We stood at the bottom of his painted grey steps on 32nd Street and Girard Avenue, gazing at a group of teenagers in the area. “It’s a rough neighborhood, there is a lot of violence going on, especially here,” warned Thompson. He shrugged his shoulders and hunched over the side of the cement row home. He leaned on over the railing and said, “If your going to do a story over here you mine as well put a large gun on the front cover,” Triston laughed with his other buddies. We understood. At least we were alive.
Around the corner, on 33rd and Diamond, we heard a child playing on his porch stoop. It was the sound of laughter, a noise that was music to our ears. Baby Marcus Tranks looked up at us, bright-eyed and gleaming. He was enjoying his youth with his mother, Natalia Tranks who sat back in her wingback chair. She bit her lip as she told us that she has been a resident of Strawberry Mansion for six months, and she liked the area, but Fairmont Park is the best part. “The parks are really nice to take Marcus out, it’s always nice having something for the kids,” she said. “Some people’s minds ain’t right here. They don’t want change. It’s crazy you guys are going any further than this street, I’m black and I still wouldn’t walk a few blocks back,” said resident Joe Mcanir. The area seems to be changing and the children are the primary concern for the change. “I don’t know why they are fixing the area, but they are fixing it. They keep it real nice on this street. It’s important to have parks and playgrounds to keep the violence away,” said Mcanir.
We knew that violence was something to be expected in the area. We never knew the other residents wouldn’t walk past their own front porch. Baby Marcus doesn’t know any better. He was glued to the black railing outside his house, squirming with excitement. I feared that things won’t ever change in this area and his excitement was only short-lived. And I thought, he should enjoy his youth while it lasts. As we walked North on 33rd Street with Fairmont park on our left, we discovered a somewhat lush community garden set on a corner that once held larger row homes. Within the fenced-in garden, grew vibrant red and pink roses and tomatoes plants. A large brightly-colored mural featuring Black female jazz musicians provided a backdrop for the quaint garden. It was beautiful.
At the end of the wooden fence hung a homemade sign that read: “Community garden.” We asked a man who lived one block west of the garden if he knew anything about it and he replied, “The garden, oh I don’t know anything about that garden.” Just north on 33rd street, we found a house with a sign that read: “East Park Revitalization Alliance.” Through the glass window next to the wooden door, we could see a pile of gardening tools and fertilizer. I rang the bell. No one opened the inner door. It was locked. I pressed the door bell again. There was no answer. 
We were extremely hot from the blazing sun. This day was tiring. Beads of water decorated my face. I kept looking at the Revitalization Alliance sign next to the door bell. I wandered around the side of the street to see if there were any adults in site who knew about the community garden. There was no one. We walked through the garden once more and decided that we should come back again. That night, I e-mailed Tatiana Granados, the Revitalization coordinator. She wrote back from her Blackberry in the morning, “Unfortunately, today was our last day of the after school program. Our summer camp for children starts June 29th.” It was a shame, we wanted to help out. The East Park Revitalization site: http://www.epralliance.org/
By Danielle Bacher and Jonathan Braymer- Team 18, Brewerytown/Strawberry Mansion
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