A while back, I learned that Grid contributor Carolyn Kousky is a national expert on flood insurance, a topic I knew little about. I asked her to write a primer for our readers who, if they’re anything like me, could stand to learn something. When I read through her first draft, I learned that FEMA
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The head of the Wampanoag sachem Metacomet (aka King Philip) sat on a spike at the entrance to Plymouth, Massachusetts, for two decades after his failed uprising against the English colonists was crushed in 1676. The colonists sent his family into slavery in the Caribbean. Metacomet was the son of Ousamequin (aka Massasoit), who rescued
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I drive, walk and bike with one eye following the pavement, scanning for dead animals. It comes from my background as a herper, someone who recreationally searches for reptiles and amphibians. A popular way to find the critters I love is “road cruising,” in which you drive around and look for them crossing the pavement.
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Anyone who has raised children knows the frustration of watching a kid imitate your worst habits. Maybe you hear them swearing, exactly how you do. Maybe you tell them to get off their phone, and then they catch you checking yours under the table at dinner. Maybe you tell them to eat better, and you
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Much of what we print in Grid is premised on the idea that we are able to alter how we live in important ways to lessen environmental problems. On the face of it, this makes sense. Global problems can be traced to the individual actions of billions of people, and in particular the actions of
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On light posts around the city flyers proclaim “No Arena in the Heart of Our City,” protesting the proposal to build a new stadium for the 76ers in Chinatown. The billionaires pushing the scheme make vague promises about jobs and economic activity. The economic benefits of sports stadiums have long been debunked, but, more importantly,
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It’s hard to know which battles to choose. We are confronted with such an overwhelming list of environmental problems (global warming, biodiversity loss, air pollution, environmental racism, sewage flooding into our rivers…) — not to mention all the interrelated social ills such as systemic racism, poverty and unabating gun violence — that we can excuse
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Traces of panic on the streets of Philadelphia. On my bike ride home from work I count no fewer than three people carrying cases of bottled water. Near Drexel’s campus I overhear a student who appears to be an undergrad saying she’s called four food delivery services before finally finding someone who could bring some
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Despite having a balky knee, mayoral candidate James DeLeon forgoes the inconveniently located elevator and takes the stairs to our third-floor office. DeLeon needs a minute to rest his knee, and he mentions that he first injured it decades ago on the basketball court, landing badly after a slam dunk. Though I never scaled those
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Don’t give up on Philadelphia just yet. Our centuries-old city has big problems, including the legacy of lead. It’s in our paint, our pipes, our bloodstreams. When it gets in our children, it hurts their young brains’ development, negatively affecting learning and behavior. With the district-wide installation of hydration stations — filtering units that remove
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Whether it’s the shame of encountering trash dumped in your neighborhood, the despair of seeing a littered landscape or the outrage of witnessing recyclables and trash being dumped into the same truck, everyone who lives in Philadelphia eventually feels the psychological toll of mishandled waste. It makes all of us feel helpless, and then, the
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