ACTION ITEMS 

Despite over 800 people signing our petition opposing City Council's latest attack on safe streets for biking and walking, we're hearing Council may have the votes to pass bill No. 180134, that would require a City Council ordinance whenever any regular painted bike lanes are upgraded to protected bike lanes, or undergo any other modifications. Sign and share our petition to tell them to rescind the bill. Then, call your Councilmember and log their response on our Whip Count spreadsheet.

Do you want a vote on 5th Square's political endorsements in the 2018 primary elections? Become a member by March 6th to become a voting member and get involved with our electoral work this year. Membership comes with access to 5th Square's Slack channel, members-only events and briefings, and advance registration opportunities for events.

EVENTS

NEWS

Mayor Jim Kenney claims to be committed to a street-sweeping program, but don’t expect to see any cleaners on your block anytime soon. The city declined on Thursday to comment on a specific timeline for a program or a pilot. The news comes on the heels of the release of a new data mapping tool that shows that most of the city’s trash is litter that could be picked up by one person — or more effectively, by street-sweepers. The interactive, geo-located Litter Index maps the heaviest concentrations of litter and illegal dumping in the city’s poorest neighborhoods. But even though the city has better, and more coordinated information about where litter exists, they still aren't ready to commit to sweeping it away, as Mayor Kenney promised during his 2015 campaign. Spokesman Mike Dunn named three major obstacles to bringing back the service: a lack of “citywide buy-in; the impact on parking and overall cost." Read and share this op-ed by 5th Square's West Philly organizer and Not in Philly founder Dave Brindley on why bringing back streetsweeping is a must.

Affordable housing nonprofit Mission First Housing Group and community-oriented services organization Horizon House broke ground on a four-story community services and retail complex at 59th and Market streets on Friday. The $50 million New Market West development promises to transform a trash-strewn lot partially occupied by a parking lot, an abandoned house and a gas station into a 137,700-square-feet, retail-fronted complex that provides space for early childhood education, workforce development, and educational, emergency, behavioral health services. A $15 million second phase of construction will bring 40 units of affordable housing to the site, located in the shadow of the El Station at 60th and Market streets. City and state officials present at the groundbreaking said that the tax credit-subsidized development would revitalize an area that saw businesses close and street life lost during a decade-long renovation of the Market-Frankford line chugging overhead.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority is now exploring the possibility of using cameras already mounted on SEPTA’s buses to keep people from parking in bus stops. Officials estimated that up to 2,000 times a day a vehicle blocks a bus stop in the city including delivery trucks, ride-share pickups, or cars stopped while drivers run errands. If more aggressively enforced, the number of violations could initially generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue for the PPA. Blocking the bus stop, SEPTA officials said, creates problems for passengers who are unable to step into the vehicle, is less safe to board or get off the bus, and also worsens traffic problems. The Philadelphia Parking Authority has the authority to enforce bus stop parking violations, but typically only does when enforcement personnel see the violation. To make it happen, though, would likely require new legislation from Harrisburg to authorize the use of SEPTA’s cameras for enforcement.