Media Borough calls itself “everybody’s hometown.” In reality, the Delaware County community, located a short distance from Philadelphia, is home to just 6,000. But its “close-knit,” “Mayberry” feel has been known to extend a sense of belonging a little more than is maybe typical.
"When I drove through town, I could just feel a good vibe," CBS3 anchor Ukee Washington said in a 2018 profile of the place.
Incorporated in 1850, Media is one of the last streetcar suburbs in the United States, a fact touted by Joi Washington, the borough’s public transit- and walkability-minded mayor.
Washington, a freelance graphic designer and artist by trade, became Media’s first Black mayor and first woman mayor in last year’s election, at the age of 39, and replaced one of the longest-serving mayors in Pennsylvania, Bob McMahon, who first took office in 1992.
We caught up with Washington for the latest installment in our Meet a Mayor series, and asked about her decision to run, her local favorites, the joy of trees, and why a mayor’s phone is always on.
The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
PA Local: Why did you decide to run for mayor when you did?
Washington: Before running for mayor, I ran for borough council back in 2021.
I was inspired by, you know, the good things that people do for this community, and I wanted to make sure that I took my complaints from Facebook and applied them in real time.
I wanted to make a difference, and some of the issues that I cared about were issues that a lot of my neighbors cared about as well, like better pedestrian safety, improving the environment, taking care of our parks, and many other things.
Media seems small enough that I’d imagine you get stopped on the streets a lot with constituent concerns. Is your phone ringing all hours of the day?
Yeah, you’re pretty spot on there. It’s very close-knit, so I do feel comfortable when I have people say, ‘Hey, Mayor Joi!’ It’s usually people I know, or it’s people who follow me on my social media. My Instagram is where I’m most active.
If you had to describe Media in three words, what would they be?
Let’s see, resilient, positive, and walkable.
The Media that you see today was not the Media of 30 or 40 years ago. Now we have a very low vacancy rate on our State Street business corridor, and that’s thanks to past leadership. So I start with resiliency first, and then from that we have the positivity and the walkability that a lot of places desire, and a lot of visitors and residents also desire that.
Do you have a favorite hidden gem in Media?
Is it OK if I give you more than one?
Absolutely.
So when I walk around, the hidden gems are a lot of the trees. At the beginning of spring we have, like, a silent cherry blossom season kind of randomly around town.
There’s our public art and Glen Providence Park too.
It’s not necessarily a ‘hidden gem,’ but I feel like a lot of people think Glen Providence Park is just a big lawn. But you have to go through and find the trail, and then you just have a great time walking around in all this beautiful nature that is available to you for free.
If I’m a first-timer visiting, and I’ve got a couple of hours in town, where do you recommend I go? What should be on my list?
It depends on when you show up. In the evening, I would recommend going to a show at the Media Theater and dinner afterwards. (I think you can still get a discount if you show your theater ticket at some of the restaurants.)
If it’s a weekend morning, we have parks where you can take a good walk. Even though Media is like 0.75 square miles total, you can get a really good walk in and maybe check out the Minshall House. I think it’s the oldest house built in Media that’s still standing.
You can have brunch at one of the cafes here, and then take a walk around town. Our corridor of small businesses, they’re family-owned and very unique.
The D1 trolley goes down Main Street. Sunday farmers markets are coming up, and sometimes we might have a Sunday festival.
We’re also known for our al fresco dining events where we shut down State Street. We have the spring art show.
[Editor’s note: Washington mentioned in a follow-up call that the 108th PGA Championship Wanamaker Trophy was set to make an appearance in Media on Friday, May 1.]
Have you learned anything about the borough as mayor that maybe you didn’t know before?
One thing is that it does live up to its reputation of ‘everybody’s hometown.’ Everyone’s been very friendly. I also learned that there’s a lot of work that has to happen to solve problems.
—Colin Deppen, Spotlight PA