////

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” aims to cut funding for electric vehicles and appliances by 2026

When Grid was planning a home electrification guide for the January 2025 issue, the universe threw us a curveball. Donald Trump’s reelection cast doubt on the longevity of federal financial incentives for homeowners across the country to purchase solar panels, electric stoves, heat pump HVAC units and other climate-friendly technologies. So our guide, which walks

More
5 mins read
//

Grid interviews legendary activist George Lakey on his inspirations, the current political moment and what keeps him motivated

George Lakey has seen his fair share of grim political moments. He has, after all, spent nearly seven decades fighting for civil rights, peace and environmental justice. At 87, Lakey recognizes that now is another one of those moments. But his own personal experience as an activist and his research as a scholar of political

More
4 mins read
///

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

More
1 min read
////

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

More
5 mins read
//

Here’s what was — and wasn’t — mentioned in the Parks & Recreation budget hearing

On April 16, halfway through the City of Philadelphia’s annual budget hearings, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation answered City Councilmembers’ questions centering safety and the future of the department’s more than 500 facilities. The department is requesting nearly $7.4 million less than last year largely because, as commissioner Susan Slawson testified, the FY2025 budget included one-time

More
5 mins read
//

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

More
4 mins read
//

Multi-use trail on track to connect Wissahickon Valley Park to Fort Washington along an abandoned railroad right-of-way

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
2 mins read
/////

A gap persists between Philadelphians and their parks

For more than a decade, Philadelphia-based artist and educator Shira Walinsky has taken an interest in the lives of immigrants in the city. In 2016, she and fellow artist Laura Deutch teamed up to chronicle “47 Stories” from SEPTA’s Route 47 bus, which shuttles between immigrant communities in South Philadelphia and Olney. Riders talked to

More
8 mins read
1 2 3 35