An Observation of Reading | Mapping Reading: A Project by Sociology Students at Penn State Berks

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 8^th Street to 3^rd 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 6^th 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.