Daily Writers,
First, I would like to applaud all of you for excellent journalism with the Philadelphia Exposed section of yesterday's Daily.
I am from Philadelphia and would agree that gun violence is a major - if not the most major - problem with the city's attempt to achieve world-class status.
As you may or may not know, Philadelphia was recently written up by National Geographic as America's "next great city."
As I'm sure you will all concur after your experience in Philadelphia, that distinction will not be lived up to if such problems are not corrected in a substantive way.
In lieu of this, I would like to thank you for increasing the awareness of such a problem and would encourage you to follow up with your report.
Philadelphia was America's first great city and has the potential to be great again, but with 380 murders in one year, no one will set foot in many sections of Philadelphia.
No doubt this kind of violence must be reckoned with before major economic and developmental improvements can be made to these neighborhoods.
Keep up the good work!
Erik JohansonLA '06
