City Living
Are College Students Inflating Philly’s Poverty Rate?
City Paper reports: A census report, quietly released in May, revealed some interesting statistics about student populations and urban poverty rates. The report found that, […]
Joan Shepp Gets New Boutqiue on Walnut Street
Six months after announcing she was leaving her longtime Rittenhouse outpost (“We’re definitely not wanted here.”), Joan Shepp has found a new home. And it’s […]
Three Reasons Bike Share Will Succeed in Philly
I am thrilled that Philadelphia is getting a bike share program. And I am terrified the city is going to screw it up. Let’s face […]
Mayor Nutter: Bike Share in Philly by Summer 2014
Just got a long press release from Mayor Nutter’s office (see below). Basically, the city’s ready to start a bike-sharing program of the type that’s […]
Segways to Keep Terrorizing the Sidewalks of Philadelphia
While bikes are ghettoized in their bike lanes, everyone’s least favorite two-wheeled monsters have permission to roam free among the pedestrians, the city has declared. […]
6 Phantom SEPTA Subways, and Where to Find Them
The Roosevelt Boulevard subway isn’t the only rapid transit line Philadelphia was supposed to have but never got. There are actually a whole bunch of […]
Riding a Skateboard Is Not Like Riding a Bike
It seemed like a very bad idea. I’d recently watched Bones Brigade: An Autobiography, an excellent documentary about the skateboarders I’d idolized as a kid, […]
School Crisis: Not Just a Problem for Parents
In Sunday’s Inquirer, Brian Hackford, a 41-year-old Philly father of three says that he is divorcing the city, citing irreconcilable differences over public education. Hackford, […]
South Philly’s Boot and Saddle to Re-Open Sept. 9 with Aimee Mann and Ted Leo
At long last, South Philadelphians who’d resigned themselves to the long slog to Northern Liberties to get their fix of indie rock club shows have […]
Why Gtown Radio, the Little Internet Station with the Global Reach, Wants to Jump to Low-Power FM
Jim Bear, the founder and station manager of Gtown Radio, “The Sound from Germantown,” was an early and enthusiastic adopter of Internet radio. In the […]
5 Projects Changing Philly For the Better, Schuylkill Boardwalk Edition
The Schuylkill River will be getting a boardwalk added next year, but what works are also giving Philadelphia a much-needed cultural face-lift? Read on for […]
Introducing the Philadelphia Public History Truck
Last week, I heard that Philadelphia was getting the Philadelphia Public History Truck. I wasn’t sure what a Philadelphia Public History Truck was, or why […]
The Day I Went to See Mr. Fumo, or Politics Is the Art of Getting Things Done
Three years after graduating from college with a marginally salable degree in sociology and the illusion that any day my band was going to break […]
The Prodigal Parents: Empty Nesters Are Rejoining Their Adult Children in the City
In 2006, Elizabeth McDonald moved to Bella Vista from River Forest, Ill. Last month, her parents followed her. Elizabeth grew up in River Forest, a […]
Meet Leigh Gallagher, Author of The End of the Suburbs
Your new book says the American Dream is in the middle of a major shift — various forces are making the suburbs unnecessary and undesirable. That’s […]