💸 The new luxury Wildwood | Morning Newsletter

Good morning. We’re promised mostly sunny skies this Sunday, with a high near 75.

Priced out of other Shore towns, homebuyers have turned their attention to Wildwood. Now, homes there are selling for $1 million or higher. Amy Rosenberg finds out why — and quizzes us on their prices.

Further down, see Philadelphia through the views of its municipal workers.

— Paola Pérez ([email protected])

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Wildwood might not be the first place you think of when you hear “luxury homes” down the Shore.

“Wildwood is that last spot you can actually be able to afford something,” said Carli Quinn, broker manager of the North Wildwood office of DeSatnick Real Estate.

But with its latest eye-popping price tags, it appears the town is on its way to join the out-of-reach club.

Take one property that sold as vacant land in 2018 and cost $95,000. In April, the new single family home on the lot sold for over $899,000, nearly 10 times the original price.

But it doesn’t stop there. In North Wildwood, $2 million-plus is now considered typical, according to Quinn.

From new constructions, to renovated old homes, to properties on the water — and also your basic beach houses — test how well you can scope out the new luxury Wildwood.

🎤 Now I’m passing the mic to my colleague Ariana Perez-Castells.

More than 180 years ago, Joseph Saxton was working at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia when he pointed a camera of his own creation out the window, capturing what is now the oldest surviving photograph in the country.

Last year, Emilio Martínez Poppe returned to the location, now home to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, to capture a new image. Its sharpness, color, and complexity are in stark contrast to the blurry snapshot from 1839, of what was then Central High School and the Philadelphia Armory.

A white window frame forms the outside of the image, with orchids and a plastic watering can arranged on the sill along the bottom. Philadelphia’s Masonic Temple, a national historic landmark built in 1873, can be seen in the middle of the image, while the top of City Hall, designed in the French Second Empire style, peeks from the left.

Martínez Poppe learned about the original photograph as a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. Returning to the site was a “full circle moment,” he said.

For several years, Martínez Poppe has been visiting municipal buildings in Philadelphia to photograph views from the inside out. He has documented what city workers see from their windows, and heard their reasons for choosing a career in public service. — Ariana Perez-Castells

See some of Martínez Poppe’s photographs and learn more about his project, titled “Civic Views,” ahead of its exhibit opening on Friday, May 23.

What was the most popular name for girls born in Pennsylvania last year?

A) Charlotte

B) Olivia

C) Sophia

D) Amelia

Think you know? Check your answer.

Hint: The president’s oldest daughter

AMP IVAN KURT

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to William West who correctly guessed Saturday’s answer: Bruce Springsteen. After “The Boss” called Trump’s administration “treasonous” at an England show, the president hit back at the rocker’s “atrophied” skin and said he is “not a talented guy.”

🎶 Today’s track goes like this: “Esto es cosa nuestra, no creo que lo entiendan.” Arts and culture reporter Rosa Cartagena put it perfectly: At his Philly concert, Puerto Rican crooner Rauw Alejandro proved that romance isn’t dead. Fans dressed to the nines danced the night away, heels and all. It was an excellent “musical theatre experience.”

One more musical thing: If you ever needed a piece of music to tell you it’s all going to be OK, classical arts writer Peter Dobrin says it’s Courtney Bryan’s House of Pianos. The piano concerto will be performed this afternoon by Network for New Music with Bryan as soloist.

👋🏽 That’s it for now. Have a nice day.