We have exciting news to share about Cobbs Creek Parkway! At a virtual stakeholder meeting hosted by Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center last Thursday, PennDOT and the Philadelphia Streets Department shared some promising plans to improve safety along Cobbs Creek Parkway. Continue reading

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Larry Spector has penned an impassioned and very lawyerly letter to the mayor about how he and his coalition have worked really hard to come up with a totally awesome bill that is totally not about keeping people out of Society Hill. They really need it to get passed because they worked really hard on it for two whole years. We won’t go line-by-line through Spector’s screed, and we won’t try to guess at the coalition’s intentions or motivations. (They claim something to do with historic preservation, which they hope to accomplish by requiring new parking lots to be built.) We will lay out some facts of the bill, and the impact it will have. You can decide whether this bill would be “not racist” and “not exclusionary”. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 127 🌆 TELL MAYOR KENNEY: VETO EXCLUSIONARY ZONING OVERLAY IN SOCIETY HILL Councilmanic Prerogative won another round for exclusionary zoning, and City Council passed Councilmember Mark Squilla's zoning overlay for Society Hill. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 126 🌆 REJECT EXCLUSIONARY ZONING IN SOCIETY HILL Society Hill NIMBY ('Not in My Back Yard') activists have been lobbying Councilmember Mark Squilla to help them make their neighborhood even more exclusive. Despite the Mayor vetoing this push last year, the bill is back and likely to pass City Council THIS THURSDAY. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 125 🚴 BIG WIN FOR GRAYS FERRY BRIDGE Remember that petition for a westbound protected bike lane on the Grays Ferry Avenue Bridge we published last year? PennDOT and the City heard our request and is making it happen! PennDOT anticipates that a modular curb system with flexible delineator posts will be installed by the end of November 2020 on the westbound side of the Grays Ferry Avenue Bridge over the Schuylkill River. This means that both westbound and eastbound sides of the Grays Ferry Avenue Bridge will have protected bike paths! Continue reading

Remember that petition for a westbound protected bike lane on the Grays Ferry Avenue Bridge we published a little over a year ago? We just got an exciting update from PennDOT! PennDOT anticipates that a modular curb system with flexible delineator posts will be installed by the end of November 2020 on the westbound side of the Grays Ferry Avenue Bridge over the Schuylkill River. This project safety enhancement will make the boundary between the westbound bike lane and the adjacent vehicular traffic lane more visible to both drivers and bicyclists. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 124 🏞️ PETITION FOR A SAFER COBBS CREEK PKWY For far too long Cobbs Creek Parkway has been a deadly thoroughfare weaving through the western edge of West and Southwest Philadelphia. PETITION TO CHANGE THIS TODAY Continue reading

By Larissa Mogano, For 5th Square On Thursday, newly elected Register of Wills and 50-year resident of Southwest Philadelphia Tracey Gordon held a press conference at the entrance to the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center to address traffic safety concerns along one of Philadelphia’s most dangerous roads: Cobbs Creek Parkway. Jokingly dubbed “NASCAR” by other longtime neighbors, the topic of the press conference was definitely no laughing matter. We gathered to remember yet another young life lost in a completely preventable incident. 25-year-old Avante Reynolds leaves behind a 2-month-old baby after she was violently killed by a driver who left the scene. While we are frustrated with the careless and callous actions of one individual, the responsibility is not theirs alone. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 123 🛣️ RECOVERY STREETS - EXCITING NEWS TODAY: Join us for a webinar about our Recovery Streets Platform and hear about the progress Philadelphia has made to date plus exciting new initiatives.  Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 122 ⭐ CLAIM YOUR FREE SHIRT ⭐ We need just 7 more sign-ups in order to reach 200 members.   Help us reach this milestone before the end of summer and build for important advocacy and election campaigns coming up! We are now offering all new member sign-ups a FREE 5th Square T-Shirt delivered to your home. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 121 ⭐ FREE SHIRT OFFER ⭐ We need just 13 more sign-ups in order to reach 200 members.  Help us reach this milestone before the end of summer and build for important advocacy and election campaigns coming up! Become a member today & get a FREE 5th Square T-Shirt delivered to your home. Join us today to help support our advocacy and electoral work for a better, more sustainable Philadelphia! Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 120 ⭐ FREE SHIRT OFFER ⭐ Become a member today & get a FREE 5th Square T-Shirt delivered to your home. We need just 18 more sign-ups in order to reach 200 members. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 119 ⭐ FREE 5TH SQUARE SHIRT! ⭐ Become a member today & get a FREE 5th Square T-Shirt delivered to your home. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 118 ⭐ NEW MEMBER SIGN-UP OFFER ⭐ We are thrilled to kick-off a limited-time membership drive today. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 117 ⭐ BIG WINS FOR SEPTA FARES ⭐ After an extended advocacy period for SEPTA's new fare structure - set to kick in NEXT WEEK - we got news from a SEPTA board committee meeting that the agency is proposing the following changes in the 11th hour: Continue reading

We at 5th Square are thrilled to see SEPTA’s Budget, Planning, and Information Technology Committee recommend changes to their fare restructuring plan that move substantially in the direction of our Fair Fares advocacy platform. We thank all the volunteers who made calls, gave testimony before SEPTA, and spoke about these issues with their elected officials.  Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 116 🥇 2020 PRIMARY ELECTION VICTORIES After an exceptionally long campaign season followed by weeks of waiting for mail-in ballots results, the dust has settled and we finally know the winners in all of the races we endorsed in. Continue reading

5th Square provided the following oral testimony to Philadelphia City Council's Committee on Streets and Services on June 15th, 2020. We are testifying in support of Bills #200351, and #200352 - which make it easier for restaurants city-wide to operate sidewalk cafes, and authorizes the Streets Department to reallocate street space for the use of people during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 115 🌇 SUPPORT EMERGENCY HOUSING PROTECTIONS 5th Square supports the Emergency Housing Protection Act proposed by Councilmembers Gym, Brooks and Gauthier, and calls on the full City Council to pass the 5 bills voted out of committee.  Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 114 BLACK LIVES MATTER We take this moment to bear witness to the tragic murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and mourn every Black and Brown life lost due to racist actions and policies. Continue reading

HEY PHILLY VOTERS! Still haven't voted yet? This thread will list all the options you have to vote, from now until 8PM on Election Day (which is Tuesday)! Continue reading

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Weekly Newsletter, Issue 113 Primary elections are now on June 2nd due to COVID-19 -- request your mail-in ballot today and get it in by next Tuesday, May 26th! SUPPORT THE RECOVERY STREETS PLATFORM Continue reading

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Weekly Newsletter, Issue 112 Primary elections are now on June 2nd due to COVID-19 -- request your mail-in ballot today! 📫 DID YOUR MAIL-IN BALLOT ARRIVE? Many of our members got ours in the mail last week! Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 111 ENDORSEMENTS 5th Square is pleased to announce our 2020 endorsements for PA State House! The primary election is coming up on June 2nd and we are encouraging everyone to maintain social distancing by requesting their mail-in ballot today. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 110 ACTION 🚇 Sign TODAY to Support our Fair Fares Agenda! 🚍 Continue reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, April 22, 2020 5th Square is proud to announce its endorsement for the following candidates for State Representative in this year's 2020 Democratic primary elections. Vanessa McGrath for the 175th District Malcolm Kenyatta for the 181st District Brian Sims for the 182nd District Elizabeth Fiedler for the 184th District Morgan Cephas for the 192nd District Darisha K. Parker for the 198th District Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 109 ACTION 🚇🚍🚆 Last week 5th Square released our 2020 Fair Fares Platform and we want you to show your support to help win these important changes when SEPTA votes this May. Continue reading

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Weekly Newsletter, Issue 108 ACTION: Save Public Transportation! Contact your members of Congress and tell them to save public transportation Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 107 EVENTS Out of an abundance of caution, 5th Square is indefinitely postponing all our scheduled events and meet-ups.  Thank you for your interest and we hope to resume these meetings soon! Continue reading

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Weekly Newsletter, Issue 106 BIG ANNOUNCEMENT Come to the big launch event this Thursday to kick-off Philly's new transit advocacy coalition Transit Forward Philadelphia! Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 105 ACTION SEPTA is considering making transfers free when they vote on their new fare policy this spring, but it's not a done deal just yet. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 104 ACTION 5th Square kicks off our candidate endorsement process starting TODAY.  Our endorsement process is only open to our membership. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 103 ACTION We are gearing up for the 2020 Election Season!  Pennsylvania's primary is early this year on April 28th because of the Presidential election, and candidates running for state office will be on the ballot too. Learn about the state of the primaries and meet some of the candidates running at our monthly meet-up. Continue reading

SEPTA Market-Frankford train by Ben Schumin / CC BY 2.0 The Market-Frankford El is, once again, afflicted by new cracks in the steel beams inside the subway cars. SEPTA spent over $3 million on a specialized repair facility for this issue last fall, and another $15 to $18 million is needed for a permanent fix. The repairs are slated to take several years, negatively impacting the number of trains available for service. Why is the public just finding out about it now? Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 102 5th Square will be holding our 2020 candidate endorsement votes in mid-February. Become a member today for as little as $5 a month to vote on our candidate slate in this year's state legislative primaries. Primary elections are on April 28th this year, so make sure to register to vote online or update your voting address.  Continue reading

ACTION Join us Wednesday, January 15th for 5th Square's first monthly meet-up of the year, at Dock Street Brewery South from 6-8 pm.Our monthly meet-ups are a great way to get to know 5th Square members and volunteers, hear from guest speakers on urbanist topics, and start to get involved in transportation and planning politics with us and in your neighborhood. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 100 RETROSPECTIVE Welcome to the 100th edition of 5th Square's newsletter, our first of 2020. In this special edition, we want to take a pause to reflect on some of our accomplishments as a team over the past year and offer a peek at our plans for 2020. Continue reading

Thank you to everyone who attended our year-end Holiday Party and Urbanist Awards ceremony at Radio Kismet on December 18th! Continue reading

2019 was a banner year for 5th Square, Philadelphia's urbanist political action committee. As we celebrate our fifth year as an organization and our second City council cycle, we reflect on the impact we've made around important urbanist causes for better mobility, housing, and public space. Continue reading