Focusing on what can be gained, instead of what was lost | Morning Newsletter

Well, look at this — we made it to Friday once again. Congratulations! But before you totally unplug for the weekend, thanks for opening this email for a look at what you need to know today, courtesy of The Inquirer Morning Newsletter.

Today, we take a look at Temple’s Ambler campus, which was devastated by remnants of Hurricane Ida and will likely take decades to restore. Sad, yes. But university leaders are taking a glass-half-full approach and focusing on what can be gained through this.

And then we dig into Philly’s crazy housing market. Did you know homes are selling quicker than ever — and at astronomically high prices?

Also Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius believes the coronavirus vaccine led to a sub-.220 batting average this season. We understand that when you’re on a $28 million contract you have to blame something for your lackluster performance, but the vaccine? Needless to say, we consulted area experts who had all the science to debunk that myth.

All right, let’s get into it — and remember, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Send us a reply, and let’s start a conversation.

— Sam Ruland (@sam_ruland, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Graduate student John Harre was in class at Temple University’s Ambler campus when the internet went out, then the power, and he heard what sounded like trees banging, rain pounding, and hail hitting.

He guided students to shelter in a downstairs hallway to wait out the storm. But when the skies cleared and he walked outside, he said what he saw broke his heart.

A tornado — courtesy of Hurricane Ida — had ripped through the heart of the 187-acre Montgomery County campus. Roofs were damaged on most buildings, but even more painful, an arboretum that for decades has been an outdoor learning laboratory for more than half of its 1,000 students was ravaged.

Plants and trees, some more than 100 years old, were twisted at the base or so heavily damaged they had to be taken down. Canopies that used to provide ample shade for students, faculty, and area residents were decimated.

Officials are saying it will take decades to restore. So now what? Campus leaders and educators are trying not to focus on what was lost, but instead what can be gained.

They see their new outdoor learning space as a “disturbance” lab where students for months, years — even decades — will come to study the lasting effects of nature’s fury, including the impact of climate change.

Read more about the trauma Temple’s Ambler campus endured and what recovery will look like from reporter Susan Snyder.

The housing market is hitting one of the biggest booms in recent memory and showing no signs of letting up. It’s a market that largely requires cash in hand and the gumption to put in an offer not just in days, but in hours.

In Philly, homes on busy streets, along train tracks, and next to the roar of I-76 and I-95 — properties that would have trouble selling in years past — are selling quicker than ever. Realtor Brian Stetler, an agent based in Society Hill, lists homes for sale midweek, and by the following Monday, he’s reviewing offers with his sellers.

Even before the pandemic helped push the housing market into overdrive, sales and prices had been on an upswing in the region. Pending home sales in the Philadelphia metropolitan area in the month of August shot up from about 8,400 in 2012 to more than 15,500 in 2021, and the region’s median sale price jumped more than $100,000.

That’s good news for homeowners who have held on to their properties, but it’s a challenge for aspiring home buyers whose wages haven’t kept pace and who don’t have funds from prior home sales. Plus, the supply of homes on the market remains at a historical low. In August 2012, the Philadelphia region had more than nine months’ worth of housing supply — last month, the region’s supply stood at less than six weeks.

It’s a market unlike anything we’ve ever seen before – and yet, it’s the only market first-time buyers have ever known.

The full report, brought to you by reporter, Michaelle Bond.

It’s a big day. Hope y’all woke up on the right side of the bed. Thanks for sharing, @kslouf.

Tag your Instagram posts with #OurPhilly, and we’ll select a favorite each day to feature here and give you a shout-out.

💉 As employers and hospitals grapple with the Biden administration’s new mandate to vaccinate or test adults for the coronavirus in large workplaces, public-health experts say valuable lessons can be drawn from what has worked at the school level in vaccinating younger people against other diseases. So can you guess which states are best at requiring vaccines? They’re probably not the ones you’d think.

⚾ Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius blames the worst season of his career on an elbow condition he says developed after he was vaccinated for COVID-19. He claims the shots caused him to develop pseudogout — a form of arthritis. But one medical expert says that has “nothing to do with the vaccine.”

🎨 After going viral, artist Miguel Antonio Horn talks about his new Philly sculpture ‘ContraFuerte.’ The eight-piece structure of human-like figures, made of aluminum plates, floats about 20 feet above ground on a bridge that connects two buildings on Cuthbert Street.

🐒 The Philly Zoo is starting to vaccinate animals for COVID-19. A total of 113 animals at the zoo will receive the two-dose experimental vaccine produced by Zoetis, a former subsidiary of Pfizer.

🍔 Grubhub, DoorDash, and other food-delivery fees in Philly could be permanently capped under a new proposal to limit the fees, which can cost 20% to 40% of a delivery check — “almost the entirety of restaurants’ margins.”

“It is difficult to avoid viewing this agreement through the lens of the department’s performance. At a time of unprecedented gun violence, the efforts of the city’s officers have failed to produce the kind of results that Philadelphians need ... Particularly after months of marches, demands, local legislation, and promises from elected officials,” writes the Inquirer’s Editorial Board about the new Philly police contract.

“Quiet legs, everything is fine.” 🚲 🚲 🚲