Study Confirms Poverty Hits The Suburbs, Too

Say poverty in the Philadelphia area, and it conjures images of North Philadelphia or Kensington, not the suburbs.

But the suburbs on both sides of the Delaware River are becoming steadily poorer, part of a national trend that confounds long-held beliefs that life is always better in greener pastures beyond urban limits.

“People have this cliched notion of poverty being based in the inner city,” said Adele LaTourette, director of the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition, which has offices in Trenton and North Jersey.  ”But it’s been moving into suburbia for some time.

“No one wants to think that their neighbors are becoming poor.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130520_Study_confirms_poverty_hits_the_suburbs__too.html#jtGAhiCISV3muuo1.99

Philly Flower Show Lost $1.2 Million, And Leader Blames TV

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society usually makes about $1 million in profits from the Philadelphia Flower Show.

But not this year.

The 2013 show actually fell short about $1.2 million, not an unprecedented event in its 184-year history but a short-term disaster for the many urban “greening” programs it supports.  PHS president Drew Becher is now scrambling to cut costs – and to raise $1 million for programs and $200,000 for Flower Show expenses from PHS members and an insurance policy.

For all this, he blames local TV and radio stations.

With unusual bluntness, Becher accuses them of “hyping up” a major snowstorm during Flower Show week that never materialized – but led to scores of canceled tour buses and visitors, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in ticket and merchandise sales.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130519_Flower_Show_lost__1_2_million__and_leader_blames_TV.html#Gok7XbSLiFH34U2D.99

Philadelphia ‘Slumlord Millionaire’ Gets 6 Years In Prison

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Robert N. Coyle Sr., a notorious Philadelphia slumlord, stood before the judge yesterday in tears, minutes before he was to be sentenced for defrauding banks of more than $10 million.

Coyle, 68, told U.S. District Court Judge Stewart Dalzell about his struggles growing up poor in Kensington, the same neighborhood where he later acquired wealth.  As a child, he lived in rickety houses and his mother worked in sweatshops and he slogged away in a paper factory as a teen, he said.

He became a real-estate mogul and admitted to the court he made mistakes when the economy soured.  In making his plea, Coyle, who wore a gray suit over his hefty frame, took several breaks to compose himself.

“I am not a slumlord,” he said, his voice quivering

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130517__Slumlord_Millionaire__gets_6_years_in_prison.html#i8j4odiP1s7VadYl.99

Club Operator Who Fleeced John Bolaris Is Sentenced

The South Beach club operator who orchestrated the “bar girls” scheme that fleeced former Philadelphia weatherman John Bolaris out of $43,000 and eventually cost him his job was sentenced to 12 years in prison today.

According the Miami Herald, operator Albert Takhalov cried as he was sentenced.

Also sentenced today were Isaac Feldman, an investor in two of the clubs implicated in the “bar girls” ring, who received eight years, and Stanislav Pavlenko, will be sentenced later this month

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/celebrities_gossip/Club-owner-who-fleeced-Bolaris-is-sentenced.html#Z64Gm19j6VUFVsVD.99

Cold Stretch To Continue Overnight, Record Low Temp Possible In Philly

Philadelphians could wake up to a new record-low temperature on Tuesday.

The cold-for-May snap hitting the region today — temperatures are about 15 degrees below normal — should continue overnight, with a low temperature of around 41 degrees expected, the National Weather Service says.

If the mercury drops any lower than that, Philadelphia would have a new record: The coldest temperature ever recorded on May 14 is 40 degrees, according to the weather service.

The weather service is calling that mark a “possible vulnerable record low.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Cold_stretch_to_continue_overnight_record_low_temp_possible_in_Philly.html#3eUFqHvhv5DTxxW8.99

Changing Skyline: Philly Steering Toward Bike Sharing

Philadelphia didn’t need Bicycling magazine to confirm that it is one of America’s best biking cities (No. 17 on its 2012 list).  You can see it every day on the streets:

Near northeast corner, May 2005. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The steady stream of commuters sluicing down Center City‘s bike lanes.  The tangle of bikes hitched to U-shaped racks and bike corrals.  (More, please.)  The proliferation of neighborhood bike shops.

Philadelphia probably could have ranked higher in the magazine’s esteem if it had a bike-sharing program, like most of the list’s top 20 cities.  You can now find cheap, on-street bike rentals in more than 135 places around the world, many of them with worse weather and hillier streets than Philadelphia.  Yet the city has remained strangely ambivalent toward the concept, even as private bikes have become a popular transit option within the city.

But the sight of Mayor Nutter tooling around Rittenhouse Square last week on a canary-yellow cruiser suggests Philadelphia is finally ready to commit.  To show the city’s seriousness, his Transportation Department organized a daylong bike-sharing demonstration with three top vendors, supplying a docking-station’s worth of bikes in paint-box colors.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20130510_Changing_Skyline__City_steering_toward_bike_sharing.html#oeXi4rzPYwBAAXdv.99

Radnor Panel Rejects Villanova Expansion

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Delaware County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Radnor Township Planning Commission has rejected Villanova University‘s request for a zoning change that would allow a major expansion of the Lancaster Avenue campus with new dormitories, a parking garage, a performing arts center, and stores.

The $200 million plan has upset residents, who say it would transform a quiet neighborhood into a noisy extension of the 10,600-student Wildcat campus.

The university was seeking a conditional use to allow denser development than allowed, Planning Commission Chairwoman Julia Hurle said.

The commission was concerned was that the zoning change would not be restricted to the university, she said.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/suburban_pa/20130509_Radnor_panel_rejects_Villanova_expansion.html#ocW7DQUa1jGWuMYC.99

Town By Town: Haddington, A Growing Area In West Philadelphia

English: Map of Philadelphia County highlighting West Philadelphia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There was a time 60th Street in Haddington was called “Real Estate Row,” because of the 22 realty offices that lined both sides of the thoroughfare.

Given the changing fortunes of the housing market, that time has past in many places, not just this nearly one-mile-square chunk of West Philadelphia hugging the Market-Frankford El – which, not surprisingly, was the catalyst for the neighborhood’s birth in 1903 and subsequent growth.

Sandidge & Co., at 40 N. 60th St., is the lone survivor on Real Estate Row, and after 50 years in business, broker E. Paul Sandidge remains “the authority” on real estate in the neighborhood, says Terry Guerra, director of special projects for the nonprofit ACHIEVEability, which has its headquarters in Haddington.

ACHIEVEability owns more than 200 properties throughout Haddington and Cobbs Creek, where its clients live while they complete two- and four-year academic programs to become nurses, social workers, teachers, and computer specialists.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/town-by-town/20130505_Town_By_Town__Haddington__a_growing_area_in_W__Phila_.html

Philadelphia’s Washington Avenue Green

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Formerly known as Pier 53, Washington Avenue Green is located at Washington Avenue, just south of the Coast Guard station and behind the Sheet Metal Workers’ Union Hall, 1301 South Columbus Boulevard.  The one-acre site on the long-abandoned pier is one of the few tracts along the Delaware riverfront that is owned by the City of Philadelphia.  It is the first of the public parks to be created by the Action Plan for the Central Delaware. Because there has been no commercial activity at that location for decades, the pier that originally had welcomed ships and freight carriers has deteriorated, and both native and non-native trees and plants took hold and flourished.

The rotted piers and eroded shoreline have become a nursery for migrating fish and a permanent home for several species of mussels.

This newly discovered habitat is being exploited and informs the park’s unique spirit.  Delaware Avenue Green has been redesigned and reconstructed as a public space on the interim trail that is planned for the southern section of the Central Delaware.

Read more: http://washingtonavenuegreen.com/

PhillyInc: Philadelphia Has Gained Much, But Not Jobs

English: This is my own work, Public Domain Photograph, not copyrighted Ed Yakovich http://www.flickr.com/photos/10396190@N04 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Several macrotrends have broken Philadelphia’s way:  The city’s population is growing again.  Residential building is up, and the city has seen an influx of college-educated young adults over the last decade.

But one trend remains stubbornly negative, as three recent research reports make clear: The city continues to lose jobs. The latest such evidence was included in the Center City District’s “State of Center City, 2013″ report, released Monday.

The special-services district can rightly brag about the increased vibrancy in the area wedged between the rivers and Vine and Pine Streets.  The city is cleaner since 1990, serious crime is down, and the churn in retail stores and restaurants is source of small-business strength.

Employment, though, remains a weakness, and if the long-term trend of job destruction does not change, it’s hard to imagine that the city could continue to maintain momentum in other areas.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/business/columnists/20130423_PhillyInc__Philadelphia_has_gained_much__but_not_jobs.html

Philadelphia’s Queen Village, A Neighborhood Of Reinvention

English: Map of Philadelphia County highlighting planning districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Way back when, Queen Village was the place to buy a house if you couldn’t afford Society Hill.

Joseph P. Fanelli Jr., who moved from the suburbs in 1985, readily acknowledges that Queen Village was his second choice.

“But looking at it today,” says Fanelli, president and CEO of Quaker City Manufacturing Co., the new townhouse in the 100 block of Catharine Street he bought 28 years ago for $175,000 “was a great buy.”

It was a lot of money in 1985, especially when you could buy what veteran real estate agent and Queen Village native Kathy Conway calls “a grandmom house” for $50,000.

Twenty years later, Fanelli sold the townhouse and its two secure parking spaces for $575,000. (He moved to a house on Bainbridge Street that his new wife, Katie, an IBM executive, bought when she transferred to Philadelphia.)

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/town-by-town/20130421_Town_By_Town___Queen_Village__By_the_Numbers.html

‘Catastrophic’ Budget Laid Out By Philly Schools

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If the “catastrophic” budget picture Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. laid out Thursday comes to pass, Philadelphia schools would be virtually unrecognizable come September.

There could be no money for counselors or librarians. There might be no sports or extracurricular activities. No dedicated funds for secretaries, aides, or summer school would be provided. And that would follow the steep cuts made over the last two years.

There also could be 3,000 layoffs, including some teachers.

This doomsday scenario comes as a result of a deficit of more than $300 million in the district’s $2.7 billion 2013-14 budget. Officials have asked for $120 million in additional funding from the state and $60 million from the city, as well as $133 million in concessions from labor unions.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130419__Catastrophic__budget_laid_out_by_Philly_schools.html

Hysterical Interview Of Ryan Lochte On Good Day Philadelphia

The interview is funny but after Ryan is done watch Sheinelle Jones laugh so hard she cries, snorts and they go to break.  Ryan has a new reality show on E! which he is promoting, hence the interview.

Click here:  http://www.myfoxphilly.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8787217

Changing Skyline: Cool Affordable Housing For Young Teachers

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s easy to imagine the sprawling 19th-century brick mill on South Kensington’s Howard Street as just another high-end apartment complex for twentysomething professionals, the newest outpost on Philadelphia’s ever-advancing frontier of gentrification.

Situated a few blocks north of Fishtown‘s hipster bars and BYOB food shrines, Oxford Mills preserves the kind of authentic architectural details that make young, and not-so-young, renters swoon: high ceilings, huge windows, thick wooden beams.  The amenities hail straight from the wired generation’s handbook.  Plans call for an office incubator that rents desk space by the day and a public cafe that spills onto a sliver park furnished with outdoor tables and a fire pit.  You know, for those cool, late summer nights when you want to linger with friends.

But Oxford Mills, which will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking Wednesday, ventures down an uncharted path.  It is being built by a private company, D3 Real Estate, which intends to market the units as affordable housing to teachers, especially novices working in programs like Teach for America, and others who fall into the growing category known as “the working poor.”

Newly minted professionals with college degrees are not generally seen as the target demographic for low-income housing, a term that still brings to mind no-frills residential complexes built for the chronically poor, elderly, or disabled.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/home/20130415_Changing_Skyline__South_Kensington_housing_development_for_low-wage_workers_is_a_socially_driven_project.html

PhillyInc: Merger Of Real Estate Firms Tied To Life Sciences May Give West Philadelphia Area A Boost

English: Map of Philadelphia County highlighting West Philadelphia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For 50 years, the University City Science Center has been where scientists and start-ups have toiled to build the next generation of Philadelphia-area companies.

But to hear science center president and CEO Stephen S. Tang, what would really help nurture that entrepreneurial soup would be if a big life-sciences company were to put its headquarters or research operations in West Philadelphia.

Given that several of the biggest drug companies locally have already made long-term commitments elsewhere, there is nothing on the horizon presently.  But a merger between two real estate firms that focus on life-sciences properties may aid Tang’s quest.

Late last month, BioMed Realty Trust Inc. said it would acquire Wexford Science & Technology L.L.C. in a $640 million transaction.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/columnists/20130408_PhillyInc__Merger_of_real_estate_firms_tied_to_life_sciences_may_give_West_Philadelphia_area_a_boost.html#ixzz2PsybwX00 
Watch sports videos you won’t find anywhere else

A Philly Accent? Fuhgeddaboudit

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Like most Philadelphia natives, I know the sound of a Philadelphia accent:

“So I tollum straight up, ‘Yo, Paulie, your sister’s wit me.  And we’re gawna ride widges down-ashore or this car don’t make it past Pashunk Avenue!’ “

And like most Philadelphia natives, I don’t hear any accent in my voice when ordering kawfee at the Melrose or wooder ice at Rita’s.  Yanohwaddamean?

Seriously, me?  An accent?  Fuhgeddaboudit.

Nevertheless, I was disturbed by the recent headline “The Strange Decline of the Philly Accent” in the Atlantic magazine‘s online site, www.theatlanticcities.com.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130407_A_Philly_accent__Fuhgeddaboudit.html

Creating A Buzz For 14 Philadelphia Neighborhoods

English: Map of Philadelphia County highlighting West Philadelphia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To some, they are former diamonds in the rough, locales that a decade or so of change has polished into something now truly unique.

And many have made the cut as city neighborhoods that the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. will be showcasing in a new, two-year campaign.

The 14 areas, to be unveiled Friday as part of the campaign’s launch, are: Fairmount, Spring Garden, Graduate Hospital, Callowhill, Bella Vista, East Passyunk, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, Queen Village, Pennsport, Cedar Park, Spruce Hill, University City, and Powelton Village.

“Philly is a city of neighborhoods. What does that really mean?” GPTMC president and chief executive Meryl Levitz said of the impetus behind the campaign. “We want people to go one block farther. People haven’t felt this good about Philly as they do now.”

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20130405_Philadelphia_s_gems__Its_neighborhoods__that_is.html#ixzz2PbMBcjXg 
Watch sports videos you won’t find anywhere else

Philadelphia’s Homicide Tally Shows Dramatic Drop

English: This is my own work, Public Domain Photograph, not copyrighted Ed Yakovich http://www.flickr.com/photos/10396190@N04 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Great news!

PHILLY’S HOMICIDE rate is raising some eyebrows – but this time, it’s for all of the right reasons.

From the start of the year through Wednesday night, 54 homicides were recorded, a 39 percent drop from the same period a year ago, according to police statistics.

Shootings were down 20 percent, from 274 to 218, and overall violent crime fell 9 percent through March 31, the last date for which those figures were available.

For a city that has long been haunted by stubbornly high homicide tallies, the lower figures represent an encouraging sign of progress.

Whether that progress can be maintained through the notoriously violent spring and summer months is anyone’s guess.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130405_Philadelphia_s_homicide_tally_shows_dramatic_drop.html

Philly Coffee Shop Ranked #1 In America

Coffee cup icon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Philly’s Ultimo Coffee, which started at 15th and Mifflin Streets in 2009 and opened a second shop last year at 22d and Catharine Streets, just snagged the #1 spot on TheDailyMeal.com’s list of America’s Best Coffee Shops.

“What makes Ultimo tick — and brings in Philadelphians in flocks? Simplicity, and a little bit of love,” the blurb reads, in part.  ”And many will argue that Philadelphia, often seen as the underdog to the big cities of the Northeast, is hands-down the winner for the best cup of coffee because the coffee scene there is hardly home to the snobbery that can come with ‘Third Wave’ coffee.”  No atty-tude!

Chester Mayor Shakes Up Police Department

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Delaware County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  This will never happen in Pottstown, sigh…..

In something of a leadership shake-up, Chester Mayor John Linder has replaced three of his highest level police officers with three formerly lower-ranking lawmen.

In addition, the mayor announced Tuesday that he has created a police narcotics task force and beefed up highway patrol.

Linder, who also is the city’s public safety director, said the personnel moves are part of the changes and on-going assessment he vowed when he took office last year.

“I saw some areas I wanted to change, and the only way to change things was to move (personnel) around,” Linder said Tuesday.

Read more:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130402_Chester_mayor_shakes_up_police_department.html