Earlier in the winter, Philly Skyline and I wandered around the 24th Ward/George’s Hill Reservoir, taking in the workings of the res, the derelict Tonka toys, the mouse body surgically sliced in two. Recently, Skyline mentioned (at my prompting) that not using the reservoir land was a missed opportunity for the city; though not having the tallest flagpole in the world at Belmont Plateau is probably a more grievous oversight.

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For much of its history, Pennsylvania has been a practical place. Its land and cities places of productive industrial activity. Yet in either urban or rural contexts, the dogged drive to release stores of energy, to accumulate capital, and secure raw materials has gravely threatened public health. Whether to prioritize the rights of capital over public health is one of the quandaries municipal governments faced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most cities, lacking progressive rationale for improvements in public health, accepted seasonal epidemics only until they threatened the peace and stability of a capitalist order.

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