Jake Blumgart
@jblumgart.bsky.social
Reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer https://www.inquirer.com/author/blumgart_jake/
took a rare trip to the suburbs last night for pizza and a movie, and as Craig LaBan reported last year this place rules: www.inquirer.com/food/craig-l...
Johnny’s Pizza brings the best of Philly pan pies and New York rounds — plus killer steaks — to Bryn Mawr
In just two years, snagging a pie from John Bisceglie at Johnny's Pizza has become a challenge at prime time, while the cheesesteaks are inspiring pilgrimages from across the region.
www.inquirer.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:11 PM
took a rare trip to the suburbs last night for pizza and a movie, and as Craig LaBan reported last year this place rules: www.inquirer.com/food/craig-l...
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
That second number is critical because people feeling safe is key to cooperation and convictions.
Wow: "The homicide clearance rate this year ended at 81.98%, the highest since 1984, and the clearance of nonfatal shootings reached 39.9%."
January 5, 2026 at 10:44 PM
That second number is critical because people feeling safe is key to cooperation and convictions.
"It is a milestone worth commemorating — and mourning: Violence has fallen to its lowest level in decades, yet 222 deaths in a single city is still considered progress." www.inquirer.com/crime/crime-...
January 5, 2026 at 10:36 PM
"It is a milestone worth commemorating — and mourning: Violence has fallen to its lowest level in decades, yet 222 deaths in a single city is still considered progress." www.inquirer.com/crime/crime-...
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
1. The Bolsheviks had overthrown a democratic government, not the Czar
2. The 75 in French 75 is the field gun caliber, not the year
3. Electric cars appeared long before the petrol ones
4. Stegosauruses never saw flowers
5. In the first 90% of human history there was next to no tech/social progress
2. The 75 in French 75 is the field gun caliber, not the year
3. Electric cars appeared long before the petrol ones
4. Stegosauruses never saw flowers
5. In the first 90% of human history there was next to no tech/social progress
Here’s a fun top five: things that are consensus among historians but are essentially unknown by the public. Richard I, a bad king of England. Roman Empire, fell in 1453. Paul, more important than Jesus. Witch burning, a modern phenomenon not a medieval one. Britain last invaded in 1688. Yours?
As someone who wrote a dissertation on that damnable Frenchman; one can only hope.
January 5, 2026 at 10:33 PM
1. The Bolsheviks had overthrown a democratic government, not the Czar
2. The 75 in French 75 is the field gun caliber, not the year
3. Electric cars appeared long before the petrol ones
4. Stegosauruses never saw flowers
5. In the first 90% of human history there was next to no tech/social progress
2. The 75 in French 75 is the field gun caliber, not the year
3. Electric cars appeared long before the petrol ones
4. Stegosauruses never saw flowers
5. In the first 90% of human history there was next to no tech/social progress
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
"It does boil down to transit. Almost all of this stems from density and transit and all of those things that we are lacking in the US. It’s a long battle. We are planting trees, and we will not get to sit under their shade." -- Doug Gordon
@jblumgart.bsky.social @thewaroncars.bsky.social
@jblumgart.bsky.social @thewaroncars.bsky.social
I interviewed the @thewaroncars.bsky.social hosts about their new book, LIFE AFTER CARS. I learned a lot, but I still have a hard time imagining large scale change away from auto-dependence in the United States: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
Cars are essential to American life. They’re also toxic for the environment, humans, and society, these authors say.
Our whole society is based on car ownership. Is it even possible to change that?
www.inquirer.com
January 5, 2026 at 9:33 PM
"It does boil down to transit. Almost all of this stems from density and transit and all of those things that we are lacking in the US. It’s a long battle. We are planting trees, and we will not get to sit under their shade." -- Doug Gordon
@jblumgart.bsky.social @thewaroncars.bsky.social
@jblumgart.bsky.social @thewaroncars.bsky.social
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
The new building will add density and commercial space to Germantown Avenue.
New building will bring 46 apartments to Germantown
www.inquirer.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:01 AM
The new building will add density and commercial space to Germantown Avenue.
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
The dog-friendly's bar last day will be Jan. 3, as owners cite perpetually increasing overhead costs. Pet parents are finding the news ruff.
The Boozy Mutt, a Fairmount dog bar, will be closing after two years in business
www.inquirer.com
January 1, 2026 at 11:42 PM
The dog-friendly's bar last day will be Jan. 3, as owners cite perpetually increasing overhead costs. Pet parents are finding the news ruff.
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
“I don’t know why we can’t just acknowledge that it’s been a good thing what’s happened ... We all wanted this man gone, and now he is gone,” Fetterman said during an interview on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning.
John Fetterman praises Trump administration’s capture of Maduro in Venezuela: ‘Appropriate and surgical’
The senator, who is next up for reelection in 2028, appeared on "Fox & Friends" and is known for sometimes agreeing with those on the other side of the aisle.
www.inquirer.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:17 PM
“I don’t know why we can’t just acknowledge that it’s been a good thing what’s happened ... We all wanted this man gone, and now he is gone,” Fetterman said during an interview on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning.
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been dissolved, ending its 58 years as the primary funder for PBS, NPR and local TV and radio stations
Corporation For Public Broadcasting Is Dissolved After 58 Years Of Service
www.huffpost.com
January 5, 2026 at 8:00 PM
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been dissolved, ending its 58 years as the primary funder for PBS, NPR and local TV and radio stations
I interviewed the @thewaroncars.bsky.social hosts about their new book, LIFE AFTER CARS. I learned a lot, but I still have a hard time imagining large scale change away from auto-dependence in the United States: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
Cars are essential to American life. They’re also toxic for the environment, humans, and society, these authors say.
Our whole society is based on car ownership. Is it even possible to change that?
www.inquirer.com
January 5, 2026 at 8:15 PM
I interviewed the @thewaroncars.bsky.social hosts about their new book, LIFE AFTER CARS. I learned a lot, but I still have a hard time imagining large scale change away from auto-dependence in the United States: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
ICYMI over the holidays: I wrote about housing policy in Montgomery County! www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
How Montco is addressing homelessness with an unusually bipartisan effort
Montgomery County's leaders have been committing more of their limited resources to housing policy in recent years.
www.inquirer.com
January 5, 2026 at 8:11 PM
ICYMI over the holidays: I wrote about housing policy in Montgomery County! www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
Bad news for starter homes: "Builders have been constructing bigger and bigger homes during the past half-century. Homes with four or more bedrooms made up nearly half of all new construction in 2022...That compares with 1 in 5 in the 1970s." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Why America stopped building the ‘starter home’
Concepts about starter homes seem inconsistent with today’s prices and expansive floor plans, leaving many first-time homebuyers with few options.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Bad news for starter homes: "Builders have been constructing bigger and bigger homes during the past half-century. Homes with four or more bedrooms made up nearly half of all new construction in 2022...That compares with 1 in 5 in the 1970s." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
WH sources say Venezuela's opposition leader committed the "ultimate sin": She accepted the Nobel Peace prize.
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
January 5, 2026 at 3:02 AM
WH sources say Venezuela's opposition leader committed the "ultimate sin": She accepted the Nobel Peace prize.
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Check out our interview with @jblumgart.bsky.social about Life After Cars!
Our whole society is based on car ownership. Is it even possible to change that?
Cars are essential to American life. They’re also toxic for the environment, humans, and society, these authors say.
www.inquirer.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Check out our interview with @jblumgart.bsky.social about Life After Cars!
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
As a native Midwesterner and perpetual renter who has spent the past decade living in Boston, I’d come to view broker fees as an inescapable part of big-city life.
The one really great thing about renting in Philly, according to a Boston transplant
www.inquirer.com
January 4, 2026 at 4:39 PM
As a native Midwesterner and perpetual renter who has spent the past decade living in Boston, I’d come to view broker fees as an inescapable part of big-city life.
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Josh Hawley minimizes talk of a presidential run.
But recent moves and statements have kept him in the national spotlight
www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...
But recent moves and statements have kept him in the national spotlight
www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...
Josh Hawley bats down talk of 2028. But is he setting up a run for president?
Josh Hawley minimizes talk of a presidential run. But recent moves and statements have kept him in the national spotlight.
www.stltoday.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Josh Hawley minimizes talk of a presidential run.
But recent moves and statements have kept him in the national spotlight
www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...
But recent moves and statements have kept him in the national spotlight
www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
People have no idea how contagious measles is or how explosively outbreaks can spread. Very dangerous.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/inter...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/inter...
January 3, 2026 at 12:52 AM
People have no idea how contagious measles is or how explosively outbreaks can spread. Very dangerous.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/inter...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/inter...
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
DOGE: Fake savings, real damage and pain. Great reporting here from a @nytimes.com team. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little?
www.nytimes.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:48 PM
DOGE: Fake savings, real damage and pain. Great reporting here from a @nytimes.com team. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
How the AI ‘bubble’ compares to history ft.trib.al/lrIzq5Y
How the AI ‘bubble’ compares to history
US stock valuations are higher than before 1929 Wall Street crash but the dominance of a single sector has precedents
ft.trib.al
December 30, 2025 at 3:54 PM
How the AI ‘bubble’ compares to history ft.trib.al/lrIzq5Y
Great reporting: "However, residents of Jabo professed surprise at the strikes, saying the projectiles had landed in empty fields, causing no casualties, and that Jabo had been relatively shielded from violence. The last attack by militants had occurred two years ago..." www.ft.com/content/99d2...
Why bomb Sokoto? Trump’s strikes baffle Nigerians
US missile attacks on Christmas Day hit a part of Nigeria’s north-west that is almost entirely Muslim
www.ft.com
December 29, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Great reporting: "However, residents of Jabo professed surprise at the strikes, saying the projectiles had landed in empty fields, causing no casualties, and that Jabo had been relatively shielded from violence. The last attack by militants had occurred two years ago..." www.ft.com/content/99d2...
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
The Germantown apartment boomlet continues, with another project from Ken Weinstein: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
New building will bring 46 apartments to Germantown
The new building will add density and commercial space to Germantown Avenue.
www.inquirer.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The Germantown apartment boomlet continues, with another project from Ken Weinstein: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
The Germantown apartment boomlet continues, with another project from Ken Weinstein: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
New building will bring 46 apartments to Germantown
The new building will add density and commercial space to Germantown Avenue.
www.inquirer.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The Germantown apartment boomlet continues, with another project from Ken Weinstein: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Good read: How NASA is keeping us safe from killer asteroids (yes, there's an office for that).
via @washingtonian.com
via @washingtonian.com
Inside NASA’s Mission to Defend Earth From Deadly Asteroids
Our Solar System contains tens of thousands of potentially dangerous asteroids that could wipe out an entire city, or worse. In Washington, a NASA office is leading efforts to spot and neutralize Eart...
washingtonian.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Good read: How NASA is keeping us safe from killer asteroids (yes, there's an office for that).
via @washingtonian.com
via @washingtonian.com
Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Rite Aid and Iron Hill Brewery were among the companies that closed for good this year. Some beloved small businesses also shuttered.
A look back at Philly-area businesses that didn’t survive 2025
www.inquirer.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Rite Aid and Iron Hill Brewery were among the companies that closed for good this year. Some beloved small businesses also shuttered.