We sat out on our stoop awaiting trick or treaters and a few dozen came, more than in the other three Halloweens we’ve been on Bainbridge Street. Our block held little promise for kids in the past. When we arrived in 2014 a carpet company dominated one end of the street and a parking lot was at the other. Things have changed. The carpet company is gone and five three-story homes have taken its place. Another townhouse project is wrapping up where the parking lot was.
We and four neighbor families were poised on our side of the street with treats and we couldn’t help but notice that most of us were not originally from Philadelphia. South Philly has a reputation for celebrating holidays–decor in the windows and on the porches–but on our street it was the newbies who were keeping the Halloween fires burning, or lighting them anew. A small thing, but a hopeful sign after three years of construction and transition that our block is moving toward a fresh era of stability.
