Following revelations today from PlanPhilly’s Patrick Kerkstra that L&I’s highly effective anti-blight task force had essentially been reduced to a skeleton crew, foul-mouthed neighborhood rabblerouser and Philadelinquency proprietor Chris Sawyer organized an online petition demanding Council set a legal minimum…

District Attorney Seth Williams announced today that a grand jury has elected not to bring criminal charges against members of the Lichtenstein family of Brooklyn, owners of a decrepit Kensington warehouse that caught fire on April 9, 2012, and led…

In a cruel reflection of the blighted land it set out to address, last night’s meeting about the long-vacant properties on the 5000 and 5100 blocks of Baltimore Ave. quickly devolved into a mess of confusion and conflicting interests. Organized by Cedar…

Neal Santos Robert is homeless, but he says he’s proud to live outside the city’s shelter system. James had ridden a bus for 30 hours, traveling to Philadelphia to find his long-lost brother. He’d come to ask for money and…

Mark Stehle NO-BRAINER: Vanessa Jerolmack thought her plan to open a taco stand on her commercially zoned lot would be easy. Instead, it turned into an eight-month battle. The battle to simplify the city’s zoning code can seem like a…

Recently, Houston’s city council elected to end a long-standing municipal regulation that barred the sale of alcohol within 300 feet of churches, public schools and hospitals. The prohibition had made it nearly impossible to sell alcohol in certain neighborhoods and the repeal’s supporters argued…

The man who arguably was the best criminal defense attorney of his time in Philadelphia has been alternately described by legal observers as “brilliant,” “pugnacious,” “shrewd,” “generous” and, most accurately, “mercurial.” The best descriptor probably changed depending on which side…

Wikipedia West Philadelphia High School More than 12 months after recieving a bid, the much awaited sale of the vacant 250,000-square-foot West Philadelphia High School still has not been completed, according to the Philadelphia School District and New York-based development…

Neal Santos BOARDED UP: These four blighted properties on the 5000 block of Baltimore Avenue have remained vacant. Neal Santos Keith Brown The corner of 51st Street and Baltimore Avenue is a confusingly troubled intersection. It could act as a…