WHYY
By
Bill McKinneyMay 2, 2021
Kensington residents protested the closure of SEPTA’s Somerset Station by marching down Kensington Avenue on March 23, 2021. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
I began writing about the Kensington neighborhood where I live and work a few weeks ago in response to the sudden closing of the SEPTA station at Somerset. The abrupt service disruption brought to the surface many issues my community has dealt with for years and in the weeks since, I have watched the news tick on.
This week yielded an announcement of grant funds designed to help the community build “resilience” and improve quality of life amid a crushing opioid epidemic. Before that: news of a remade Opioid Response Unit out of City Hall, an update to a 2019 city “roadmap to safer communities” and from the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania: All Hands On Deck a new strategy for Philadelphia to reduce violence with a goal of putting the most violent criminals beh