The Philadelphia Citizen

Whose Mail-In Ballots Are Not Showing Up?

Nick Jain — 2026-10-16T09:55:35Z

The Pennsylvania Treasury has a slightly wrong address on file for me (it thinks I live in apartment 307 of my single family rowhome) — and that’s OK because my friendly neighborhood mailman Joel still manages to get the PA tax bill to me. However, similar small discrepancies are often fatal to mail-in voting ballots, … Continue reading Whose Mail-In Ballots Are Not Showing Up?

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How to Really Run a City: Governing Like a Startup

J.P. Romney — 2026-10-16T09:45:08Z

Matt Mahan, the wildly popular mayor of San Jose, California, was recently reelected with a whopping 87 percent of the vote. How do you get to what Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt jokingly called (echoing The Daily Show host Jon Stewart) “Vladimir Putin numbers?” As Mahan laid out on the latest episode of our podcast hosted … Continue reading How to Really Run a City: Governing Like a Startup

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Things to Do This Week For America’s 250th

Christina Griffith — 2026-10-15T10:15:13Z

This year, the United States of America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding. The American Revolutionary War was fought between April 1775 and September 1783, though the war for independence wasn’t “formalized” until the next year, when the Second Continental Congress, right here in Philadelphia, passed the Lee Resolution for Independence on July 2, … Continue reading Things to Do This Week For America’s 250th

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Ideas We Should Steal: More Students Attending School

Denisa R. Superville — 2026-10-15T10:00:26Z

When Compton principal Susana Miranda sits at her computer every morning, she knows immediately who’s in school, who’s chronically absent, who risks falling into that category, and the number of days those students need to attend consistently to get out of that danger zone. That data dashboard, which the Compton Unified School District in Compton, … Continue reading Ideas We Should Steal: More Students Attending School

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Guest Commentary: Is this Shapiro’s Chance to Be a National Unifier?

Joshua C. Robertson — 2026-10-15T09:55:44Z

Finally, there’s a chance for national unity in this time of division. On October 1, the Trump administration issued the final rules for the new federal tax credit scholarship program. The President and Congress created this program last year to empower families in all 50 states to choose the education that’s best for their kids. … Continue reading Guest Commentary: Is this Shapiro’s Chance to Be a National Unifier?

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Reviving Market East by Repurposing Art Supplies

Courtney DuChene — 2026-10-14T22:50:05Z

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Guest Commentary: Growing Philadelphia’s Civic Talent Begins in the Classroom

Darryl Bundrige — 2026-10-14T10:00:10Z

Philadelphia’s students have settled into their classrooms, and alongside them is a new cohort of AmeriCorps members, serving as City Year student success coaches, embarking on their year of service. Before stepping into schools, these young adults completed City Year’s Service Learning Institute (SLI), the two-week training in early August that serves as the introduction … Continue reading Guest Commentary: Growing Philadelphia’s Civic Talent Begins in the Classroom

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The Citizen Recommends: Protecting Our Neighbors on Election Day

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy — 2026-10-14T09:55:39Z

What would you do if you saw ICE agents stopping voters on their way to the polls? Or if increased federal agent activity were keeping your neighbors home on Election Day? Or if FBI Director Kash Patel followed through on his threat to send agents to polling stations? These — and other scenarios — are … Continue reading The Citizen Recommends: Protecting Our Neighbors on Election Day

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Ideas We Should Steal: Plug-In Solar

Courtney DuChene — 2026-10-14T09:45:52Z

Philadelphians are feeling the pinch of rising power bills. Last year, PECO raised its rates, and power bills increased by about 10 percent for Philadelphia households. Combine that with water and gas rate hikes, and the average city household paid $30 more per month last year. Pennsylvania is one of 26 states where electricity rates … Continue reading Ideas We Should Steal: Plug-In Solar

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RFK Jr., AI and “Medical Experts”

Paul Offit — 2026-10-13T10:00:47Z

On September 29, 2026, at a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) conference, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will free Americans from having to “trust the experts.” “Every American will be able to check their own medical advice” and avoid the “medical tyranny” of public health officials who had misled us during … Continue reading RFK Jr., AI and “Medical Experts”

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Laundromat Phones, Horse Welfare, No Spitting

Nick Jain — 2026-10-13T10:00:26Z

Back in May, I had the urge to read something totally interesting, but then I thought: Why not read something utterly boring instead? And that thought started my three-month obsession reading the Philadelphia Code, the 2,000-page document containing all of Philly’s laws. Listen to the audio edition here: Being a tech-forward kinda … Continue reading Laundromat Phones, Horse Welfare, No Spitting

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Guest Commentary: The Preservation Tax

Jonathan Hessney — 2026-10-13T10:00:24Z

Mayor Cherelle Parker says that after public safety, nothing is more pressing for Philadelphia than access to housing. Yet the City’s Historical Commission keeps trying to make more housing unaffordable. On October 7, Court of Common Pleas Judge Christopher Hall ruled for a second time that the Commission’s designation of Washington Square West as a … Continue reading Guest Commentary: The Preservation Tax

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Guest Commentary: Building Civic Life One Saturday at a Time

Vince Stango — 2026-10-12T16:20:10Z

At our 40th Firstival earlier this month, Eastern State Penitentiary gave us one more “first” to celebrate. We were there to mark the history and legacy of America’s first penitentiary. Historic Philadelphia Inc. President and CEO Amy Needle and I also wanted to recognize three people who have attended every single Firstival since January and … Continue reading Guest Commentary: Building Civic Life One Saturday at a Time

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Fun Things to Do in Philly this Week and Weekend

Christina Griffith — 2026-10-12T11:30:46Z

Festival season is in full swing in Philly, and it’s bringing things to do both spooky and wholesome. Philly Music Fest is ongoing all week. At Reading Terminal there’s the Apple and Scrapple Festival, Manayunk hosts its Fall Fest, East Falls hosts its own Festival as well, and the Museum of the American Revolution hosts … Continue reading Fun Things to Do in Philly this Week and Weekend

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The Citizen Recommends: A Truly Epic Philadelphia Film Festival

Carrie Rickey — 2026-10-12T10:00:12Z

The world’s first film festival took place in Venice, Italy in 1932, brainchild of Giuseppe Volti, Minister of Finance for Italian leader Benito Mussolini. Before long the event was politicized to celebrate films from Fascist Italy and Germany. Listen to the audio edition here: In response, France announced plans to host a … Continue reading The Citizen Recommends: A Truly Epic Philadelphia Film Festival

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