The first phase of SEPTA’s bus network overhaul begins Aug. 23, and Brandon Miller is mobilizing hundreds of employees for a final push to meet face-to-face with riders in the days leading up to the changes and during the first week after they take effect.
“It’s a blitz,” said Miller, manager of planning programs at SEPTA, describing discussions at “pop-ups” as an effective way to help people navigate the new network.
Unlike some transit agencies, SEPTA has not done a comprehensive redesign of its bus network in its 58-year history. The agency has publicly pushed to do so since 2021, but change was delayed by opposition, political wrangling, and, later, a two-year fiscal crisis.
Originally the “Bus Revolution” was supposed to happen all at once, but SEPTA ultimately decided to phase in changes to routes.
“I think there’s more willingness to accept the fact that … we need to make the bus network a little bit more efficient,” Nemiroff said. “We need to make the system more attractive for people.”
Some routes with low ridership or that duplicate nearby service will be eliminated. Others will be extended or run more frequently, and two new routes will be added.
What routes will change?
New and expanded routes: Route 72, a new crosstown bus running along Cheltenham Avenue, and the new Route 76 bus from Columbus Commons to Rising Sun and Olney. Route 45 will be extended to provide service to the Navy Yard, and Route 79 will be extended from South Philadelphia into University City.
Eliminated routes: 35, 47M, 62, 78, 80, 89, and 106.
Riders can call SEPTA customer service at 215-580-7800 or email specific questions to planning@septa.org.
I want to talk to someone in person.
Beginning Monday, street teams will conduct “pop-up” visits at key transit hubs at various times between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Next week, visits will include South Broad Street and Snyder Avenue, Cedarbrook Plaza, Hunting Park Station for changes to Route 53, Spring Garden Station, and Willow Grove Mall.
Staff are also attending community events.
When will changes happen?
The majority of changes will take effect Sunday, Aug. 23, followed by the Route 105 extension and elimination of Route 106 on Monday, Aug. 24.
Phase 3 changes are planned to begin in June 2027.
Phase 4 changes are planned to begin in Fall 2027. Many details are still being worked out.
Why redesign the bus network?
SEPTA launched its bus redesign efforts in earnest after ridership declined 13% from 2013 to 2019, a drop attributed to slow speeds, reliability problems, and competition from ridesharing companies. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bus ridership rebounded faster than it did on other transit services, but SEPTA’s thinking is that simplifying the network will make it easier to use, with more frequent service on fewer or shorter routes.
Will bus stops be changed?
Stops will disappear during the first phase on routes that are eliminated, but there will be no wholesale changes yet.
Having more stops per mile provides access to more people, but closely spaced stops can also slow buses and make them less reliable.
Early plans for Philadelphia’s bus network redesign aimed to “rebalance” stops by spacing them farther apart to improve speed. But the idea has been unpopular.
SEPTA may revisit the issue later.
More questions about the New Bus Network?
Email transportation reporter Thomas Fitzgerald at tfitzgerald@inquirer.com.
The University Avenue Bridge will soon receive structural repairs, and some of its architectural details will be secured from further vandalism, but a full-scale restoration of the historic span isn’t happening anytime soon.
PennDot is slated to begin work on the drawbridge Aug. 17, the agency announced Monday. Pedestrian and vehicular traffic will be partially impeded for the duration of the job.
A routine inspection in March of the Paul Philippe Cret-designed structure turned up deterioration in some of the steel members, said PennDot assistant district executive for assets Kerri Cutright, “and we were a little concerned, and so that’s why we’ve initiated these repairs.”
The goal is to move the drawbridge from “poor” to “fair” condition, said Cutright.
In addition, plans call for the installation of 8-foot-tall chain-link fencing in front of the two operator’s houses on the east side of the bridge to deter vandals.
Work is expected to continue through Dec. 15.
Broken windows and vandalism are visible inside one of the operator’s houses on the University Avenue Bridge on July 23.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
The project, estimated to cost about $2 million, leaves unaddressed the needs of some major features of the bridge, which was built around 1930. It will not bring back the bridge’s ability to raise its leaves, though the work won’t prevent restoration of that function in the future. The 10 elaborately detailed lighting fixtures will not be returned to working order as part of the job.
Graffiti has marred the bridge in several places, most noticeably on the Center City-facing sides of the operator’s houses, but there is no immediate plan to clean up the scrawls.
“At this time, graffiti removal is not in the scope, but it is being explored in the near future,” said PennDot spokesperson Brad Rudolph.
Graffiti on the University Avenue Bridge, seen from the Schuylkill River Trail, on May 21.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Vandalism and deterioration on the bridge linking West Philadelphia and Grays Ferry have attracted sporadic public attention for decades. The Inquirer highlighted the conditions last September, with another article in June, and other news outlets have called for the bridge’s stabilization and restoration. A recent change.org petition advocating that it be protected from further damage collected hundreds of signatures.
“Without intervention, these unique design elements risk permanent loss,” the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia wrote in its magazine, which lists the bridge as one of the city’s places to save.
“We welcome PennDot’s attention to the University Avenue Bridge and the planned work to address some of its most urgent deficiencies. This is a positive first step, especially after years of visible deterioration, but it should not be the end of the effort,” said Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. “The bridge is one of Philadelphia’s most distinctive historic spans, and it deserves a broader rehabilitation plan that addresses its historic features, long-term condition and role as a public gateway between neighborhoods.”
The repairs at hand will address the structural elements beneath the bridge’s deck. The bridge uses a girder floor beam stringer system to carry the load, said Cutright, and the deterioration will be addressed with plating, cleaning, and repainting, and some steel members may be replaced.
Vandalism and the elements have damaged the two operator’s houses on the Center City-facing side of the bridge. They will be cleaned out and sealed, and a chain-link fence will be installed in front of the two structures to deter trespassers.
Lane closures will reduce vehicular access to one lane in each direction during construction. Two of the bridge’s four lanes will be closed all day every day, with two lanes left open (one in each direction) through mid-December. The work will begin with closing the two lanes closest to the operator’s houses, and moving all traffic to the other side. Then, in a couple of months, the closure pattern will flip.
The bridge carries more than 36,000 vehicles per day, according to PennDot, and the agency expects significant backups during construction. Pedestrian access will be permitted on the side of the bridge opposite from where work is being conducted.
A fish and other details adorn the operator’s houses on the University Avenue Bridge.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Cutright said that while PennDot would like to restore the bridge, the cost is estimated around $50 million, and no funding is currently lined up for an effort on that scale.
Even if funding were in place now, a major rehabilitation would be a long way off. Planning and construction would take five years or more, she said.
“It’s a beautiful bridge, and I would imagine that if we were to do a major project that we would want to restore it to its former glory.”
It’s been a long time since Samantha and Mike Garbose have been able to truly enjoy the same pizza together. Ever since Mike discovered an intolerance to gluten in 2019, their pizza dates have resulted in this married couple ordering a “his” and “hers” situation with separate pies.
Being relegated to the gluten-free alternative is not a fate Mike begrudges: “We both agree that each of us is totally entitled to the food that our diets and preferences warrant.” Then again, the contrast in quality between standard wheat-flour crusts and those made with gluten-free ingredients can be hard to ignore.
“At places that have both gluten [-full] and gluten-free pizza,” says Samantha, “usually I get something that looks phenomenal and Mike gets something that looks like a cardboard circle — and then I feel guilty about that.”
Gluten-free pizza with summer corn at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
But there would be no guilt tonight at Barclay Pies. Not once the first gluten-free pizza arrives at our table, its airy puff of a crust crisped around the edges to a tawny snap that beckons from under a crown of molten mozzarella topped with sweet summer corn, bacon, and chile peppers. Another pie arrives, this one zesty with a layer of red sauce bursting with bright California tomatoes and a whiff of oregano;fistfuls of cup-and-char pepperoni rounds arescattered over the top, then finished with honey and freshly ripped basil.
“Oh wow, that does not even look gluten-free!” says Samantha.
That’s been my exact reaction every time I’ve visited this pizzeria in Cherry Hill, initially with my daughter, Alice, who has celiac disease. Barclay also makes standard pizzas with glutinous flour, but it has generated a serious buzz within the gluten-free community over the course of its first year — for good reason.
Gluten-free pizza with pepperoni at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerCo-owners Thomas “TJ” Hunton (left) and Daniel Romero at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Barclay Pies was launched last summer by friends Thomas “TJ” Hunton, a regional director of operations for Shake Shack, and Daniel Romero, a vice president in engineering for Aramark. Its remarkably good pizzas, careful protocols to avoid cross contamination, and outgoing hospitality have helped change the narrative about what’s possible in a fast-casual setting with gluten-free options that go beyond just the pies.
Indeed, a mozzarella stick was the first bite to turn heads at our table. A safe-to-eat mozzarella stick is rare and coveted in the gluten-free community because deep fryers are common culprits for cross contamination. Not only are Barclay’s fryers completely gluten-free, these delicately hand-breaded sticks encrusted in potato starch, rice flour, and gluten-free panko crumbs are perfectly crisped. There is also a hunk of milky fresh mozzarella inside (another rarity: most use standard low-moisture varieties) that offered hot cheese-pull satisfaction from one side of the table to the next.
Gluten-free mozzarella sticks at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
The chicken wings were also superb, tender and juicy from a dry brine and par-bake, sealed inside a sheer crust of egg whites and rice flour, available in several good flavors, from punchy Buffalo sauce shaded with the richness of brown butter to lemon-pepper that sparkled in its craggy breading.
My encounters on previous visits with boneless chicken tenders were far less inspired, including some overly brined meat so rubbery they gave me a refund. But I was heartened by a 360-degree turnaround on this latest visit. The team recently reworked their recipe, and the final results — expertly verified by Hunton’s 6-year-old daughter, Amelia — are stellar: a perfectly tender baton of meat in a flavorful crust ready for various house-made dips. The tangy ranch with buttermilk and fresh herbs was a favorite, though classic honey mustard also did the trick.
Barclay Pies, located along Route 70 in Cherry Hill, has become known for its gluten-free pizzas.Craig LaBan / StaffJulie Romero (center right), of Cherry Hill, and Claire Ryder, of Collingswood, are enjoying some gluten-free pizza at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill on July 21.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
But pizza, of course, is the restaurant’s prime magnet. The duo decided to tackle the daunting gluten-free genre because Romero’s wife, Julie, has celiac disease. Making a gluten-free pizza worth the trouble is a major challenge. Gluten is a key protein found in certain grains — namely wheat, barley, and rye — that provides the structure to hold gas bubbles during fermentation and fosters a chewy, complex crust. Until recently, most GF versions of pizza I’ve tasted, whether made from alternative flours or cauliflower — and commonly outsourced in restaurants to avoid cross contamination — have been less than exciting, with textures ranging between pressboard and Styrofoam.
Barclay’s gluten-free pies are not that. The Romeros worked for nine months to perfect a high-hydration crust that puffs like a supple focaccia. With a light dusting of cornmeal adding a delicate bottom crunch and the Detroit-style crispy frico cheese band around the edges, the pie achieves textural contrasts this gluten-free dough itself would not otherwise form. The pan-based format is helpful to prevent cross contamination, but having grown up in the Midwest, where deep-crusted pies are common, I found these to be completely satisfying platforms for Barclay’s toppings. I was impressed by the mushroom pie that blends thin-shaved creminis with caramelized onions over a white base of seasoned heavy cream and mozzarella. I also enjoyed the locally inspired combo of fennel sausage, broccoli, and zesty cherry pepper hoagie relish, the addition of Cooper Sharp lending the base of molten mozzarella some extra South Philly flow.
The gluten-free broccoli and sausage pizza at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill also comes topped with hoagie pepper relish.Craig LaBan / Staff
I appreciate that Barclay is continuously tweaking its recipes, increasing the size of its fresh sausage chunks from the dried-out crumbles I found early on to the porky nuggets that dotted the roasted pepper-sausage pie we ordered on a traditional gluten-full round. That pizza had a perfectly fine, well-developed crust that was solid by neighborhood pizzeria standards. But the gluten-free pies are the draw, special enough to merit a regionwide pilgrimage.
Samantha Garbose agreed: “Usually when we get gluten-free food together, I’m pretending it’s good, but I actually thought [Barclay’s] gluten-free pizza was better than the one that had gluten.”
Standard gluten-full pizza with sausage and peppers at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Barclay’s sales numbers are starting to bear this out. Hunton says they initially anticipated selling only 10 gluten-free pies a day to supplement their traditional pizza sales. But gluten-free pies now account for a third of the pizzas they bake.
“By the end of the first month we realized we’d really struck a chord,” says Hunton. “There’s a market need for a pizzeria that was truly inclusive.” Barclay also offers vegan pizzas with a cheese substitute made in-house from oat milk and tofu, deliberately avoiding nuts, an allergen ingredient commonly used in vegan cheese.
There’s still a catch. One reason this dough is so good is because it uses Caputo Fioreglut, an Italian gluten-free flour blend that contains wheat starch whose gluten proteins have been removed. Fioreglut performs closer to wheat flour than most GF blends and is considered safe for most celiacs, but not for those who have an allergy to wheat.
“We need to be pizza for everyone and we’re not fully there quite yet,” concedes Romero. “But that’s our North Star.”
The gluten-free broccoli and sausage pizza at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill also comes topped with hoagie pepper relish.Craig LaBan / Staff
The past few years have been a vibrant era for local experimentation with better gluten-free pizza alternatives, though few compare to Barclay Pies’ crust. Emmy Squared has long made gluten-free versions of its standard Detroit pies in Queen Village. Corio in University City has been working on a potato-based dough for thin-crusted counterparts to its Neapolitan-style pizzas. Gluten-free pasta specialist Settantatré has mastered an airy gluten-free focaccia base for the tomato pies it sells at local farmers market stands and its Berwyn market-cafe. Perhaps the best gluten-free pizza I’ve ever eaten was created by 13th Street Cocktails caterer Aaron Gordon for the exceptional pan pies at his Agricola in Passyunk Square, but this quirky corner pizza atelier is not a reliable source for frequent orders, limited now to only private charity events (but perhaps reopening to the public this fall).
Hunton and Romero have drawn on their professional experiences to quickly build Barclay Pies into the region’s most accessible hub for gluten-free pizza satisfaction. With its 50 indoor seats, 25 on its patio, and a bright pink-and-green makeover for the former Seasons Pizza, they’ve created a pleasant dining space with user-friendly systems for a cheerful and well-trained staff to operate efficiently while the owners, who are frequently there, also retain their day jobs. (Hunton, a Garces alum, still oversees operations at 70 Shake Shacks from New York to Virginia.)
Most importantly, gluten-free customers can take comfort in knowing protocols have been put in place to minimize risks of cross contamination. The gluten-free dough is mixed first thing each morning in a separate GF-only mixer, prepped at a separate station, run through a dedicated conveyor belt oven, and finished at a separate station with color-coded cutters and spatulas. The gluten-free pies are also proofed and cooked in round pans to clearly distinguish them from the gluten-full Detroit pies that are cooked in square pans.
Co-owner Thomas “TJ” Hunton making gluten-free pizza with summer corn at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
While there will never be 0% risk as long as products with gluten are made in-house, and that may not suit those who are especially sensitive, my daughter ate there three times without incident. Hunton and Romero also strongly believe there is a broader community benefit to offering both options, as opposed to being entirely gluten-free. This way groups of diners with diverse needs and preferences can feel seen and safely served together without being singled out.
This works especially well for the Garboses.
“We’d prefer to go to a restaurant that has great options for both of us,” says Mike. “Life is too short for either of us to eat bad food.”
But in the case of Barclay Pies, their “his and hers” pizza night had a different, guilt-free twist: “It’s been so long since Mike and I got to actually enjoy the same pizza,” says Samantha. “This was really a thrill.”
Gluten-free pizza with pepperoni at Barclay Pies in Cherry Hill, N.J., on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Barclay Pies
450 Marlton Pike, Cherry Hill Township, N.J. 856-712-1900; barclaypies.com
Open Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, until 9:30 p.m.
Pizzas, $19-$24 (plus $4 for gluten-free crust).
Wheelchair accessible.
Menu is almost entirely gluten-free. Standard pizzas with gluten-full flour are made in the same facility but extreme care and protocols are taken to prevent cross contamination.
BYOB. There are several excellent liquor stores nearby. The restaurant also provides good-quality stemless plastic drinkware.
Menu Highlights: Gluten-free pizzas; mozzarella sticks; wings; chicken tenders.
Barclay Pies boxes in Cherry Hill.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
The state of the University Avenue Bridge, long neglected and subject to vandalism, is attracting a wave of public scrutiny. An online petition that has collected hundreds of signatures calls for the historically significant span to be secured before further damage is done.
“We demand that PennDOT and the City of Philadelphia treat this historic structure with the same respect shown to the Ben Franklin Bridge,” wrote the author of the change.org petition. “Officials must act now to secure the site from further destruction so that this beautiful bridge survives to celebrate its own 100-year anniversary in 2030.”
The Ben Franklin Bridge was feted this month with a special centenary event closing it to vehicles that drew an estimated 50,000 pedestrians, cyclists, and others.
The publication, Hidden City, also published a cri de coeur this week.
“As the Benjamin Franklin Bridge receives accolades this year for its 100-year anniversary and receives regular maintenance by its owner, DRPA, the University Avenue Bridge continues to decay, seemingly ignored by PennDOT,” wrote Kimberly Haas in an article posted Tuesday.
Broken windows and graffiti at the University Avenue Bridge, with the medical buildings of West Philadelphia in the background, July 23, 2026.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
A PennDOT spokesperson said that, in fact, it is in the process of finalizing a contract for work on the bridge, and that the work is expected to start “within a few weeks,” though the exact scope of the job is as-yet undetermined.
The two bridges share an architect in widely admired French-born Penn professor Paul Philippe Cret. Today, the windows on the University Avenue Bridge’s richly detailed operator houses are broken or gone, mortar is missing, stone is marred by graffiti, and some architectural elements have been stolen, the petition notes.
“The bridge must be made secure IMMEDIATELY to prevent further damage,” it states.
The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, which characterizes the bridge as threatened by neglect and has urged its restoration, applauded the petition.
“We hope it will put pressure on PennDOT to take action to prevent further decay of the bridge and its operator houses,” said preservation alliance director of policy and communications Hanna Stark.
On the University Avenue Bridge: The condition of the operator’s house closer to Grays Ferry has continued to deteriorate in recent weeks.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
An Inquirer column in June highlighted the drawbridge’s condition, as did an article in September.
The bridge, which links West Philadelphia and Grays Ferry, is owned by PennDOT, though responsibility for its upkeep is split between the state agency and the city’s Streets Department. The city agency oversees operations, including the mechanical components that lift the bridge, which currently do not work. Graffiti removal may also fall under Philadelphia’s jurisdiction.
PennDOT handles the bridge’s aesthetic and structural components. It is responsible for cleaning up debris, and does routine maintenance on the other aspects of the bridge except for the mechanical components.
The state agency would also oversee any full major rehabilitation project, whose price tag PennDOT estimates at about $50 million. No such project is planned at the moment. The last major rehabilitation was in 1985.
The operator’s house closer to Grays Ferry on the University Avenue Bridge.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
The complete scope of PennDOT’s work expected to start in the next few weeks is still to be determined, the agency’s spokesperson said, but it will include steel repairs and fortification to prevent vandalism. Completion is expected in late 2026 or early 2027.
Damage to the bridge has continued in the past month or so at the operator’s house closer to Grays Ferry.
“It just feels like it’s getting so much worse,” said Heather Calvert, the West Philadelphia resident and regular bridge visitor who started the petition. “It’s not a big ask to secure it to keep more of the historic elements from getting lost for everyone.”
To have the bridge in this condition, Calvert said, “just makes the city look bad.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro visited a University City life sciences incubator on Tuesday to celebrate a new $125 million fund aimed at boosting Pennsylvania’s life sciences industry.
The funding — approved in the $50.8 billion state budget deal reached earlier this month — will go toward developing new talent pipelines, help offset the cost of clinical trials, and expand access to venture-capital funding.
While Philadelphia has historically trailed other metropolitan areas, like Boston and San Francisco, in attracting life sciences investments — including in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields — lawmakers and industry leaders said they hope the new funding will help close the gap. The money will be available for projects across the state.
“I think you can feel the momentum building all across our commonwealth in the life sciences space,” said Shapiro, who was joined at the B+labs facility by industry leaders and Democratic state lawmakers. “After really not being on the field of competition in the life sciences space for years and years and years, Pennsylvania is not just competing again. Pennsylvania is winning.”
The new funding comes as some of the nation’s largest life sciences companies have announced their plans to invest billions in Pennsylvania, an accomplishment touted by Shapiro’s administration.
Johnson & Johnson announced this spring its plans to build a $1 billion cell therapy plant in Montgomery County. And pharmaceutical giant Lilly is expected to break ground on a $3.5 billion manufacturing facility in the Lehigh Valley, set to be fully operational in 2031.
Chris Molineaux (left) president & CEO of Life Sciences Pennsylvania introduces Gov. Josh Shapiro as he visits B+labs Tuesday, July 21, 2026 to tout a new $125 million program “to expand venture capital access” for Pennsylvania companies investing in life science innovations.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Shapiro on Tuesday noted Pennsylvania’s potential to be a national hub for the life sciences industry, given the state’s robust research universities, adding that more than 100,000 Pennsylvanians work in the sector.
The $125 million investment is the state’s most significant in almost three decades and is a “true differentiator,” said Chris Molineaux, the CEO of Life Sciences Pennsylvania, a trade group. Last year, Shapiro called for Harrisburg to invest $30 million in life sciences funding, but the money was not allocated in the final state budget.
Of the nearly 1,000 businesses in his organization, Molineaux said, more than 400 are small start-ups with fewer than 10 employees, and will benefit from the additional dollars. A vibrant start-up landscape in Pennsylvania, he added, means there is plenty of innovation, but also competition for limited funding.
“Entrepreneurialism is alive and well in Pennsylvania,” Molineaux said. “But it’s also an extremely fragile community that needs the kind of public policy support, the nurturing, and the financial support.”
Madeline Bell (right), CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia joins Gov. Josh Shapiro as he visits B+labs Tuesday, July 21, 2026 to tout a new $125 million program “to expand venture capital access” for Pennsylvania companies investing in life science innovations.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia CEO Madeline Bell told the crowd the story of a baby whose rare metabolic disorder was treated by the hospital’s doctors with a first-of-its-kind custom gene-editing therapy. That type of innovative treatment is made possible through outside funding and support from lawmakers, Bell said, stressing the importance of the state’s new investment.
“It’s going to make our breakthroughs possible. It is going to get them from the bench to the bedside more quickly,” Bell said.
The state will finance the program through the sale of insurance premium tax credits to insurance companies.
Shapiro said the funding is expected to become available in a few weeks and will be disbursed through an application managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
The program is structured to prioritize projects that address needs specific to Pennsylvania, according to literature provided by the state, and will support projects developed by companies founded by people in historically underrepresented groups that have not always had access to funding.
“Part of this funding will go to make sure that folks who historically did not get invested, get invested,” said Democratic State Sen. Vincent Hughes, who represents West Philadelphia. “That communities not too far away from here, blocks away from here, get the opportunity to allow their young people and their genius to be realized.”
Tiny cupcakes offered at B+labs Tuesday, July 21, 2026 as Gov. Josh Shapiro visits to tout a new $125 million program “to expand venture capital access” for Pennsylvania companies investing in life science innovations.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The program — named Innovate in PA 2.0 — builds on the 2013 Innovate in PA initiative signed into law by then-Gov. Tom Corbett, which offered $100 million in seed funding to technology startups.
“Innovators, we believe in you. This state believes in you,” Hughes said. “There is a group of people in this commonwealth of Pennsylvania who believe in you, will continue to invest in you, and want to make sure that your dreams of saving lives turn into reality.”
Monell Chemical Senses Center is relocating to a new facility in University Cityto expand its operations and evolve its science, officials announced Wednesday.
The nonprofit research institute dedicated to studying taste and smell signed a 20-year lease at One uCity Square, a 13-story research hub, that will include more than $30 million worth of new infrastructure and facility improvements.
The new location at 25 N. 38th Street is a roughly seven-minute walk from the current home at 3500 Market St., where Monell has resided since 1971.
Monell plans to finish moving into the new space in early 2027.
“We’re just at capacity. We don’t have the facilities that are going to push us forward into the future,” said Benjamin Smith, Monell’s executive director and president.
The move has been a long time coming, as the center’s more than 150 scientists and staff have outgrown its space over the last 50-plus years.
For example, more scientists have wanted to use newer research methods, such as organoids — miniature versions of organs grown in the lab, he said. However, the current building has limited cell culture space and imaging capabilities.
“Our people are excited because we’re moving to facilities that are going to help them do more of the work that they want to do,” Smith said.
Benjamin Smith is the executive director and president of Monell.Courtesy of Monell Chemical Senses Center
More shared space, room for growth
The new space, which spans 64,000-square feet across three floors, is technically smaller than Monell’s current building. However, the design will allow for more efficient use of lab space.
The modern facility has an open layout filled with shared spaces, “as opposed to the old sort of academic lab where you were in one corner of a basement or one corner of a building and you locked your door,” Smith said.
He hopes this will encourage collaborations and interactions between scientists. That includes both within Monell and with other groups in the building.
Its neighbors within One uCity will include Dispatch Bio, Century Therapeutics, Penn NSF AIRFoundry, among other research and biotech companies. The office building opened in 2023 and is now roughly 90% occupied.
Monell’s iconic “Face Fragment” sculpture, perched outside its current building, will move, too. The giant nose and mouth will be featured at the front of the One uCity building, looking out at the lawn.
“We’re making sure that we don’t lose that legacy,” Smith said. “We take our culture and we move it into the new building and we grow it.”
Members of Philadelphia City Council say they are concerned that the city’s recently released property reassessments will mean tax hikes for thousands of residents, and they are demanding to know more about the methodology used to determine property values.
Councilmember Mike Driscoll, a Democrat who represents the Lower Northeast, authored aletter sent Monday to Chief Assessment Officer James Aros Jr. and other top officials in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, expressing concerns on behalf of a half dozen Council members.
He wrote that his office has received “numerous” calls from constituents whose homes will see sharp increases in valuation, the measure that is used to calculate property tax bills.
“Many residents are struggling to grasp how their assessments were calculated. Others are worried about what these increases will mean for their property tax bills,” Driscoll wrote. “At a time when families are already facing higher costs for housing, utilities, groceries, and other daily expenses, these concerns need clear answers.”
He outlined six questions for the Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment related to its process and methodology, and set an Aug. 15 deadline for the administration to reply, saying “property owners deserve answers now as they review their assessments and consider whether to file an appeal.”
The 3100 block of C Street in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Property values sharply increased on this Kensington block.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The letter — which was signed by six Council members who are cosponsors of previously introduced legislation to probe the city’s property assessment process — is one of the first formal steps that lawmakers have taken to challenge the citywide revaluation since last month, when property owners received notices of their new assessments.
Citywide, there was a 3% median change in valuations from the 2025 tax year, the last time there was a mass reassessment, according to an Inquirer analysis of assessments of single-family homes.
But some neighborhoods saw much steeper increases. The biggest jump was in Kensington, where median values increased 15.3%. Driscoll represents part of the neighborhood, which has been long beleaguered by the open-air drug market there and where the city has made a concerted effort to improve the quality of life.
There was also a 15% median increase in property assessments in Mantua and a 12% rise in Kingsessing, both of which are in West Philadelphia and border University City.
Parker administration officials have said that the city offers a variety of property tax relief programs, including the popular homestead exemption, which erases the first $100,000 in valuation from being taxed for owners who live in their home as their primary residence. Property owners must sign up for the free program.
But for years, dating back long before Parker took office in 2024, Council members have criticized the city’s property reassessment process, saying its methodology is opaque and its results have a disproportionate impact on low-income homeowners.
Multiple reviews are already underway.
In addition to a yet-to-be-scheduled Council hearing, the city controller is conducting a performance audit of the property assessment office and the city’s appeal process, according to Driscoll’s letter. Controller Christy Brady’s office has sought feedback from residents and left flyers in neighborhoods where property values are rising.
The Parker administration convened a task force in 2024 to develop recommendations for how the city can improve its appraisal practices.
And the city is in the process of hiring an outside consultant to examine the fairness of its reassessments. According to city records, that analyst will be expected to draft a report by the end of this year.
Data reporters Yaelle Tang and Lizzie Mulvey contributed to this article.
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.
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.
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.
We knew that a list of 76 iconic Philadelphia foods would leave something out. It did. After hearing from readers — and revisiting a few of our own debates — we had to mention six items that deserve a place in the city’s culinary canon. They don’t replace the original 76; they just expand the conversation.
The ‘combo’: Hot dog and fishcake on a roll
The hot dog-fish cake combo topped with pepper hash at Lenny’s Hot Dogs in Feasterville.Michael Klein / Staff
Long before Philadelphia claimed the cheesesteak as its signature sandwich, another pairing drew a following: the hot dog and fishcake combo. Culinary historians generally agree that Abe Levis (rhymes with “crevice”) created it in 1895 by pressing a fried fish cake atop a grilled frank on the same bun at his luncheonette on Sixth Street near Lombard.
Instant surf-and-turf!
Levis also created Champ Cherry, the bright-red, cider-like soda that became the combo’s traditional companion. The Old Original Levis shop changed hands several times, spawned a few short-lived offshoots, and finally closed in 1992 under owner Elliott Hirsh, who later revived Levis as a store in Abington from 2012 to 2017 while marketing Champ Cherry in cans.
But tastes have changed and the brands are moribund, as Hirsh, now 80, acknowledged: “I’ve been actively trying to find someone that wants to take it over. And not even sell it. Just take it over. I’d hate to die and take it with me, but that’s what we’re going to do.”
The hot dog-fishcake combo, at least, survives. Just after World War II, Levis rival Lenny’s Hot Dogs, who also sold them from a stand nearby at Fifth and Passyunk.
Lenny’s secret sauce was the pepper hash — a sweet-and-sour relish of cabbage and bell peppers that cuts through the richness of the dish — created by owner Lenny Kravitz’s mother, Ida.
Kravitz expanded Lenny’s to several locations from Mount Airy to Margate, N.J. In the 1980s, he sold his final shop, at 6620 Castor Ave. in the Northeast, to Wayne Knapp. Kravitz died in 1998.
Hawk Krall’s illustration of the “surf ’n turf” Philly combo (fishcake and frank) was originally done for SeriousEats.com.Hawk Krall
Knapp later relocated Lenny’s to Feasterville. That shop, as well as Johnny Hot’s, John Danze Jr.’s truck stop on Delaware Avenue in Fishtown, are among the few standard-bearers of this classic. Be sure to add a squirt of yellow mustard and a smattering of diced onions, as illustrator Hawk Krall suggested in his 2009 poster print of the sandwich.
Chicken salad and oysters
Fried oysters with chicken salad from Oyster House.Craig LaBan / Staff
As for another curious combo, only in Philadelphia would someone look at cool, creamy chicken salad and crunchy fried oysters and think, “Of course those belong together.”
The unlikely pairing has been a local specialty for well over a century, dating to the city’s grand oyster houses, hotels, and taverns in the late 1800s. One popular explanation of its origin holds that tavern keepers paired cheap, plentiful oysters with more expensive chicken to stretch a serving. Food historian William Woys Weaver has noted that Philadelphia’s finest hotels elevated the dish, serving chicken salad dressed with tarragon mayonnaise and encircled by crisp fried oysters. More humble versions turned up in neighborhood brew houses and lunch counters across the city.
Similar dishes appeared in New York, Baltimore, and Boston, and some historians believe that Philadelphia’s influential Black catering families helped popularize the combination. What is certain is that chicken salad and oysters were served at an organizing meeting of Philadelphia’s Union League in 1862.
The combo’s popularity has ebbed in recent years, and its primary home is now Oyster House near Rittenhouse Square, whose family ownership dates back nearly 80 years.
Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter
Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter, founded in 1972, is still available on grocery shelves.Michael Klein / Staff
Life was all Skippy and Jif in the early 1970s when a Philadelphia music teacher decided to grind peanuts in his kitchen because he couldn’t find peanut butter that tasted the way he remembered.
Richard Marcus was a conductor, pianist, radio host, and founder of the Society Hill School of Music & Art. Frustrated by the sweetened, homogenized spreads that dominated grocery shelves, he bought five pounds of peanuts at Reading Terminal Market, roasted them, and blitzed them in his blender. The result was nothing more than peanuts — no sugar, salt, or oils.
Friends loved it. By 1972, they convinced him to package it. Marcus produced an initial run of about 144 jars, selling them through Philadelphia delis and health-food stores. He called it Crazy Richard’s, his wink to skeptics who thought he was nuts for marketing a peanut butter that separated naturally and required stirring.
Word of mouth did the rest. Marcus eventually gave up his music school to run the business full time, first contracting production in Conshohocken before opening plants in Pennsauken and later Bellmawr. At its peak under his ownership, Crazy Richard’s sold about 750,000 jars a year throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast and by mail. Marcus insisted that there was no secret recipe: “It’s just ground peanuts.”
In 1991, Ohio’s Krema Nut Co. bought Crazy Richard’s and kept Marcus’ one-ingredient recipe intact. Today, 12 years after his death, the brand is sold nationwide. The “Crazy Richard” on the label is still the Philadelphia musician who proved that sometimes the simplest ideas stick.
Fishtown Iced Tea
Canned Fishtown Iced Tea is poured by Interstate Drafthouse co-owner Mike McCloskey into a custom-made ceramic carton.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Long Island has its iced tea. Why shouldn’t Fishtown? Created in 2013 at Interstate Drafthouse on Palmer Street, Fishtown Iced Tea spikes a 16-ounce carton of Arctic Splash iced tea with a shot of Jim Beam bourbon, turning a childhood lunchbox staple into an adult version of the sugary, dangerously smooth cocktail. Its roots are distinctly regional. Besides milk, Lehigh Valley Dairy, Wawa, Swiss Farms, and Turkey Hill also sold iced tea in pint cartons that generations of Philadelphians grew up drinking.
During the pandemic, when Pennsylvania temporarily allowed to-go cocktails, Interstate sold enough Fishtown Iced Tea to keep the bar afloat. In 2022, the popularity inspired a canned version from Rectified Spirits, made with vodka, rum, tequila, and triple sec instead of bourbon.
In a twist, the ready-to-drink cocktail debuted just as Lehigh Valley discontinued Arctic Splash cartons, ending an era for the drink that inspired it.
Edamame dumplings from Buddakan
The edamame dumplings at Buddakan.Tim Tai / Staff Photographer
One of Buddakan’s signature dishes is the edamame dumpling, filled with mashed soybeans and served in a truffled Sauternes-shallot broth. Michael Schulson, then chef de cuisine at Stephen Starr’s Old City destination, came up with the idea in 2000 while developing the menu for Starr’s next project, Pod, whose opening in University City was six months away. “Every dish I made, Stephen would say, ‘We’re putting this on the menu at Buddakan,’” Schulson said. “I’d say, ‘What about Pod?’”
The original version was an edamame ravioli, featuring a yellow pasta wrapper in a caramelized Sauternes-shallot broth, transforming what was then an unfamiliar ingredient to many American diners — young Japanese soybeans — into one of Buddakan’s signature dishes. (It made it onto Pod’s menu, too.) When Buddakan New York opened in 2006 with Schulson leading the kitchen, the ravioli evolved into the translucent har gow-style dumpling that has since become its best-known form, before it later arrived on the menu in Philadelphia. It’s still a bestseller.
After leaving Starr, Schulson adapted the concept at his restaurant Sampan, serving edamame dumplings in a caramelized shallot and sake broth, and later at Double Knot with truffles.
Cheesesteak egg rolls
The cheesesteak egg roll from Continental Mid-town.Courtesy of Starr Restaurants
Stuff steak and cheese into an egg-roll wrapper, deep-fry it, and you’ve got one of Philadelphia’s signature mashups: the cheesesteak egg roll.
They’re everywhere now, from neighborhood pubs to white-tablecloth steakhouses, and go by “spring rolls” at some places, but their rise can be traced to two nearly simultaneous Philadelphia stories in the mid-1990s.
One unfolded at the old Four Seasons Hotel on the Parkway. Former chef David Jansen said that after preparing a banquet for the New York Rangers in 1994 or 1995, prep cook Mui Lim put leftover cheesesteak filling into spring roll wrappers and fried them as a snack for the kitchen crew. They went on the menu soon after at the hotel’s Swann Lounge. Today’s Four Seasons Philadelphia, now at the Comcast Technology Center, serves wagyu cheesesteak spring rolls with sweet-and-spicy pepper relish.
The other story played out in Old City, where the novelty became a menu staple at the Starr-owned Continental. In 1996, Starr hired Sam “Chef Sammy D” DeMarco to develop dishes for the year-old restaurant. DeMarco already served a Philly cheesesteak dumpling at First, his New York restaurant, but Starr wanted something original.
DeMarco turned the dumpling into a cheesesteak spring roll. “It was taking a classic, nostalgic American snack and presenting it in a fresh way,” said DeMarco, now executive chef at Bungalows Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Like the old Buzz Aldrin cocktail, the roll became a classic. Starr said Continental Mid-town, near Rittenhouse Square, now sells 500 a week.
From the Continental, the idea spread rapidly. Davio’s owner Steve DiFillippo was joining staff for a preshift meal at his former Center City Philadelphia location shortly after it opened in 1999 when chef David Boyle served cheesesteak egg rolls that his wife had made at home. DiFillippo insisted that they be added to the bar menu, overruling managers who felt that they were too déclassé for a posh steakhouse. The Boston-based Davio’s turned the line into a frozen-food item, selling millions through supermarkets and QVC until rising beef prices during the pandemic made them impractical, DiFillippo said. They’re still on the restaurant menus in King of Prussia and elsewhere.
Though DiFillippo copyrighted the name “Philly Cheese Steak Spring Rolls” in 2002, “I’m not going to claim I invented anything,” he said. “But I was the first one to take them into stores and really commercialize them.”
The former Woodland Presbyterian Church at 401 S. 42nd St. is being converted to 35 apartments, mostly studios, with seven set aside at affordable rents.
The oldest parts of the church complex date to 1871. But after the COVID-19 pandemic and with a shrinking membership, Woodland Presbyterian merged with several other Philadelphia congregationsin a Center City building.
They decided to sell the 42nd Street building after determining it would cost millions to rehabilitate.
In November the property sold for $1 million to a limited liability corporation that shares the address of Bala Cynwyd-based Finch Development.
The company has extensive rental property holdings in Philadelphia and on its website boasts a 37-unit redeveloped former church building at 1629-39 S. 28th St. in Grays Ferry.
“It was the highest offer, and they did have a track record of one or two conversions of a house of worship,” said David Brindley, a Reformed Church leader involved with the sale. “They seemed to be people that could get things through to the finish line.”
The building sold for $1 million at the end of last year.Jake Blumgart
The former Woodland Presbyterian Church is three blocks from the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. At first Brindley sought to interest other congregations, including those who cater to college students, but when those efforts failed, he approached Penn itself in 2024.
The university made an offer in early 2025, he says.
“It could be a space to bridge the gap between the town and the gown, and they were very interested,” Brindley said.
“They were going to make it the new Rotunda,” a Penn-owned community space at 41st and Walnut, he said. “They were going to move the Rotunda and its activities there, the community art space there, and then be able to expand.”
But as 2025 progressed — a year where Penn and the rest of the higher-education sector faced federal funding loss and other uncertainty — the university decided against moving forward, citing the expense of shoring up the building, Brindley said.
“I don’t blame Penn at all, but at that time, they just couldn’t [take the] risk,” Brindley said.
The university declined to comment.
Plans on the Department of Licenses & Inspection’s website show units ranging from a smallest of 324 square feet to the largest at 848 square feet, which would be housed in a one-story annex on the south side of the property.
The annex on the right-hand side of this photo will have the largest apartment in the new complex.Jake Blumgart
Due to the proximity to the university, Brindley says he expects that renters will mostly be students associated with Penn.
The project falls within Councilmember Jamie Gauthier’s mandatory inclusionary zoning overlay (MIN), which requires that one-fifth of units in large projects be set aside for those earning 40% or less of area median income. That’s roughly $35,000 for a one-person household.
“Project will comply with MIN overlay affordability rules as necessary,” the apartment conversion’s June 25 zoning permit reads.
The project is zoned for duplex construction. But the former church is within the Spruce Hill Historic District, which means that Finch Development can build without a zoning variance — due to a 2019 law passed by City Council that allows historically protected special buildings like churches to be redeveloped beyond their underlying zoning.
The law was created in reaction to the controversy over St. Laurentius Church in Fishtown, where a handful of neighbors fought against the redevelopment for so long that the church deteriorated to the point it had to be demolished.
The Spruce Hill Historic District, like many of the newly created historic districts, is being challenged in court by local property owners, including the major student housing companies in the area like Campus Apartments and University City Housing.
After being rejected by a local judge, an appeal is pending in Commonwealth Court.
“I’m very glad it’s not going to get demolished,” Brindley said. “It’s not a sad story about what the building will become from my perspective. We would have certainly loved for it to have had a community-centered use, but the building was just too far gone.”
