Newsletter: 🏆 Seeking Urbanist Awards Nominations / 🛣️ Advocate for a Safer Washington Ave / 🏞️ Keep FDR Park Wild

Weekly Newsletter, Issue 163

🏆 Nominate Your Faves for Our Annual Urbanist Awards!

We are taking nominations for the following categories through Friday, December 10th:

Urbanist Changemaker of the Year
City Staffer of the Year
Neighborhood RCO Champion
Best Development of the Year
Urbanist Media Champion
NIMBY Anti-Hero
5th Square Volunteer of the Year

Click Here to Nominate

🛣️ ACTION: SUPPORT A SAFER WASHINGTON AVE

Demand a safer Washington Avenue. Sign the petition written and sponsored by a growing number of South Philadelphia Community Organizations urging the City to proceed with safety improvements.

Sign the Petition

🏞️ KEEP FDR PARK WILD

South Philly’s FDR Park is an incredible outdoor open space, with wild fields and parklands commonly called “The Meadows” that run along the northwest end of the park, offering hours of enjoyment for visitors to hike, jog, picnic, walk their dog or explore with friends and family members alike. And with so few open spaces and parks in dense South Philly, FDR is a destination for families from all walks of life. In fact, the Meadows portion of the park was recently called Philadelphia’s “Best New Park.”

To pave over part of the park and turn it into a cash cow for city officials is an outrageous proposal.

Click the link by PennEnvironment to email Philadelphia officials and tell them to cancel this proposal today.

🔥 OUR LAST MEETUP

A big THANK YOU to every who attended our last meetup in West Philly at Woodland Presbyterian Church!

We have an exciting party in the works for mid-December to wrap up our year, along with our third annual urbanist awards ceremony. Nominate someone today!

🍂 HELP US REACH 300 MEMBERS!

Become a 5th Square member TODAY & get 50% off our sweatshirt among other member perks.

EVENTS

DVRPC / Bike Rack Prototypes Display

Wednesday, December 1st, 11:30 AM

AARP & The Bicycle Coalition / The Intersection of Transportation, Vision Zero & Transit and Greater Philadelphia's Regional Economy

Wednesday, Dec 8, 2021 01:30 PM

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and AARP-Pennsylvania will host regional experts who discuss how a sustainable and safe transportation network and transit system brings economic benefits to employers and commerce.

SURVEYS

DVRPC - Vision Zero: Cecil B. Moore: The public input period for the Cecil B. Moore Vision Zero project is OPEN NOW to January 2022. Complete the survey and provide feedback on this important VisionZero project. https://www.dvrpc.org/cecilbmoore

SEPTA Travel Survey: Fall 2021

Philly Tree Plan - Draft Plan Feedback / Share your feedback on the Philly Tree Plan! A draft of the plan is now available for public comment until Wednesday, December 1, 2021.

City of Philadelphia - Department of Streets Complete Streets Delivery Program Survey / OTIS is updating its street design guides. What would you like to see in included in future versions of our Complete Streets Handbook, Traffic Engineering Standards, and Streets Right of Way Standards?

The Park at Penn's Landing Survey / The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation is excited to learn more from the Philadelphia community about what they would like to experience at the new Park at Penn's Landing. To offer feedback, please fill out the survey below.

Transit Forward Philadelphia Bus Rider Survey / Transit Forward Philadelphia needs your help with a short (less than 5 minutes) survey. Survey responses will help make changes to SEPTA’s bus network. At the end of the survey, participants will be entered into a raffle to receive a $50 VISA gift card. Responses are very important to us and will be anonymous. The results of the survey will be shared with the public and SEPTA staff.

SEPTA Forward: Bus Revolution - Tradeoff Survey / Transit agencies like SEPTA have limited resources and they must use them as effectively as possible. This means we must be thoughtful about how we trade-off – or prioritize - different aspects of the current bus system. Below are some questions to help us understand your values so we can use those to drive the Bus Revolution forward.

SEPTA Wayfinding Metro Map / SEPTA is redesigning the wayfinding system for its rail transit network. Meet SEPTA Metro.

WHAT WE'RE READING

🌳 PUBLIC SPACE

City of Philadelphia / Public invited to bid adieu to a tree with a view

The Philadelphia Inquirer / Philly’s plan to build soccer fields and a driving range in FDR Park is sparking opposition

The Philadelphia Inquirer / Newly renovated Fairmount Park playhouse offers kids serious fun as an antidote to screen time | Inga Saffron

The Philadelphia Inquirer / Restaurants left out of Philly’s ‘streeteries’ legislation worry it will be impossible to get approval

nextcity.org / How Freeways Tore Apart Black and Brown Communities (Again), By the Numbers

🚌 TRANSIT

The Philadelphia Inquirer / SEPTA bought more hybrid buses for $178 million while it studies its options for battery electric models

transitcenter.org / It’s Time to Mobilize for the Good Transportation Projects and Stop the Bad Ones

The Philadelphia Inquirer / The infrastructure bill is big, but it won’t transform America’s focus on cars

cbslocal.com / EXCLUSIVE: SEPTA Plans To Upgrade 2 Trolley Stations With Money From Grant, Infrastructure Bill

🚴 MOBILITY

WHYY / Opinion: 101 people have died due to Philly traffic violence. It doesn’t have to be this way

The Philadelphia Inquirer / Philadelphia ends free Saturday parking in December

The Atlantic / The Deadly Myth That Human Error Causes Most Car Crashes

MSNBC.com / The case for giving every American a free e-bike

🏙️ HOUSING & LAND USE

The Philadelphia Inquirer / Philadelphia inspects only 7% of its rental units each year, Pew says

The Philadelphia Tribune / PNC donates bank branch to Urban Affairs Coalition

Oh The Urbanity! / [Video] Yes, Housing Supply Really Matters

Governing / America’s Housing Crisis Is a Disaster. Let’s Treat It Like One.

Strong Towns / Announcing a New and Improved Map of Cities That Have Removed Parking Minimums

VOLUNTEER with 5th Square

GRANT & FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

DVRPC's Public Participation Task Force is looking for new members! Applications will be open until December 19.

Want to represent your community and engage in the regional planning and decision-making process? Apply to be a member of DVRPC’s Public Participation Task Force (PPTF) today!

The mission of DVRPC's PPTF is to provide access to the planning process, host a welcoming forum to discuss and learn about timely issues, assist the Commission in implementing public outreach strategies, and to empower residents to be a part of the planning process. For more details about the PPTF, visit http://www.dvrpc.org/Committees/PPTF/.

Applications for the 2022 cohort will be open through December 19th, 2021. The application is online here: http://www.dvrpc.org/GetInvolved/PPTFApplication/.

Applications open for the city's Environmental Justice Advisory Commission

The City officially opened the application process for the first Environmental Justice Advisory Commission. The commission will provide recommendations to the Mayor, City Council, and Office of Sustainability for how to study and address environmental justice issues in Philadelphia. Ends 12/22

Robert Schalkenbach Foundation / Progress of Ideas Scholarship

The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation (RSF) was founded in 1925 with the mission to promote the ideas of 19^th century social reformer, Henry George. RSF’s Progress of Ideas Scholarship program echoes that original organizational charge in its focus on economic equity and social justice, and its drive to discern and challenge the drivers of inequality in our systems of governance and taxation.

The scholarship supports the cost of attendance for students in fields of study related to the organization’s mission. We are seeking recipients whose lived experiences have engendered in them a commitment to social justice and a drive to make the world a better place for all people. Due 1/31/22

National Safety Council / 2022 Road to Zero Community Traffic Safety Grants

The focus of the Road to Zero Grant Program is on innovative and promising approaches for implementing evidence-based countermeasures, supporting a Safe System Approach, and performing necessary research to address traffic fatalities and improve traffic safety. Ends 1/7/22

League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania / Policy & Communications Fellowship - Starting January 2022

The Policy and Communications fellowship is ideal for a Master’s level (or exceptional undergraduate) student with a passion for state government and policy advocacy. Through this experience, a fellow will hone their writing and communications skills and be able to communicate important policy information to the public and members of the League across the state. Ends 12/1/21

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

The City of Philadelphia - Streets Department / Chief Engineer and Surveyor

Fairmount Park Conservancy / Project Manager for Planning and Capital Engagement

Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office / Eastern Pennsylvania Community Preservation Coordinator

World Cafe Live / Director of Development

City of Philadelphia / VISTA Program Coordinator

Shapiro for Pennsylvania / Policy Department

WHYY / Product Manager, Digital

SEPTA / Deputy General Counsel-Corporate

Pennsylvania Democratic Committee / Various Jobs

Project HOME / Art Program Coordinator

City of Philadelphia - Office of Emergency Management / Infrastructure Program Manager

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