Streetviews Q&A: Aine & Emaleigh Doley, Germantown community organizers

This week’s Streetviews Q&A features sisters Aine and Emaleigh Doley, community organizers in Germantown. We sat down in a garden on their block to talk about some of Philly’s biggest challenges and opportunities: reconciling Philadelphia’s revitalizing neighborhoods with others continuing to struggle with blight and poverty, what Philly’s trash problem says about us, how citizens need better tools to improve their own neighborhoods, and the slow pace of change.

  • Aine Doley: marketer, community organizer; Emaleigh Doley: communications consultant, community organizer
  • Neighborhood: Germantown
  • Favorite Places:  Aine’s: Fairmount Park “I love it because it’s nature, it’s green, it’s big, it’s everywhere.”  Emaleigh’s: Reading Terminal Market. “I like that you see city residents who are coming from all over the place to do their grocery shopping there. I like that it is one of the places that a lot of tourists do visit because I feel like it does give them a good flavor of the city.”
  • Philly in 3 Words: Gritty. Exciting. Changing.
  • Civic Heroes: Emaleigh’s: Sandy Salzman at New Kensington CDC, Rose Gray, Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha, for the “huge improvements they’ve been able to make in distressed areas.” Aine’s: Philadelphia Block Captains, “100% volunteers working to improve their street and help people on their street.” 
  • Local Landmarks: Emaleigh’s: Wayne Junction Station; Aine’s: St. Francis of Assisi church in Germantown

Interviewed Summer 2014

Streetviews is a video Q&A series with some of Philadelphia’s bright neighborhood, design, and nonprofit leaders, discussing the city’s biggest opportunities and toughest challenges as part of PlanPhilly’s Agenda 2015 election coverage. 

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal