Philadelphia: Germantown Avenue
One avenue, six postal codes, and a growing rate of inequality.
Germantown Avenue is a 7-mile avenue in North/Northwest Philadelphia that travels through 6 different zip codes with juxtaposing levels of wealth. In 2018, according to Bloomberg News, Philadelphia had the third-worst income gap in the US. Despite being in the same district with the same city councillor, the way the neighbourhoods are funded, maintained, and supported are vastly different. This disparity is thrown further under the microscope during a pandemic. Here, we take a look at, Germantown, Mt. Airy, and Chestnut Hill; three of the six neighbourhoods that best represent this divide.
Cobbled street in Chestnut Hill
A woman waits for the 23 bus on Germantown Avenue in the Germantown neighbourhood.
Homes sit on Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy neighbourhood
From left to right, Chestnut Hill, Germantown & St. Airy.
According to a 2015 New York Times article, the Germantown neighbourhood, once very middle class, is now mostly low income and the median salary of its residents is just $33,000. At the other end of the avenue, residents of Chestnut Hill enjoy a median salary of $88,000; quite a stark difference for just a 10-minute car ride along the golf club, northwest.
Some deemed the pandemic ‘the great equaliser’ but is this the case? How are the small businesses surviving? And what’s the spirit in the communities? BAMM RAW photojournalist, Hannah Yoon, investigates.
Chestnut Hill
Tom Ivory, 63, stands for a portrait in front of Baker Street Bread Co. Cafe & Bakery on Germantown Avenue in the Chestnut Hill neighbourhood.
Mary MacAvoy, 67, left, stands with her friend, Paul Roller, 67, after they were chatting on Germantown Avenue in the Chestnut Hill neighbourhood.
Cynthia Fillmore, owner of Windfall Gallery, stands for a portrait on Germantown Avenue in the Chestnut Hill neighbourhood.
As you walk the cobbled streets of Chestnut Hill you’re struck with colourful messages of hope and solidarity from the windows of local business. Tom Ivory, 63, is the proud owner and founder of ‘Baker Street Bakery’ a business he’s fondly grown for 28 years. The last few months have been a turbulent ride as he’s had to navigate and innovate his way through the uncertain landscape the pandemic has created.
“Since March 16 we have experienced a series of daily highs and lows. We implemented an online ordering system, a bicycle delivery program and continue to help our first responders and others in need. Our Bakery/Café storefront windows have been transformed into ‘Windows of Hope’, an inspirational collection of hopeful messages from young colorers all over!”
The donations of drawings for the wall of hope offers a stirring reminder of the power a community has when it comes together. Yet, behind the wall of colorful rainbows and full hearts, is a business, like many others across the country, that is struggling to adapt to the economic impact of the virus. Tom has had to let 30 members of staff go already, in an attempt to save the business he’s dedicated half his life to.
The businesses that seem to be coping the best during the pandemic are the ones that are innovating quickly whilst strengthening the bond they have with the community around them. Cynthia Fillmore, started Zoom shopping sessions with her customers, which has helped bring in some revenue, but it’s the bond she’s found with other local businesswomen that she appreciates the most.
“The last month has been a whirlwind! I hit the ground running thinking of alternative ways to reach my customers. I reached out to other business owners in Chestnut Hill as well as friends who own businesses in other areas to see what they were doing. The best result that came from all of this is a daily Zoom call with fellow women business owners on the Avenue. We have been supporting each other, coming up with ideas like “Keep It On The Hill” and collaborating on efforts to help support our community. This group of smart, creative women has been the glue that has held me together.”
St. Airy
Tanesha Trippett stands for a photo in front of her restaurant, Brotherly Grub Cafe, on Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy neighbourhood.
A supportive sign is posted on Bella Mosaic Art Studio on Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy neighbourhood.
Danielle Jowdy, owner of Zsa’s Ice Cream on Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy neighbourhood of Philadelphia. The shop just opened and was supposed to hire the second week of March for the summer season. She had to adjust her business and switch to selling ice creams direct to consumers. The community has been very supportive with weekly orders selling out due to the demand.
Jessica Liddell, right, and her daughter, Maya Liddell, 16, work together on a mosaic at Bella Mosaic Art Studio on Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy neighbourhood.
A few minutes down Germantown Avenue in St. Airy, messages of support continue to line shop windows, the community is also pulling together, yet in different ways. Tanesha Trippett, recently opened her restaurant, Grub Cafe, in December last year, after operating a food truck in the area for 3 years. The economic impact of the virus really hit her business, which relies heavily on sit-down service, hard, but the community pulled together to help.
“The community has been very supportive Mt. Airy CDC and other donors in the community gave us a donation that covered our rent for April. In addition to that, residents in the neighborhood thought it would be a good idea as well as a good gesture to purchase food from Brotherly Grub and have the meals delivered to Essential Healthcare workers on the frontline. Because of these donations I have a guaranteed number of sales each weekend.”
Germantown
Kiya Boyd, 47, sits at the entrance of her apartment on Germantown Avenue in the Germantown neighbourhood
Justin Moore, 38, stands at the doorway of Uncle Bobbie’s, a coffee shop and bookstore, on Germantown Avenue in the Germantown neighbourhood.
Barbara Briscoe, 61, sits on her porch on Germantown Avenue in the Germantown neighbourhood.
It’s a stressful time to have a business, and as we’ve seen from the stories above, great sacrifices and redundancies have been made. Kiya was a manager at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Philadelphia until late February when they were forced to let her go as they closed the hotel. With two teenagers to feed, she’s had to come up with new ways to make an income - and fast.
“I thought, ‘What’s my gift… It’s helping people. And people don’t like to cook themselves so I just thought of making platters for people. My days are like hell”.
As we reach our final stop along Germantown Avenue, where the road meets its namesake, resilience remains high, yet the bond in the community arguably grows stronger. Justin, for example, owns his own coffee shop in the heart of Germantown, and whilst many businesses are letting their employees go and focusing on how their business can stay afloat, he’s determined to look after his staff by launching online fundraising campaigns to help pay their wages.
“With Philly being such a densely populated city, I have no idea when it will be safe enough for us to open up again because not only do I have to worry about our customers, but I have to worry about my employees who will have to interact with dozens of people on a daily basis and the idea of them having to choose between their health and their livelihood is unnerving.”
At a time when more Americans are losing their jobs than ever before on record, and large corporations are laying off staff by the 1000’s, it’s refreshing to see a small coffee shop, place their focus on their staff, and their livelihoods rather than profit lines.
In some ways the pandemic is ‘the great equalizer’; imposing the same global challenges upon its residents and forcing them to make a choice. Yet, with vastly different responses and solutions, some choices only seem to resurrect pre-existing inequalities and deep disparities that extend far beyond the length of the 7-mile avenue.
Photography by Hannah Yoon
Words by Tom Ford