City councilmember Jamie Gauthier is teaming up with former councilmember Jannie Blackwell and AHARI, a non-profit organization supporting veterans at-risk, to offer free food and winter gear (hats, scarves, gloves and socks) to anyone in need this Wednesday, Dec. 16 at Malcolm X. Park (52nd and Larchwood). The event is scheduled due to the winter storm expected to hit our area tomorrow afternoon.

The event will begin at 10 a.m. and go on as long as food supplies last. See the flier for more information.

Due to the inclement weather and cold temperatures setting in in the area this week, the City of Philadelphia has declared the first Code Blue of the cold weather season. If you see someone who needs shelter, please call the Philadelphia Homeless Outreach Hotline at 215-232-1984.

A Sherwin-Williams paint store is being proposed at 4237 Walnut Street (see photo), the commercial building formerly occupied by a health center and other health-related businesses. The Spruce Hill Community Association’s Zoning Committee will hold a virtual meeting this Wednesday, Dec. 16 to discuss signage for the proposed store. Community members are invited to join the meeting via Zoom (see more information below).

This location was in the news last year when ILERA Health Care was considering to open a medical marijuana dispensary there. That proposal met stiff opposition from the Masjid Al-Jamia mosque across the street, among others, and was scuttled. Continue Reading

An online zoning meeting this Thursday will focus on a proposed 83-unit apartment building on the site of a shuttered dog park and other properties near 48th and Chester, adjacent to the Renaissance Health Care & Rehabilitation Center.

Renaissance seeks to combine several properties it owns – including an empty lot at 4720-24 Chester Ave. (formerly the Chester Avenue Dog Park), and adjacent properties at 1115 and 1119 S. 48th St. The properties are zoned RTA-1, RM1, and Commercial Mixed-Use (CMX-2). The proposal also seeks a single zoning designation for the new lot.  Continue Reading

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