[UC] More on Recreation
It seems the mayor was not available after several phone calls. They should have checked the shindig at Clark Park! Anyone else ever contact the offices of our elected officials to find a permanent do not disturb sign?? Or, gone to corporate. Don't call us; we'll call you. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080618_Welcome_to_Philadelphia_s_wreck_centers.html
[UC] millions for clark park
Here is more good news about the Department of Recreation. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20080618_City_audit_finds_hazards_at_rec_centers.html If only Philadelphia had community like our Penn district, Philadelphia neighborhoods would have upscale parks, upscale schools, and upscale hotels like our fortified green zone.
[UC] lost: grey cat (45thChester)
from Craigslist this morning: lost all Grey cat - big, round face, amber eyes (45 and Chester Ave. 19143) Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2008-06-18, 10:28PM EDT Our house cat got out last week. Please email if found. She is a British Shorthair and is probably very scared as she has never been out before. thanks Reply to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[UC] Publicizing Philly Schools
Privatizing them doesn't seem to work. Outside managers are no better than the public system, despite costing more. At least according to this article: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20556464.html Why oh why does the magical invisible hand keep failing us like this!? Andrew You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] millions for clark park
I meant, of course, never been adequate to the demand. Oops, -- Tony West At this time, then, it's been left up to District Council Members to to scuffle for Rec capital improvements in their areas, on a case-by-case basis, using a pool of discretionary funds that has never been inadequate to the demand. -- Tony West You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] millions for clark park
Recreation's capital facilities are in terrible shape after a decade or more of neglect. It really is time Rec was pushed to the front burner among City departments. Nutter has said he will do that. We shall see. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Parks Revitalization Project is engaged with numerous community parks all across the city, without regard to whether their neighborhoods are upscale or downscale. It has been a very impressive and successful venture, with which the Recreation Dept. is well pleased. By definition, PHS does green things, not buildings. So aging Rec centers need different rescuers. Different nonprofits have stepped in to spiff up certain Rec centers in struggling neighborhoods; by and large, though, they won't do plumbing or make capital improvements. At this time, then, it's been left up to District Council Members to to scuffle for Rec capital improvements in their areas, on a case-by-case basis, using a pool of discretionary funds that has never been inadequate to the demand. -- Tony West Glenn wrote: Here is more good news about the Department of Recreation. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20080618_City_audit_finds_hazards_at_rec_centers.html If only Philadelphia had community like our Penn district, Philadelphia neighborhoods would have upscale parks, upscale schools, and upscale hotels like our fortified green zone. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] NOT the new Bohemia
This is very interesting. a section of town that serves as an incubator for good ideas and the people who make them, and yes, along with that, bad ideas and the people who pose at making them I'm glad to see the author recognize that this once great community has changed. While shadows of the past still linger in Clark Park, etc, he sees this neighborhood is a contrast between the haves moving in and the have nots being forced out. I recently discussed with a friend the illusion/propaganda that the remaining appearances of diversity will remain in ten years. As Penn currently markets the culture stolen from us, as if it was created by them; it continues the hidden tactics to smash and homogenize our community. (Think of the Clark Park propaganda which would give an outsider the impression that the shadows of our great culture were created by Penn from a killing field.) Does anyone really believe that there will be social/income diversity at the school in ten years? Or that the culture in Clark Park won't have been replaced by a Penn consumer model? A Penn Welcome to the Neighborhood corporate festival isn't the same as the various neighborhood celebrations, festivals, created in Clark Park with the strength and energy from our community! This bohemia term is applied to something that once existed here but is very unique in America. Few places had a community with a diversity of diversity that worked so well. Suburban folk would often comment about how wierd, how bohemian, how funky it was that black, white, immigrant, native, gay, straight, poor, wealthy, old and young formed such a strong community. How was it possible that we came together with such ease? Why did we see a neighborhood with a low per capita income as one of the greatest communities in the country? What kept us from joining gangs like FOCP/SHCA and beating up on each other? Developers and style hounds seek out such communities to capitalize on their strengths while destroying the very essense of the bohemia that is sought. (eg. South St. in the sixties) Ten years ago had Penn studied the culture of West Philly, the things which made us great and gave the people such a feeling of abundance might have become a national model for rebuilding a feeling of community without various segragations. I think the marketing of this bohemia concept is a disservice. While ignoring what made us great when this was bohemia, communities like ours are being disassembled forever. What we once had here might have been described as beautiful-not as sexy as bohemia. Style hounds and developers look for what is sexy. In many ways, the very qualities that made this community strong without corporate dollars created the very vulnerabilities that the corporate developers exploit (with the help of the disenfranchised individuals often disparigingly referred to as the anointed). The various sub-cultures never needed centralized civic associations to fight each other for power. Except for the tiny minority that led the civic associations, our sub-cultures got along and valued each other. Thanks for posting this. Glenn - Original Message - From: Frank [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: UnivCity@list.purple.com Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:08 PM Subject: [UC] NOT the new Bohemia From phillyist.com http://www.philebrity.com/2008/06/18/philebrity-wonders-what-is-the-state-of-philadelphias-bohemia/ We’ve spent some time in Bohemia, we know it when we see it, and we know this: Fishtown just doesn’t have the free-ing effect of a good Bo’. So what does that leave? West Philly? Try again: While Bohemias in the past have enjoyed a proximity to institutions of higher learning, the not-very-wild West is a conundrum of haves and have-nots versus American Princesses and fashion-activists. Frank You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.4.0/1507 - Release Date: 6/18/2008 7:09 AM You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] NOT the new Bohemia
Frank wrote: From phillyist.com http://www.philebrity.com/2008/06/18/philebrity-wonders-what-is-the-state-of-philadelphias-bohemia/ We’ve spent some time in Bohemia, we know it when we see it, and we know this: Fishtown just doesn’t have the free-ing effect of a good Bo’. So what does that leave? West Philly? Try again: While Bohemias in the past have enjoyed a proximity to institutions of higher learning, the not-very-wild West is a conundrum of haves and have-nots versus American Princesses and fashion-activists. the new yorker had an interesting take on this topic recently, in the form of a short story called Raj, Bohemian. excerpt: Get over yourself, man. You're acting so old-fashioned, like some kind of Communist. I have the right to perform acts of rational consumer choice: our ancestors fought wars for it. And I think I'm clever enough to filter a little bit of spin, don't you? Look, why don't you check out this band I'm working with? He handed me a sleek little music player. I listened for a while, out of politeness. They’re the final wave of New Wave, he explained. After this, there will never be another reason to wear a Blondie T-shirt. I nodded listlessly. I felt too despondent to argue anymore. Otto, smiling at me as he bounced his head to the beat of the music he couldn't hear, seemed not to notice. I knew you'd like them. Aren't those headphones great, though? Optional noise cancellation. Amazing dynamic range. Particularly the bass--really rich, considering how small they are. A sudden suspicion crossed my mind. But, no, this wasn't some suburban wide-boy. This was Otto. And yet... Over the next few days, I started to notice something odd. Every time I met a friend, he or she would immediately make a recommendation, urge me to try something new. Lucas had been to a club on the other side of town and insisted that it was the best night out he'd had in ages. Janine almost forced me to take home a bottle of her new favorite nutritional supplement. At first, I shrugged it off. But, deep down, I knew that it had something to do with Raj and his vodka. Every night, I'd turn the incident over in my mind. I swallowed Ativan and Valium and Paxil (I had a compliant doctor), hoping that my anxiety would pass. It didn't. There was Joe and his new running shoes. Razia's bike. All my friends seemed to be dropping snippets of advertising copy into their conversation, short messages from their sponsors. They were constantly stating preferences for particular brands, dishing out free samples. Perhaps nothing had changed. We'd always shared new music with one another or recommended places to eat. But now there was something different. A tone? It was hard to say. read the whole story here: http://tinyurl.com/3lwfen let me know what you think of the ending... .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Publicizing Philly Schools
That's right. The invisible hand has not been a magic wand, if by that one expects that every for-profit or nonprofit school manager is going to outperform every government school manager. In general, the idea behind markets is they throw a lot of mud at the wall; the good stuff sticks, the bad slides off. The School District's new CEO, Dr. Diane Ackerman, seems to be moving forcefully toward Act 2, where the bad slides off. The School District has deals with six different outside managers, each handling multiple schools. Back in the neighborhood, all the partnership schools that serve University City belong to the University of Pennsylvania partnership. Those are Lea and Wilson. Penn was the only partner that won three-year contract extensions for all its schools. Although administratively it is part of the Penn partnership, Penn Alexander has a separate contract, one that runs for five years, I believe. -- Tony West Privatizing them doesn't seem to work. Outside managers are no better than the public system, despite costing more. At least according to this article: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20556464.html Why oh why does the magical invisible hand keep failing us like this!? Andrew You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] Wireless Philadelphia Community Forum Recap
Hi there, I attended the Wireless Philadelphia Community Forum hosted here at Temple last night. It was really interesting, and I think that the fresh start the new owners are promising could potentially translate into exciting opportunities for Philadelphia's new media industry as well as non-profit and community organizations. For those of you who are interested, below is my recap. *The Wireless Philadelphia Network was purchased by a group headed by Derek Pew (former CEO of Wireless Philadelphia), former mayoral candidate Tom Knox, and a group of local investors, including Mark Rupp, who represented the new owners at last night's forum. The group paid Earthlink an undisclosed sum for the entire network, certainly less than the $20 million that Earthlink is said to have invested in it. * The new owners plan to provide free outdoors Internet access across the city. They plan to make money by selling high-quality indoor connectivity to local businesses, and through advertising. They plan to improve the service of the existing network. For example, when Earthlink built the network they were concerned with optimizing its service, which meant that there would be a really strong signal in the center of Rittenhouse Square, but a really weak signal on the edges of the Square to avoid accidentally providing high-quality free service to the apartment buildings surrounding the square. Unfortunately, this high level of concern with optimization meant that the outdoor network was also less reliable. The new owners say that they are less concerned about these few pockets of freeloading users. * The new owners say that they are going to build the free network, make it available outdoors, and anyone who wants to use it for anything is welcome to do so. Although the new owners envision outdoor, casual laptop use as the core of the free network traffic, they acknowledge that the service could also be used by WiFi-enabled handheld devices. I spoke to both Mark Rupp and Greg Goldman (the CEO of Wireless Philadelphia) about the potential importance of Philadelphia's local new media industry getting involved with the network as a source of new wireless content products and services. I don't think that either organization has thought about this. PANMA may host an event with the new owners and the Wireless Philadelphia crew to explore some of the possibilities. * There is an undefined partnership between the new owners and the Wireless Philadelphia non-profit organization. The Wireless Philadelphia folk will no doubt be in charge of the digital inclusion and community access. My guess is that this might mean extending free service to community centers and fundraising for donations to provide hardware to low-income groups. It seemed to me that some of the community organizations who attended the forum saw the free network as potentially providing something like community access cable, which raises a lot of interesting possibilities. sj Susan Jacobson, PhD Department of Journalism Temple University [EMAIL PROTECTED] You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] Please join us for the SATURDAY, JUNE 21 Community Cleanup!!!
UNIVERSITY CITY COMMUNITY CLEANUP | SATURDAY, JUNE 21 Neighbors, block captains and community groups - please organize your block for the upcoming citywide clean up! As always, University City District (UCD) will assist University City blocks, block captains and neighbors by providing trash bags, work gloves, and trash litter pick up. For more information or to sign up for the June 21 University City Cleanup, please contact Dexter Bryant at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 215-243-0555 x236. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
