June 24: Budget rush | Oxford Circle growing diversity | QR code art/vandalism | South Kensington development | western skyline high-rise roundup | Point Breeze wins
Welcome to the working week, Streeters. Now that it’s officially summertime, get set for a hot, humid week.
There are six days left before government budget deadlines, and state funding for SEPTA and schools, and reform for pensions and liquor are coming down to the wire. Daily News columnist John Baer looks at some of the hopes for change, along with their mighty challenges. “Remember, we are ‘The Land of Low Expectations.’ Any progress on anything can be considered miraculous.” Will we be surprised?
The nine raised beds of a new community garden in Oxford Circle are drawing diverse residents together, the Daily News reports. The garden next to Max Myers Rec Center is home to neighborhood green thumbs, including those of Asian, East African, and Haitian extraction.
Are QR codes for poems being stuck around Old City vandalism or art? NewsWorks reports that artist Judy Breslin’s postage stamp-sized QR code stickers on the neighborhood’s parking meters and storefronts are a sore spot for many business owners who are contemplating legal action.
Blackstone Development is planning another Piazza-like development for South Kensington, City Paper reports. This residential project – nearly a block in size bounded by Germantown Ave. and Thompson, Stiles, and American streets – would boast underground parking for 161 cars and three mixed-use buildings sited around an interior courtyard.
Inga Saffron rounds up seven high-rise projects in the works along Market and Chestnut streets between 20th and 38th streets. Each of these projects will be primarily rental housing for people related to the city’s meds/eds driven economy, ranging from 25-34 stories in height. The downside: bland glassy facades. The upside: good basic street-level urbanism like storefronts.
Who is Point Breeze’s Powerball winner? Someone purchased a winning $131.5 million Powerball ticket at Federal Beer at 15th and Federal. Though we don’t know whom the big winner is yet, the Daily News paid a visit to Gary Patel, the beer distributor owner who will get a $100,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
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