
Before and after photos of a blighted property in Philadelphia. | Photos: Penn Urban Health Lab, via Philly Voice
- A study released early last year by the Penn Urban Health Lab determined that blight remediation does in fact affect rates of firearm-related crimes. Now, a follow up report points to some numbers on the first-year return on investment on such interventions, says the Philly Voice’s Michael Tanenbaum. Indirect economic savings from firearm assaults for the tax paying public amount to $5 per abandoned building and $26 per vacant lot; for society as a whole, “first-year returns on investment for firearm assaults averted were $79 for the remediation of an abandoned building and $333 for the greening of a vacant lot.”
- Plan Philly’s Jim Saksa relates news of PennDOT’s awarding of $4.6 million across four Multimodal Transportation Fund (MTF) projects across the city. These include: 1) $911,000 to the Schuylkill River Development Corporation for the completion of the Schuylkill River Trail from South Street to Christian Street, 2) $811,000 to the Streets Department for safety improvements to three public schools, 3) $2 million for Logan West Associates to reinsert the street grid inside the Logan Triangle, and 4) $889,000 for road and safety improvements along City Avenue.
- Inga Saffron is fascinated by Frank L. Petrillo’s synthetic 1938 design for the Our Lady of Loreto Catholic church at 62nd Street & Grays Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. The streamline moderne structure’s belfry, evoking the nascent imagery of commercial flight, mimics an antenna-topped air traffic control tower.
- After four decades, the East Falls childhood home of Grace Kelly at the corner of Henry Avenue & Coulter Street in—built by her father in 1929—has returned to the possession of the late Monaco princess’ family, reports CBS Philly. Interior renovations are expected in the coming months.
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