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Same House DE
In the Same House as Last Year Reading PA
Pop 16 Labor Force in Reading PA
Population 16 Years and Over in the Labor Force in Wilmington, DE.
My group and I went to Penn Ave for food at Taste of Crepes. We parked down the street a little so we had to walk a bit. The day was slightly chilly and the sun had not yet come out. Besides us and the people passing in cars, there was no one on the streets. Many of the buildings appear to have formerly been homes but the lower fronts of them have been redone as shop fronts. On the way to Taste of Crepes, there is a dance studio with an overhead advertising board like the classic movie theaters had. It advertises the studio’s current showing in blue, capital letters. After that, there are a few shops that did not remodel and embraced the home design.
The restaurant has orange siding and a black awning. A red and blue light up sign in the window lets us know that it is open. There is a raised platform and stairs leading up to the door. Justin attempts to pull the door but he fails to read the sign that says to push. There are tables with standard chairs but because we are a group or four and not a pair, we are seated at a table with benches next to a wall. The place is half full and no one really looks as we walk in and are seated. There is a good mix of age and gender and they are all eating and chatting at their tables. I sit facing the window and watch all the cars pass by on street. At one point, a man takes advantage of the red light to pick up a notepad to write something and fails to notice when the cars in front of him start moving again. When he does, he simply lowers the clipboard and accelerates. On the other side of the wall, there is a loud banging that melds in with the music playing on our side, which Brandon describes as a “smooth 70’s jazz”. A pair attempts to enter the restaurant but pulls instead of pushes; instead of laughing like we did when Justin did the same, she just makes her way into the restaurant. Two women arrived and when one tried to open the door, the other laughed at her. I observed one woman enter by herself who successfully opened the door on her first try.
Outside on the street, I notice a man and a woman, between mid-late 30’s, walking together. It seems to be a professional outing between an agent and her client. Some time later, a woman, in her early 40s, runs down the street and slows down so that she can drink her coffee.
On Thursday, April 19th we went to the city of Reading to Observe. At 10:45 on 5th and Penn St. there was a group of people walking. There were two Indian citizens male and female that was dressed professionally and walking with coffee in their hands. There were also two white females behind them and they looked very cold but were walking fast.
Around 10:50 on 5th and Court St. there were a ton of sirens going on in the area. An old, white, man in a wheelchair was having issues getting into the Court House with his wheelchair-said a few explicit words. He was very frustrated.
Walked back down towards Penn St. from the Court House at 10:57 and saw a white, teenage girl in tank top walking down Penn St. It was so interesting to see because it was very cold that day and she looked like she was not phased by it. Then I saw from a distance a white male with hipster glasses and business attire at bus stop smoking. Then he walks in Santander. Then I saw a Latino male with a backpack and maroon jacket. He was coughing very loud and sounded sick. A few moments later I saw two black males talking to each other about life and how school is going. They were both dressed very stylish. Lastly, during this time, a white man with suit and tie was walking looking up at the sky and what was around him with no jacket on.
At 11:02 I noticed that there were lots of police patrolling 5th and Penn St. Then there were five Latino females, and two 2 Latino men shopping and keeping up with the store called Rainbow. Right outside of Rainbow there was a huge Fedex truck by the bus stop. The Fedex worker was a black male taking out huge boxes out from his truck and talking with the Rainbow manager. Near the bus stop and Fedex truck was a black male sitting on a bench at the bus stop listening to music.
Around 11:06 two white girls, one brunette, and the other blonde was running with a dog and crossing the street. A few minutes after that there was a white male walking with sunglasses and crutches down the street.
At 11:15 white male on a bike getting tacos from a taco truck. While the man was waiting for his tacos, there were two other males, one white and one black, with a puppy walking past the taco truck.
Reading PA, and Albany NY are both similar in size but it appears that Reading PA has a higher poverty rate when compared to Albany NY. This poverty rate is looking specifically at the families of Reading PA and Albany NY. It can also be seen that Reading PA has a lower education rate when compared to Albany’s education rate of people over the age of 25.
Poverty Rate of Albany Families
Poverty Rate of Reading Families
Education Rate of Albany Citizens over 25
Education Rate of Reading Citizens over 25
Field Notes:
I took my notes at Taste Of Crepes in West Reading, and what I observed was not a reflection of the maps above. Most observations made were people walking on the street. There was a woman with a black coat who had a younger girl with her wearing a pink coat. Two more women walked by repeatedly appearing to be shopping visiting multiple stores. There was a man who rode by quickly on a bike and another man wearing a black coat walking across the other side of the street. Eventually there was a delivery truck that obscured my view from wear I was sitting and stopped there for a longer period of time.
Income in below the poverty line in Reading, PA.
Income in below the poverty line in Flint, MI.
People living in poverty in Reading, PA.
People not living in poverty in Reading, PA.
People with kids living in poverty in Reading, PA.
People with out children living in poverty in Reading, PA.
Field Notes
On April 18th at 11:00, my group and I went to the city of Reading to do our observations. We sat at a restaurant on Penn Ave while observing.
Environment: The restaurant we were in was a very small place. It could probably fit 25 people at the most, but at the time there was around 15. The people that were in the restaurant looked to be around the ages of 20-35 and the was about 5 males and the rest were females. While the people were talking, it wasn’t a very loud environment. There was also jazz music playing over the speakers. There were 5 cameras in the building.
On Penn Street: The buildings are all connected to each other on Penn Ave. The ground level of the buildings were all businesses (shopping, restaurants, schools, medical, etc.), the levels above appear to be apartments or private offices. Penn Ave is usually a very busy street, it was mainly cars and buses driving by, not many people walking around. There are 4 bus stops in the area we observed. There were people at the bus stops the entire time we were there. All the parking spots were taken in the area we were in and the cars were mainly compact cars, only a few SUV’s. The barta buses seemed to be driving by about every 10-15 minutes. They didn’t always stop, some just drove by.
People: About 6 people came into the restaurant while we were there. Out of the six, five were women and one was a male. The people that came in were also in groups of two. Out of each of those groups, two people pulled the door that clearly said push. There weren’t too many people on the street but I noticed a pair of two women. They were older women, probably in their 60’s. One was wearing a red jacket with black pants. The other was wearing all black. They were both blonde and all they did was go into the different shops and shop around. There were also two men that were walking down the street. They did not go into any shops, businesses, or restaurants.
Total Violent and Property Crime Arrests in Camden, New Jersey
Total Violent and Property Crime Arrests in Reading, Pennsylvania
Violent and Property Crime Rates in Camden, New Jersey
Total Violent and Property Crime Rates in Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania’s Citadel Observation:
When observing the Reading, Pennsylvania Citadel, I observed many signs of property crime and crime in general. Signs of property crime include graffiti on street signs, vandalism of the park across the street from the Citadel and signs of illegal activity including gang involvement and the use of drugs and alcohol on the city streets. It is likely that these crimes are committed by juveniles that have nowhere else to go to use drugs and alcohol. Another possibility is that the area surrounding the Citadel is a specific gang’s territory and the graffiti and vandalism is a sign to promote that. The Citadel itself does not have many signs of illegal activity such as property crimes perhaps due to the surveillance of the area but litter is a noticeable issue that most likely stems from the kids coming and going to school and dropping their trash in the streets.
Field Notes
April 19, 2018
Monica and I went to the City of Reading to observe the area surrounding the Penn Street. We parked in the 00 N 8th Street, near Reading City Hall and walked Penn Street from 8th Street to 3rd Street and from Cherry Street to Walnut Street. The weather was a bit chilly and windy and the temperature was about 48 degrees. We observed the area from about 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
In the area of the 400 block of Penn Street there is the Ilead Charter school that was letting out as we were there. Roughly 50-100 students of high school aged students filing out to the sidewalk. There is a construction fence blocking part of the sidewalk and the students seem to bunch up more since there is less sidewalk space. The students are dressed mostly in blue or white shirts that say ILead on them and khaki pants. The students appear predominantly Latino and African American with a small percentage of white students. There is a pretty balanced mix of male and female. The area where the school is located is fairly clean but does resemble more of an office type location as opposed to a school. As I am aware this was an insurance company building and they moved from the area leaving the building vacant and allowing for a charter school to occupy the space in the downtown. Parking is difficult, at best with many cars double parked to pick up their students. The teachers and staff are standing outside watching the students as they are filtering out to leave. Some have walked away up and down the streets while some get into waiting cars. As the students were filtering out, many were talking to one another, laughing and appearing to be happy teenagers.
The area is a mix of old and new, fixed up and run down. There was a building being rehabbed in the 500 block of Penn Street next to a lunchtime restaurant that has been a fixture for years. Another building showed its vacancy by having thick chains securing the outside of the doors. The concrete sidewalks appear worn, dingy and dirty and there is a mix of some brick paver sidewalks thrown in throughout the area. Some of the bricks appear to be in disrepair as some are buckling and lifting. There are small pockets of litter in the area and some planting areas that appear to be unattended for significant time.
As we moved off of Penn Street, we saw police activity at 6th and Washington Streets and went to observe. As we approached we were drawn into the situation by the officers when I was recognized. We talked to the officers about what was going on and they told us that a woman had locked herself out of her truck and the fire department was going to help her get back in. After getting permission we snapped a photo of the officers and walked on.
Walking up Washington Street, we went under the Washington Street bridge along the railroad tracks. There is a significant drop from sidewalk level to the tracks, with a steep wall on both sides of the tracks in this area. Under the bridge appeared to be dirty and dingy with trash and standing water throughout in puddles of various sizes. There was also dirty and mud which caused us to have to carefully chose our path to the other side. In the areas along Walnut Street there were some signs of the old brick sidewalks. There was also significant damage to some of the curbing in the areas. One particular building, Stevens and Lee (a law firm) had some once beautiful green marble that had been chipped and damaged through time. This, in its younger days was likely a beautiful piece of architectural design, but with time, like a good bit of the city, has fallen into disrepair and appears old and worn.
The people in the Penn Street area were mostly dressed in coats and appeared to be working people from the various businesses in the downtown area. Their dress would be consistent with office support jobs and social support jobs. They were walking to a destination with little to no expression on their faces, not particularly fast nor slow, just paced. Most were female and carrying some sort of bag in addition to a purse, which was on their shoulder with a hand clutching the straps securely. There was no evidence of crime on our walk around this area other than trash in some of the smaller areas from people congregating outside of Maria’s Bar and Restaurant where people and will hangout and eat, then discard their trash in the large concrete planter.
In my observation of the area the only impact I can see regarding education levels would be the lack of middle class job opportunities in the area. Most people that would occupy those higher paying jobs that require higher education were not out walking on this day that we observed. There is evidence that this once beautiful city could once again be a thriving city, but not in the same way, it would be more diverse with different cultures thriving together.
Reading Population 25 Years and Over: Less than High School
Trenton Population 25 Years and Over Less than High School
Reading ovulation 25 Years and Over: Bachelor’s Degree or More
Trenton Population 25 Years and Over: Bachelor’s degree or More
Reading’s less than high school education
Erie’s less than high school education
Reading’s unemployment
Erie’s unemployment
The above pictures were taken in Reading PA on 11th street. It was a hot sunny day so there was a lot of people outside enjoying the weather and kids were outside playing tag and drawing on the sidewalk. In the first picture, around that area, it seemed to be vacant, no one was outside so all I noticed were the cars parked, the tree hanging down from the left side, the tree did not have any leaves yet at that specific time. In the second picture, things seem to pick up in activity level. As I mentioned before kids and adults were outside enjoying the weather in their own way. Also, you can see the drawing the kids were making on the sidewalk and looking past that you can see 3 adults and two kids. The lady to the left dressed in all black is pushing a stroller and the other kid who is carrying a ball is in front of the guy that is in the middle dressed in a black shirt, blue jeans, sneakers, and a hat. In the direction, they were heading and the fact that they are walking with a ball leads me to believe that they will probably be going the 11th and pike park which is located two blocks away from the location I was at. In the third picture, things seem to calm down again in activity level. Again I observed cars driving by as well as cars parked on the street but not many people walking by anymore. There is a yellow house in the center of row homes that stands out because all the other houses are a type of grey color. I also noticed a light post and multiple cracks in the sidewalk.
Education Level in Reading, Pa
This is another picture from the same place but different angle, here you can see a lady walking her dog. cars barely pass through here because the road conditions are very poor. the grass doesn’t look that bad but in person looks shitty. just by looking at the houses and how bad the conditions they’re in should be enough evidence to infer that the residents just don’t care. As I walked the 5 block radius, all I observed was houses literally falling apart, saw only a few people sitting in their porches, mostly Latinos in their mid 40s.
This is a picture taken near bear park in Reading,Pa. I chose to observe here because it is a pretty lonely place and a lot of fights happen around this area. as you can see, the roads is a dirt road and the houses from a far look okay but close up, they are deteriorating. every day kids from Northeast middle school walk by here and I have witnessed that most of the fights occur around here.
This is a picture from a few blocks down bear park. as you can see, it looks very poor maintained and the fact that there aren’t any houses near by makes it an ideal place for crime to occur. I felt pretty lonely walking around here to be honest. I thought that I would see more people but I didn’t saw anyone at all. These streets have been like this for years now. The garage doors are literally tearing apart that you can just push them with your hands and they’ll fall apart.
Violent Crime level in Reading, Pa
income Level in Camden,NJ
violent crime Level in Camden,NJ
