In The News

Jose Garces' Distrito named one of the best Mexican spots in U.S.

Travel & Leisure Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Travel & Leisure names Jose Garces' Distrito, the West Philly taco-and-margarita mecca, one of the best Mexican restaurants in the country.

Television celebrity chefs and quality Mexican food aren’t necessarily a match made en el cielo, but in the case of Food Network’s Chicago-born Ecuadorian Iron Chef Jose Garces’ Distrito, the connection pays off. The somewhat gaudy, pink, loud, huge restaurant is dedicated to the cuisine of Mexico City and serves nachos, ceviches,huaraches, tamales, enchiladas, and moles that Philadelphians recognize as not necessarily authentic, but some of the most satisfying versions on the East Coast regardless.

Original source: Travel & Leisure
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Inga Saffron chides lack of retail at Soko Lofts

Philadelphia Inquirer Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Inquirer's architecture critic Inga Saffron has a powerful reaction to the lack of retail at the upcoming Soko Lofts project in South Kensington.

For all its effort to replicate the Piazza's first-rate urbanism, Soko Lofts misses the crucial lesson of that project. The Piazza packed its ground floor with shops, galleries, and eateries, especially along its primary frontage on Second Street. Though not all have succeeded, their presence tied the Piazza into the neighborhood. They made what was just another behemoth residential development into a real urban place

At Soko, the buildings - bounded by Second, Thompson, Master, and American Streets - would be punctuated by a few token retail spaces. The rest would be long stretches of dullness. And American Street, which should be Soko's front door, would be the dullest.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Groundbreaking Chestnut Hill house to be featured in PBS doc

Newsworks Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The Vanna Venturi House in Chestnut Hill will be featured in the upcoming PBS documentary "Ten Buildings That Changed America." Newsworks chatted with the current resident.

"I've asked myself, 'Why is the light so wonderful?'," said Agatha Hughes, the current resident of the Vanna Venturi House, aka Mother House. "I think it's because it comes from so many places. Up above you and down below -- it has so many angles and planes to play off of."

Hughes has been living here for four years, having inherited the house from her parents who resided in the house for 40 years. The house is a jangle of odd angles, curved planes, and windows layered against shortened walls.

Original source: Newsworks
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'Saturday Night Live' ribs Philly Traffic Mimes

Saturday Night Live Tuesday, April 09, 2013

On this week's Saturday Night Live, Weekend Update anchor Scott Meyers mentioned the Philly Streets Department's recent April Fools joke -- they enlisted mimes and clowns to direct traffic. Check out the joke here, and then stay tuned for the awesome Peter Dinklage cameo.

Original source: Saturday Night Live

New York Times takes on 'Being White in Philly"

The New York Times Tuesday, April 02, 2013

The New York Times covered the controversy surrounding Philadelphia Magazine's recent cover story, "Being White in Philly."

Controversy clearly can be good for business. The magazine, whose circulation has declined nearly 10 percent in the last five years, according to the Alliance for Audited Media, had a minor boom in sales from the issue. Tom McGrath, the editor, said the article generated 1.4 million page views, a milestone for the site. The article has over 6,000 comments online, and Mr. McGrath said several vendors told the magazine that they sold out of the issue and wanted more copies.

But the issue’s notoriety may have a downside. The Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Karen Heller criticized the article’s author, Robert Huber, for providing anonymity to all of his interview subjects and painting a portrait of a city devoid of any voices other than white residents.

Original source: The New York Times
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Local notable Buzz Bissinger generates national, er, buzz with a piece on his strange addiction

GQ Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Local resident and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger (writer of Friday Night Lights and Prayer for the City) sparked national headscratching with a confessional essay in GQ detailing his intense shopping addiction. Prepare to be amazed/confused/enthralled/disturbed.

The approximate amount I spent on the four-day trip is $51,000. That is equivalent to roughly a full year's tuition at my son's college, Kenyon. I think about that. The self-indulgence is obvious. But it is my money, and I have paid his tuition for four years so he will not be saddled with any loans when he graduates this spring. None of which is really the point, anyway:

I can't resist for the very reason I can't resist.

Original source: GQ
Read the complete story here.

The New York Times analyzes school closings in Philly

The New York Times Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The School District recently decided to shutter 23 Philadelphia schools. It's a heartbreaking decision, and the New York Times spent some time parsing the reasoning and the reactions.

Around the country, districts including Chicago, Newark and Washington have been echoing that rationale, with officials citing budget gaps as they draw up lists of schools to close at the end of the school year. District officials also say they need to close underperforming schools so that students can move to schools where they have a better chance of succeeding.

But critics say that while the spreadsheets or test scores might say one thing, even lower-performing, underused schools can serve as refuges in communities that have little else.

"The school is one of the foundations of the community," said Rosemarie Hatcher, president of the Philadelphia Home and School Council, which represents local home and school associations. "It’s like a village. The schools know our kids and they look out for our kids."

Original source: The New York Times
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Peter Serpico and Bon Appetit stir up controversy in interview

Zagat Tuesday, February 26, 2013

A Bon Appetit interview conducted in conjunction with a collab dinner between Philly transplant Peter Serpico and Chris Painter managed to ruffle some feathers. Local blogs and Twitter hummed with complaints about Serpico's characterization of his new city -- he is preparing to open a restaurant on South Street with Stephen Starr. Zagat tackled the controversy, which involved comments about Philadelphians' knowledge of Asian cuisine and the city's dining landscape.

"In Philly, there are those huge, big-box restaurants," one question began. Um, what big-box restaurants? We don't even have a Cheesecake Factory yet (though one is planned). The writer later clarified on Twitter he was referring to Stephen Starr restaurants. He also noted in his article that he'd never eaten in Philadelphia - or even visited Philadelphia - until the one-night collaboration dinner Serpico put on recently at Il Pittore (which happens to be a decidedly non-big-box Starr restaurant, one designed around a chef with seating for just 80).

Original source: Zagat.com
Read the original story here.

The Atlantic Cities documents Philly crime maps

The Atlantic Cities Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The Atlantic Cities shines a light on developers outside of City Hall mapping Philly's crime data in illuminating ways. Philadelphia’s chief data officer Mark Headd applauds the efforts.

All of these tools have taught the city, Headd says, that municipal data is most valuable when people can parse it down to the level of their own communities. “In a city like Philadelphia, the story on crime can be starkly different neighborhood to neighborhood,” Headd says. “People want to be able to ask their own questions, or present their own take on this data.”

Original source: The Atlantic Cities

Read the full story here.

Grub Street New York's best pizza list has Philly flavor

Grub Street NY Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Grub Street's comprehensive list of the best American pizza pies includes a bunch of Philly favorites, including Osteria, Stella and Garces Trading Company. What, no Tacconelli's?!

Why hasn't anyone in Chicago reinvented deep dish the way Jose Garces has? Admittedly, Garces is a Chicago native and this dish is billed as a tribute to his hometown, but maybe it took the distance to Philadelphia to allow him to rethink deep dish from the outside (a thin, delicate crust made with duck fat) to inside (oven-roasted San Marzano tomato confit, a mix of fresh mozzarella and Gruyère, and toppings ranging from boquerones to chorizo).

Original source: Grub Street New York
Read the full list here.

ABC News praises developments at the Navy Yard

ABC News Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The Navy Yard earns some national attention from ABC News for its exciting work fostering business, entrepreneurship and green technology.

"There was a lot of uncertainty early on," said John Grady, president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. "People weren't sure what we were going to do to replace this engine of activity that was there."

Last week, The Navy Yard marked its 10,000-employee milestone and unveiled an update to its 2004 master plan that is forecasting 1,000 apartments, more parks and open space, more new construction and continued adaptive reuse of Navy-era industrial buildings.

Original source: ABC News
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Curbed Philly is hiring a new editor

Curbed Philly Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Local chapter of the national real estate and development blog Curbed is looking for a new editor. Liz Spikol has held the position since the site's inception.

The times, they are a-changin -- and so is the masthead here at Curbed Philly. Founding editor Liz Spikol is making moves and shifting gears, which means we need a new captain to helm this mighty ship. We're looking for a new editor to keep Philly apprised of all the good neighborhood news and real estate gossip on a daily basis. While you don't need to be a real estate expert, it helps to be completely fixated on architecture, city planning, and all the only-in-Philly weirdness that makes this place so great. Think you're up to the task?

Original source: Curbed Philly
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Oscar Road Trip stops off in Philadelphia

Oscar Road Trip Tuesday, February 05, 2013

An Oscar statue's three-week pre-awards tour will make a stop in the City of Brotherly Love on February 6. Locals have extra reason to be excited for the big show this year, with Philly-centric Silver Linings Playbook garnering multiple Academy Award nods.

Follow @OscarRoadTrip on Twitter and tweet using #OscarRoadTrip to let us know where you’d like to see us bring Oscar. Or, if you’re old school, you can also shoot us an email to let us know where we should go next.

Original source: Oscar Road Trip
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PlanPhilly launches new website

PlanPhilly Tuesday, January 15, 2013

PlanPhilly has launched a new website. They hope the fresh, innovative platform will help them better connect to the city's community of planners, designers, developers and residents.

"PlanPhilly gave us a chance to explore the relationships between organizations, issues, projects and people in a way that hasn't been done before," said Tom Boutell, lead developer, P'unk Avenue (punkave.com). "We also enjoyed pursuing responsive design, delivering a great experience across phones, tablets and desktops. Rich content is what we're all about, and finding the right way to showcase the depth and breadth of PlanPhilly's content challenged us in new and intriguing ways. We're also excited about the site's community-powered features, like professional profiles and the ability to submit new organizations for inclusion in the directory."

Original source: PlanPhilly
To visit their new site, click here.

The Atlantic Cities compiles the year's best #cityreads

The Atlantic Cities Tuesday, January 08, 2013

The Atlantic's urban site puts together a list of the best writing on urban issues from 2012. Topics include transportation, energy and architecture.

It's not just your lousy memory: the end of 2012 was much busier than the beginning. Just since July, we've seen a U.S. presidential election, a once-in-four-centuries hurricane, four horrific mass shootings, riots and warfare across the Middle East. Our #Cityreads of the year follow the news cycle -- into a high-rise housing project after Sandy and the Republican party's relationship with cities -- but they also veer off course, into the weirder corners of rail construction, charter cities, and more.

Original source: The Atlantic Cities

Read the full list here.

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