Love Philly? So do we. Let’s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today.
Laurance Rosenzweig has visited the High Point Cafe’s “mothership” store almost every day over the last four years. The thing that keeps him coming back and feeling connected to his Mt. Airy community? Conversation.
“We’re all very passionate about what we believe; we’re willing to argue about things, but usually in a good way,” he said. “[Mt. Airy] is for people who want to feel more connected than they might just in a normal urban setting.”
On a sunny Wednesday morning, Rosenzweig found himself speaking to those of his neighbors outside High Point – Miriam Peskowitz and Pierre Trombert.
Peskowitz said it is spaces like High Point Cafe that help keep Mt. Airy residents connected.
“I love coming here in the morning,” she said. “I’m a writer, and I come here to think about things. I talk about things, I laugh, I giggle, I catch up on the news, the gossip. I feel part of a community of thinkers and artists.”
Meg Hagele founded High Point Cafe’s initial location on Carpenter Lane in 2005. A Mt. Airy native, Hagele spent time in Seattle in the early 1990s, where she started as a barista and then opened a coffee shop.
But, family brought her back to Mt. Airy.
“I thought, ‘we need coffee in this town,’” she said. “So we found this spot right by the Weaver’s Way Co-Op, which I was a member of since a kid, and it was just very clear that that was going to be really the spot for me.”
Since then, Hagele opened another shop outside of Richard Allen Lane SEPTA station in 2008, and a production facility in 2015.
Peskowitz said both locations serve different purposes for the customers.
“Allen’s Lane, that’s the afternoon High Point, because you can take your computer, they have Wi-Fi, and you can still talk to people there, but that’s the like when you want to do some work and also talk to people,” she said. “Carpenter Lane is morning High Point, because you would not bring your computer here. This is talking High Point.”
A haven for community
As a Mt. Airy institution, High Point Cafe started with a focus on relationships and community building, Hagele said.
“One of the things that’s really important to us is relationships, and so we really don’t want you to just talk to the cashier, and then they have a conversation with the barista, and then translation happens, or you forgot a detail,” she said. “So we always [have our customer conversation] start with our barista.”
Almost six years ago, High Point’s General Manager Virginia Gjidede started coming to High Point for coffee before heading into work. She said the vibe was different from the start.
“You go to many coffee shops, and usually it’s a lot of people on laptops or headphones, whereas at these shops, the neighbors are actually sitting and talking to each other about any number of things,” she said. “Whatever’s going on in the world is also happening at High Point. People are discussing things, people are meeting, they’re having dates, they’re meeting their mom, whatever it is.”
Hagele explained that Mt. Airy’s vibe is steeped in friendliness and connection. She wanted her coffee shop to reflect this.
“Mount Airy is historically an intentionally integrated community, and you really feel that here,” she said. “I say we are diverse in everything but political orientation, which is sort of the only way we can have the rest of the diversity, but there really is a warm and welcoming kind of environment.”
And High Point Cafe is not the only staple in Mt. Airy. Hagele, Gjidede and several High Point customers our team spoke to for this story are all members of Weaver’s Way Co-Op – a cooperatively owned food market with a location right on Carpenter Lane.
“We’re more about community, and Weaver’s Way is not just a local grocery store, we’re a gathering area,” said Anh Vongbandith, the store’s Mt. Airy manager. “We’re about education, community service, and we have a lot of outreach programs where we help the community in their needs.”
The store’s history is steeped in Mt Airy.
“It all started in 1973 when a small group of neighbors got together, and they just wanted something healthy, but that they can afford,” said Vongbandith. “So they all came together at Ashley Summit, right down the street here, and formed this co-op, and then it just grew, and here we are today.”
Vongbandith likens Mt. Airy to the “Cheers” character Norm – a character with a positive, friendly attitude that could always be found at the Cheers bar.
“Everybody here is a ‘Norm,’” she said. “When they walk in, we know their names, we know what they’re looking for, we know what they like, and if we have a special product that just came in, we actually walk them to the product and say, ‘Hey, look, we got this in for you today.’”
A space for all
Rosenzweig, who has lived in Mt. Airy for 26 years, has found his people in the neighborhood.
“I think it would be very hard to actually convey the real feeling of being in Mount Airy to somebody who had never been here just in words, but it’s sort of like an incredibly well-connected, benevolent group of people who want to be in community,” he said.
He can be frequently found shopping for local produce at Weaver’s Way Co-Op, or running the conversation at a table outside of High Point Cafe.
“One time we were having a big conversation, all the tables together, and somebody was like, ‘hey, could you guys like make a little room? It’s a sidewalk,’” he said. “And then I said that it reminded me of this is the way the ancient Greeks did philosophy and politics. They did it in the agora, which was the marketplace and the most public and most central part of the city. And this feels like that. It’s like we’re doing all of this thinking out loud together, right in the middle of where people are walking and getting coffee and shopping for groceries, because it’s all one connected thing.”
Philly-based creative Pierre Trombert has lived in Mt. Airy for four years. Originally from France, he has spent time all over, including prior stints in different parts of Philly and New York City. But nothing was quite like Mt. Airy for him.
“It is like a little village in Europe, in France, and the people are wonderful,” he said. “You meet interesting people, like writers, painters, and sculptors.”
Peskowitz agrees. As we spoke outside of the High Point Cafe, several other residents walked by and said hello to her.
“I live down the street, and my block is a cocoon,” she said. “I know everybody. We’re hosting a party this weekend for new neighbors.”
And the Weaver’s Way Co-Op on the same block harnesses that same energy, Vongbandith said.
“Everyone knows each other, everyone waves to each other, it’s not just a co-op, it’s a family, and our community is an extension of the largest family out there,” she said. “It takes a village, and we are the village.”
If you’re looking for somewhere new in Philly to explore and get your coffee, Hagele said High Point has options for everyone.
“We started making our own chocolate sauce, we make our own chai, and we have a whole bunch of different homemade syrups, along with 24 to 30 different pastries every day,” she said.
She said she hopes High Point can be a bright spot in visitors’ days, and continue to be a space where people can enjoy Mt. Airy.
“We’re not brain surgeons, we’re not curing the world’s ills, but we’re just that place where it’s just nice,” she said.
