Chinatown: Stakeholders Tackle Crucial Development Questions As Neighborhood Grows
The story of Philadelphia’s Chinatown isn’t unique. But the history of this city’s Asian immigrant- and Asian-American home is, for residents, what makes it stand out from other stories of gentrification. Historically, Chinatowns have grown in abandoned urban neighborhoods, unwanted for things other than industrial business. In Philadelphia, this part of town – called Chinatown […]
Chinatown North/Callowhill: Naming the Neighborhood Proves To Be Longtime Challenge
There’s a battle of sorts being waged near the Vine Street Expressway. Development throughout the entire city has been picking up over the past few years in Philadelphia, and the area north of Chinatown is no exception. But it’s not just arguments over development that are sparking debate between community leaders in the neighborhood north […]
Poplar: Congregants Drawn To Church With Deep Roots In Neighborhood
Leslie Callahan can’t pinpoint a specific reason why people end up at her church, located on the southwest corner of Wallace and 10th streets. But she does know that once people walk through the front door, most become a member of St. Paul’s Baptist Church for life. “Many of our members have been here a […]
Poplar: Gun Range Owner Aims to Offer Safe, Social, Inclusive Environment
The owner of The Gun Range greets all of his customers at the door, a welcome underscored with the faintest hint of an accent that originates somewhere between Russia and Israel. After a tumultuous childhood spent partly in the former Soviet Union, Yuri Zalzman came to the United States as a teenager. He later obtained an undergraduate degree in history […]
Chinatown: Community Agency Looks To Engage More Residents, Businesses
In a quiet office on 9th Street, red lanterns are strung from the ceiling and two long banners are hung beside a portrait of the Arch of Friendship. The office houses the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp., where special projects associate Lamei Zhang (above) sits in the back corner, tucked between two computer screens and flyers […]
Chinatown: 5 Places to Eat Something Other Than Chinese Food
Chinatown offers a comforting, reliable picture for the hungry: cooked ducks hanging in shop windows, neon signs glowing with ads for noodle soup and chow fun. Around this time of year, red paper cut-outs and lanterns hang from stores for the celebration of the Lunar New Year. But for a neighborhood that stretches less than […]