Philadelphia homeowners can now protect themselves from unsolicited offers from real estate brokers or wholesalers. Based on the “homeowner protection law” passed in 2020, which prohibits wholesalers and their agents from soliciting homeowners who don’t wish to be contacted, the City has launched a Do Not Solicit registry.

The types of solicitation may include in-person contact, telephone calls, mailings, digital communications and other written communication, like flyers placed at your door or on your vehicle. By registering in the list, homeowners opt out from receiving any direct offers to purchase their residential property as well as advertisements for “just listed” or sold houses in a neighborhood. Continue Reading

Photo from www.phila.gov

The second phase of Mechanical Street Cleaning, the Streets Department’s pilot program that launched in 2019, is currently underway. The 2022 program is scheduled to begin on April 4th and will include mechanical sweeping on select routes in West and Southwest Philadelphia:

• Parkside to Spring Garden from 52nd to 40th (see map)

• Woodland to Kingsessing from 49th to Cemetery (see map)

Mechanical street cleaning utilizes trucks with mechanical brooms sweeping street debris (see photo). In addition, Streets Department staff will clean some routes with backpack blowers and hand brooms. Sanitation officers may issue sanitation code violations related to litter and dumping as part of this program. Continue Reading

Click to enlarge

Spak Group, the West Philly real estate company behind WADE Flats, a new housing development at the intersection of 53rd St. and Whitby Ave., is sponsoring a new mural in partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia. The mural will be located on the entirety of the 5300 Whitby Avenue Bridge and Spak Group is inviting all interested neighbors to participate in its creation process, which includes planning, design, production and celebration.

The first step in this process will take place Thursday, March 17, at a community meeting which will be held at the New Testament Church of God at 935 S. 53rd St., beginning at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public and does not require an RSVP or reservation. Continue Reading

The annual Spruce Hill May Fair is set to to return to Clark Park after a two-year hiatus. The popular outdoor event will be held Saturday, May 7, from 12 – 6 p.m. at the park located at 43rd and Chester.

The longtime organizers, Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA), are currently seeking vendors – local artisans, community groups and organizations who are interested in doing outreach and promotion at this event are invited to submit an application.

Space is limited and priority will be given to local community organizations and artisans. Vendor fees are affordable ($40 or less for the day), reflecting SHCA’s mission to connect the neighborhood with local groups and artisans. Continue Reading

Do you have any questions or concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine? There’s an opportunity to have a lot of your questions answered this Friday, March 11 by a West Philly medical professional.

Registered nurse Yanique Millis will be live on Zoom to talk to you as part of a virtual forum hosted by Mighty Writers, the non-profit that provides educational opportunities to children and youth in and around Philadelphia. All questions about the vaccines for both children and adults are welcome.

The forum begins at 6 p.m. and you can register for it by following this link.

A Book a Day, a local initiative that donates newly published children’s books to public schools in West Philadelphia, has been holding writing contests for children since the beginning of the pandemic.

Their third contest is currently underway and is dedicated to food and cooking. This contest will be broken into four phases based on the four seasons. The first season is called “Warmth of Winter”.

“Our goal now and for future rounds of these contests is to be as inclusive as possible and reach as many communities as we can,” writes So Young, A Book A Day’s senior assistant manager. “This is not only educational for our children but it is also an exciting task to look forward to as they will win free books, cooking materials and also get their recipes published!” Continue Reading