The Philadelphia Research Initiative, over at the Pew Charitable Trusts, has launched a landmark survey intended to gauge the state of the city. For about the last week, pollsters have been dialing landlines and cell phones to find out what Philadelphians have to say about pressing matters of the day and general quality of life [...]

 
Mark your calendars. You won’t want to miss the week of February 23rd. It’s going to be a monumental one for the future of Philly’s libraries. That’s when the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania will hear oral arguments surrounding the Nutter administration’s appeal of last month’s Common Pleas court ruling, which mandates Philadelphia to keep open 11 libraries that the [...]

By the end of the month, it’s likely Philadelphia’s 54 libraries will be open three or four days a week according to library officials, who are still tweaking the numbers. The Central branch, however, will remain open seven days a week because Pennsylvania’s state library law mandates the city keep open its main branch at least 65 hours a week. If [...]

If you are a home alarm owner, the annual registration fee with the City of Philadelphia is going up this year. The fee is now $50- up from $35 in 2008. But why register your alarm in the first place? The biggest incentive, from what I can tell, is that you won’t pay a dime [...]

Maybe you’ve set out this year to exercise more, lose weight, save money, quit smoking, lead a less stressful life or do something else. While resolutions typically are a personal thing, what should Philadelphia’s resolutions be? Mayor Michael Nutter and City Council probably have their own ideas for Philly in 2009. But what do you [...]

Philadelphia’s plans to close 11 branch libraries remain on track. The affected libraries will close their doors for good this Wednesday, December 31st. Some of you have wondered if any of the services provided at the libraries will be continued. To get some answers, we contacted Sandy Horrocks at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Here’s what we’ve been able to find out [...]

 
In case you didn’t hear, chain restaurants and retail food establishments in Philly will have to post nutritional information for food and beverages starting January 2010. The new menu labeling law made headlines last week locally and nationally. NYC was among the first in the nation to pioneer menu labeling. But the Big Apple’s law is not as tough as the one the [...]

A neighborhood with overgrown and trash-covered vacant lots is a perennial issue often facing poor neighborhoods. So how does a community nip this sort of problem in the bud? In Philadelphia, one of the answers has been the municipally-funded Community LandCare (CLC) program. But it’s now at risk of being wiped out as part of Mayor Michael Nutter’s $108 million budget cut plan.
The Community [...]

Our nation’s economy is in the toilet. Philadelphia’s libraries and swimming pools are closing. We get it. Times are tough. On the personal level, folks are saving and spending less. Goodness knows, the bag lunch from home is gaining popularity. But once in a while, wouldn’t it be nice to treat yourself to a Philly Cutback Sandwich? You might be wondering, what’s that? [...]

Mayor Michael Nutter’s $108 million budget cut plan includes a reduced economic development contract with the Schuylkill River Development Corporation (SRDC). This public-private partnership is the same one responsible for creating and maintaining the Schuylkill Banks trail from Locust Street up to the Waterworks area around the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The trail, which is home to popular outdoor summer movie nights, remains Center City’s jumping-off point [...]