A photo of the July 4, 2003, street fair
at the old firehouse, taken from Cedar Park.

Originally uploaded by Studio 34: Yoga | Healing | Arts

A good May 27 CityPaper article tells the story of how our neighbors a few blocks down Baltimore Avenue helped turn Cedar Park from a trouble magnet to a community focal point. They enlisted the aid of Philly’s Community Design Collaborative, who recommended, above all, the removal of the ugly chainlink fence that surrounded the vestpocket park. It took (too much) time and effort to get the city to agree, but eventually the fence came down. Local politicians, groups and individuals kicked in nearly a quarter-million dollars to renovate the park, and today it gleams.

One nit to pick: the article says the park got cleaned up once a year, for a spring street festival. This July 4, 2003, pic of the old firehouse across the street from the park shows that there was at least one other annual tidying.