85 dogs convince me to not move into Philadelphia

Posted by Speener on Jul 28, 2010 in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia | 2 comments

Dog in kennel

This is one of the saddest stories I’ve read in a long time. How does a city allow something like this happen? 7 years of complaints, 87 dogs (including two dead), two cats, and a stench that caused even the most experienced PSPCA officers to leave the house for a break. How does this happen? One word: bureaucracy.

The story about 739 Earp St. on Philadelphia Weekly is pretty amazing. This one article convinced me that I should stay in the suburbs. The fact that these taxpayers complained to the city government, city council, the PSPCA, Licensing and Inspections – and were unable to get any of them to act until a false tip was called in, tells me all I need to know about my hometown.

One thing about living in my small town, just outside of Philly – if something is happening that I want to ask about, I can call or email my councilperson and expect a response. I don’t know how these people dealt with it for as long as they did. I would have gotten in trouble.

So for all of that, I’ll stay in the suburbs. Close enough to enjoy, but far enough away to comfortably ignore and remain blissful.

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Zoning Hearing on Proposed Bank in Conshohocken

Posted by Spencer on Jan 30, 2010 in Conshohocken | 0 comments

A few days ago I wrote about a historic building here in Conshohocken that a developer wants to tear down to make way for a bank. To follow-up there will be a zoning board hearing in a couple of weeks regarding the building at 528 Fayette St. The following is from Councilman Jason Salus’ website:

The Conshohocken Zoning Hearing Board will consider the applicant’s zoning requests at their meeting on Monday, February 15 at 7:00 PM at Conshohocken Borough Hall (720 Fayette Street).  This is a continuation of a prior hearing and the record for the hearing is closed.  The Chair of the Zoning Board will have the discretion to take public comment.  I encourage all interested residents to attend.

I encourage you to attend and to forward this post to any Conshohocken resident or business owner.

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Wall Street vs. Main (Fayette) Street in Conshohocken

Posted by Spencer on Jan 27, 2010 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania | 7 comments

It seems the past few years that we’ve been assault by banks. If it’s not credit cards or crazy mortgage lending. Now it seems that Continental Bank wants to tear down a beautiful building in the center of Conshohocken to build a bank. Within this small borough we have six banks (including a credit union). Do we really need another one?

I will be writing more about this as I find out more, but Conshohocken residents can not let this happen.

Read more about this on More Than The Curve.com

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Conshohocken Lends a Hand to Haiti

Posted by Spencer on Jan 20, 2010 in Conshohocken, News, Op-ed | 0 comments

On Wednesday, January 20, ten Conshohocken restaurants are donating 20% of your bill to the American Red Cross. The restaurants are:

You may think that there is enough money, but there isn’t. Haiti was destroyed, when the thought of that a few weeks ago would seem redundant. They are going to need our money for years to come. If you’re going to eat out, why not make sure some of the money goes to a good cause? See you tomorrow.

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Where are the Philly police

Posted by Spencer on Jan 7, 2010 in Philadelphia | 0 comments

I recently returned to work for a non-profit in Center City Philadelphia. It’s great to be back in the city, it makes me feel more a part of things. Because of the cold, my walk has been limited to about seven blocks. What’s crazy is what I haven’t seen in this time.

It’s been a little more than 3 weeks and I’ve yet to see my first police officer aside from those whizzing by in their cars. Not one policeman or woman walking a beat. No directing of traffic, no standing on the corner making sure there’s no trouble.

It’s not like there isn’t a need – there is a total disregard for traffic laws by drivers, bikers, and pedestrians. There are intersections where blocking the box is the rule. And what happened to the blitz on renegade bicyclists? Seems like it lasted a day. And while they’re at it, there are too many pedestrians that could use a jaywalking ticket. And maybe a visible presence on the streets would prevent the bank robberies that happened downtown recently.

It seems to me that policing shouldn’t be limited to cars, subways, airports, and ghettos. It seems that the Philadelphia Police are only focused on anyone carrying a gun or selling drugs. That’s all well and good, but for the other 99% of situations that deserve their attention, it’s every man, woman, and child for themselves.

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Yet another place for me to write

Posted by Spencer on Jun 19, 2009 in About Spencer, Blogging, Philadelphia | 0 comments

So yesterday I posted that I am writing for the Philadelphia Examiner – it’s about time I mentioned my new blog: Orangeliners.com, a blog about Philly sports.

One thing that I noticed here is that the readership I had cultivated wasn’t as much interested in sports talk, but I wanted to write about it. I figured it would help me to have the two distinct sites. I haven’t quite found my voice there, but I’m hoping to grow that site into an interesting destination covering all Philly sports.

If you’re interested in writing for the site – let me know either through the contact form or leaving a comment here. Kristen will stop in every once in awhile to provide the woman’s point of view. Also would love for to subscribe to the blog or it’s twitter feed.

Or just stop by and join into the conversation.

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