Waterfront: Church Group Maintains Mission to Help Visiting Seamen
A nonprofit nearly two centuries old is still working hard to serve the men who come into one of the world’s largest freshwater ports. The Seamen’s Church Institute of Philadelphia and South Jersey has made it their mission since their founding in 1843 to serve the well-being and religious needs of seafarers coming from anywhere […]
Waterfront: Foreign Seafarers Get Warm Greeting in Philly After Long Voyages
The Rickmers Seoul ship is just one of the many ships to dock at the Tioga Marine Terminal on the Delaware River in any given week. Nearly 92 percent of these ships are visited by someone from the 171-year-old Seamen’s Church Institute of Philadelphia. The Seamen’s Church Institute visits about 40 to 50 ships a […]
Fishtown: Bicycle Stable Has Philly on Two Wheels
With the high costs of driving and maintaining a car in the city, Philadelphians have started to opt for a environmentally safe and healthy choice for transportation: biking. Road rage and pesky searches for parking can be downgraded pretty quickly with the ability to switch out four wheels for two. And there’s a place in Fishtown to […]
West Kensington: Fixing the Crack in the Foundation
Construction crews of union workers crowded the middle of the intersection at Kensington Avenue and Somerset Street. The men were all hard at work under the El trying to fix a repair job that was not executed correctly years ago. “Well, 15 years ago they redid the El, but it was a poor constructional design, […]
Education: Building a Future For Students Despite Budget Crisis
One of the Philadelphia Education Fund’s main goals is for all young people to have access to opportunity, not just the lucky ones. According to President and CEO Darren Spielman, the vision of the organization, which has been around for more than 30 years, is for all students to graduate high school with the opportunity to access college and […]
Manayunk: Parking Nightmare on Gay Street
On the corner of Mansion and Gay streets, a vacant lot served as parking space for about 30 cars each day. The lot had been looked after and cared for by the community for thirty years, after the church once standing there burned to the ground. It offered those on Gay Street and the nearby […]
Delaware Waterfront: Eliminating Stigmas and Creating Links
The physical barriers that have separated the Delaware River waterfront from Center City have created a stigma that the two locations are not related. The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation is on a mission to break down that stigma and rejoin Philadelphia with its waterfront, both literally and culturally. “Our ultimate goal is to reconnect the […]
Waterfront: More Than Just A Trail
As the rough winter of 2013-2014 gives way to warmer weather, Philadelphians and tourists alike have slowly popped up along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers like plant life getting its first glimpse of the sun after months stuck indoors or underground. To match the sense of anticipation and excitement circulating throughout the city, a number […]
Waterfront: Cyclists Troubled By Delaware Trails
When the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation installed the Penn Street Bike Trail off of Columbus Boulevard, it showcased the potential success of a fluid bike trail separated from traffic along the Delaware River. Central in the DRWC’s master plan for the Delaware, which was released in the fall of 2011 and began to be implemented […]
Bridesburg: Delaware Avenue Extension to Help Traffic, Increase Waterfront Access
The Bridesburg community is in the midst of a major change. The Philadelphia Department of Streets has embarked on the first new major road creation in more than a decade – the extension of Delaware Avenue. “Delaware Avenue is going to be a very critical road because it’s going to act kind of like a […]