A lack of family apartments | Morning Newsletter
Honoring the memory of Philly’s ‘Rosa Parks’
The Morning Newsletter
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We’re in for a mostly sunny Monday, with a high near 60 and a light breeze. Tonight’s Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park will be decidedly chillier than the past three games in Phoenix.
The recent flood of new apartments in Philadelphia largely consists of studio and one-bedroom units. Our lead story dives into the lack of family-size units in the city’s housing stock.
— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Apartment buildings have become an increasingly important part of the city’s available housing. But the larger kind that could support a family are hard to find.
What constitutes a family unit: Generally, a multi-bedroom unit that is not being marketed to roommates. An apartment building near Temple or Drexel with four bedrooms, each with a bathroom, is being targeted to students, not families.
Why apartments dominate the market: Zoning and building codes play a role, as well as the kinds of projects developers can get financed. It’s also related to a dominant narrative about American life: The city is for young people, who move to the suburbs when they grow older.
What some developers are saying: The market may be shifting, as some urban dwellers look to stay in the city longer, and spiking interest rates make buying homes less appealing.
Not just a Philly thing: Around the country, most new multifamily buildings are dominated by studios and one-bedroom apartments.
Continue reading about the challenges in bringing more family apartments to the city.
In March 1876, Caroline LeCount confronted a trolley driver and personally enforced the integration of the city’s public transportation.
LeCount, a noted educator and civil rights activist in her own right, did this almost a century before Rosa Parks’ refusal to yield her seat touched off the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott and the modern civil rights movement.
Her story has faded into obscurity. However, a small group gathered in Collingdale on Saturday to honor her memory and dedicate a tombstone finally marking her grave in the Historic Eden Cemetery.
Notable history: LeCount was the fiancée of civil rights activist Octavius V. Catto. On Election Day in 1871, Catto was fatally shot near his home on Philadelphia’s South Street after he found himself facing a white mob that had initiated a riot to suppress the African American vote.
Continue reading about LeCount’s contributions and the efforts to rename a street after her.
What you should know today
A potential data breach in the City of Philadelphia’s email system earlier this year may have exposed protected health information for an unspecified number of people. It’s unclear how the breach occurred, why officials waited months to make a public statement, or whether the breach disrupted city services.
Police have arrested a 30-year-old Philadelphia man who they believe raped two women at gunpoint earlier this month in the city’s Kingsessing section.
The union representing correctional officers at Delaware County’s jail has signed a temporary labor agreement with the county after operating for 17 months without one. Still, the union’s leadership said that morale remains low as negotiations continue to ratify a full contract before the end of the year.
More than a month after their last contract expired and over two months after a strike authorization vote, the union musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra finally approved a new contract Saturday night.
A former Philadelphia police officer was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty Friday to sexually assaulting vulnerable women and girls — often in the back of his police vehicle and while in uniform.
Cherelle Parker and David Oh attended an interview with The Inquirer’s Editorial Board. The two Philadelphia mayoral candidates discussed the 76ers’ arena proposal, public safety, and wage tax among other key policy issues.
Customers turned out in force Sunday to bid farewell to the Gateway Diner in Westville, which has served its last meals before closing to make way through eminent domain for a bridge construction project.
🧠 Trivia time
The Phillies’ unofficial anthem, English singer Calum Scott’s cover of “Dancing On My Own,” hit 1 billion streams on Spotify, thanks in part to hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians blasting it.
Which Swedish singer wrote and released the original song?
A) Tove Lo
B) Lykke Li
C) Robyn
D) Zara Larsson
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🎧 Listening to: The earworm that is Bryson Stott’s walk-up song.
🏢 In awe of: A Philly artist’s huge, miniature version of the world’s tallest building.
🍺 Trying: Some of the newest brews around Philly.
🧩 Anagram
Hint: I’ll be looking at the moon, but I’ll be seeing you
BYE IDAHO LILLI
We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Email us if you know the answer. Cheers to Mary Anna Rodabaugh, who correctly guessed Sunday’s answer: Citizens Bank Park.
Photo of the day
☕ That should get you started for the week. Thanks for starting your morning with The Inquirer.