Around the weeklies

The Philadelphia Weekly had four stories that caught my eye:

1. A Gwen Shaffer piece, the cover story, on the need for city planning (and neighborhood input) in the current rush to new construction. It notes the tangle of bureaucratic mess that even simple ideas must pass through, gives some history of the city and its attempts at regulating development, and spells out the need for overhaul of the zoning code so that people don't have to react to proposals one at a time. A thorough and educational piece.
   
   
2. An organic farm in West Philly is bringing together sustainable agriculture and improved access to fresh produce in urban areas.
   
   
3. A foundation in North Philly (different from the one mentioned yesterday) is helping highschool dropouts and other at-risk teens avoid violence and find a new way in the world.
   
   
4. Some South Philadelphians stand up to say that Joe Vento doesn't speak for them in making immigrants and visitors feel unwelcome in the city.

Meanwhile, over at the CityPaper, three stories of note:

1. Their cover story looks at the remarkable decision of NPR station WXPN to host the vestigial remnant of popular but defunct alternative station Y100 (going online on August 1, I believe).
   
   
2. The polnote looks at Tom Knox's mayoral campaign and what it's up to and thinking about in these early days.
   
   
3. An editorial takes exception to Mayor Street's attitude toward violence, pointing out that even Center City doesn't exist in a vacuum, and that no part of the city can be healthy when residents of (or travelers through) other parts are fearing for their lives...