📰 5TH SQUARE IN THE NEWS

KYW Newsradio / City Council committee advances bill to restore loading zones on Spruce and Pine streets

The residents who sued are still opposed, but Russell Richie, of Fifth Square, argued they’re in the minority.

“Results from hundreds of survey responses show overwhelming support for loading zones.”

🚨 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

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.

Safer Streets -- A Billy Penn Town Hall
October 2, 5:30-7:00 p.m | Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine St
Billy Penn will be exploring what's been done to make our streets safer for people walking and biking, and what else the city could do to make our streets a safe place for everyone.

Finding Philadelphia's Missing Middle
October 6th, 5:30pm - 8:00pm | Center for DesignPhiladelphia, 1218 Arch St
This event highlights the finalists of the 2025 John Stewardson Memorial Fellowship in Architecture and the Community Design Collaborative’s citywide initiative, Finding Philadelphia’s Missing Middle Housing, supported by AARP and AIA Philadelphia

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.

Philly Bike PoC Inaugural Ride
October 11th, 1pm | North Philly Peace Park
Join Philly Bike PoC on their inaugural ride at a social, no-drop pace ending at a Jamaican restaurant.

Belmont Speedway Family Picnic
October 12 @ 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | West Fairmount Park
PBA will be calling attention to unsafe roadway conditions in Fairmount Park while having a family-friendly good time.

Overbuilt: Book Talk and Conversation with Erick Guerra
Monday, November 10 · 12 - 1pm | Meyerson Hall, 210 South 34th Street
Penn Institue for Urban Research will host the author of Overbuilt for a discussion exploring how outdated policies, flawed funding systems, and misguided metrics led to the overbuilding of the U.S. roadway network

WHAT WE'RE READING

🏙️ HOUSING & LAND USE

• Inquirer.com / City Council seeks to subject West Philly university land dispositions to public oversight

• Vox / Churches want to build affordable housing. Why are cities stopping them?

• Inquirer.com / The former Painted Bride building will soon be demolished to make way for apartments

• Planetizen / Delaware Governor Could Force Cities to Upzone

• Journal of Urban Affairs / Testing the chain of inclusion: Examining if upzoning changes the housing supply and demographics of places using national data

• The Chestnut Hill Local / Ken Weinstein’s SEPTA project moves forward

🌳 PUBLIC SPACE

• Philadelphia Magazine / A Century Later, the Parkway’s Grand Vision May Finally Come True

• Inquirer.com / Philly Rail Park could expand as new federal ruling clears the way

• thenewurbanorder.substack.com / Can Pedestrian Pop-Ups Go Permanent in the U.S.?

🚌 TRANSIT

• The Chestnut Hill Local / Capital funds and the risk for SEPTA

• Inquirer.com / Former SEPTA chief Leslie Richards will lead a Penn transportation research initiative

• cbsnews.com / Philadelphia attorney who filed lawsuit over SEPTA service cuts plans to file another over fare increases

🚲 MOBILITY

• audacy.com / City Council committee advances bill to restore loading zones on Spruce and Pine streets

• nextcity.org / These Residents Built a $10,000 Bike Lane in Atlanta

• FOX 29 Philadelphia / 77-year-old woman killed after hit-and-run in West Philly; suspect sought: police

• NBC10 Philadelphia / Boy hit by car outside of Southwest Philly day care, director says

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Feet First Philly / Public Space Mini-Grant (Apply by 10/1) | Info session recording

Clean Air Council / Trail Outreach Coordinator

Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation / Policy Analyst

Old City District / Policy & Outreach Coordinator

SEPTA / Planning Project Manager

DVRPC / Procurement and Contracts Specialist

Committee of Seventy / Communications Director

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

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