Nicetown-Logan: Five Historic Places
North Philadelphia has a rich history revolving around blue-collar workers. Nicetown and Logan are home to historic locations that served the workers who lived in the city. These locations hold countless stories about the people of Philadelphia. The Stenton The Stenton is a mansion in Logan, Philadelphia (above) that used to belong to James Logan, […]
Strawberry Mansion: Property Developers Strive To Improve Neighborhood
When walking through Strawberry Mansion, you may notice an overabundance of vacant properties and abandoned houses. It was not always like this. Due to redlining, a racist collusion between banks and city government, where people of certain races were prevented from buying homes in certain sections of the city, the historic neighborhood on the edge […]
Poplar: Five Pieces of Philadelphia History
The original city plans laid out on a map by William Penn only included the area between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers between Vine and South streets. People, however, settled outside of those areas, including what is now known as the Poplar neighborhood. “Certain neighborhoods were settled by individuals from certain parts of Europe or were […]
Kingsessing: In Changing Neighborhood, ‘Play Terrains’ Project Opens Dialogue
Meghan Talarowski thinks play can bring anyone together. “There’s no race, there’s no economic status related to play,” Talarowski said. “Everybody plays. That’s what we do. It’s like a basic human nature.” Talarowski, a landscape architect, developed such a passion for play that she made it her career. Almost three years ago, she founded Studio […]
Immigration: Using Art to Share the Asian American Migration Experience
Through the power of art, even the most complex stories of immigration and assimilation can be expressed. Located on the 1200 block of Vine Street, the Asian Arts Initiative has linked art and communities since 1993. AAI is a multidisciplinary arts center dedicated to exploring experiences of Asian Americans and bridging dialogue with diverse communities. […]
South Philadelphia: Historian Explores Her Sicilian Roots
Celeste Morello is known throughout Philadelphia as an authority on the history of the mafia in the area and has earned advanced degrees in criminology and history from St. Joseph’s University and Villanova University, respectively. She currently resides in South Philadelphia. Are you from the Philadelphia area? I’m from Montgomery County, Norristown. That’s where […]
Mayfair: This Week In The News — Sex Clubs, Racism And Guns
In case you missed it, we found a few places where people are talking about things happening in Mayfair: Guy shot his AR-15: A man fired his weapon in Northeast Philly, crashed his truck in Trevose, eventually captured by police on Deveraux Avenue, according to police (via NBC10) Racism on Teesdale Street : Nasty note left on car […]
West Philadelphia: A Place to Learn About Japanese Culture
Derek Finn is the associate director of Shofuso Japanese House and Garden. He started at Shofuso in 2010 after earning his bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies from the University of Pennsylvania. His passion for Japanese culture kept him at Shofuso, where he started as a visitor service assistant and worked his way up to […]
Mount Airy: Redevelopment Projects Look to Eliminate Blight, Improve Livelihood of Historic Neighborhood
Dating back to the 1680s, when it was a just small part of Germantown, the neighborhood of Mount Airy has a rich history that has shaped the diverse and tight-knit community that it is today. In 1750, William Allen, a chief justice for the province of Pennsylvania, built an estate at the corner of modern-day […]
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 […]