Mayor Jim Kenney speaks on Thursday at the opening of the Trolley Portal Gardens near 40th and Baltimore. (Photo by West Philly Local).

As trolleys screeched by, Mayor Jim Kenney was among the dignitaries who spoke Thursday at the opening of Trolley Portal Gardens, the public space near the trolley stops at 40th and Baltimore. Kenney, whose mayorship is defined by balancing the “old” Philadelphia of open fire hydrants and block parties and the “new” Philadelphia of “eds and meds,” said the new space balances both.

“This is the ‘old’ Philadelphia and the ‘new’ Philadelphia,” he said. “This is where we’re going.”  Continue Reading

The Woodlands has started an online petition asking for community support for a crosswalk from the 40th Street trolley portal to the cemetery gates across Woodland Avenue.

The upcoming opening of the Trolley Portal Gardens has renewed interest in figuring out a way to make crossing Woodland Avenue safer for pedestrians. The Woodlands estimates that some 45,000 people visited the grounds last year, including about 4,000 in one day during the Go West! Craft Fest (see tweet and video below), many coming on foot across Woodland Avenue.  Continue Reading

Architects and West Philly residents Anu Mathur, center, and Dilip da Cunha, right, talk to community members about plans for the proposed pocket park on 40th Street on Tuesday night at the Rotunda.

Architects and designers of the proposed pocket park on 40th Street unveiled preliminary plans on Tuesday that included permanent collapsible tables down the center and a variety of ground and wall surfaces to make the long, thin strip of land along a busy commercial corridor inviting for everyone in the neighborhood.

“How do you include everybody?,” landscape architect and West Philly resident Anu Mathur asked about 20 community members gathered at The Rotunda to provide input on the plans. “These are words we use, but how do we actually do that?”  Continue Reading

A pocket park for culture and community is coming to this empty lot on 40th street between Chestnut and Ludlow.

West Philly-based non-profit Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture has been exploring the idea of creating a pocket park for culture and community on a vacant lot nestled between Chestnut and Ludlow streets on 40th street. Local developer UC West has dedicated this lot to be a publicly accessible pocket park, and Al-Bustan has been selected as the lead community partner. Since May, the organization has hosted a few public forums to gather input from community members – business owners, homeowners, renters, elderly, students, and more.

The next meeting to discuss the future of the pocket park will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 21 at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut St) from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. This meeting will be a first look into design possibilities for the park.  Continue Reading

The City is ready to unveil the green infrastructure improvements at Malcolm X Park. New green tools installed at the park will manage approximately 84,000 gallons of stormwater runoff from surrounding streets each time the neighborhood gets an inch of rain.

The reconstruction of the sidewalks around the perimeter of the park also included planting nearly 30 new trees that are specially designed to hold enough stormwater to fill three water tanks the size of SEPTA buses. These trees will filter millions of gallons of captured runoff over the course of a year.

A special ribbon-cutting event with the participation of City officials and representatives of neighborhood organizations will take place tonight (Wednesday, Aug. 2), beginning at 5:30 p.m. and will be followed by a free concert featuring Tony “TNT” Jones & Beyond the Dream as part of the bi-weekly Jazz Heritage Series.  Continue Reading

“Love Your Park” week will be held from May 12 – May 20, and residents are encouraged to join over 2,500 fellow Philadelphians to care for our parks and green spaces at 70 different locations across the city. You can sign up to volunteer at a spring service day in your neighborhood park or to participate in a special event, such as a bird walk, outdoor yoga, guided hike, children’s story time, and many others. Here’s a list of volunteer and special events in West and Southwest Philadelphia (to register for an event and learn more about Love Your Park Week, go here).

Philly Pumptrack Spring Service Day

Saturday, May 12, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Philly Pumptrack, 52nd St. and Parkside Avenue

This Love Your Park event includes trash cleanup on the Crossbow Trail, pumptrack dirt and clay work; and rain garden cleaning, mulching, and planting. And stick around for the Pumpjam special event that begins at Noon.  Continue Reading