🏘️ The building of Toll Brothers | Morning Newsletter
And Philly schools’ policy on transgender athletes.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Hi, Philly. We’re looking at another warm and sunny day. Maybe Phil was wrong about the final two weeks of his prediction window?
Nearly 60 years after building its first two homes in Elkins Park, the Montgomery County company founded by Bob and Bruce Toll has become nationally known in luxury housing. Today’s top story is about how Toll Brothers built its brand from its Philly-area roots up.
And the Philadelphia School District will continue to allow transgender athletes to participate in sports that match their gender identity. The move breaks with the state’s interscholastic athletics governing body, which passed a policy that sides with an executive order from President Donald Trump.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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In its six decades, Toll Brothers has become a household name for those seeking luxury homes in the Philadelphia region and beyond.
🏘️ The Fort Washington-based company counts 11,000 new homes completed in the last year alone, with its houses fetching an average price of around $900,000.
🏘️ The company has also built apartments, and was behind a controversial 24-story condominium project that brought the demotion of six buildings on Jewelers Row before Toll Brothers killed it during the COVID-19 pandemic.
🏘️ It’s a challenging moment for the real estate industry. Experts predict “muddy waters ahead,” thanks to an overall housing shortage, high borrowing costs, and possible impact from the Trump administration’s actions on tariffs.
In other housing news:
Only 15% of Zillow home listings were affordable for the typical Black household in the Philadelphia area in 2024, versus 54% for the typical white household. That affordability gap in home listings was larger here than in the United States as a whole, according to Zillow.
A lawyer hired to help a Chester County couple close on a home in Downingtown was charged with pocketing nearly $43,000 they gave him to pay outstanding taxes on the home and register the deed.
The Philly school district has indicated it will ignore a new rule from the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association that bans transgender athletes from participating in sports that match their gender identities.
The district’s affirmation comes in defiance of the Trump administration, which earlier this month put forth an executive order that would rescind federal funding for educational institutions that allow transgender girls to compete on girls’ sports teams.
Philly’s stance also continues a progressive policy that has been in place since 2016. Other school districts in the region have not yet commented on the PIAA policy, saying they are still reviewing it.
Education reporters Kristen A. Graham and Maddie Hanna have the details.
What you should know today
A man was in police custody Tuesday after he allegedly crashed a car in Fairmount Park and then attacked motorists who tried to help him and stole one of their cars.
About 30 Port Richmond homes were left without water service Tuesday after a sinkhole opened in the area.
Former Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon, who had been serving his 3½-year sentence for bribery at a federal prison in central Pennsylvania, was released Tuesday to a halfway house.
The Trump administration is readying plans to detain thousands of undocumented immigrants at military sites across the United States, an effort that could eventually touch a sprawling joint base in South Jersey.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano may run again for Pennsylvania governor in 2026, setting up potential rematch with Gov. Josh Shapiro, who won by nearly 15 percentage points in 2022.
A group of state and local elected officials on Tuesday slammed the University of Pennsylvania for its response to Trump’s recent attacks on diversity initiatives, including the school’s removal of DEI websites.
Philadelphia’s Tax Reform Commission is recommending eliminating the city’s business tax and trimming the flat-rate wage tax.
SEPTA will test bulletproof cockpits for its bus drivers. The pilot program is in response to an alarming increase in operator assaults.
🧠 Trivia time
A trial is coming for those accused of stealing more than $200,000 worth of what from a truck parked in Northeast Philadelphia in 2023?
A) Refrigerators
B) Dimes
C) Frozen crab legs
D) Air conditioning units
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
⚾ Learning about: Dick Allen, the Phillies slugger who was also one of baseball’s most misunderstood players.
🎟️ Snagging: Tickets to Wu-Tang Clan’s July show in Philadelphia, the final performance of their final tour.
🍬 Curious about: Freeze-dried candy, the beloved-by-TikTok specialty at South Philly’s new Sugar Crunch Market.
🛤️ Considering: The risk of an East Palestine train disaster happening in Philly next.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Cultural institution based in Fairmount Park
SPECULUM HOUSEMATE
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Tami Amiri, who solved Tuesday’s anagram: Tush Push. The Birds’ winning play is facing an NFL rule change proposal — again. (Hat tip to Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski for this hot take: “Anyone who thinks the NFL should ban the [play] is a whining whiner who whines like a whiny little weenie.”)
Photo of the day
🐶 One last rescued thing: A scared pup got lost at the Eagles parade. Then Philly dog lovers stepped in. Meet Francine, who is now safe in a Fishtown foster home.
Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer. Back at it tomorrow.
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