121 articles
On the night the Eagles won the Super Bowl, my three-month-old wore an Eagles onesie to a neighbor's party. Half the block showed up. Most of them ended up holding him before the night was over.
The Office That Tripled · Part 1 of 8
The Philadelphia School District's central office has nearly tripled in eleven years. The 2026-27 cuts barely dent it.
Six months after Judge Patrick's order, Philly's sheriff office has filed no numbers, no master, no follow-up press.
Philadelphia Code § 9-813 makes rental price coordination a code violation. $2,000-per-violation penalties, private right of action. Passed in 2024.
After You Call: A Deep Dive on Philly 311 · Part 9
The eight articles above make the case. This one makes the ask — five policy moves, each anchored in a number the city itself generated.
My son builds towers and knocks them down, builds them and knocks them down. I've been thinking about what that means and why Kipling was right about triumph and disaster.
After You Call: A Deep Dive on Philly 311 · Part 8
In lower-income Philly zips, 28% of closed 311 tickets ended with real action; in higher-income zips, 50%. The 22-point gap is what 'closed' means.
Philadelphia School District settled for $650,000 over the 2021 selective-school admissions overhaul. No wrongdoing admitted; deeper questions still open.
This Sunday at 830am, we set out to finish up the job we started last week. Today, we visited 16 potential abandoned cars spread over 3.5 miles, and found 14 were already gone!
After You Call: A Deep Dive on Philly 311 · Part 7
A small number of Philadelphia addresses generate a disproportionate share of 311 complaints — sometimes the same complaint, year after year.
A citywide map of Philadelphia single-family properties with no Homestead Exemption on file. Each missing exemption is ~$1,400 a year.
Philadelphia's 2027 property reassessment: mean +7.0%, median +4.2%. ZIP medians ranged -2.7% (Fishtown) to +11.5% (Kensington); worst tract +44.4%.
Some places in Philly — the kind that grow on you over time rather than the tourist spots.
On a spur of the moment decision, my family and I decided to do our part to help identify abandoned cars in the open 311 tickets. A story of 3 miles, 90 minutes a 19 month old, and 15 abandoned cars
After You Call: A Deep Dive on Philly 311 · Part 6
Income tier predicts only 19% of Philadelphia 311 wait times. The other 81% is zip-by-zip — Fairhill outpaces higher-tier zips; Elmwood waits 17.9 days.
My car was broken into twice in Fairmount. Both times the window got smashed. Then this summer — nothing. The 9th District weekly report explains why.
How long does Philadelphia 311 take in your neighborhood? Use this interactive tool to explore 311 wait times by ward, ZIP, department, and issue type.
After You Call: A Deep Dive on Philly 311 · Part 5
7 of Philadelphia 311's 27 published SLAs are met less than half the time. Two are 1-Business-Day safety promises. The published numbers are fiction.
Philadelphia spent $120M on the 250th anniversary of American independence — $15.5M on a single concert. What that money could have funded instead.
After You Call: A Deep Dive on Philly 311 · Part 4
23,229 of 75,929 open Philadelphia 311 tickets haven't been updated in 365+ days. 88.1% untouched in 30+ days. The system stopped.