Currently — January 12, 2023

January 11, 2023

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In Philadelphia’s low-income, flood prone neighborhood of Germantown, community members make their voices heard through a poetic intervention.

As rain falls on certain blocks of the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, the sidewalk reveals something surprising. As the pavement gets wet, it displays verses of poetry about the impacts of intensifying neighborhood flooding. Crooked water / Still or rising, one poem reads. Flooding or hushed / Indelible marker on our lives / Photos and memories and precious things / Taken and carried in your rushing flow…

These water-activated rain art and decals feature poems written by Germantown residents, who have been increasingly engaged by the Philadelphia Water Department to determine how the neighborhood will build flood resilience amid a deepening climate crisis.

This story was originally published by  Emily Nonko via Next City, a nonprofit news organization covering solutions for just and equitable cities.

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