View From The Streets

For the first time in three years, the city is poised to start a new year with fewer than 500 fatalities, thanks to a renewed focus on the most violent neighborhoods. But the gunshots, sirens, and recurring cycles of mourning persist

By Mensah M. Dean

Philadelphia Celebrates Juneteenth 2023

A three-day weekend makes it easy to enjoy more of the city’s biggest events in Germantown, West Philadelphia, Southwest and Old City — and then some

By Abigail Chang and Lauren McCutcheon

How a Community Fridge Built … a Community

Jane Ellis opened one of the city’s first community fridges at the start of Covid. Two years later, Germantown’s two free-to-all pantries testify to the power and promise of mutual aid

By Ethan Young

Business for Good: YING

Karla Ballard has raised over $1 million for her app, which seeks to replicate the community of helpful neighbors she grew up with in Philadelphia, one task at a time

By Courtney DuChene

Glitter’s Glow Up

Morgan Berman’s street cleaning startup company is working better than ever. The City, which once declined to fund the “unproven pilot,” now faces proof: It works.

By Nick Russo

15+ Indie Bookstores in Philadelphia We ❤️

Summer novels, banned books, literary classics, moving memoirs: Whatever you’re into reading, you’ll find it at one of Philadelphia’s independent bookstores

By Amber Burns

Citizen of the Week: Rev. Dr. Michelle Simmons

Rev. Simmons’ Germantown nonprofit Why Not Prosper helps recently incarcerated women get their lives back — and stay out of prison for good

By Christina Griffith

Art For Change: Elder Scribe

Next up in our conversation series with Forman Arts Initiative, oral historian Julie Rainbow connects the Second Great Migration of African Americans from the South to Philly to our present search for community

By Blake Bradford