The activist group West Philly Food Not Bombs will start serving free food at Malcolm X Park every Friday, beginning today, according to their Facebook page. Some of our readers may know these folks as they used to provide free food to neighbors at the A-Space community center (Facebook page) on Baltimore Ave. The group said that free food, cooked and fresh, will be available every Friday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the park.
Tonight is the last summer jazz concert at Malcolm X Park and West Philly Food Not Bombs will be “off to the side serving food.” Huey Middle School students with the instructors and University of Pennsylvania interns will be helping out too.

Here’s an assortment of events happening in the area this weekend. We hope this list is not too overwhelming. Enjoy your weekend and the warm weather while it lasts. For more upcoming events or if you want to submit an event, visit the West Philly Events Calendar.

Friday, October 4

Bindlestiff Books hosting author Stewart Acuff – 4530 Baltimore Avenue – 7:00 p.m. – This Friday, Bindlestiff Books will host Stewart Acuff, author of Playing Bigger Than You Are: A Life in Organizing. Acuff has spent more than 30 years as a union organizer, including several successful organizing campaigns in the south and serving as national Organizing Director for the AFL-CIO from 2001-2008. The event will be at the bookstore; copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Photo by Kyle Cassidy.

Romeo and Juliet – Curio Theatre (4740 Baltimore Avenue) – 8:00 p.m. – Curio Theatre Company is continuing its season with a production of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Curio is taking a very different look at the story by exploring gender roles – they made the decision to case Romeo and Juliet as two teenaged daughters of warring families. The young women fall desperately in love and set off a heartbreaking chain of events.  The same-sex casting proves the universality of Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy of pure, teenage love. Previews begin October 3. The show opens Friday, October 11 and runs through November 2. All performances are at 8 p.m. For more info and tickets ($20), go here. Continue Reading

Community Connector program volunteers. Photo courtesy of PEC.

There are a patchwork of community groups, improvement districts and major institutions trying to distribute news to their constituents in West Philadelphia, from fliers piled in the entranceway of a local church to email chains and Facebook pages.

Some of these efforts, such as the University City District’s (UCD) printed newsletter, have achieved widespread distribution and are commonly seen at coffee shops stacked next to the latest weekly newspapers.

But without the resources of the UCD, how can community groups get important news like road closings or information about available services out into the community?

The People’s Emergency Center (PEC) is experimenting with a model that enlists members of the community to distribute the news themselves.

PEC’s Community Connector program drops off informational materials on a bi-weekly basis to volunteers located in the neighborhoods of Belmont, Mantua, West Powelton, Saunders Park, Mill Creek and Powelton Village.

The volunteers then distribute the materials to every house within a four block radius of their home. Volunteers must also hand in a completed log sheet when new materials are delivered and are invited to attend monthly meetings.

“We believe that direct face-to-face interaction is one of the most effective methods for disseminating information and building credible relationships with a community,” said Cassandra Green, manager of community outreach and partnerships at PEC.

The idea for the program was pioneered by The Enterprise Center in the Walnut Hill neighborhood. PEC was able to replicate it through the support of the Philadelphia Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a local branch of the federal community development organization.

PEC was intent on figuring out a way to better get news out to the community because it wanted residents to know about its wide variety of programs addressing housing, unemployment, financial counseling and social services.

“Without knowing what assistance is available many residents who are eligible simply miss out,” Green said. “Information about these resources should be disseminated in the most direct way possible – through one-on-one human contact.”

For more information, contact Cassandra Green at 267-777-5893 or cgreen@pec-cares.org.

–Alex Vuocolo

University City is a global city—at least, that was the theme of this year’s The State of University City address hosted by the University City District and the University of Pennsylvania.

The 2013/2014 program, held Monday afternoon at the International House Philadelphia on 37^th and Chestnut Streets, focused on University City’s global reach. University of Pennsylvania Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli and Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Vice Provost of UPenn’s Global Initiatives, both discussed how their institution, as well as Drexel University and University of the Sciences, fosters an international neighborhood connection through its diverse student body and international academic, cultural and social partnerships.

In regards to the larger University City community, University City District Executive Director Matt Bergheiser pointed to recent real estate and commercial developments, cultural and community events, and the neighborhood’s shifting demographics as factors in creating “a global University City.” Each speaker, however, stressed that, while University City does impact the global community at large, people living and working in the neighborhood must continue to promote and support initiatives that are global in practice.

While the panel itself presented numbers relative to this year’s theme, attendees were also given a packet detailing more statistics about University City. In numbers:

• 23 percent of University City households speak a language other than English at home.
• 17 percent of University City’s residents is foreign-born, five percent more than Philadelphia’s overall population.
• According to Dr. Emanuel, the University of Pennsylvania has over 7,000 foreign-born students a year. Combined with Drexel University, that’s about 9,000 foreign-born students. (Dr. Emanuel noted that UPenn doesn’t do its best at integrating University City’s foreign-born residents, which he expects to change with the construction of the university’s Perry World House.)
• Nearly $3.5 billion of new or recently completed real estate projects.
• University City has over 72,000 jobs, with a 93 percent office occupancy rate and 89% retail occupancy rate.
• About 16 academic, commercial, medical/biomedical, or residential/mixed-use properties being constructed within the next three years.
• Average property values have tripled since 2000, from over $100,000 to over $300,000 in 2012.
• Cost of living in University City is 28 percent lower than Center City.
• The number of 20- to 34-year-olds living in University City has increased by 21 percent between 2000 and 2010, with 20- to 24-year-olds making up the highest number of residents.
• Racially, the population breaks down as follows: 25 percent Black or African-American, 20 percent Asian, and 50 percent White.
• In 2012, rate of serious crimes in University City was down 50 percent since 1998, compared to just under 25 percent for the city overall.
• Between 1998 and 2012, University City experienced a -44 percent change in rate of violent crime per 1,000 residents, compared to a -16 percent change in the City of Philadelphia.  Continue Reading

Photo from West Philly Grows Again Facebook page.

West Philly grows again… and again and again. If your child needs something and you don’t want to pay retail, check out the “West Philly Grows Again” kids’ consignment sale this Saturday, Oct 5. This is an annual event benefiting St. Mary’s Nursery School, so you’ll also be contributing to a great cause.

As always, there will be tons of great deals on clothing, toys, games, and other things that local kids have outgrown, all in great condition. The sale will be held at St. Mary’s Nursery School (3916 Locust Walk) on Saturday, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

A limited number of Friday evening (9-10 p.m.) pre-sale tickets are available. The cost of the ticket ($20) will offset the cost of renting the space and running the sale. The ticket is good for a child-free shopping evening complete with wine and cheese. Please contact the West Philly Grows Again team at: westphillygrowsagain@stmarysnursery.org for more details and availability.

For more information about this event, click here or visit the event’s Facebook page.

As West Philly Local reported earlier this year, a new form of public transportation in Philly – a bike share program – is scheduled to launch in 2014. The program will bring hundreds of bikes to the city for everyone to share (between 1,000 and 1,500 bikes will be included in Zone 1; see map). Currently, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities is looking for property and business owners interested in hosting or sponsoring a bike share station. The City of Philadelphia requests letters of interest from interested business and property owners and institutions. The deadline to express this non-binding interest is Monday, Oct 7.

Here’s some more info if you want to be part of this exciting new program:

The City is looking for two types of partners:

Station hosts: Property owners willing to locate bike sharing stations on or near their property will be among the first round of sites considered for the system launch. Bike share stations require a minimum space of approximately 7 feet by 35 feet (235 sq. ft.)

Station sponsors: Businesses, property owners and institutions who would like to assure their participation in bike sharing from the outset are invited to become Station Sponsors. Sponsors will be at the top of the list for location siting, given the opportunity to host one or more stations at or near their location, and given the opportunity to underwrite their station(s).

Please note that your letter of interest will be used for planning purposes only. It does not commit the City of Philadelphia or interested businesses, property owners and institutions to any further obligations. You can view the full document with information about what is involved here.

To express your interest or if you have questions, address them to:

Aaron Ritz
Bicycle & Pedestrian Programs Planner
Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities
1401 JFK Blvd, Suite 1430, 19102
Phone: 215-686-9000
aaron.ritz@phila.gov

The City has a website with information about Philly’s bike share program, set to launch around this time next year.