Philadelphia
Basics
New Philly Mayor: Politicos Can No Longer Park on the City Hall Sidewalk
The Jim Kenney administration is off to a promising start in Philadelphia. One of the mayor's first acts in office was to end the thoroughly obnoxious practice of letting government honchos park on the sidewalk "apron" around City Hall -- a public space.
January 7, 2016
Will the Pope’s Visit Lead to Massive Car-Free Days in Philly?
Since Pope Francis's visit this weekend, #pOpenstreets has become a rallying cry in Philadelphia. The hashtag has turned into a collective record of photos and insights about the surprising amount of fun and freedom that city residents enjoyed when 4.7 square miles of the city center went car-free.
October 1, 2015
Miraculous! Philly’s Open Streets Open Eyes During Papal Visit
The official name for it was the "traffic box" -- the 4.7-square-mile chunk of center city Philadelphia where incoming motor vehicles weren't allowed when Pope Francis was in town this weekend. But rather than the traffic nightmare some anticipated, something wonderful happened: #popenstreets.
September 29, 2015
Bike-Share Comes to Philly With the Launch of Indego
On Thursday, Philadelphia's long wait for a bike-share system came to an end with the launch of the 60-station, 600-bike Indego system, which is set to expand in the near future. At the kickoff, volunteers and officials -- including Mayor Michael Nutter -- rode about half of those bikes to their docking stations.
April 24, 2015
Philly Urbanists Launch Political Action Committee to Shake Up City Council
In a move that may mark, in the words of Philadelphia Magazine, "New Philadelphia's political awakening," a group of Philly urbanists launched a political action committee earlier this month to support candidates who will reform local land use, transportation, and taxation policies.
January 21, 2015
Vision Zero Momentum Builds From Philly to Portland
This Friday, more than 200 movement leaders for safe transportation will gather in New York City for a symposium on Vision Zero -- how New York and Sweden did it, and how their city can too. New York’s leadership on the issue has been inspiring: If you can make it (to zero) there, you’ll make it (to zero) anywhere.
November 10, 2014
Change Coming to Famous Philly “Sneckdown” Street, But Is It Enough?
Do you remember this image? Jon Geeting at This Old City used this touched-up photo, taken after a huge snowfall in Philadelphia, to illustrate how lots of asphalt at this intersection could be repurposed to make it more pedestrian-friendly. His post was a viral event in the great "sneckdown" mania this winter, which called attention to how leftover snow patterns can help envision safer street designs.
September 18, 2014
Four Mayors on Why They’re Building Out Their Cities’ Bike Networks
A growing number of mayors want to make big strides on bike policy, and they need smart advocates to help them do it.
September 9, 2014
Jury Awards “Precedent-Setting” $2.4 Million to Doored Cyclist
In a decision that local advocates say delivers a “strong message” to drivers, a Philadelphia jury awarded a cyclist $2.4 million in damages earlier this month for injuries she sustained in a 2011 collision.
June 18, 2014
Is Philly’s 24-Hour Subway Service the Wave of the Future?
This weekend, Philadelphia ran subways all night on two of its lines for the first time in 23 years, and ridership jumped. The city normally runs a night-owl bus that mirrors the subway between midnight and 5 a.m., but the early Sunday morning subway ridership this weekend was 35 percent higher than the average for the bus.
June 18, 2014