Kensington: Program Seeks To Empower Businesses In American Street Corridor
The American Street Empowerment Zone is all about facilitating job creation and economic development for Kensington – two things that aren’t easy and require diligence and patience. “It takes time. Economic development doesn’t happen overnight,” said Aiisha Herring, director of economic development zones for the city Commerce Department. “Some people moving to these places think it […]
West Kensington: St. Boniface Redevelopment Embraces Neighborhood Needs
West Kensington’s beloved St. Boniface Catholic Church stood for nearly 150 years on Hancock and Diamond streets, hosting a plethora of weddings, funerals, graduations and bilingual sermons to generations of families in the Norris Square community. The Norris Square Civic Association, now Norris Square Community Alliance, purchased the St. Boniface complex in 2007 for a $10 […]
West Kensington: APM Leads the March in Economic Development
Home-owning can be a challenge for those living in the 19122 area code in Philadelphia, where the median income was $23,509 in 2013, according to the U.S. Census American Community Survey. Just 40 percent of homes in the Temple University area were owned that year, a number that could be deflated because of university students and professors […]
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 […]
West Kensington: Street Art Adds Vibrance to Neighborhood
“No sense caring about it,” said Richard Connon, owner of Richard’s Bike Shop on Kensington Avenue at Lehigh Avenue. “I can’t do nothin’ about it. It ain’t the first time, they do it a lot of times.” The 81-year-old has seen graffiti come and go around the West Kensington area. Currently, Connon’s shop is covered […]
West Kensington: Caught Up in Kensington’s Game
Kensington Avenue is often considered one of the most dangerous streets in Philadelphia. Cops posted on most major intersections, drug dealers and junkies alike calling out from all directions, combined with the screeches of the El looming overhead, make up the busy promenade of sights and sounds some distastefully refer to as the “badlands.” However, […]
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, […]