The concept design for the Philadelphia Sports Zone planned for Upper Holmesburg. Image courtesy of Philadelphia Sports Zone.

Months of talks culminated Friday with an event to debut plans for the Philadelphia Sports Zone.

With entertainment from the Masquerade Band, architects of the proposed facility, Craig Schmitt and Scott Nixon, of Ewing Cole, unveiled the plans.

The proposed sports complex for youth teams was brought about by Father Judge High School soccer coaches Jose Ibarra , John Dunlop and Tony Parson, as well as Maggie Fulmer, a Northeast native and graduate of St. Hubert’s.

Fulmer said the idea has been a few years in the making. “Jose and I sat down and figured out what we wanted to do for the Northeast,” she said. “We talked about different facilities we could bring in and what we needed. We did a lot of research – a few years of research. We brought people together, and here we are.” continue reading »

Matt Morgan 12, plays at Reale's on Frankford Avenue once a month.

Check out the video below of some talented Northeast musicians who spend their weekends playing in local bars and get publicity from the entertainment magazine Out on the Town. continue reading »

This is part of ongoing coverage in “District 172: The Politics of Change after State Rep. John Perzel,” a collaborative effort with Philadelphia Neighborhoodsfunded by J-Lab.

In partnership with Philadelphia Neighborhoods as part of an Enterprise Reporting Fund grant from J-Lab: The Institute of Interactive Journalism, our reporters will take an in-depth look at the development and revitalization efforts in the district, specifically along the Frankford Avenue corridor in Mayfair, where Perzel concentrated his resources. continue reading »

Courtesy of GoPhila.

The fun, popular “With love, Philadelphia” billboards you see around the city are taking it to a personal level. Visit Philly is holding a contest allowing residents to submit ideas. The winning billboard will get a prime spot along I-95.

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Hey folks, we’re doing some site maintenance between now and the New Year. Coverage might be spotty, and some things might look out of whack, but rest assured, we’re still here to bring you news and take your tips, comments and questions.

Hopefully, we’ll have a refined-looking and more navigable site for you come 2011.

The video below highlights programs offered by JCC Klein in Bustleton that help the Northeast’s Russian-speaking population adjust to living in Philadelphia. continue reading »

It’s been quite some time since Fishtown was mistaken for being part of the Northeast.

But the Town of Fish is back, thanks to Flying Kite, a new weekly online magazine aimed at covering what’s cool in Philadelphia.

Flying Kite has a Neighborhoods sidebar, similar to NEast Philly’s, where readers can click neighborhood links and get the local news. Since Flying Kite is a citywide publication, neighborhoods are broken down by region.

Look closely at the Northeast. The two neighborhoods underneath are Northeast and Fishtown.

Whaaaaa…? continue reading »

Image courtesy of BookDaddy.

Matthew Smalaraz has an impressive educational background: degrees from La Salle University, an adjunct faculty position at Holy Family and a doctoral dissertation in the works at the University of Rochester — the latter struck our attention recently.

Smalarz’s dissertation, titled, The ‘Suburban’ Paradise in the City: Race, Class, and Culture in the Making of Northeast Philadelphia, focuses on the development of our fair region. We’ll follow along with the study, which is expected to extend over the next two to three years, bringing you chapter updates and thoughts from Smalarz on the research. Find his first update below:

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I think a lot about how drastic the difference seems to be between people from the Northeast and those from New Jersey in how they identify themselves.

Obviously, a lot of this has to do with the sheer difference in size between Philadelphia and most towns in New Jersey. People from the Northeast often distinguish themselves based on neighborhoods (or parishes, especially those who live in areas that are prominently Catholic; however, that is another column for another time), a point that can easily be proven by looking at the sidebar of this website. continue reading »

Philly.com is the home of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News — the city’s only two “city-wide” papers.

Neither paper knows where Tacony is. Last we checked, Tacony is part of Philadelphia, and shouldn’t be something our papers of record confuse with other neighborhoods.

But over the weekend, Tacony was called Port Richmond and Frankford by the Inquirer and Daily News, respectively. continue reading »