East Falls, uphill from the river.

East Falls sits on the east bank of the Schuylkill, zip 19129, with Kelly Drive along the water and the ground rising steadily from the river, across Ridge Avenue and up the hill. The housing changes as you climb. Near the river and the avenue it is mostly rowhouses and twins, with small front yards, a few steps up to the porch and a narrow back yard. Up the hill the lots get larger and the houses are more often detached, with side yards and back yards that fall away in one direction or another. Thomas Jefferson University’s East Falls campus sits up the hill along School House Lane and Henry Avenue.

Slope is the constant. Soil and mulch creep downhill, beds wash out at their low edge, and a lawn on a pitch thins where the water runs fastest. Front steps and walks on these streets were often set on a shallow base, and after enough freeze-thaw winters the treads tip and the joints open. Back yards on the downhill side of a house collect what comes off the roof and the yard above. On the smaller lots, access is its own problem: material often moves by hand or wheelbarrow through a side passage or the house itself, which shapes what is practical to build.

Most of what gets asked for here is hardscape that deals with grade: rebuilt front steps and walks with a real base and proper pitch, low retaining and garden walls that hold a bed or terrace a yard into usable ground, and drainage that carries roof water away from the foundation. On the larger lots, planting work is mostly renovation, replacing overgrown foundation shrubs and resetting beds under mature trees. Maintenance means mowing on lawns that are rarely flat, pruning, and fall leaf cleanup.