Kensington Avenue (Philadelphia, Somerset: crime, tax, living in)

[Osito]

I've been reading articles about the drugs and prostitution on Kensington Avenue, but they're a few years old. I was just curious of things had turned around at all, or what Kensington Avenue is like today. These are some of the articles I've read. I wish there was a way to find out what's new with the people featured in these articles. I hope they turned their lives around as some of them had been clean for years before.

Philadelphia's Kensington Avenue: Heroin, Prostitution, and No Police - The Daily Beast

A Night on Kensington Avenue

Kensington Blues: Portraits and Stories of Prostitutes in North Philadelphia | Feature Shoot

[jazzy jeff]

I would imagine it is pretty much the same, and by the way the hookers in the pics from the third link look like beauty queens compared to some of what I have seen down there. Makes me wonder how desperate some people are for sex.

[Larry Bowa]

There's a stronger police presence now, especially around Kensington and Somerset, but the area is still riddled with drugs, crime and prostitution.
Krysta (from the third link) is clean, living in the NE and working at the SPCA.

[123noname321]

I can only speak for K&A (Kensington and Allegheny Avenues) its still very shady a lot of drugs and there isn't that big of a police presence there.

[s1oozne]

I wouldn't really call either of the publications those two "articles" are in to be examples of good journalism, and almost everything in them is written by outsiders from the suburbs and from their point of view. I wouldn't consider the third piece of "photojournalism" unbiased either. It seems pretty clear it's meant to be "art", not to be an accurate, unbiased portrayal of the people or of the situation there.

[Larry Bowa]

Originally Posted by s1oozne

I wouldn't really call either of the publications those two "articles" are in to be examples of good journalism, and almost everything in them is written by outsiders from the suburbs and from their point of view. I wouldn't consider the third piece of "photojournalism" unbiased either. It seems pretty clear it's meant to be "art", not to be an accurate, unbiased portrayal of the people or of the situation there.

No, it's pretty accurate. And what's the difference if the journalists are from the suburbs?

[s1oozne]

Originally Posted by Larry Bowa

No, it's pretty accurate. And what's the difference if the journalists are from the suburbs?

I said not meant to be accurate, and you can't tell me it's not supposed to be reinforcing a "theme".

They bring their suburban bias and viewpoints with them. Just like that photographer, they're not trying to be objective or unbiased but to reinforce a theme.

[Larry Bowa]

Originally Posted by s1oozne

I said not meant to be accurate, and you can't tell me it's not supposed to be reinforcing a "theme".

They bring their suburban bias and viewpoints with them. Just like that photographer, they're not trying to be objective or unbiased but to reinforce a theme.

The theme there IS drugs, prostitution, crime and poverty. Of course, it's not all the residents ... There's law-abiding, tax paying citizens and legitimate business in Kensington, but nefarious activity dominates.

[rohirette]

It's still a mess.

[s1oozne]

Originally Posted by Larry Bowa

The theme there IS drugs, prostitution, crime and poverty. Of course, it's not all the residents ... There's law-abiding, tax paying citizens and legitimate business in Kensington, but nefarious activity dominates.

Obviously but I wasn't disputing that. I was saying that rather than objectively portraying somewhere and the people there, they were reinforcing a theme, typical lazy "journalism". Rather than get into the whole complex situation, they just took the easy way out and did a "this place is awful and the people are meant to be stared at and looked down upon" piece.