Pictures from Lancaster

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Manifesto

Manifesto

We intend to courageously find out about the big neighborhood close Drexel.
Living on this Side of Philadelphia, driven primarily by the movement of academics and (more recently) bits and bytes, we’re losing our sense of neighborhood and neighbors. Instead, we’re relying more and more on “virtual” ways to communicate and socialize.

Here at ACTUAL, we nature technology and all, but prefer the real thing. That’s why we like real art, instead of digital, ink filled print- landfill-multiplying ones. It’s why we buy our supplies from local businesses … from real folks who live nearby and care about their neighborhoods like we do. It’s why we build relationships. Why we have local art on the walls. Why we have comfortable safety and free from worrying. Why we want you to have our group meetings here.

That colored rainbow light coming from your screen isn’t exactly love. Those text messages from your friends aren’t hugs and kisses. Your Facebook profile is not your flesh-and-blood self.

While you’re here, take a moment to look around. Close your laptop. Put down your book. Say hello to the person next to you…whether or not you know them. Have a sit-down and grab a meal on your friendly neighborhood.

Take a breath…

Welcome back to the ACTUAL world. We missed you. Overall this Project has created victory. Though had not been easy, Lancaster our friendly neighborhood, Drexel you can do it. Change is on you. Let the Neighborhood Business boom.

A Business Week on Lancaster

This Map highlights a week on Lancaster. It will give an big understand of Business on Lancaster & how these local owners feel about campus expansion

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?authuser=0&vps=2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=201336936823759355400.0004c227eb5fd5a8d578e

Drexel's Expansion: Business on Lancaster

As I went down Lancaster for the 4th time to understand more about Lancaster’s current Business situation
Sat down at Reeds Café on 3802 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104 with James Wright from PEC 
I began asking him just about everything I can think of on my mind, all different aspects to Lancaster are listed below: 


To start a food business
- You must take a class
1. Safe Food Certification
2. Have a Blue Print of (Business Inspectors) will come in see
3. Once Blue Print is all followed and organized before Grand Opening, (Inspectors) must check
Additional requirements are there.

- With all of the businesses spaces on Lancaster, they are all leased/ Rented
- The business owners are in charge of paying all of their utilities, the property owner does not become involved.
- Small portion of business ownership on Lancaster
- 8to12$ per square foot average on tax paying Bars are expensive 25$

The Business Association, Meeting once a month 1-2hours only has only 15 members 
(Business owners think if spend time away from work will lose too much $ vs. how much $ began to make by networking and making friends)
Goal stay is to stay in store& make as much as possible
Result: It doesn’t make sense to sit in shop when it’s slow. (Shut it down go network)


Problems observed
- Too many cell phone stores 6
- 8 variety stores that sells the same small stuff
- Food Business is the most difficult to operate on Lancaster( Due to Competition)
- No real initiatives to change Neighborhood for the better
- Mental Health Patients are released in daytime, they fade in the background
- Low incomes/ residents jobless, living on welfare
- Neighborhood Individuals on Belmont, Mantua, Powelton Village, and Lancaster all shop at different areas N, S, E, W….


 
After Meeting with James, days later I slowly gained info from local business. It wasn’t easy, a lot of store/ owners turned me away or say come back tomorrow, I’ll tell you everything. 

Business 
1. Wolff Cycle: 4311 Lancaster Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Owner: Sophie Courtney & Kareem

Oldest Bike shop in Philly, established in 1932, turned over in 1976. Due to bad business, guy was old shop had rarely been opened often time you had to be buzzed in, since in the 80s -90s rougher neighborhood. Now lesser violent, more welcoming
Recently turned over & reopened last year November 2011.
Business slowly growing due to transformation, more variety of bikes available. Better business model for access. Including technology such as websites, tools, Facebook, new resources …
People who shop are usually neighbors.


2. Sunshine Food Market 4261 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Owner: Ray
Opened in 1992
“Cut Throat Competition”   20 years ago use to be better less markets around
Now less money on the streets

I asked if they were associated with the Business Association, they said No


3. Happy Laundromat, 4229 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Owner : Lin

Overall feels safe
Opened for almost 3 years now. Says bad business due to bad economy.
Before people wash their clothes 2 to3 times a week now 1once a week.

In the past opened till 2am to 4am depending on business
 New laws: Says due to less policing in those late night/ early hours police must regulate.

Downstairs business, upstairs is residential.

Does form up with other Ethnic Community business owner to discuss the issues and has sent those to the local city municipals but does not work. Often says the same things to business that they will improve but it seems as if they are just sitting and letting the show run on its own.

Says , it would be a benefit with the expansion of College students . It will better boom business and create a safer environment on upper Lancaster.

4. Jackie Chan’s Chinese Restaurant, 4226 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Says it’s safe, but bar next door create drunks so they’ll come in at night to disrupt business


5. Hair Thang, 3938 Lancaster Ave Philadelphia,PA 19104
Owner: Morris Brown
10 to 15 years old says, the campus demographics is already changing. There’s Pos & Neg
Says his barber shop isn’t really having competition just growth in business. With new person in office, it helped with his sign and basically they budget geared towards new things.


6. 16th Police District, 39th & Lancaster, Philadelphia, PA
Says all types of crimes
7. Powelton Pizza, 3635 Lancaster Avenue  Philadelphia, PA 19104
Owner: Brain

About 20 years, says with campus expansion it is helping. But also more competition


8. Redcap's Corner, 3617 Lancaster Ave Philadelphia, PA 19104
Owner : Gill
Game Store : Opened for half a year, before closer to PENN , Geared towards students.
 All students coming from different area. Temple.. too Camps expansion not really helping.



9. Gwendolyn Bye Dance Center, 3611 Lancaster Avenue, University City, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Owner: Mary Ziogas

With the expansion, noticed more students outside, safer. But not affecting her dance business.
Since her dance is geared towards the young.  Does see that more Drexel Alumni’s children enrolled are growing.




10. Fencing Academy of Phila, 3519 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Owner: Mark Masters

With the expansion on Drexel, same amount of Drexel Students in the last 20years
They were fencers already. At one time Drexel had Fencing Club
For Penn, Big Fencing Club, Big Fencers in masters program all go here.
Now more competition, due to Drexel’s Athletic Center, it is driving people away on other area of interest/ opportunity.
Due to expansion bad parking, Fencing students often have trouble finding spaces to park, students are late.


To Better Business on Lancaster:  
1. Clear sign
2. Store having too much stuff, filled/cluttered
-Making customers confused (Neat but too much)
-Could be due to slow business bought too much
3. Better Inventory Item, so it is clear and concise
4. Business must be up to date, improve to current



Business Crime over the years:

Corruption in Policing: 1 Owner says they sell food/ candy late night past 11pm children less than 18 years (possibly curfew), they get fined. (Question is How they going to do business if business’, main goal is to sell

When called, police come very slowly.

James: In his 4 year period heard of 6-7 robberies (roughly 2 a year) bars, coffee shop…
- Some business has bullet proof/ thick Glass (BUSINESS MODEL) how comfortable the Store Manager is.
(In the past Criminals cut from the top and break in store, this is why you look at a lot of stores above there are not residential)
(Now there are technological advances) especially cameras and alarms
-  At night well lit, there are really no eyes on the stores (community policing is terrible)



Business Today: 

Mostly African Americans operated, some white mostly located on Powelton Village 
Business turnovers 

-Passing 4000 Block less residential (Most Popular)

-Business closer to campuses, (food) wise is definitely a benefit on Campus expansion
- Private other personal interest business says, not exactly. It is actually affecting their business due to parking.

Crimes at Lancaster is not really bad as before in the 80s
Crimes and other problems are often resulted by the younger generations especially teens to young adults.

- Overall some support campus expansion, some don’t. But we should tackle ways to benefit all. And the solution is all here. Such as building more dormitory, parking spaces, higher rise buildings just to name a few.

Map Of My Life

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?authuser=0&vps=2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=201336936823759355400.0004c227eb5fd5a8d578e


Map, Click above to see!

Assignments Summary

Works we have done in class/ projects / assignments

White Blank T-Shirt creating a Map:

In the beginning I had been extremely lost on what were are supposed to do. If what we randomly create on the shirt did was going to be right or wrong or how others are going to feel. It took me about a week to start. Believe it or not I actually stared down on the blank Tee- Shirt for 10 minutes on the day before class (Thursday).  So I grabbed markers and began to add the things I love to do/ eat.

 In the end I did so much in a week, I put a week of different activities down on the Tee- Shirt and took every space from sleeves to the front and the back of the Shirt. I had really enjoyed the Tee-shirt assignment. Though I was lost but my imagination had kicked in and it went well.

From the presentations of the shirts in class the assignment had become clear to me; pieces of the puzzle came together. It has taught me that all of our interpretations of a "map", life and how we occupy space on a map were all different and helped me recognize the meaning of mapping to human  geography. It gave a great intro to mapping.

Tag:

The tag was way easier compared to the TEE-Shit assignment.  When we were first given the tags in class, I began forming ideas. Now In part of the Army, I thought of Dog Tags. It is the informal name for the identification tags worn by military personnel, named such as it bears resemblance to actual dog tags. 

The tag is primarily used for the identification of dead and wounded and essential basic medical information for the treatment of the latter, such as blood type and history of immunizations, along with providing religious preference. In the US Military, wearing of the tag is required at all times by soldiers in the field.

So looking at my life at Drexel, Army had played a big role, and family and friends in the social part did too. 

I labeled and colored the whole 1 side in Army digital green colors and added basic info of myself, the other side labeling academics, friends, and family and drew them. This is actually my favorite assignment because I got to sit down to really put down the key significant things that really value my life so far.

Google Map Capsule:

The Google Map Capsule allowed me to embed maps into my areas in life by giving an all-encompassing view of a particular area. With the Map Capsule, I can present readers with a traditional map, a satellite image, or a view of the terrain.  Depending on the location mapped, viewers may also have the ability to view your location via Google Street View, which allows them to amble along the very streets you describe in your Hub. It told a small into story of what has happened there. The ones I listed were ones that really made me have major remembrances. 

Overall the assignment did take a while but it did let me think of some great moments I had in those areas.

For put something here I just cannot think of anything. The classmates have all done something and I do not think it is good to copy and do something not exact but perhaps similar to what they are doing. 

Krzysztof Wodiczko in "Power"/ One Place after Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity

With Krzysztof Wodiczko, I feel his work is mainly towards democracy.

He lived through rough times throughout his childhood. During the interview Wodiczko's art uses public space he debates on public space and site specific art.  Wodiczko uses progressive technology in his work in order to attract an audience within these public spaces, and powerfully convey a social-political message rooted within the artwork. 
By using immersive technology, he is able to massively distribute his message to the public and worldwide, instead of confining the artwork solely to a gallery space.

With this project in Claude Lefort's importance of democracy and he says that democracy is found on empty public spaces that belong to anyone that can bring meaning to them. Wodiczko's art evidently demonstrations his work to the fullest. His style adds statutes and buildings that are essentially meaningful such as he shows his stories through art form

With this reading, it had been much easier to read and understand what had actually happened.
I feel that Claude Lefort's observation on democracy is very good. In artists having the tendency to use a group of people in a project, Philips‘s facts were well too.

Miwon Kwon’s One Place after Another art can be other forms rather than be painting.
Kwon makes several points though her most important thesis is merely that site-specific art has changed greatly. It does not always have to appear at fancy places. Public art is established on location.
It can be formed and drawn in a place where it can hold significance to those artists.
Site specificity should address the modification of adjacency and distances between objects, places, people and ideas and not their relationship in similarities.

Mapping

In Holmes, “Counter Cartographies”, I cannot comprehend what he is really trying to say.
 I am unsure at this point of it is correct that Homes is telling something on the internet is changing our lives.

All I know is now the internet is allowing people to do their jobs at home.
 In addition the military’s often use and take advantage of this technological advance to do their secret operations .The most convenient thing for people now is the internet has allowed us to purchase items online by having them shipped without going to stores and spend that part of time. But in this has affected, I feel people have become lazier than before.

Maps are a set of points, lines, and areas all defined both by position with position to a coordinate system and by their non-spatial features.

Maps are the world condensed to points, lines, and areas, using a variety of visual resources: size, shape, value, texture or pattern, color, orientation, and shape. It can also be photograph shows all objects in its view; a map is an abstraction of reality. Overall I believe maps have been an excellent invention for navigation purposes and see how the historical places and roads have changed.

Renewal in Urban Areas

Urban Renewal is referred primarily to public efforts to invigorate aging and decaying inner cities, although some suburban communities started such projects as well. Including massive demolition, innovating poor areas, and rehabilitation, urban renewal proceeded initially from local and state I feel it has to usually start off from Neighborhoods. Urban Renewal is good in a way and benefits some but it can also affect factors in a negative way.

It was remarkable that one simple road through Paris could produce such outcome.
 The Avenue De L'Opera was mainly on how city planners and architects had been doing projects from small towns for a period of time then spreading on it to a large city. The consequence was the fast upward of why many people were unable to sustain this fast transformation and the poor had to move since the area once they had, now cannot be afforded. Often time people think they do no longer belong in the community.

In the past I have heard where new places, the neighborhoods, however, experienced a different kind of transformation. It is like when whites were among those uprooted in a neighborhood and on the certain lower areas around due to their expansion, to me urban renewal in this context too often meant, as can noted, “Negro removal.” It is sad that this happens but the struggles in these communities happen this way. 

The Neighborhood Roundtable:Thoughts on the round table discussion

Thoughts on the round table discussion

It was nice first of all to have James and George tell us the brief overview on Lancaster.

From Fridays, round table discussion, the topics we have discussed had not been fully concluded throughout our three hour period. As it started out, I felt it was wonderful that we’ve invited such important people to our discussion. Guests of Students from the summer of 2011 Neighborhood Narratives class, Lucy Kerman (Vice Provost for Community and Education) Liz Lerman (Artist, Founding Artistic Director Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, CCR Founding Fellow) Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Artist, Founder and Artistic Director Urban Bushwomen, CCR Founding Fellow) Mark Christman (Representative from University City District: 38th Street/South) George Stevens (President of the new 21st Century Business Community org and James Wright (Representative Peoples’ Emergency Center: 38th Street/North).

Overall outside of Drexel’s campus the communities such as Lancaster are all poor communities.
One of the greatest problems in poor communities is the frequent loss of a positive vision towards the future. I recognize like every other university in the world it is mainly based on a business.
Examples are from expanding campus outside its boarder; promote housing off campus a few blocks. The major debate on putting our University to act more on arts in the city is probably not going to be a success. Our University is well-known on its engineering programs and business coming in second. Through this we try to expand our co-op programs even with Dr. Kerman’s statement on Drexel's goal had been directing towards business and engineering programs.

It seems that the media, university research, and government agencies work together to paint negative pictures of neighborhoods and while ignoring the powerful capacities that exist within each. In such situations, families, community members, teachers, and children themselves all too frequently develop these self-destructive images of their own lives and their communities.I have confidence that Drexel can form a partnership with the communities around Drexel where they can really make a difference in the community. With all the account of Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike to Lancaster Ave, much has happened in the past. 


The History of Lancaster should be well preserved and better engage with communities. In the past the first president of Drexel, James MacAlister served from 1891 to his retirement in 1913. During MacAlister's term, Drexel Institute offered courses for the public in art and illustration, mechanical arts, domestic arts and sciences, commerce and finance, teacher training, physical education, and librarianship.  From our history, we should still continue to engage in arts and find ways to better partnership with the communities.  Overall I feel that President Fry is heading to the right direction, but it takes much debating and planning to do so. 

Reading 1 Mobile Interface Theory : Jason Farman

Mobile media from mobile phones to smartphones to other smart technology are transforming our daily lives. We communicate, we discover, we network, we play, and much more using our mobile devices. I feel Farman’s explanation is perfectly correct that mobile technologies are taking over our lives. In Mobile Interface Theory, Jason Farman establishes how the worldwide implementation of mobile technologies is causing a reconsideration of the core ideas about what it means to live our average lives. He argues that mobile media's pervasive calculating model, which allows users to connect and interact with the internet while affecting across a wide variety of localities, has shaped a new sense of self among users a new embodied identity that branches from virtual space and material space regularly enhancing, cooperating or disturbing each other. On this I can relate to the Facebook check-ins on where you are currently. Exploring a range of mobile media practices  including mobile maps and GPS technologies, location-aware social networks, urban and alternate reality games that use mobile devices, performance art, and storytelling projects Farman illustrates how mobile technologies are altering the ways we produce lived, embodied spaces.

Local Invisible City: Lancaster Ave

Lancaster Ave

Local Health Care Center For local Residence

Use to be a Movie Theater 

Local Tire/ Wheel Business

Hello Everyone

Hello! Welcome my blog. Had some difficulty on recovering my passwords and user name so I am posting everything now. This blog shows the class materials on Neighborhood Narratives at Drexel University, my personal reactions to reading assignments. In addition to other relevant information. Lastly the photographic materials that depicts the materials we are on.