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With prices on the rise, residents in Hunting Park look for ways to stay cool this summer. Most homes are not equipped with central air, a technology invented long after many homes were built.
“It would cost around $25,000 to renovate a house, you would have to replace all the pipes,” Larry McConnell an air conditioning technician who lives in the area explained.
“Many residents can barely afford food, let alone a complete air rehab” Andrea Fratto, mother and resident said. This list includes older residents who are especially at risk when it becomes hot. “Many of the City deaths due to heat are older people with no air,” Fratto said “I know of a few myself.”
There is a real push city wide to keep an eye on the older residents in the heat. These residents cannot go to the pools or play in the fire hydrants.
The economy has hit may Philadelphians hard, especially the ones in Hunting Park. Residents who cannot afford window units or the bills that come along with them have to find other ways to keep cool in the hot weather.
“The pools are usually open. I don’t know what’s up. Maybe they will open in the next couple weeks,” resident Artrece Pumphrey said.
Pumphrey and other residents are usually at the pool in Hunting Park on hot days, but the city has yet to open it. The Department of Recreation, however, said the pool will open.
Until such time the pools open residents will have to do other things to remain cool. Some residents take cold showers, others play in the water from fire hydrants, and some just try and sit in the shade. No matter the circumstance residents of Hunting Park will find a way to stay cool this summer and beat the heat.
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