It’s not often that the words “mud pit” and “arts festival” are uttered in the same breath, unless you live in East Kensington. Then it’s an annual tradition. Every year since 2006, a few dozen teams—ranging in size from solo operations to 15-person school squads—design and parade quirky floats throughout a neighborhood obstacle course.
MoreA Stitch in Time by William Beisley With garment manufacturing in Philadelphia at an all-time low, a brand like Norman Porter Co. appears like a denim-clad apparition from the past. The company’s jeans and other products have all been designed and produced with an almost bygone craftsman approach. Michael and David Stampler, brothers and co-owners
MoreVolunteer and grant writer brings many skills to East Kensington’s Emerald Street Urban Farm
Bryan Thompsonowak says volunteering at the Emerald Street Urban Farm has made him more invested in the neighborhood. | Photos by Jared Gruenwald
When Bryan Thompsonowak, 37, was young, his father, a bricklayer and “all-around handyman-type of a guy,” taught him to
The Head & the Hand Press founder and Seeds of Discent author Nic Esposito has turned his tales about living on a small urban homestead in Kensington into his first work of nonfiction—Kensington Homestead, a collection of essays that center around growing food in a city. After finishing Seeds of Discent in 2011, which chronicles urban farming
MoreImage via aia.org | photo credit: Barry Halkin, Halkin PhotographyThe list of prestigious awards Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) has received since construction wrapped up in September 2010 is growing. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently named Kensington CAPA one of its Top Ten Green Projects. The annual award is
Morewritten by Dana HenryThis past April, Kevin Musselman, coordinator for the Kensington Area Neighborhood Advisory Committee (KANAC), approached neighbors at Frankford and Cambria Streets in West Kensington. “We’re going to start a farm in that lot over there,” he told them. The lot he was referring to, like many derelict parcels inthe area, was frequently
MoreCan you hear that?
There’s a movement afoot. Building materials are being given a second life, and hundreds, if not thousands, of tons of construction and demolition waste are being diverted from landfills. And it’s all happening in our backyard.
Once known as the Workshop of the World, Philadelphia lost 400,000 manufacturing jobs over the last four decades. But according to the Emerging Industries Project (a report presented by the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia’s Green Economy Task Force), there is potential to redevelop local manufacturing in a more sustainable way.
MoreNorth Philly still lacks fresh food accessby Tenaya DarlingtonKensington, one of Philadelphia’s poorest neighborhoods, has undergone significant revitalization over the last few years, especially along the southern corridor that borders Northern Liberties. You’ll now find a coffee shop, a Spanish imports store and even a sustainable fish merchant amid the tattoo parlors and check cashing
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