Kevin Riordan

Haddon Heights

Urbanism and Built Environment Reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer

I’m a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter who covers development and preservation issues. 267-815-0975/[email protected]. Reposts are not endorsements.

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Articles

St. Joseph’s Carpenter Society opens East Camden job skills center and community hub

3 days ago | inquirer.com | Kevin Riordan

As it continues to rebuild East Camden’s housing stock, the St. Joseph’s Carpenter Societyis adding vocational and job readiness services — and sharing expertise its has gained over the last 40 years. Student interns, aspiring construction workers, and neighborhood residents who want to learn how to improve their own houses are welcome at the nonprofit’s new workforce training and community resource center at 29th and Federal Streets.
London’s great fire of 1666 helped make South Jersey America’s ‘patterned brick’ capital

1 week ago | inquirer.com | Kevin Riordan

For years, author Robert L. Thompson heard fellow historians rave about the jazzy exterior wall designs of South Jersey’s 18th-century patterned brick farmhouses. These geometric arrangements of structural bricks in contrasting colors, typically found on a single side of a house, “are really beautiful,” said Thompson.
A new cat hotel and spa in Mount Laurel offers purrfect getaway for felines

1 week ago | mahoningmatters.com | Kevin Riordan

Most cats can make themselves comfortable anywhere. It's just how they roll. But when it comes to boarding a beloved feline, humans often have anxieties, expectations, and wish lists. Local cat owners who seek to elevate their pet's experience during a weekend getaway or a longer vacation will soon have a fresh option: the Happy Cat Hotel & Spa. The first Philadelphia-area location of the Connecticut-based franchise is scheduled to open next month in Mount Laurel.
A new cat hotel and spa in Mount Laurel offers purrfect getaway for felines

1 week ago | inquirer.com | Kevin Riordan

Most cats can make themselves comfortable anywhere. It’s just how they roll. But when it comes to boarding a beloved feline, humans often have anxieties, expectations, and wish lists. Local cat owners who seek to elevate their pet’s experience during a weekend getaway or a longer vacation will soon have a fresh option: the Happy Cat Hotel & Spa. The first Philadelphia-area location of the Connecticut-based franchise is scheduled to open next month in Mount Laurel.
A block in Fishtown didn’t qualify for a speed bump so neighbors tried installing their own

3 weeks ago | inquirer.com | Kevin Riordan

Weary of heedless drivers speeding down their kid-friendly block, residents of Crease Street in Fishtown concluded that speed bumps could help. Turned out the tight-knit, one-way 1200 block doesn’t quite meet Philadelphia’s minimum width requirements for installation of traffic-calming devices. That 20 people under 18 live on the block didn’t seem to matter. So neighbors, including those who helped create the popular Crease Street Garden, decided to go rogue.
Historic Main Line home sparks debate over who decides when buildings should be protected

1 month ago | inquirer.com | Kevin Riordan

A distinctive house in Bryn Mawr is inspiring a lively public conversation about property rights, historic preservation, and the character of Lower Merion Township. Designed in 1900 by esteemed Philadelphia architect William Lightfoot Price, the house at 17 Elliott Ave. is raising concerns due to its deteriorating exterior and its owner’s opposition to the township classifying his home as historic.
Classic movie theaters are making a comeback around Philly

1 month ago | mahoningmatters.com | Kevin Riordan

Brick-and-mortar theater owners in South Jersey, Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania suburbs, and Delaware view the death of moviegoing as greatly exaggerated. "No one is going to the movies anymore? That's something Netflix is trying to tell you," said Art Helmick, whose company operates the Main Street Movies 9 in Newark, Del., and several other multiscreen cinemas in the Diamond State. His firm is also behind the proposed $15 million Deptford multiplex on Clements Bridge Road.
Frustrated Cherry Hill residents bemoan disruptive makeover of Route 70

1 month ago | mahoningmatters.com | Kevin Riordan

Ponzio's Nick Fifis is hardly the only person in Cherry Hill with questions about the reconstruction of Route 70. "People are are constantly asking me, 'When is it going to end?'" he said from the diner, bakery, and bar his family has owned since the 1960s on Route 70 at Brace Road. "There doesn't seem to be anyone working in some of the areas where [barriers] are up," Fifis said.
Frustrated Cherry Hill residents bemoan disruptive makeover of Route 70

1 month ago | inquirer.com | Kevin Riordan

Ponzio’s Nick Fifis is hardly the only person in Cherry Hill with questions about the reconstruction of Route 70. “People are are constantly asking me, ‘When is it going to end?’” he said from the diner, bakery, and bar his family has owned since the 1960s on Route 70 at Brace Road. “There doesn’t seem to be anyone working in some of the areas where [barriers] are up,” Fifis said.
Classic movie theaters are making a comeback around Philly

1 month ago | inquirer.com | Kevin Riordan

Brick-and-mortar theater owners in South Jersey, Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania suburbs, and Delaware view the death of moviegoing as greatly exaggerated. “No one is going to the movies anymore? That’s something Netflix is trying to tell you,” said Art Helmick, whose company operates the Main Street Movies 9 in Newark, Del., and several other multiscreen cinemas in the Diamond State. His firm is also behind the proposed $15 million Deptford multiplex on Clements Bridge Road.