Property assessments reveal race and class bias | Morning Newsletter

We’re in for clear skies and a sunny day, with a high around 91 and a low tonight near 73.

Also, hi! I’m Taylor Allen, your new Morning Newsletter host. I’ve lived here for most of the last decade. While I’m not from Philadelphia originally, I do very much consider it to be my chosen city. I hope you’ll continue to start your days with The Inquirer, as I update you on All Things Philly, all the time.

Today we look at how, despite years of progress, Philadelphia’s new property assessments are still riddled with inequities.

And we’ll talk about the future of an “utterly spectacular” Pennsylvania bridge.

If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

—Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

The newest round of city property assessments is riddled with inaccuracies that disproportionately affect Black and low-income homeowners, according to an Inquirer analysis.

The assessments do fall within industry standards for accuracy and equity on a citywide level, and that’s a measure of progress.

But we dug deeper, neighborhood by neighborhood, and found a different story.

🏠 The city makes fewer inaccurate assessments in neighborhoods with high proportions of white people.

🏠 The inaccuracies tend to be higher in Black neighborhoods.

🏠 And the city tends to get more wrong in areas with lower median incomes and higher poverty rates.

My colleagues Kasturi Pananjady and Max Marin have more on why and how this happens.

A large pile of gravel blocked the entrance of the historic 20th-century Skinners Fall Bridge on the Wayne County side of the bridge last month.

Residents and advocates along the Delaware River’s Pennsylvania and New York shores want to keep the quaint Skinners Falls Bridge, but PennDot is figuring out if that’s possible. Officials are also considering whether it should be replaced completely with something modern — or closed for good.

My colleague Jason Nark has more from rural Pennsylvania.

Dirty Frank’s annual art show returns for the first time in three years. For decades, the bar has brought together a large community of both established and aspiring artists with its Off the Wall gallery.

When did Dirty Frank’s officially open a gallery?

Find out if you know the answer.

📰 Reading: How a German high school exchange student returned to Philly and opened a restaurant.

👀 Watching: The Pennsylvania governor’s race, as both state Attorney General Josh Shapiro and State. Sen. Doug Mastriano want to lower corporate taxes.

🎵 Listening: To Beyoncé's “Virgo’s Groove” off of her new album, Renaissance.

The Phillies acquired this player for Mickey Moniak:

DRANO HYDRANGEAS

Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shoutout to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shoutout goes to Judy Pidgeon of West Deptford, who correctly guessed Jason Wingard as Tuesday’s answer.

That’s it for today. Happy Wednesday, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow, bright and early. I’m off to obsess over the rest of the Renaissance album.