Weekly Newsletter, Issue 294 🚲 MAYOR'S RESPONSE TO PETITION After 5th Square, the Bicycle Coalition, and Philly Bike Action organized a petition calling for concrete bike lane protection, we delivered the 6,000+ signatures to Mayor Parker. Though the initial reception was a bit icy, Mayor Parker acknowledged the petition last week and spoke to bike advocates, promising to "begin community engagement immediately" for OTIS's Spruce/Pine proposals. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 293 🚲 CLEAR BIKE LANES If you've biked down Spruce or Pine Streets on a weekend, you've likely encountered a lot of parked cars blocking your way--even more than the typical weekday bike lane obstructions! Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 292 🏒 THE IMPACT OF I-95 RECONSTRUCTION PennDOT is working on a project to reconstruct (read: widen) I-95 in Center City and South Philly and they've not exactly been engaging with Philadelphians in good faith. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 291 🚲 INDEGO SINGLE RIDES ARE BACK Ever wanted to use an Indego bike to help you reach a spot that's tough to get to by SEPTA but didn't want to fork over $15 for a day pass for just wanted a single ride? Continue reading

Responding to a Right-to-Know request, PennDOT released the full results of their I-95 planning study survey for Center City and South Philly. Looking at the written comments in the released results, we found a majority of respondents oppose the plan in all of the survey areas. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 290 🔰 LAND VALUE TAX PANEL + MEETUP TONIGHT Tonight at 6:00 PM, we are hosting our July Monthly Meetup which includes a panel discussion on Land Value Tax co-sponsored by the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.   Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 289 💔 TRAFFIC VIOLENCE CRISIS This past Wednesday was an especially tragic day for traffic violence. A pedestrian on Allegheny Ave was killed in Kensington, a woman was left in critical condition by a hit-and-run in Germantown, and a pediatric oncologist killed while biking on Spruce St.  Continue reading

Press Release: Reaction to Traffic Violence Citywide and Fatal Rittenhouse Crash FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, July 18, 2024 PHILADELPHIA — Yesterday, traffic violence left two neighbors dead and a third critically injured. A 30-year-old woman was killed while biking in Rittenhouse in a high-speed car crash, a man in his 50s was struck and killed while standing on a corner in Kensington, and a 26-year-old woman was critically injured after being struck while crossing a street in Germantown. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 288 🏛️ SPRUCE HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT APPROVED After a long battle from housing advocates, the Philadelphia Historical Commission has voted to designate the southeast quadrant of Spruce Hill as a historic district. 5th Square and other pro-housing advocates opposed the district due to our concerns that it would increase rents and home prices. Continue reading

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 287 🔰 LAND VALUE TAX MEETUP Philadelphia and other cities across the US face a shortage of housing and yet our cities are also blighted by vacant or underutilized land -- in Philadelphia, there are about 30,000 privately owned vacant lots. What's more, oftentimes a 'speculator' will buy a vacant lot, wait for the neighborhood to gentrify, and flip the vacant lot for a profit without the landowner doing any work to increase the value of the land! What can we do about these related problems of housing shortage, blighted and underutilized land, and extractive speculation? Continue reading