City Avenue

Hi everyone,

My name is Thomas Hagen (he/him), I’m 27 and I grew up in Montgomery County near City Avenue, which features in the perimeter walks between Overbrook Station and Baltimore Avenue.

While volunteering on a radio show with PhillyCAM and WPPM in 2024, I created this podcast full of interviews with kids and teens growing up in the Penn Wynne and Overbrook neighborhoods.

WPPM Block By Block: County Line Lessons

These neighborhoods sit right beside each other along either side of City Avenue, but Penn Wynne has mostly wealthier white families with children in affluent Main Line schools and Overbrook has mostly Black families with children in under-resourced Philadelphia schools. I talked with young people in each location about what it’s like growing up in their neighborhood, and their rare experiences traversing City Avenue to visit the neighborhood across the county line.

If anyone gets the chance to listen, feel free to leave responses in the comments, especially if you live in this area. If anyone wants to talk more about this project in person, I will be on the walk this Monday February 17 from Baltimore Avenue to Overbrook Station with family and friends.

-Thomas