Newly constructed Bookers’ Greenhouse Patio (Photo from Bookers’ Instagram page).

The City of Philadelphia has declared all Fridays in December as a “Shop Black Business Friday“, an initiative that aims to support Black-owned businesses, which have been hit very hard during the pandemic. One of the ways to support Black businesses in your community is to order food from Black-owned restaurants.

There are so many great Black-owned restaurants in West Philly. Some of them, like Bookers’ Restaurant and Bar (50th and Baltimore) and 48th Street Grille (48th and Pine) are still open for outdoor dining, as long as the weather is not too cold. Bookers’ recently built a greenhouse patio with open air flow, heaters and socially distanced tables (see photo).  Continue Reading

The SEPTA Trolley Tunnel that connects West Philadelphia with Center City will be closed every night from 12 a.m. until 5 a.m., beginning Sunday, Dec. 13 until further notice, SEPTA has announced. During the closure hours, SEPTA crews will be working on COVID-19 maintenance, which includes deep cleaning of the stations.

During the overnight tunnel closure, Route 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36 trolleys will be on diversion to 40th and Market streets where riders can transfer for free to or from Market-Frankford Line trains or the overnight MFL Owl buses at the 40th Street Station for travel to/from Center City.

Trolleys will continue to operate on their regular route throughout West and Southwest Philadelphia.

The University City District this week released its “State of University City,” the annual report that details home price increases, population shifts and research, retail and office space successes in the area roughly bounded by the Schuylkill River to the east, 50th Street to the west, Market Street/Powelton Avenue/Spring Garden Street to the north and Woodland Avenue/University Avenue to the south.

The report includes data from 2019 and shows a decline or levelling off in real estate development in the area, a continued increase in home values and a slight aging of the population compared to 2000. The report does not include demographic information related to race or ethnicity.  Continue Reading

              Photo courtesy of Penn Museum

Philadelphia libraries and museums have closed their doors again due to the COVID-19 pandemic until at least January 1, 2021, but it doesn’t mean that all events and activities are cancelled. The Free Library of Philadelphia is offering many programs virtually and maintains digital resources – ebooks, audiobooks, movies, TV, music, and more – that you can access anywhere with your library card.

Several Free Library locations, including Walnut Street West Library, have also started offering contactless material pickups and returns. Please visit this page for more details.

Many museums, including the Penn Museum, continue to hold events online, many of them free, for adults and children alike. Check out the Penn Museum’s events calendar for upcoming virtual events and programs.  Continue Reading

Pennsylvania’s Community-Accessible Testing & Education initiative’s mobile testing unit, CATE, will be making stops in Philadelphia for the next three days. Adults and children needing COVID-19 tests can receive one at no-cost thanks to a partnership with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Philadelphia Fight.

CATE’s tour schedule includes the following stops in West Philly:

• Saturday, Nov. 21, 9am-12pm, Vine Memorial Baptist Church, 5600 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19131

• Saturday, Nov. 21, 2pm-6pm, Woodland Rec Center, 1414 S 47th Street, Philadelphia PA 19143

• Monday, Nov. 23, 9am-12pm, Mill Creek Playground, 4700 Brown St., Philadelphia, PA 19139  Continue Reading

The area around 46th and Market Streets has been designated an “Opportunity Zone,” a federal tax incentive created as part of the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and community groups are asking for residents’ input on the types of development that should be pursued.

A host of local community organizations, including Walnut Hill Community Association, West Park Tenants Association, Mill Creek Advisory Council, and more, will be reaching out to community members over the next few months in order to gather feedback, and build a community tool in the form of “a Letter to Investors” for the 46th and Market Street area. They want to make sure that neighborhood residents’ interests are represented.  Continue Reading