“1854,” says Jacques-Jean “JJ” Tiziou, with authority, when asked about the origins of Philadelphia’s borders. “That’s when the Consolidation was signed: February 2, 1854.” Good luck finding another Philadelphian who could, on the spot, provide the exact date on which the Consolidation Act transformed the neat rectangle of William Penn’s colonial city — from Vine
More
Nicole Pepe’s house on the 5100 block of Catharine Street shook as the tree hit it. She had been watching through a window as the fierce winds of the July 11 microburst whipped leaves and bits of roofing shingles in a vortex behind her house. “My husband said, ‘Get in the middle of the house,’”
More
With the closing of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Drexel University has blundered into a spectacular public relations disaster. I could almost feel sorry for them, had their actions not been so cruel and heartless. When the news first broke, the reaction was a stunned grief. According to Drexel, this beloved museum, the public-facing side
More
By the Philadelphia Climate Justice Collective (Mantua Civic Association, SEAMAAC, Overbrook Environmental Education Center, Esperanza, and The Environmental Collaboratory at Drexel University) Philadelphia is heating up — and too many of our neighbors can’t escape it. In parts of North, West and South Philadelphia, summer temperatures can soar 20 degrees higher than in greener, wealthier
More
“The Weight of Time,” a Morton Contemporary Art Gallery exhibition of paintings by 10 artists serving life sentences at Montgomery County’s Phoenix prison, lays bare heartache, hope and the crushing force of hour piling upon hour. “I served 20 years with [the artists],” says Eddie Ramirez, who was formerly incarcerated at Phoenix. “We painted together
More
From April 24 to April 27, Philadelphia and its adjacent counties will strive to recruit people to find as many species as possible, alongside hundreds of other cities around the world. Using the iNaturalist app as a tool, the City Nature Challenge encourages us to explore and document the biodiversity right where we live while
More
In the nine years Julia Jackson lived in Manayunk, just a few streets from the Leverington Avenue bridge, she witnessed her fair share of flooding — and Venice Island residents using the bridge to evacuate from their homes during floods. When she saw that the paper mill site at the island’s northern tip had been
More
A new climate resiliency plan is in development for Philadelphia, with a new focus: community vulnerability. The work is being funded by $600,000 the Office of Sustainability (OOS) received in March from the William Penn Foundation. The City’s resiliency plan outlines climate change’s impacts on Philadelphia and how the City will meet the challenges they
More
When Grid was planning a home electrification guide for the January 2025 issue, the universe threw us a curveball. Donald Trump’s reelection as president of the United States 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
More
Philadelphia climbed four spots in the Trust for Public Land’s latest ParkScore index, released today, May 21, rising in the rankings from 32 to 28 out of the country’s 100 most populous cities. The index scores city park systems in subcategories such as access, acreage, amenities, investment and equity. Two factors explain Philadelphia’s rise through
More