The 100 Steps, nestled on the edge of Philly’s Wissahickon neighborhood, is a sort of bridge to our own local Terabithea. What starts on an ordinary city street quickly descends into the wooded expanse of Wissahickon Valley Park, where miles of trails and bike paths wind alongside the creek.
When it’s sunny, neighbors walk down the staircase, open a book and take a seat. Runners use the space to exercise, doing laps up and down. Locals pop in headphones and listen to music, or pop a squat to eat their lunch.
Marquise Fields comes to the steps regularly. When we visited, he was sitting on the stairs, smoking in the shade and chatting on the phone with a friend.
“Bro, you got to come here,” Fields told his friend. “Come into the steps and just sit down after a long walk, or just chill on a Saturday afternoon. Come here, sit down, listen to music, maybe a friend’s here, have fun.”…