Neighborhoods

At first glance, Villa looks like just another urban retail store on the block. However, three simple words differentiate this hip hop apparel store from its counterparts.  “Join the Movement” is the slogan that can [continue reading…]

The bookstores of the Tioga and Nicetown community are much more than stacks of literature and textbooks. They serve as a forum for the community and an educational outlet for the people of the neighborhood. When customers walk up to the poster-clad staircase of Black and Nobel Bookstore, the employees and owner Hakim Hopkins immediately welcome them with smiles and hearty handshakes. It seems as if Hopkins knows just about every customer on a personal basis. [continue reading…]

From the draperies adorned atop the vaulted windows, to the candelabras along the walls, gold tones emit an enchanting ambiance within Willa Ward-Royster’s Logan home. A chandelier hung from the ceiling and crystals suspended from tall end table lamps in the living room, create whimsical touches of glamour that seem to mirror the tenant perfectly. Today, you can still see that glamour and sophistication of years past within Willa. [continue reading…]

There is no shortage of customers at Colosimo’s Gun Store on the 900 block of Spring Garden Street. A group of young men are buzzed into the store every few minutes, each time bringing in a gust of cold air through the door with a National Rifle Association sticker plastered on it. Eager customers talk excitedly among themselves while they press their noses against the glass cabinets lined with handguns. Outside, two New Yorkers wearing Yankee caps smoke cigarettes while they wait for the shooting range to open next door. [continue reading…]

Running down Frankford Avenue to catch an arriving train, we can hear the reverberations grow louder, amplified through the steel supports that line the street. We hustle up the steps, taking two or three at [continue reading…]