The Community Grocer (TCG), a nonprofit food justice organization launched last year by two University of Pennsylvania alumni, broke ground on first store yesterday, which is located in Cobbs Creek.

The organization, co-founded by Alexandre Imbot and Eli Moraru, purchased a corner storefront at 60th St. and Walton Ave. about nine months ago, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian, with a goal to transform it into a new-concept grocery corner store that will serve the local community.

City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (3rd District) participated in the groundbreaking.

“Today we broke ground on The Community Grocer’s store in Cobbs Creek!” she later posted on her Twitter (X) page. “Cobbs Creek is a food desert, meaning residents struggle to access nutritious meals. I’m grateful to TCG for combatting food insecurity by providing affordable, healthy, culturally relevant, and delicious food.”

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Just in time for summer, a new state-of-the-art nature-themed playground has opened in Cobbs Creek near 63rd and Spruce. A ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by state and city officials, as well as students from Add B. Anderson Middle School and community members, took place on Wednesday afternoon.

The new Cobbs Creek Nature Playground combines modern and unique features to create a “nature-themed play oasis.” All play equipment was made from refurbished solid wood and the playground was designed around the existing trees. The playground itself has been designed to cultivate imaginative play with ample swinging and climbing structures.

“I’m grateful to see the vision for this site come to fruition just in time for summer,’ said Mayor Jim Kenney. “Cobbs Creek Playground has been an integral part of the West Philadelphia community, and now it’s a space where the community can safely play and proudly call their own.”

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The Cobbs Creek neighborhood, with the help of Cobbs Creek Neighbors, is holding the annual Spring Fling Fair on Saturday, May 27. The event will take place at the Blanche A. Nixon (Cobbs Creek) Library at 5800 Cobbs Creek Parkway, from 1-4 p.m.. This is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors and learn about resources for the community. A used book sale will also be held.

Vendor and resource tables are still available. There is a fee for vendor tables ($25), but resource tables are free.

For more information and other upcoming events, visit Cobbs Creek Neighbors’ Facebook page.

The inaugural meeting of the Cobbs Creek Neighbors Association will be held Monday, Feb. 1 at the A.W. Christy Recreation Center (728 S. 55th St.), beginning at 7 p.m.

“Because we are a new group and still growing we are hoping to have an open discussion to hear what you would like to see more (or less) of in the community,” the group posted on its Facebook page.

The Cobbs Creek neighborhood is generally thought to be bounded by Market Street to the north, Baltimore Avenue to the south, east to 52nd Street and Cobbs Creek Parkway to the West. The public is invited. The agenda is open and might include discussion of development plans along 60th Street.

This is late notice, but we wanted to pass along news that the newly formed Cobbs Creek Neighborhood Association will meet for the first time this Friday at 7 p.m. at West Phillie Produce at 18 S. 62nd Street. Cobbs Creek Neighbors is working on community projects and events west of 52nd Street and south of Market. Here’s their Facebook post about the meeting:

“Hello friends and neighbors! We are very happy to announce that this Friday [Oct. 16] we will be having our first EVER meeting of the newly (finally!) formed, Cobbs Creek Neighbors Association. West Phillie Produce has kindly offered their upstairs space to us at 62nd and Ludlow (just a block or two from the 63rd St. El stop), and if we’re lucky we might also get to hear some live music by the Black Fridays house band. Here’s your chance to get involved and meet some like-minded neighbors. Please come out!”

Abandoned property at 5237 Baltimore Ave. (Photo by Larissa Mogano)

A losing battle to get an absentee owner to clean up their property on the 5200 block of Baltimore Avenue has left nearby residents desperate for help.

“It stinks, it’s crawling with bugs and rodents and as we recently found out (the hard way) there’s now poison sumac growing there too,” said Cedar Park Cobbs Creek resident Larissa Mogano who lives next door to the abandoned home at 5237 Baltimore. “We’ve had more pests than ever: cats, mice, possums, skunks.”

The property has a long list of violations, according to a Department of Licenses and Inspections search, dating back to 2011. These include housing code violations for garbage and weeds. Most of the earlier violations have been marked “complied.” But a whole new list of violations, some issued as recently as August 4, have not.

Another neighbor, Pamela Gray, who lives in the other half of the brick double structure, spent $500 to replace a fence that was destroyed by a branch from an overgrown mulberry tree in the back yard. This same tree took out another neighbor’s back door awning last year. In the front, the porch roof has a gaping hole that invites squirrels to run around in the rafters at night.

Gray, who has lived in her house since 1972, said she once knew the owners as very nice people who kept the property in great shape. However, since they moved out over seven years ago, the property has fallen into disrepair. When contacted, the owners have repeatedly promised to clean things up, but these promises have remained mostly unfulfilled. Mogano has called Philly311, and posted to several websites including the Cedar Park Neighbors Facebook page, Publicstuff.com and SeeClickFix. Gray has called the Licenses and Inspections department of the City of Philadelphia several times and has contacted her city councilwoman, Jannie Blackwell.

The city has made cracking down on absentee property owners a priority in recent years and Mogano, Gray and others hope 5237 Baltimore will get some more attention soon.

“I just want the homeowners to clean it up so me and the other neighbors can appreciate our own back yards,” said Mogano. “I understand people wanting to hang onto their properties, and I hope they’re able to do that, but it’s disrespectful to the rest of us who live here not to maintain it in the meantime.”

– Selah Lynch