going to be transformational. A place for neighbors to shelter during extreme heat or cold. To receive relief and support after natural disasters. To learn about large forces like climate change and environmental justice and understand how they intersect in this corner of South Philly called Grays Ferry. The building would host teach-ins
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On Feb. 11, 2025, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz released a database of 3,483 National Science Foundation grants that the Senate Commerce Committee, headed by Cruz, described in a press release as “woke DEI grants.” Cruz had previously used the list of grants to prepare an October 2024 report claiming that the Biden administration had politicized
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On an afternoon in late October, students from Sayre High School were trickling into the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center’s community room to take off their waders and to review what they had found in the creek. It was a scene you might expect at any environmental center, but a relatively fresh one now that
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