September 28: Catalyze maker community | SEPTA panic captured | Divine Lorraine lobby

SEPTA regional rail passengers capture the panic that ensued following a ‘loud bang’ and subsequent self-evacuation Wednesday evening. For more details on the equipment failure that triggered the mass panic, check out Jim Saksa’s coverage of the assumed but non-existent fire.

Developer Eric Blumenfeld shows off the latest meticulous renovations to the Divine Lorraine’s lobby, the Inquirer’s Caitlin McCabe reports. Blumenfeld shares his very jazzed and positive outlook for North Broad, reflecting on the success of his previous apartment projects priced on average at $1,600 to $1,700 a month, and looking forward to the next major development in his portfolio, the Metropolitan Opera House.

Make magazine and Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty has some advice on how Philadelphia officials can equip and amplify the maker community. Dougherty, who toured NextFab in South Philadelphia, gives global context and emphasizes cultivating spaces that are accessible to different generations, cultures, and genders to build community and grow economies.

While Philly was never part of the Confederacy, the city still grappled with “racism and bigotry,” writes Jared Brey. As the nation debates the purpose and place of public monuments, Philly unveiled this week a statue years in the works. Brey covers the timely celebration of the Octavius Catto statue and why the best conversations on public monuments are happening in our city.

New Jersey needs to “increase the diversity of their housing options” if it wants to keep millennials from moving to other states, says Tim Evans, New Jersey Future’s research director. Evans advises municipalities to provide a mix of “smaller attached housing, apartment buildings, single-family homes on smaller lots” to attract young wage earners looking for affordable living options.