Just as there is no agreed-upon definition for “gentrification” or “safety,” there are no universal standards when it comes to gathering community feedback. A decade-long South Philadelphia streets fiasco demonstrates this idea in a perfect microcosm: Washington Avenue and its controversial repaving. Washington Avenue is a wide corridor housing businesses and residences on either side
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In 2007 the City of Philadelphia launched the Electric Vehicle Parking Space program, in which EV owners could apply for permission to put a charging post at the curb in front of their house. The parking space by the charging post would be for electric vehicles only. Since few people own electric vehicles, the homeowner
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Once a year, police officers standing in front of barricades block my usual commute to work. The street, Spruce, is closed from 34th to 38th streets, to allow University of Pennsylvania students to move into their dorms. Upon seeing them, and realizing I’m going to be delayed, I mutter a few choice words. I understand
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One morning in the dead of winter, Robert, 83, and his wife, Donna, 71, (their last name is withheld at the couple’s request) members of Grannies Respond/Abuelas Responden, a nonprofit that aids immigrants and asylum seekers, drove from their East Falls home to Center City’s Greyhound bus station to meet a Central American family just
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Some are compression-short-wearing athletes who trek through the trails of the Wissahickon or beside the Schuylkill River. Some are commuters, taking the city’s bike lanes to and from work every day. Others are “wheelie” kids, groups of teenagers and young adults pulling tricks down Broad Street, not a single care or helmet in sight. All
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The destruction of the South Philly Meadows has begun, and, according to witnesses, not in a safe way. As of the morning of Tuesday, August 24, there was no fencing securing the land while trees upwards of 50 feet were being felled close to park users. “As I walked through the Meadows I noticed a
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Below is an open statement in support of the Coalition to Save UC Townhomes that was written by The Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements & Population Health Equity. The sale and demolition of the UC Townhomes in University City and the looming dispossession of families from the 70 units on the property in the
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I realized also that besides protesting I had to clean up my own act. If I was buying natural gas, I was complicit.” — Judy Wicks, climate activist and former owner of the White Dog Cafe When Judy Wicks, the former owner of the White Dog Cafe, got back from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation
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As we feel the effects of extreme heat and extreme weather, we can no longer delay action. But Philadelphians may not realize that major emissions reductions are happening below our feet everyday. For over 100 years, an innovative and sustainable district energy system has operated throughout much of Center City and parts of University City
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Aquick glance at today’s headlines reveals many issues that stress or divide us: inflation, gas prices, gun violence, climate change, the pandemic and reproductive rights, to name a few. But before you give in to despair, here’s something positive we can rally around: solar power. A recent statewide poll shows that 81% of Pennsylvanians indicated
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