Looking Closer
I run in Fairmount, play poker at Rivers, and raise a kid here. I pay attention to how this city runs.
Most of 311 Isn't a Broken Promise. It's a Phone Call
813,081 of 1.4M Philadelphia 311 records are phone calls into a single contact center, open 60 hours a week. 94.5% of calls close in under a minute.
Everyone in Fairmount Knows Bennett
Bennett is the guy everyone in Fairmount knows — from college students to 80-year-olds walking their dogs. He has been running around the neighborhood for twenty years.
Every Block Party in Philadelphia, Mapped
68,553 Philadelphia block party permits from 2006-2016, mapped block by block. Find yours on the interactive map.
Your 2027 Property Tax Went Up 4%. In One Tract It Went Up 44%
Philadelphia's 2027 property reassessment: mean +7.0%, median +4.2%. ZIP medians ranged -2.7% (Fishtown) to +11.5% (Kensington); worst tract +44.4%.
The 4th-Lowest Wage in America, for the Job That Sweeps Streets in 100° Heat
Philadelphia sanitation workers earn the 4th-lowest wages among America's 20 biggest cities — below the MIT living wage for a single adult.
articles →