Hunting Park: Bodegas and Bodyshops Revive The Economy of North 5th Street
Specks of sawdust shimmered in the sunlight as the shrill of power tools echoed throughout the skeleton of a body shop. The sight is no longer uncommon along the 5th Street Corridor of North Philadelphia, between Luzerne and Wyoming streets, but rather serves as evidence to the recent economic influx of Hunting Park. “I’ve been […]
Strawberry Mansion: Shoe Drive Campaign Makes Environmental and Economic Impact
Irvin B. Shannon, executive director of the Harmonious Volunteer Center (HVC), walked into Wash-n-Dry Laundromat at 26th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue on Wednesday, Dec. 2. He greeted the laundry attendant, opened the lid of a large trash bin, and reached his arm all the way to the bottom. This particular trash bin wasn’t […]
Manayunk: Cigar Shop Owner Takes Unique Path to Success
Kosta Fotiadis moved to Philadelphia in 2002 to chase his dream job, working for Lockheed Martin. Now, just 13 years later, Fotiadis is the proud owner of award winning cigar and hookah lounge Smoke, a totally different dream job. “Owning your own business, making your own hours, being your own boss, that’s the real dream job. It’s […]
West Kensington: Weathering an Economic Storm
Kensington Avenue, once the area’s centralized strip of commercial business, is still bustling to this day. New faces, new businesses and new wares are sold up and down the avenue. The first mile of Kensington Avenue, which spans from York Street to Allegheny Avenue, echoes the emptiness left behind by those who have left the […]
Mantua: “Promising” a Supermarket in Mantua
Twenty two years ago, Mantua’s only grocery store, located on 34th Street, burned to the ground. Since then, the neighborhood has never had a grocery store to call its own, forcing those living there to take two bus lines to two different supermarkets on Columbus Boulevard or to the more expensive option of shopping at […]
Al Dia: Five Places You Should Know
“Welcome to the center of gold” as the mural reads, or in this case the heart of Philadelphia’s Fairhill section, located at the intersection of 5th Street and Lehigh Avenue. Fairhill has the highest concentration of Latino residents of any neighborhood in Philadelphia, but it is just one of many Latino hotspots located throughout the […]
Spruce Hill: Lottery Brings New Era for Penn Alexander
Penn Alexander School’s kindergarten waitlist ended this year, changing to a contested lottery. Traditionally, parents had waited in line for days to register. School District Superintendent William Hite made the change within days of becoming aware of the situation, said Fernando Gallard, chief of communications for the School District. “It was a change that was […]
West Philly: Music Education Improves Academic and Social Skills
With the $304 million deficit facing the Philadelphia School District this year, music education was among the first programs to get cut. However, one special after school program is encouraging students to play on. Play On, Philly!, known as POP, was established in 2011 at St. Francis de Sales School and since then has expanded […]
Powelton Village: AVI Assessments Leave Many Feeling Indifferent
Philadelphia’s Office of Property Assessment has implanted a new property tax reform effort, the Actual Value Initiative. Under this reform, many are paying more in property taxes as the values of most homes have increased drastically, while some areas have seen their bills decrease. Particularly in Powelton Village, there is an interesting dynamic of homeowners […]
Graduate Hospital: Schools Need Resources
Mayor Michael Nutter wanted to raise additional money for schools by implementing the Actual Value Initiative in 2012. Now the mayor says AVI will be revenue neutral. “The city is not ready to implement [AVI]. It doesn’t have all the data,” said Doerte Smith, a longtime resident and voter of Graduate Hospital. “Luckily Councilman Johnson […]