Please join us for a tour of the neighborhood
Below is an interview with a local store owner.
He tells us about the neighborhood.
He tells us about the neighborhood.
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Do you live/work in the neighborhood? How long have you lived/worked in the neighborhood? What changes have you seen?
Abe: “I’ve lived here for three years. I’ve seen they’re doing a lot of construction, building a lot of new housing… you know they’re buying out property owners, and the housing value is going up. It’s bringing in a new class, bringing in a yuppie type thing.”
What do you like about living here? What are the positive things in the area? What do you like about your neighborhood?
Abe: “I like everything really. You know we have every group really, Mexican, black, caucasian, and we can get together and talk.”
What issues are important in the community? If there was one thing that you could change about your neighborhood what would it be?
Abe: “My biggest problem is the parking situation. No really, it’s not easy to find a spot.”
Have you ever felt uncomfortable living here?
Abe: “No. Never uncomfortable.”
What do you do on the weekends? What do you do for fun?
Abe: “We go walking, she [Yolanda] has me doing the walking thing. We go sightseeing, just spend time outside.”
How do you get around?
Abe: “I have a vehicle.”
Who should we know in the neighborhood?
Abe: “You want to know your committee person, police officers, senators, pastors, community center staff, volunteers, anyone working with kids…”
What are the hopes of young people in the neighborhood?
Abe: “I would have to say employment. Kids here need jobs. If you don’t give them something to do… Also, we should be funding schools so kids have neighborhood schools. If you can afford to dig up houses, you can have schools in the neighborhood.”
What’s one thing you wish people knew about your neighborhood?
Abe: “We all live together. No matter the nationality, everyone should get along.”
Thanks for talking to us Abe and Yolanda.
Now it's time for the virtual
tour of the neighborhood!
tour of the neighborhood!
The map to your right shows where we will be going. |
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When you're ready to begin the tour, just click play...
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This new map details the next leg of our journey. |
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Oh my, there's local residents Steve and Christina. Let's pay them a quick visit before continuing the tour, shall we?
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Our journey now takes us to the west. |
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We're going to jump ahead a couple blocks to 12th and Federal, and make our way clockwise around the school as shown on the map below.
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The following is an interview with famous Philly artist, creator of the Magic Gardens, Isaiah Zagar. Zagar's work is found all throughout South Philly. When we ran into him, he was working on an installation just one block away from Jackson.
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For a synthesis of these interviews and some of our observations, please click the "Community Features" link.