Construction has begun on a new six-story residential building at the former West Catholic Preparatory High School parking lot located at 46th and Chestnut.

The proposal to change the zoning for this location from CMX-2 to CMX-3 was presented to the community by the Spruce Hill Community Association Zoning Committee and West Catholic in November 2019. The City Council approved the zoning change in December 2019 and the building permit was issued in December 2021.

The zoning had to be changed from CMX-2 to CMX-3 so that a potential developer could build a much bigger structure than was previously allowed. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is retaining ownership of the land and leasing it to the developer. West Catholic plans to use the money from the development to ensure the school’s sustainability and provide scholarships and renovations, as a group of alumni and volunteers from the school announced in 2019. Continue Reading

5050 Baltimore Ave. (Hyacinth Montessori Instagram)

A new Montessori school serving grades 1-6 will open on the 5000 block of Baltimore Avenue next fall.

Hyacinth Montessori, a “micro school,” is accepting applications now for the 2022-2023 school year. The school is starting with a small class of about 10 students, but founders Madeleine Nutting and Carmen Montopoli hope to grow the tuition-based school to a full enrollment of 25 students.

The Montessori approach includes guided hands-on, self-directed activities and collaborative play.

“Each child progresses through standards-aligned learning at their own pace,” Montopoli, a trained Montessori teacher with several years experience leading classrooms, wrote in an email. “Elementary students thrive when supported to create a learning community in which each child is valued for their own interests and contributions.” Continue Reading

University City District’s West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI) and PIDC’s Navy Yard Skills Initiative (NYSI) are cooperating again to train Philadelphia residents for full-time, quality-wage careers with employer partner Philly Shipyard, Inc. (PSI). This is the second partnership with PSI following a successful program in September 2021 that resulted in more than a dozen program graduates receiving offers to join PSI in laborer positions.

This new program will allow graduates to interview for competitive union apprentice positions with PSI. The three-year competency program accepts candidates with little or no experience and trains them to be multi-skilled employees that can participate in the future success of Philly Shipyard. Apprentices with PSI are considered full-time employees and paid to learn skills like shipbuilding and welding while earning college credits. Continue Reading

Here is a letter we received from Alice Wells from Friends of Walnut Street West Library on the importance of supporting our local libraries.

Dear Library Friends, Community Members, Neighbors, Readers, Parents, Students and all who use and love our city’s libraries:

Philadelphia’s public libraries are STILL in dire straits. What budget and staff increases we began to see before the pandemic have been lost. Federal funds recently pumped into the City were not used to restore library funding! In short, unless we fight for them we will continue to see neighborhood libraries closed more than open because of continued understaffing. Continue Reading

Protected bike lane on Chestnut Street (archived photo).

Some street improvement work is coming this year to Chestnut and Walnut streets in West Philadelphia. The Chestnut-Walnut Traffic Safety project is expected to kick off this spring and will include Chestnut Street from 34th to 63rd Street, and Walnut Street from 22nd Street to 63rd Street. More than six miles are expected to be repaved as part of this project.

The project will also include improvements of the existing bike lanes on both streets. A protected bike lane was built on a portion of Chestnut Street (between 45th and 34th) in 2017. It is expected that the lane will be extended to 63rd Street. One of the goals of the project is to increase safety for bicyclists by separating them from motor vehicle traffic.

Other goals include construction of shorter and safer pedestrian crossings, improvement of parking and loading operations, and calming traffic by decreasing speeding and aggressive driving on these streets.

The project is coordinated by the City’s Streets Department and is implemented by PennDOT.

The City has introduced a new, tiered approach to COVID-19 safety requirements, as the number of new cases and hospitalizations continue to fall in Philadelphia. As of today (Wednesday, Feb. 16), the City has lifted the proof of vaccination requirement for indoor dining and drinking at bars, restaurants and other places that serve food or drink. The mask requirement for all indoor public settings still remains in place until further notice.

The City’s Department of Public Health has presented four COVID-19 response levels, from Extreme Caution to All Clear, which will be implemented based on the number of new cases, hospitalizations and other criteria. As of today, Philadelphia is in Level 2: Mask Precautions. The response level will be updated as needed every Monday. Continue Reading