Harrowgate: Outsiders Pitch In When Locals Don’t
Longtime community members fight for their neighborhood one block at a time in Harrowgate. Repelling drug dealers, moving addicts along and fighting opportunistic slumlords starts less with city-wide policy and more with in-person communication and leading by example. Local civic association leaders like Shannon Farrell and Jim Ridgway do it neighborhood-wide. But it’s the block captains […]
How To: Become A Block Captain
The City of Philadelphia provides support for citizens who’d like to become active in their community. While anyone can round up their neighbors to keep their street clean, the city can help by providing supplies and special trash pickups. The Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee (PMBC) runs a Block Captain program, and all you have to do […]
Point Breeze: Keeping Streets Clean Requires More Than Annual Cleanups
“It is not just one day,” said Carlton Williams, deputy commissioner for the Philadelphia Streets Department. “It is a constant battle.” The “one day” is referring to the 2016 Philly Spring Cleanup, which took place on April 16. The Streets Department started the citywide cleanup nine years ago in an effort to bring the community together and promote […]
Citywide: The Underrated Army of Block Captains
They pick up trash. They sweep the streets. They turn vacant lots in to community gardens, organize block parties, and keep crime in check on more than 6,000 blocks throughout the city. And they don’t get a dime. They’re title holders of one of Philadelphia’s more underrated – and one of its most important- roles […]
City Hall: Contest Connects, Cleans Communities
For the residents of the 1600 block of Waverly Street, the city’s Clean Block Contest wasn’t just a chance to continue to spruce up the block. It was a chance to connect with all of the neighbors of their narrow side street in Center City. “Here, you walk out and your neighbors are out, there […]
Germantown: Northwest Neighbors Group Hosts Monthly Meeting
Approximately 30 people gathered inside the Canaan Baptist Church, located at 5430 Pulaski Ave., this week to hear from five guest speakers at a community meeting organized by Northwest Neighbors of Germantown’s Lisa Hopkins. Hopkins, NWNG’s Community Organizer, initiated the community meeting by reemphasizing the organization’s goals as well as giving the attendees an overview of the […]
Frankford: Looking At PhillyRising One Year Later
Vacant buildings have become spaces for art galleries, overgrown brush in parks has been trimmed, vacant lots have been cleared from short dumping and victory gardens at local schools have been planted since PhillyRising first took roots in the revitalization efforts in Frankford last year. PhillyRising originally began as a pilot program in 2010 and […]
Hunting Park: A History of Working Together
Hunting Park is a neighborhood full of stories with each block having its own unique history. From being home to James Logan, William Penn’s secretary, and the famed actress Grace Kelly, Hunting Park has a lot of history. But what many might not know is Hunting Park has a history of its residents helping one […]