🚨 ACTION ITEMS

🚲 Parking-Protected Bike Lane Petition

Parking-protected bike lanes are a great way to make our bikes lanes safer and lower stress, but they are illegal in PA! The Bicycle Coalition is fighting for their legalization. Sign their petition to show your support for safer bike lanes!

🚫 Grays Ferry Is Not a Parking Lot

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is proposing a 1,000-vehicle parking garage at 30th and Grays Ferry Avenue. This garage would be over 70 feet tall, reserved for employees, and would require a separate shuttle service. Sign our petition telling CHOP: Don't Treat Grays Ferry as a Parking Lot

🛣️ Stop I-95 Expansion

PennDOT is planning to expand I-95 in Center City and South Philly by adding lanes and new ramps. This will threaten the well-being of our neighborhoods by worsening air quality, increasing noise pollution, harming our access to the waterfront, and destroying sports facilities. To make matters worse, PennDOT has been deceitful about its engagement efforts.

Join us in telling PennDOT that highway expansion has no place in the core of Philadelphia by signing our petition.

EVENTS

Postcard Writing for a Safer Castor Ave
Tuesday, September 2, 03:00 PM | Northeast Regional Library, 2228 Cottman Ave
Let your elected officials know that you support the Castor Avenue Safety and Streetscapes Improvement project by sending them a postcard!

PBA Concrete Now Protest Ride
September 5 @ 5:45 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. | Art Museum Steps
An internal city memo has revealed a recommendation to install concrete curb protection on ONLY HALF of the Spruce and Pine bike lanes—compromising everyone’s safety for the convenience of a vocal minority. Join the ride to tell city leaders, paint is not protection, concrete now!

Bike Ride for a Safe Germantown
Saturday September 6th, 10am | Fernhill Park, 4600 Morris St
Join State Representative Andre Carroll, representatives from the City of Philadelphia, and community groups for a press conference and bike ride.

Market St. Bike Ride in Support of Local Businesses During Bike Lane Construction
September 6th at 10am | 2nd and Market (start and end)
Philly Bike Action is holding a relaxed-pace 6 mile bike ride to support local Old City businesses along the Market St corridor through the construction of its protected/sidewalk-level bike lanes. Coffee/snacks provided beforehand and attendees are encouraged to get lunch from local businesses following the ride.

We're Getting Bare: a Burlesque Benefit for Philly Public Transit
Friday, September 12 · 7 - 9:30pm | Club 624, 624 S 6th St
Attend for an evening of entertainment, education, and sexy civic action. From Frankford to Fern Rock, we’re showing our love for Philly’s busses, trains, and trolleys with scintillating striptease, variety acts, guest presenters, and simple steps for supporting Philly’s beloved and beleaguered transit system.

Bikeout 2025: Philly to Schwenksville
September 13 - 14 | Art Museum to Camp Kweebec
A celebration of Philadelphia's beautiful trails, this ride will travel from the Museum of Art along scenic waterways to a summer camp in Montgomery County.

Webinar: Underwriting Services Funding in Supportive Housing
September 15, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM | Virtual via Zoom
This webinar will highlight new tools from CSH to help supportive housing funders understand the fundamentals of tenancy support services, how to assess services budgets, and how to evaluate services budgets that include funding from Medicaid.

2025 Northwest Schuylkill River Trails Summit
Saturday, September 27th at 9:30AM | Venice Island Performing Arts & Recreation Center, 7 Lock St
The Bicycle Coalition will be hosting an exploration of current and future trail projects in Northwest Philadelphia and Lower Merion Township. Following the presentations, there will be facilitated discussions covering maintenance, programming, and advocacy to increase expansion of the Circuit Trails network.

September 5th Square Meetup
September 30, 2025 at 6:00pm – 8pm | Resurrection Philadelphia, 123 S 17th St
Join us in Center City for our September meetup where we will be welcoming Nick Anderson, Executive Director of the Parkway Council who will share updates on the current plans to redesign the Parkway.

Inaugural Montgomery and Bucks Counties Trail Summit
Saturday, Oct. 11, 10 a.m. to 12pm | Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust
The Circuit Trails, Bucks County Planning Commission, East Coast Greenway, Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, National Memorial Trail and Montgomery County Planning Commission are hosting the inaugural trail summit including presentations, networking opportunities, and field trips.

WHAT WE'RE READING

🏙️ HOUSING & LAND USE

• WHYY / Philly zoning board approves proposal to replace Hoa Binh Plaza

• Inquirer.com / A home builder explains why Pennsylvania is an expensive place to build

• PhillyBurbs / Bucks County supports attainable, affordable housing 'as long as its built somewhere else'

• pew.org / How States and Cities Decimated Americans’ Lowest-Cost Housing Option

🌳 PUBLIC SPACE

🚌 TRANSIT

• Inquirer.com / SEPTA fare increases and Regional Rail cuts can’t start next week, judge rules

• 6abc Philadelphia / Philly allocates $135M to restore some SEPTA bus routes for students

• usa.streetsblog.org / The Fall of Philadelphia

• Inquirer.com / Why funding SEPTA in a divided Pennsylvania is one of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s biggest tests yet

🚲 MOBILITY

• NBC10 Philadelphia / 2 dead, 1 hurt after driver strikes 2 men on Roosevelt Boulevard, police say

• Transportation For America / If safety is our top priority, we actually need to measure it

• Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia / Popular Dentist Killed by a Driver at a Schuylkill River Trail road crossing in Norristown

• Spotlight PA / Red light traffic cameras could expand across Pennsylvania

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

City of Philadelphia

• Senior Project and Policy Coordinator, Sidewalk Program
• Senior Project Coordinator, Public Space
• Deputy Planning Director

DVRPC

• Planning Fellowship
• Capital Program Planner

Reinvestment Fund / Manager, Research Operations, Policy Solutions

PHDC / Director, Real Estate

5th Square is Philadelphia's urbanist political action committee.

We're an all-volunteer grassroots organization advocating for safe and affordable transportation, abundant housing, and more and better public spaces. You’re receiving this email if you signed up via our website, attended one of our events, or supported one of our advocacy campaigns. 

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