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  • George Hutchinson, the Supreme Court’s last official crier, dies at 102

    George Hutchinson, the Supreme Court’s last official crier, dies at 102

    George Hutchinson’s words were far from the most important spoken during Brown v. Board of Education. But they were the first.

    With a cry of “Oyez, oyez, oyez,” Mr. Hutchinson announced the arrival of the justices and gaveled the court to order, as he did for virtually every Supreme Court case from 1952 to 1962.

    Mr. Hutchinson, who died June 14 at 102, was the last crier of the U.S. Supreme Court, tasked with carrying out ceremonial duties that were later turned over to the court marshal.

    His tenure as crier coincided with one of the most momentous periods in the court’s history, a time when the justices extended constitutional protections to Mexican Americans, refused to review the espionage convictions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and, in Brown v. Board, held that segregated schools were “inherently unequal” and unconstitutional.

    As court crier, Mr. Hutchinson opened many of those consequential moments and, as if in a high school cafeteria, shepherded discreet notes to the justices, including messages sent from one end of the bench to the other.

    Decades later, he provided a window into the day-to-day activities of one of the government’s most secretive bodies, said Clare Cushman, a historian for the Supreme Court Historical Society. Mr. Hutchinson could speak about the court’s Christmas parties or the carpenter shop in its basement, or recall the way soldiers were deployed to the court building following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

    “The big pieces are always recorded,” Cushman said, “but the little pieces, no.”

    Mr. Hutchinson was 15 when he joined the court in 1938 as a page, one of the knicker-clad young people who would assist the justices. There were two requirements: You had to be short, according to Mr. Hutchinson, who grew to 5-foot-8, and you had to have a financial need.

    Mr. Hutchinson’s father had died when he was an infant, and his meager page’s salary helped support his mother and sister. He spent his afternoons in the Supreme Court, running books and water to the justices, before being drafted into the Army at age 19, dispatched to Europe in the final months of World War II.

    When he came home, he rejoined the court, working out of the marshal’s office and eventually taking the job of crier, which dates to the Supreme Court’s first meeting in 1790. He was given a handwritten script — the words of the opening proclamation, which concludes, “God save the United States and this honorable court” — as well as a distinctive gavel.

    “There was no handle. All it was was the clonk,” he recalled in a 2019 interview. “I said, ‘Where’s the handle?’ They said, ‘This is tradition. You’ve got to use this.’ So for 10 years I was banging like this.”

    As crier, Mr. Hutchinson oversaw the pages, a group that grew to include Charles V. Bush, the first Black Supreme Court page, who was hired in the aftermath of Brown v. Board at the urging of Chief Justice Earl Warren.

    Mr. Hutchinson worked alongside the pages while assuming a sneakier job within the court each October. Many of the justices were baseball fans and wanted updates on the World Series, said Vance Morrison, a former page who as a teenager worked under Mr. Hutchinson. They would pass a paper to Mr. Hutchinson or a page, who would run to the offices, listen to the radio and quietly report the score.

    “We just worked with discretion,” Morrison said.

    In October 1960, as the Supreme Court considered the conviction of a man who had failed to comply with the House’s anti-communist investigations, Mr. Hutchinson helped Justice Potter Stewart follow along to Game 7 of the World Series, providing score updates every inning and, as the game neared its end, every half-inning. He delivered his final update to Stewart after Bill Mazeroski hit a walk-off home run, giving the Pirates the win over the Yankees.

    “His eyes lit up and he sent the note down to the court,” Mr. Hutchinson recalled.

    Mr. Hutchinson also shared a bond with Justice Felix Frankfurter, according to his daughter, Sara Hutchinson. One day, he was unexpectedly called into the justice’s office to serve as a witness as Frankfurter finalized his will.

    “He said, ‘Have you ever faced death?’ I said, ‘What?’ I had to think about it,” Mr. Hutchinson recounted. “‘I was in the service in World War II.’ He laughed, he said, ‘Here,’ and he threw me his will.”

    George Edward Hutchinson, a fourth-generation Washingtonian — according to his family, two of his relatives were at Ford’s Theatre the night of Lincoln’s assassination — was born Aug. 31, 1923. His father was a lawyer, and his mother was a schoolteacher.

    While working at the Supreme Court, Mr. Hutchinson went to school part time, earning a law degree at George Washington University, and ultimately becoming a member of the Supreme Court Bar.

    After leaving the court in 1962, he became the marshal and then the clerk of the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, where he was charged with saying “Hear ye” instead of “Oyez.” Two decades later, when the court merged with the Court of Claims to become the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, he was named its first clerk.

    Mr. Hutchinson retired from federal service in 1985 to join the law firm Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, where he remained on staff until 2023, the year he turned 100.

    Few people could recount the customs and procedures of the American court system like Mr. Hutchinson, said James Barney, managing partner at the firm.

    “I always viewed George as a living history,” Barney said.

    His death, at home in Arlington, Va., was confirmed by his daughter, his only immediate survivor. Mr. Hutchinson was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Dorothy U. Hutchinson, and by another daughter, Carol Hutchinson.

    In 2018, 80 years after he joined the Supreme Court as a page, Mr. Hutchinson returned to the courtroom as a visitor. “He remains a member in good standing of our bar,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said from the bench. “Mr. Hutchinson, welcome back!”

  • SEPTA cuts 3 Glenside Regional Rail trains along with other schedule changes

    SEPTA cuts 3 Glenside Regional Rail trains along with other schedule changes

    SEPTA is trading Glenside Regional Rail riders three daytime trains for new off-peak options, more train cars, and new schedules aimed at reducing congestion between Glenside and Wayne Junction.

    The Warminster Line, which runs through southeastern Montgomery County, is the only Regional Rail line losing multiple trains under systemwide changes that began on July 5 to make trains more consistent and prevent delays.

    The new schedule cuts two weekday trains that left Glenside at 8:40 a.m. and 2:47 p.m. for Center City, and one weekday train that left Suburban Station at 4:53 p.m. toward Warminster.

    The morning train cut leaves a 27-minute gap in service to Center City from Glenside, while the afternoon cuts each add five minutes or less to the wait for the next train.

    SEPTA also added a train to the Warminster Line that leaves Suburban Station at 11:35 p.m. on weekdays, and a train on the West Trenton Line that leaves Suburban Station at 5:28 a.m.

    The late-night train will serve airport workers, and the dawn departure is convenient for people who commute into the suburbs, SEPTA spokesperson Kelly Greene said.

    The changes SEPTA made across the commuter rail system this week are aimed at improving consistency and reliability, the agency said.

    “As SEPTA continues to increase the number of train cars available for service, trains will be longer and provide more space for riders,” officials wrote in a statement.

    Between Wayne Junction and Glenside, SEPTA said, it hopes the new schedule will help “prevent trains from bunching together, which can cause delays.”

    The 8:40 a.m. train from Glenside was cut to reduce congestion, Greene said, and had the lowest ridership of the trains running around that time.

    Other changes affecting the Abington area include new departure times for some trains on the Lansdale/Doylestown, Warminster, and West Trenton Lines.

    SEPTA put out a full list last month of what is changing on each line, along with updated train schedules.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Justice Department threatens top election officials over noncitizen voting

    Justice Department threatens top election officials over noncitizen voting

    The Justice Department sent letters to all 50 states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday threatening criminal prosecution of top election officials if ballots cast by noncitizens were counted in upcoming elections.

    The letters arrived in the midst of an ongoing campaign by President Donald Trump and his allies to tighten election rules to prevent a problem that doesn’t exist: widespread noncitizen voting in American elections.

    The effort has, however, continued to sow doubt and distrust in the electoral process, most notably among the president’s base of supporters. And his proposals could have the effect of making it more difficult for eligible voters to cast their ballots — an outcome that many voting-right activists say is the president’s real goal.

    The letters sent Tuesday came from Harmeet Dhillon, who runs the Justice Department’s civil rights division. They are largely identical, according to multiple copies obtained by The New York Times. The seven-page letters detail a host of federal election laws that prohibit noncitizens from voting in elections — laws that have been clear for decades.

    “Any election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state’s” voter list “or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability,” Dhillon wrote.

    The letters asked the election officials to respond to the Justice Department “within five days” with details on how their states intended to comply “with these federal laws both at the state and local level and how the Department can assist in those efforts.” It is unclear what would happen if a state does not respond in five days, as the letters are not subpoenas requiring a response.

    Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, the top election official in Utah and a Republican, expressed frustration with the Justice Department’s tenor and tactics.

    “Got another love letter this morning from the DOJ sprinkled throughout with threats of criminal prosecution,” Henderson wrote on social media. “I’m sure I’m not the only chief election officer of a state who is being targeted for following state and federal laws by resisting DOJ’s demands for private voter data that have thus far been ruled illegal by at least a dozen courts. This is truly bizarre behavior by the federal agency that is supposed to be protecting civil rights.”

    Adrian Fontes, the Democratic secretary of state in Arizona, criticized the efforts by the Justice Department as politically motivated.

    “It is insulting to insinuate that the good people at our county recorders’ offices across the state are not doing their jobs correctly,” Fontes said. “Arizona election officials have always worked to ensure that only eligible citizens are registered to vote, and we will continue following Arizona law — not directions that come from political rhetoric or intimidation.”

    Justice Department officials have said their purpose in seeking voter roll data is to ensure compliance with federal law requiring states to maintain accurate voting rolls. Some voting-rights advocates have speculated that the department’s specific aim is to look for evidence of noncitizen voting or use voter roll data to challenge future election results.

    Kiersten Pels, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, confirmed that letters were sent to officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, seeking “voluntary compliance in a timely manner with their obligations under federal law to ensure only citizens vote in federal elections.”

    David Becker, a former voting rights lawyer for the Justice Department who now runs the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan group that works to build confidence in elections, said that the letters from Dhillon look like a performative display by the Justice Department to show it is working aggressively on one of the president’s priorities despite little success.

    “This is what panic and desperation looks like,” Becker said. “They’ve had 18 months to find evidence of a crime that was never committed, and found nothing. And now they fall back on crude and transparent bullying tactics. They sent these letter to several, perhaps all states, with no specific evidence of a crime.”

    He added that “the election officials I’ve spoken with aren’t intimidated, and are seeing these empty threats for what they are.”

    The Justice Department also sent letters to three cities in Michigan — Detroit, Lansing and East Lansing — stating that federal election monitors from the department would be going to the areas for the upcoming primary election. The department’s stated reasons were observations from the 2024 election, citing a lack of provisional ballots in at least one polling location and voting machines that were not operational in multiple polling locations.

    Michigan election officials roundly rejected both the claims from the Justice Department and the reasons for sending monitors. Janice M. Winfrey, the city clerk in Detroit, wrote in response Tuesday that the Justice Department had made “false assertions that form a baseless conclusion that then becomes the pretext for additional monitoring of Detroit elections.”

    Winfrey added that “according to our records, there were no representatives from the Department of Justice, and if so, they did not comply with regulations requiring them to identify themselves and sign in with supervisory staff at the polling place.”

    For years, Trump has claimed without evidence that noncitizens voting in American elections have benefited Democrats. After the 2016 election, which he won, he claimed that as many as 3 million ballots in California had been cast by noncitizens.

    Since returning to office, Trump has led a relentless effort to prove his claims using the levers of the federal government.

    None of those investigations has provided any evidence of widespread noncitizen voting. An initial review in January of nearly 50 million voter registration records by the Department of Homeland Security referred roughly 0.02% of the names processed for further investigation.

    This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

  • The real reason the colonists declared independence

    The real reason the colonists declared independence

    This month marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, an anniversary well worth celebrating. It is not, however, the anniversary of the start of the American Revolution. That began on April 19, 1775, with the battles of Lexington and Concord Bridge. It took over a year of fighting to convince colonists to accept that the time for compromise, for reconciliation, for any kind of reversion to the previous state of existence — for half-measures — was gone and the only path forward was independence.

    That’s where Thomas Paine and Common Sense played a role. Since his arrival in Philadelphia in 1774, Paine had watched American politicians try to reason with England, hoping to reshape the relationship with George III and with Parliament, rather than to sever it. It did not work. “Why is it that we hesitate?,” Paine asked his readers. “From Britain we can expect nothing but ruin.”

    Paine wrote Common Sense at the end of 1775 — between when the Revolution began and when the colonists declared independence — and he wrote specifically to convince the colonists to break their ties with England. “Nothing can settle our affairs so expeditiously,” he told his readers, “as an open and determined declaration for independence.”

    In the winter of 1775-1776, a growing number of colonists were ready to meet the British Army on the battlefield. The colonists and the British government had been at odds with each other for a decade, fighting over taxes and over jurisdiction. The government in London, though, seemed only to be pushing things further to the brink, especially when they began stationing soldiers in Boston.

    Still, and much to Paine’s chagrin, through the rest of 1775 most colonists thought that declaring independence was a step too far. Three months after the fighting began, when the Continental Congress set out to explain the “causes and necessity of taking up arms,” they tried to assure “our friends and fellow-subjects” in the British Empire that “we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and so happily subsisted between us, and which we sincerely wish to see restored … We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Great-Britain, and establishing independent states.”

    Five months later, when Paine wrote Common Sense, he still worried that “the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor.” And so, Paine made a case not just outlining England’s crimes, but also explaining why they had rendered any sort of half-measure or compromise impossible.

    We tend to associate the lead-up to the American Revolution with the colonists’ complaints about British taxes and duties, which certainly led to disputes about jurisdiction and the relative authority of the crown and the colonial governments. We also remember the catch-phrase of the era, “no taxation without representation.

    Those debates and those issues, though, were not part of Common Sense. Paine focused on what, for him, was Britain’s unforgivable crime: setting the British Army against the colony’s own citizens. “The independancy of America,” Paine wrote, “should have been considered, as dating its æra from, and published by, the first musket that was fired against her.”

    This was a point that Paine returned to again and again.

    “No man was a warmer wisher for reconciliation than myself before the fatal nineteenth of April 1775.” But once he learned that British troops had attacked the people of Lexington and Concord, he knew that “a new era for politics is struck; a new method of thinking hath arisen. All plans, proposals, & c. prior to the nineteenth of April … are like the almanacks of the last year; which, though proper then, are … useless now.” As for King George II, “I rejected the hardened, sullen tempered Pharaoh of England for ever; and disdain the wretch, that with the pretended title of father of his people can unfeelingly hear of their slaughter, and composedly sleep with their blood upon his soul.”

    Made By History sponsors. FOR USE ON MADE BY HISTORY STORIES ONLY.Inquirer Staff

    Paine’s message was clear: setting troops against the people demanded resistance. And this message was the key to getting the colonies to unite and declare independence. The disputes about taxes and jurisdiction went back to 1765. The colonists’ leaders had fought British policies on every issue, without ever wanting to stop being a part of the British Empire. But now that the British had sent their own army against the colony’s British citizens, Paine’s calls for independence found an eager audience among American readers.

    When Paine wrote of moderates calling for reconciliation with England, he urged them to think closely about the violence which the British Army had inflicted on the colonists, and if that level of violence had made reconciling impossible. “Tell me,” he wrote, “whether you can hereafter love, honour, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword into your land?”

    In January 1776, his answer was no. In July 1776, that became the Continental Congress’s answer, as well — colonists from New Hampshire to Georgia were united enough in their horror at the British army’s violence that they declared their independence not as 13 colonies, but as 13 united states.

    This concern about state-sanctioned violence resonates again today. Paine’s reference to British soldiers as “Highwaymen and Housebreakers” brings up images of agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement barging into homes without warrants and dragging out their terrified inhabitants.

    In 2026, there is no foreign power from which we can declare independence, but as state violence persists, so too does the legacy of resistance by colonists who heeded Paine’s call to reject Britain’s “long and violent abuse of power.”

    The “Road to 250” series is an initiative of Historians for 2026, a group of early American academics, public historians, archivists, and educators devoted to shaping an accurate, inclusive, and just public memory of the American Founding for the 250th anniversary.

    Noah Shusterman is associate professor of history at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the author most recently of Armed Citizens: The Road from Ancient Rome to the Second Amendment.

    Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of The Inquirer.

  • After the flood | Inquirer South Jersey

    After the flood | Inquirer South Jersey

    Good morning, South Jersey.

    New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill visited Camden on Tuesday to thank first responders the day after thunderstorms caused intense flooding — and to promote her fight against data centers.

    And experts are saying poverty is impacting three times as many state residents than what’s recorded in official federal measurements.

    Plus, a man allegedly tried to buy a Pokémon card worth $24,000 with fake cryptocurrency in Marlton, and more news of the day.

    — Taylor Allen (southjersey@inquirer.com)

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Gov. Sherrill’s post-storm visit

    Gov. Sherrill visited Camden a day after what local officials call the worst flooding they have ever seen in the city.

    American Red Cross workers have been providing cleaning supplies, snacks, and water as residents navigate the aftermath. No injuries had been reported, but there were more than 1,000 calls to emergency services, and 14 people were rescued from the flooded streets.

    Sherrill urged residents to report damage through the Office of Emergency Management so the state knows how much federal assistance to request.

    She also thanked the first responders and touted her recently signed legislation aimed at data centers, which she said would help prevent strain on the power grid during future storms.

    The Inquirer’s Aliya Schneider has more details about her visit and legislation.

    Experts say state poverty is higher than official federal figures

    According to the federal government, 859,000 New Jersey residents are living in poverty, based on the latest statistics available.

    But a new report from Poverty Research Institute of Legal Services of New Jersey (PRI), a legal aid nonprofit, says the figure is closer to three million.

    People who live at or below the federal poverty line qualify for assistance such as SNAP, Medicaid, and school meals. The issue, according to experts, is that even people with incomes twice the poverty rate still need help when considering the actual costs of housing, childcare, food, and healthcare. It doesn’t help that New Jersey has the third-highest cost of living among states.

    “Life’s a struggle,” said one Camden resident whose family makes just enough to be above the federal level. “I would say this feels below the poverty line.”

    The number of meals that the Food Bank of South Jersey has distributed to Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties has increased by more than a third over the last four years to compensate for rising food costs.

    According to PRI, the following are the true poverty rates:

    • Burlington County: 27.2%
    • Camden County: 38%
    • Gloucester County: 29%

    Reporter Alfred Lubrano has the story.

    What to know today

    🧠 Trivia time

    What is the Rutgers-Camden mascot?

    A) The Scarlet Raptor

    B) Sir Henry, the Scarlet Knight

    C) The Scarlet Raider

    D) The Prof, Whoo RU

    Think you know? Check your answer.

    What we’re …

    🎤 Remembering: When Taylor Swift was sighted and then swarmed by fans on Long Beach Island. (Congrats to her and Travis Kelce for getting married over Fourth of July weekend.)

    🎧 Listening: To Beyoncé’s first new song in two years, “Morning Dew (Donk).”

    🏠 Viewing: A spacious and simple home overlooking Rancocas Creek in Delanco. (Is your house a Haven? Nominate your home by email — and send some digital photographs — via properties@inquirer.com.)

    🧩 Unscramble the anagram

    Hint: 🌊 Runs through four states

    ARRIVAL WEEDER

    Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Joe Galliera, who solved last Wednesday’s anagram: Walt Whitman. This bridge connects South Philadelphia with Gloucester City.

    🏡 On the market

    This four-bedroom in Chesterfield allows for an abundance of natural light

    This home comes with a two-car garage, a wide driveway, and a front porch.Resonate Media | Courtesy of Christopher Twardy/Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Fox & Roach Realtors

    The spacious main level of the four-bedroom and 2.5-bath home includes a formal living room, a dining room, a powder room, a family room, and an office. The house was built in 2008 but the kitchen was upgraded in 2025 with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and breakfast bar seating.

    All four bedrooms are upstairs. The primary suite has large closet space and a renovated en suite bath with a Jacuzzi tub.

    See more photos of the property here.

    Price: $750,000 | Size: 3,018 SF | Acreage: 0.13

    I’ll have more news for you tomorrow. See you then! 👋🏽

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • What will become of St. Peter’s Village? | Inquirer Chester County

    What will become of St. Peter’s Village? | Inquirer Chester County

    Hi, Chester County! 👋

    The quaint St. Peter’s Village is heading to auction this fall, leaving many wondering what its future holds. Also this week, Bluebird Distilling has debuted a new renovation and expanded its offerings, plus the county has reported its first measles cases this season.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Historic St. Peter’s Village is headed to the auction block

    The entirety of the 83-acre St. Peter’s Village will be sold at auction this September. Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer

    The future of St. Peter’s Village hangs on the auction block, where it will be sold this September to the highest bidder.

    The entirety of the 83-acre historic village in the northwest of Chester County is up for sale in what is a decidedly unusual offering. That includes 121 homes and 13 historic and commercial village buildings.

    As the bidding nears, some are expressing concerns over its future, while others are hopeful for revitalization.

    The Inquirer’s Brooke Schultz explores what could become of the picturesque community.

    Bluebird Distilling adds pizza to the menu after $2.2M renovation

    The dining room at Bluebird Distilling and Dough House was expanded as part of a larger renovation. Ed Newton

    Popular Phoenixville distillery Bluebird Distilling reopened yesterday with a new look and fresh menu items following a $2.2 million renovation.

    Now known as Bluebird Distilling & Dough House, the concept offers a “neo-Neopolitan” pizzeria and restaurant, in addition to an expanded bar, dining room, and bottle shop.

    The idea to add pizza came after owner Jared Adkins started taking classes to learn the art.

    Read more about the expansion and what else you can expect at the new iteration.

    📍 Countywide News

    💡 Community News

    • In case you missed it, last week the developer of a proposed East Whiteland data center was ordered to temporarily stop work that disturbs the soil. Here’s why.
    • North Coventry Township’s zoning board is scheduled to discuss an application for a Sheetz at 1395 S. Hanover St. and several neighboring parcels tomorrow at 7 p.m.
    • Oxford Borough council is hosting a meeting tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss potential changes to its police services as it weighs its finances.
    • Phoenixville-based Christian school the University of Valley Forge has been warned it could lose its accreditation and been given until Sept. 1 to prove it should keep its status.
    • In other higher-ed news, longtime Immaculata University president Barbara Lettiere plans to retire next summer after leading the school for a decade.
    • Spring City is relocating its borough hall and police department to temporary offices today as work continues on the new municipal building. The borough office will temporarily be located at 2 Riverside Dr., with borough meetings taking place at Liberty Fire Company’s social building, while the police will temporarily be at 7 Riverside Dr.
    • Lit Fitness is taking over the former ImpactFit in Exton at 35 E. Uwchlan Ave. There’s no timeline yet for the official transition.
    • Ash Park reopened yesterday in Coatesville after undergoing a yearlong overhaul. The updated 9.3-acre park has a new pavilion, an expanded playground, new water fountains and lighting, an expanded basketball area, and meadows.
    • French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust has preserved 34.9 acres in North Coventry Township, adding to the 13,700 acres it’s conserved nearby.

    🏫 Schools Briefing

    • Octorara Area School District has named Nancy Young as its director of special education and student wellness.

    🍽️ On our Plate

    • Longwood Garden’s 1906 is the lone Chester County restaurant to earn honors in this year’s Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards. The magazine recognizes establishments with wine lists offering what it deems interesting selections that are “appropriate to their cuisine” and “appeal to a wide range of wine lovers.” It recognized 1906 — which Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan recently called one of the best restaurants in the suburbs — for its selection of wines from California and France.

    🎳 Things to Do

    🎙️ Sound of Summer Free Concert Series: Pop-rock artist Olivia Rubini headlines this week’s show. ⏰ Wednesday, July 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Anson B. Nixon Park, Kennett Square

    🎭 Ain’t Misbehavin’: This summer musical will transport audiences back to the Harlem Renaissance. ⏰ Select days from Wednesday, July 8-Sunday, Aug. 16, times vary 💵 Prices vary 📍 People’s Light, Malvern

    🎹 Tredyffrin Township Summer Concert Series: Hear party music from the ‘60s through the ‘90s when The O’Fenders takes the stage. ⏰ Thursday, July 9, 7 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Wilson Farm Park, Wayne

    📽️ Blobfest: This year’s three-day festival is circus-themed and kicks off with a screening of the film and the run-out. Other events include a ball, “dinner en blob,” and screenings of other films. ⏰ Friday, July 10-Sunday, July 12, times vary 💵 Prices vary 📍 The Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville

    🍖 KS-Que BBQ Festival: Sample local barbecue as teams compete for bragging rights. ⏰ Saturday, July 11, noon-5 p.m. 💵 $25 📍 The Creamery, Kennett Square

    🎶 Eagleview Summer Concert Series: American rocker Sophie Gault will headline the upcoming show. Local Americana band Lazy Villains will also perform. ⏰ Tuesday, July 14, 7-9 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Eagleview Town Center, Exton

    🏡 On the Market

    An 18th-century Phoenixville home with an impressive primary suite

    The home dates back to the late 1700s.Michael Eckstrom/MJE Photographic | Courtesy of Marie Dezarate Sales Group

    Dating back to the late 18th century, this updated five-bedroom Phoenixville home is replete with preserved period elements like millwork and fireplaces. The first floor has a family room, living room, office, and a kitchen with an exposed stone wall and radiant heated brick floors. It opens onto a sunroom with space for dining and lounging that overlooks the woods of Pickering Creek Preserve. The primary suite features exposed beams, its own sitting room, and a bright bathroom with skylights. There’s an open house Saturday from noon to 2 p.m.

    See more photos of the property here.

    Price: $880,000 | Size: 3,281 SF | Acreage: 2.5

    🗞️ What other Chester County residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • The mall is adding 7 new retailers | Inquirer Cherry Hill

    The mall is adding 7 new retailers | Inquirer Cherry Hill

    Hello, Cherry Hill! 👋

    The mall is getting seven new concepts between now and spring, adding retailers and an eatery. Here’s a look at what’s on tap. Also this week, the county is assessing flood damage from the heavy thunderstorms, a Cherry Hill alum known for his witty film criticism has died, plus, roadwork continues on Kresson Road and Kenilworth Avenue.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    More stores are coming to the mall

    A handful of new stores are expected to open in the Cherry Hill Mall in the coming months. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    The Cherry Hill Mall’s slate of stores continues to evolve, with new retailers planning to set up shop in the coming months.

    Popular footwear brand Crocs opened a 2,000-square-foot space last month, DoneRight Doner Kebab is expected to open in the food court later this summer, and a massive Dick’s House of Sport is on track to debut this year.

    They’ll be joined by several other concepts, including viral women’s clothing brand Aritzia.

    The Inquirer’s Erin McCarthy looks at everything you can expect now through spring.

    💡 Community News

    • The storms that started rolling in late Sunday resulted in widespread flooding on Monday throughout Camden County, where several inches of rain fell. Cherry Hill saw 3.44 inches, which resulted in flash flooding. (NJ.com)
    • Cherry Hill alum and three-time Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award-winning film and TV critic Bill Wine died last month at the age of 81 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. Raised in Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, where he graduated from the old Cherry Hill High School, Wine was a longtime film critic at WTXF-TV, Channel 29, and KYW radio and known for his pithy, witty, and acerbic reviews.
    • Heads up for drivers: Work continues on Kresson Road this week, which will have altered traffic patterns between Springdale Road and Ravenswoods Way from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. through tomorrow; a detour between Harrowgate Drive and Cropwell Road from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday; and altered traffic patterns between Marlkress Road and Browning Lane from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday. Ongoing work will result in a road closure on Kenilworth Avenue between Route 38 and Helena Avenue from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. through Friday.
    • Cherry Hill resident and youth soccer coach Brian Epstein, 43, has been charged with lewdness and sexual contact after an April incident during which he allegedly exposed his genitals to two girls while scouting players at Brian Bende Park in Medford. (Courier Post)
    • Cherry Hill resident and Marine Corps veteran Kevin D. Cooper was among five veterans recognized with service medals by the county last week.
    • Friends of Cherry Hill Public Library’s book sale continues today, when it’s open to all Friends members. The sale opens to the public tomorrow and continues through Saturday.

    🍽️ On our Plate

    • Three former Cherry Hill staples are among the most iconic New Jersey restaurants to close too soon, according to a list from NJ.com. The outlet lamented the closing of beloved mall eatery The Bistro at Cherry Hill, which shuttered abruptly about a year ago amid bankruptcy proceedings. Other restaurants the outlet says are gone too soon? The Cherry Hill Diner, which has been demolished to make way for a car wash, and Latin Casino, which was torn down in 1982.

    🎳 Things to Do

    🎶 Twilight Music Series: Oklahoma R&B outfit Color Me Badd headlines this week’s event. ⏰ Thursday, July 9, 8-11 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Cooper River Park Jack Curtis Stadium

    🃏 Cherry Hill Card Expo: Browse over 300 vendor tables featuring trading cards, memorabilia, art, and more. ⏰ Saturday, July 11, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, July 12, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 💵 $10-$25 📍 DoubleTree by Hilton

    🕹️ Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament: Test your skills head-to-head. Advanced registration is required. ⏰ Saturday, July 11, 1-3 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Cherry Hill Public Library

    💫 Music Under the Stars: Taylor Swift cover band Fearless will perform. There will also be food trucks and a beer garden. ⏰ Tuesday, July 14, 7 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Barclay Farmstead

    🏡 On the Market

    A five-bedroom contemporary with a wooded walking path

    The home combines brick and glass and has a number of patios.John McBay | Courtesy of Keren Niv/Real Broker

    Located in the Voken Tract in Springdale, this five-bedroom contemporary is striking inside and out. It features a distinct architectural design that blends brick and glass. The home has a two-story living room, complete with numerous windows and a wood-burning fireplace, that opens onto a contemporary kitchen. Other features include a dining room, an office, and a family room. There are several patios outside, including one with a built-in kitchen, all overlooking a wooded lot with a private walking loop. There’s an open house Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m.

    See more photos of the property here.

    Price: $1.249M | Size: 3,395 SF | Acreage: 1

    🗞️ What other Cherry Hill residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Rite Aid is gone. Its shells remain, with some becoming gyms and car washes.

    Rite Aid is gone. Its shells remain, with some becoming gyms and car washes.

    It’s been almost a year since the last Philly-area Rite Aids closed their doors for good after years of financial trouble.

    But the pharmacy chain’s distinct facade still dots the landscape — in suburban shopping centers, on the corners of congested intersections, sometimes even smack dab in the middle of city blocks.

    Some of these buildings are still vacant, surrounded by overgrown grass and empty parking lots. Others are getting new life as dollar stores, medical clinics, daycares, Spirit Halloweens, and a Rally House sports retailer.

    A former Rite Aid (left, rear) and former Wawa (right) sat empty in Collingswood in June. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    The 8,000- to 16,000-square-foot shells are ideal for only so many tenants, real estate experts have said, and it is not unusual for these kinds of properties to take several months or more to lease.

    Here is a look at what’s happening at a few local zombie Rite Aids:

    South Jersey Rite Aids are becoming fitness centers

    A former Rite Aid in Blackwood, Camden County, has been a gym for more than a year, and its owners soon plan to open a second location at another old Rite Aid in Cherry Hill.

    Nick Bennett, CEO of the Bunker Fitness Center, said the owner of the Blackwood Rite Aid building approached him after seeing the gym’s content on TikTok. At the time, Bennett said, the gym was outgrowing its 3,000-square-foot space in Franklinville, Gloucester County.

    When he went to see the 13,000-square-foot former Rite Aid in Blackwood, he said, it had already been demolished inside.

    “It was just wide open,” Bennett said. “That floor plan works for our business model because gyms are open. You don’t really need to put up walls.”

    Steve Cristelli works out at the Bunker Fitness Center in Blackwood. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Another plus, he said: Pharmacies have rows of refrigerators, which require electrical outlets, and the Bunker crew could use those outlets to plug in workout equipment.

    The old Rite Aid on Black Horse Pike needed “very little” work, just paint and rubber floors, Bennett said, and was easily transformed into the exercise and recovery space he had envisioned. The gym opened in 2025.

    “We’re smashing it,” Bennett said, with thousands of members who pay between $49 and $59 a month for the 24/7 gym, which has cardio and strength machines, weights, a sauna, and a cold plunge. He declined to provide specific sales or membership figures for competitive reasons.

    The Bunker Fitness Center operates inside a former Rite Aid in Blackwood.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    But Bennett said the business is doing so well that it is expanding into another former Rite Aid, 12 miles away in Cherry Hill with franchisee Jack Prendergast.

    That 10,000-square-foot pharmacy shell at Brace and Kresson Roads closed more recently and needs a bit more work inside, Bennett said. When they signed the lease, he said, it “looked like a Rite Aid.”

    Bennett said he and Prendergast are demolishing the interior, aiming for a September opening.

    In Delco, a Rite Aid could become a township’s first car wash

    The former Rite Aid in Newtown Square may get new life as a car wash.

    The store at West Chester Pike and St. Alban’s Circle closed last year. In February El Car Wash, a Florida-based chain looking to expand into Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, applied to open there, said Newtown Township Solicitor Rich Sokorai.

    On its website, El Car Wash lists several other Philly-area locations as “coming soon,” including Cherry Hill, Drexel Hill, Feasterville, and Maple Shade.

    The Newtown Square Rite Aid operated a drive-through, Sokorai said, and drive-throughs are permitted in that commercial zone. After a June meeting, the township zoning hearing board is considering whether to permit the car wash, with a decision expected in the coming weeks.

    A Rite Aid with a “store closing” sign last summer.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    If approved, it would be the only car wash in Newtown Township, the solicitor said.

    Residents of the neighborhood behind the old Rite Aid have expressed concerns to local officials, Sokorai said, “because they fear traffic.”

    Others have said they are looking forward to a new business moving into the vacant space on a prime corner, Sokorai said. Even before the Rite Aid closed last summer, its shelves were often empty, the solicitor said, and “it was dying a slow death.”

    Temple University buys another old Rite Aid

    Temple “T” flags fly on North Broad Street.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Temple University recently bought a second former Rite Aid on North Broad Street.

    The school recently closed on the old Rite Aid building on the 2100 block of North Broad for $9.25 million, according to spokesperson Stephen Orbanek. He said ArchWell Health, which operates a primary-care clinic for seniors there, will remain the tenant.

    “This property’s location, directly across the street from James S. White Residence Hall, supports the priorities of our campus safety and physical environment plan,” Orbanek said.

    This latest Rite Aid acquisition comes two years after Temple bought a Rite Aid and its surrounding shopping center near Temple University Hospital for $8.2 million. The Rite Aid is being converted into Temple Health neurology offices.

    The moves are part of a broader expansion of the university’s footprint on Broad Street, which includes the January acquisition of a vacant property at the site of a former McDonald’s for $8 million.

    Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to indicate that Temple Health plans to open neurology offices at the previously acquired Rite Aid building.

  • Trans people are fleeing red states for Seattle. The city can’t keep up.

    SEATTLE — Crow Harmony never felt at ease living in Florida as a transgender guy. The state has some of the most restrictive anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the country, and Harmony said he struggled to find employers willing to hire trans people. Last fall, after Harmony’s boyfriend transitioned, the couple lost their housing.

    They were just 21 and 20 with no money or job prospects, so Harmony reached out to a Seattle nonprofit for help getting out of Florida. The nonprofit, a trans-led organization called Traction, welcomed the couple with a place to sleep and money for moving.

    But unbeknownst to Harmony, Traction was struggling, too.

    Since the 2024 election, Traction has helped 1,500 trans people flee red states — more than 20 times the 70 people it aided in the 18 months before the election. And it’s just one of several Seattle nonprofits whose leaders say they don’t have the resources to help the number of trans people who’ve left their homes for the safety of the Pacific Northwest.

    Though trans people make up just 1% of the population in Washington state, the nonprofits that help them say their budgets are drained and their staffs are stretched so thin that last month the Seattle LGBTQ Commission asked Mayor Katie Wilson (D) to declare a civil state of emergency. Such a declaration would free up general fund dollars to bolster the nonprofits’ finances as they help transplants find housing and jobs.

    “The conditions,” the commission wrote in a June 2 letter to Wilson and the City Council, “are an urgent policy concern and a life-and-death matter for internal displaced persons fleeing to Seattle for safety.”

    Though no one tracks the migration of LGBTQ+ people from one place to another, a poll conducted by NORC suggests that roughly 400,000 trans adults fled red states in the six months after the 2024 election, a time when President Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders aimed at restricting nearly every facet of trans life. Another 1.2 million trans people were estimated to be considering such moves.

    In the year since, the need for aid has skyrocketed, nonprofit leaders say, as states such as Kansas and Idaho have stripped trans people of their drivers’ licenses and threatened to jail them if they didn’t use bathrooms that conform to the sex they were assigned at birth. Meanwhile, private donations have shrunk and grant opportunities have disappeared as Trump warns against using federal funding to “promote gender ideology.”

    Wilson has said she will decide by the end of August whether to authorize a state of emergency, which could free up $2.1 million and create a program to help LGBTQ+ newcomers navigate the city’s social services. In a nearly three-hour council committee meeting in late June, commission members said that without the declaration, some LGBTQ+ organizations might close, further straining the city’s already overtaxed safety net.

    “We need help,” LGBTQ Commissioner Kody Allen told the City Council. “Our community needs help. And this is the only place we can get it.”

    Seattle has long been known as one of the country’s most trans-friendly cities. It banned discrimination on the basis of gender 40 years ago. Its hospitals were among the first to offer gender transition care to young people. And Washington state was the first in the nation to allow trans athletes to compete.

    Those protections have always drawn trans people from elsewhere, but in the years before Trump won reelection, nonprofit leaders say, the numbers were small enough, and the newcomers so prepared, that organizations could easily help people settle in. Most arrived with jobs and rental agreements. But after Trump took office and further emboldened conservative lawmakers to strip trans people of rights, Seattle leaders say they began to hear from people with no plan, only a desperate need to move immediately.

    “Most people don’t come to us saying, ‘I want to move to Seattle.’ They say, ‘I need to get the hell out now,’” said Aspen Coyle, a program manager for Traction. “It’s been chaos. We have been scaling up as fast as we can, but there is so much need out there. It is this massive, massive wave of people coming in.”

    Nearly 400 people have asked for help in the past two months alone. For a nonprofit that took in less than $84,000 in revenue before the election, those requests can feel “immense.” But Coyle and Traction founder Michael Woodward said securing money has become increasingly difficult under Trump. Last year, the organization applied for a dozen grants and won only two small ones — worth just $17,500. Individual donors have stopped giving as much, too, and some are afraid to donate to organizations Trump might consider part of “a radical ideology.”

    When Harmony and his boyfriend contacted Traction last year, the couple had nearly no resources to rebuild their lives. They were too young to have amassed any real savings, and they were leaving all of their friends and most of their possessions behind.

    A Traction peer navigator met the couple at the airport. Three different couples who volunteer with the group offered to house Harmony and his boyfriend for weeks at a time. The navigator helped Harmony sign up for health insurance and food benefits, and eventually, Traction helped the couple find jobs and enroll in college. A few months ago, the couple signed a lease for their own apartment.

    “For the very first time, I felt like I didn’t have to do it all myself,” Harmony said. “We never had to wonder, ‘What are we going to do now?’ They were already thinking ahead of what we might need.”

    In a council committee meeting in late June, dozens of trans people told similar stories. A person from Kansas said they lost their job driving a bus after the state forced trans people to surrender their licenses. Others from New Orleans and Georgia said they lost access to medical care. And several described themselves as “refugees” who would have been homeless if not for Seattle’s nonprofits.

    Leaders from multiple nonprofits told the council that they were now hearing “every day” from people who were afraid to continue living elsewhere. But Taylor Farley, the executive director of the Queer Power Alliance, said they worried local groups don’t have the resources to help everyone who needs it.

    “Our costs are rising nearly twice as fast as our funding is coming in,” said Farley. “Our community is under attack, and organizations protecting LGBTQIA+ people are struggling to survive.” (One conservative influencer in Seattle decried the “emergency” as an attempt by left-wing groups to tap public tax dollars unnecessarily.)

    Declaring a civil emergency would be a “significant step,” commission members acknowledged in a letter to Wilson this spring — one that could cost the city $2.1 million if it addresses the immediate needs. Seattle is facing a nearly $500 million shortfall over the next three years, and some city officials have told commission members they worry about the financial feasibility of declaring an emergency. But it’s not without precedent: Eight months ago, city leaders set aside $8 million in discretionary dollars to declare a state of emergency after the federal government cut food stamp funding.

    In a written reply to the commission, Wilson said that even though the city is facing “challenging budget restraints,” she will “proactively search for ways” to meet the need and ensure Seattle remains “a place of safety, dignity, and inclusion” for LGBTQ+ newcomers.

    Wilson, whose office did not respond to a request for comment, has convened an interdepartmental group that now meets every other week to evaluate the needs and the city’s capacity to address them. She has said that group will make a recommendation by August.

    If the city chooses not to declare a state of emergency, commission leaders said, they worry what will happen not only to Seattle’s LGBTQ+ organizations but also to ones that help all city residents. Many of the newcomers need shelter, food aid, and subsidized healthcare. And the city’s homeless population has already reached a record high this year.

    Allen, who also works for a youth homeless shelter, said his organization is turning away at least 10 young trans people a night from the shelter because it doesn’t have space.

    The one positive nonprofits say they have seen is an uptick in volunteers. Early last year, Traction had only three or five volunteers. Now it has more than 70, including Harmony. In the months since his life stabilized, Harmony has helped other newcomers navigate Seattle. Many have told him they don’t want to leave their home states, but they have to.

    “If there’s no state of emergency, we’re still going to have an influx of trans people who have been displaced from their homes, their lives,” Harmony said. “Half of them have no connections. They just want to be able to live safely. So it’s up to us to say, ‘Here is your chance. You deserve one.’”

  • Property values in Kensington went up more than any other Philly neighborhood this year

    Property values in Kensington went up more than any other Philly neighborhood this year

    The biggest jump in Philadelphia’s property assessments this year occurred in Kensington, a measure that means many homeowners in the long-struggling neighborhood are likely to see higher taxes amid a concerted effort by the city to clean up the area.

    That is according to an Inquirer analysis of recently released property assessments of single-family homes, which found that, citywide, there was a 3% median change in valuations from the 2025 tax year, the last time there was a mass reassessment.

    That increase is far more modest than the widespread jump in valuations that homeowners saw two years ago, which captured multiple years of real estate growth and the volatile post-pandemic market.

    What remains the same: who will be most affected.

    The Inquirer’s analysis of this year’s property assessment data shows that low-income neighborhoods near gentrifying areas saw the sharpest jumps in valuations compared with the rest of the city.

    The four areas that saw the largest percentage increases in median assessments — Kensington, Mantua, Grays Ferry, and Kingsessing — all border more gentrified neighborhoods like Fishtown, University City, and Point Breeze. The results of the analysis are a further sign that market pressures in higher-income areas are pushing into pockets of the city that have long been primarily home to Black and brown working-class residents.

    Of the eight neighborhoods that saw the largest increases between the 2025 and 2027 tax years, five have median annual household incomes around $40,000 or less, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data. The federal poverty level is $33,000 for a family of four.

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    In a statement, officials with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration noted that many homeowners in those five neighborhoods are benefiting from a popular city tax break. The city said that the median 2027 value in those five neighborhoods is $123,600, so for many homeowners in those areas, the median taxable assessed value is just $23,600.

    That is because of the homestead exemption, a tax break for homeowners who live in their house as their primary residence that exempts the first $100,000 in home value from property taxes. Homeowners must sign up to be included in the free program.

    At least 60% of homeowners in those neighborhoods have signed up for property tax relief programs, according to the city.

    James Aros Jr., the chief assessor of the Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment, and Revenue Commissioner Kathleen McColgan said enrollment rates in property tax relief, including the homestead exemption and multiple tax freeze programs, are “encouraging.”

    They said the city will “build on this progress through extensive targeted outreach, community partnerships, and efforts to make enrollment as simple and accessible as possible.”

    The current property tax rate is 1.3998% of assessed value, which has not changed for nearly a decade. The revenue is split between the city and the Philadelphia School District.

    Rising home values in Kensington

    Citywide, the steepest increase in valuations was in Kensington, where the median property value jumped 15.3%, from $115,700 in the 2025 tax year to $133,400 now. That median increase would translate to a roughly $250 annual property tax hike.

    That comes after Parker’s administration in 2024 launched a multipronged effort to address the long-entrenched open-air drug market in Kensington, which is the epicenter of the city’s opioid crisis and a site of sprawling homelessness.

    While the administration has increased law enforcement’s staffing in the neighborhood and scaled up programs for people who are in addiction, Kensington has also for years seen creeping gentrification from Fishtown to its southeast.

    In this 2021 file photo, a glass building at J and Tioga sits near a beer store in Kensington.Inga Saffron

    Some neighborhood leaders have watched with anxiety as luxury housing developers and out-of-town investors gobbled up properties in the neighborhood, fearing that poorer residents and middle-class homebuyers may be priced out.

    City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, a Democrat who represents the 7th Council District, which includes parts of Kensington, said she knew speculators from outside the area would want to make it “the next gentrified neighborhood” once the city changed its strategy to more aggressively clean up trash and improve public safety.

    How speculators fueled a nightmare for Kensington residents — and could soon cash in

    But Lozada said there are not enough programs specific to Kensington aimed at preventing displacement as a result of rising property values, especially as the city is investing millions of dollars a year to improve the neighborhood. She said her office is exploring additional tax relief measures.

    “I’m going to do whatever I have to do to make sure that residents who have lived in that community can stay there, can raise their families there,” Lozada said. “We have witnessed what has happened on the southern end of the district, where there has been rapid gentrification.”

    In this March file photo, City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada stands in Council chambers during Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s budget address.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    Lozada also said rising property values in Kensington are part of why she has been “so careful with projects presented to me” and has prioritized what she sees as equitable development in the neighborhood — at times to the chagrin of developers who think she has been too restrictive.

    “I’m all about people making a return,” she said, “but you can’t continue to do it on the backs of poor people.”

    The 3100 block of Arbor Street in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Continuing change in pockets of West Philly

    There were also significant property value increases in parts of West Philadelphia.

    The median increase in Mantua, the neighborhood north of University City, was the second highest in the city, at 15%, according to The Inquirer’s analysis. The median increase was 12% in Kingsessing, the neighborhood south of University City that in 2025 saw the largest jump of any neighborhood in Philadelphia.

    Newly developed buildings along Fairmount Avenue in the neighborhood of Mantua in Philadelphia, Pa., on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, a Democrat who represents West Philadelphia and has made preventing displacement a key initiative, said that there has long been racial bias in the city’s property assessments and that the city must “get serious” about protecting low-income homeowners by revamping its system.

    “There has to be a higher level of urgency in making sure that the city doesn’t have a hand in pushing out all of these homeowners that make Philadelphia what it is,” Gauthier said. “It’s unconscionable for us to destabilize our neighborhoods and the longtime homeowners who live there because we didn’t take enough care to make sure that our process was fair and equitable.”

    For too long, she said, city officials have said they intended to examine the property assessment practices and identify improvements. In 2024, Parker convened a task force to study the process.

    Aros told Council in April that the task force’s report was “being finalized.” He said OPA would look to implement recommendations from the report, including conducting more regular reassessments and improving property-level data such as property condition.

    The city is also planning to hire an outside consultant to examine its mass appraisal practices, according to city records. The analyst will be responsible for drafting a report by the end of this year.

    Deputy creative director John Duchneskie contributed to this article.