Philadelphia Metropolis

baltimore: Philadelphia Metropolis

E Pluribus Unum? Nah.

The dispute known in the media as The Mosque at Ground Zero bubbled up while I was on vacation and, coincidentally, reading a book about the religious wars of an earlier era in American history. It was an odd experience:... (Comments)

The 13th District

Crime is down in Philadelphia, but rising in many inner-ring suburbs. In Upper Darby Township, veteran policeman Michael Chitwood is working to stem the tide of crime seeping from the city. Mike Mallowe profiles Chitwood and his efforts in this two-part special report. (Comments)

Greening Philadelphia Tree by Tree

By Morgan Zalot William Penn's vision of a "Greene Country Towne" faded to black and grey long ago. Viewed from above, Philadelphia today has huge swaths of hot spots - where asphalt and concrete predominate and the color green is... (Comments)

City Blocks: Two Frankford Avenue Artists

Profiles of two artists, both graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design, who have a hand in the ongoing transformation of Kensington. (Comments)

Waterfront Dreams

By Jacob Lambert On a recent sunny weekday, I came up with a novel idea: I'd take my son to Penn's Landing.  He's 14 months old, and the thought of what he'd see there for the first time--boats, gulls, the... (Comments)

Recent Entries

  • Why I Am 'Going Bamboo': I'm not sure which aspect of corporate America can be credited as the straw that broke the camel's back and made me decide to "go bamboo." Maybe it was the chorus of co-workers wishing me things like "Happy Friday" or chirping "Somebody could use another cup of coffee!" Maybe it was time I spent studying the walls of my cubical, attempting to conjure up ideas of how any postcard or picture could camouflage the plastic box I worked in. Most likely, however, it was the unenthusiastic chatter of my fellow 20-somethings every morning on the R5. IPod in ears, the front page of The Metro shielding their faces, they are daily ushered from the suburbs like unwilling passengers on the River Styx.
  • Return to Eden: September is rolling in and stores across the nation are...
  • New Look, New Logo: Regular Metropolis readers will notice a different look to the...
  • The New Home Schooling: Like many Pennsylvania children, eight-year-old Venus Kennedy has just begun third grade, but not in a new and unfamiliar classroom. She is doing all of her schooling from the comfort of her family home near Temple University. Kennedy is among the thousands of youngsters in the Philadelphia region for whom the start of school this year means pulling up a chair in their living room, dining room or bedroom and logging on to a computer. They are attending virtual schools - a fast-growing trend in K-12 education, enrolling about 175,000 students nationwide and estimated 23,000 in Pennsylvania.
  • Finding the Right Cyber Charter: In the new world of public education - where choices abound - parents have to do their homework before picking a school for their child. That's doubly true for cyber charters, which promise a lot but sometimes don't deliver the goods when it comes to quality education. In this installment of The New Home Schooling, reporter Connie Langland offers tips and a list of sources on how to find the cyber charter that best fits your child's needs...
  • A Cyber Future for Education: The John Paul II High School in suburban Montgomery County has all the bells and whistles of a brand-new school--including two cyber learning labs. Advanced Placement courses, once the bragging right of the highest functioning, best funded schools in the region, are becoming commonplace - thanks to the Internet. Students who once were on the verge of dropping out in the Octorara Area School District in Chester County are now making up lost ground - taking so-called credit recovery courses using school computers.
  • Do You Speak Construction?: I'm sitting in my house cringing, as two guys are...
  • Say It Ain't So, Sam: It's been the worst-kept political secret in Philadelphia and now...
  • From Dawn to Dusk: I usually sleep until 7 a.m., but these days I...
  • Confessions of a Techno Dolt: As a mom of three teens, I've relied upon them...
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