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- Councilman Mark Squilla’s First District saw some of the greatest increases in its property taxes in the Nutter Administration’s Actual Value Initiative (AVI). Today, Squilla will introduce legislation that would gradually bring AVI’s changes into effect over the next four years. Yet others, such as Councilman Wilson Goode Junior, bemoan that it isn’t fair to those who stand to have their taxes cut in the move.
- Three civics (representing Fairmount, Francisville, and Spring Garden) appear ready to endorse bike lanes along Fairmount Avenue from Broad Street to the Art Museum, says Eyes on the Street. Informal polling of businesses by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia revealed about 80% of businesses along that thoroughfare to be in support. “If all goes according to plan, the bike lanes will be added to an existing Streets Department road-striping contract and painted in during the 2013 paving season.”
- Mount Airy resident Judy Hill reviews Joseph Minardi’s second book on Philadelphia architectural history, Historic Architecture in Northwest Philadelphia: 1690s to 1930s. Hill writes that although at times “pedestrian,” Minardi’s prose traces the “evolution of these northwestern settlements from rural villages to vibrant suburbs within the city limits. We learn how the neighborhoods grew from summer retreats to bustling, year-round communities, and how the development of the railroad and creeping industrialization affected life along the avenue through the centuries.”
- The annual Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center Members’ Show has been pushed up seven months, notes the Roxborough Review. This, the 57th exhibit, will begin Sunday, March 3 at MRAC’s gallery at 419 Green Lane.
About the author
Stephen Currall recently received his BA in history from Arcadia University. Before beginning doctoral studies, he is pursuing his interest in local history, specifically just how Philadelphians engage their vibrant past. Besides skimming through 18th century letters, Steve is also interested in music and travel.
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