ACTION
Thanks to everyone who came out for one of last Tuesday's dueling events! We had a great time co-hosting the Funding the Civic Commons discussion with Knight, and were glad to see the huge turnout for the City's open house for bike lane infrastructure improvements in Old City and Northern Liberties.
Were you unable to attend the bike lane open house, but still want to voice your support? Send a message with the Bicycle Coalition's email tool to express support for protected bicycle lanes to Councilman Mark Squilla, and help get these projects rolling!
BECOME A MEMBER TO VOTE ON COUNCIL ENDORSEMENTS
5th Square PAC will soon be announcing a round of early endorsements for City Council before the nominating petition period opens on February 19th. Later this week, members will be receiving an email with a ballot to vote on those early candidates.
To vote on this first round of endorsements, sign up to become a member before 5 pm today.
Memberships start at a $5 a month recurring donation, and we're excited to share that we recently surpassed 100 monthly members supporting the organization! For the price of two SEPTA bus trips per month, you can help elect a better City Council in 2019.
EVENTS
Wednesday, February 6, 6:00 pm - 7:00 am
Bicycle Coalition Supporter Social
Join the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia as they welcome the Philadelphia's Director of Complete Streets, Kelley Yemen, who will review the status of the City's Vision Zero initiatives.
Thursday, February 7, 8:00 am - 9:30 am
Design Advocacy Group of Philadelphia: Designing for Equity
Join Lecturer Aaron Levy, (University of Pennsylvania), and Eduardo Rega Calvo, an architect, urban designer, and researcher, for a conversation around social equity in architectural theory from 1968 to the present. They will examine how design often exacerbates racial and socio-economic injustice, engage current design practices for social intervention, and explore challenges facing the next generation of designers and educators.
Thursday, February 7, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Weavers Way Plastics Reduction Task Force Forum
The Weavers Way Plastics Reduction Task Force is hosting a community meeting in Mount Airy concerning the proliferation of disposable plastic and its negative impacts
Thursday, February 7, 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Grassroots Advocacy for South Philadelphia: February Meeting
Guest Matt Olesh will be joining GRASP on behalf of the Philadelphia Bar Association Judicial Commission, talking all about the Bar's process for rating judicial candidates on your ballot, along with answering questions.
Friday, February 8, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Uneven Play: A Community Dinner and Conversation
Active kids are healthy kids. Playgrounds get kids moving. Yet WHYY reporters found that many public school students don’t have safe and clean places to play. Join parents, local school representatives, and WHYY reporters for a dinner conversation in Olney.
AFTER THIS WEEK
Tuesday, February 12th, 6:00 pm
Jamie for West Philly - 1st Meet and Greet
Jamie Gauthier is running for City Council's 3rd District in West Philly, and is hosting her first meet-and-greet next Tuesday at Booker's. Gauthier was most recently the Executive Director of Fairmount Park Conservancy, and prior to that, of Sustainable Business Network.
Wednesday, February 20, 7:30 pm
GRASP - 2nd District City Council: Q&A and Meet-and-Greet
Hosted by Grassroots Advocacy for South Philadelphia, their first 2nd District Council forum is scheduled for 2/20 at Guerin Rec Center, featuring Democrats Kenyatta Johnson and Lauren Vidas, who is challenging the incumbent Councilman.
Mondays and Wednesdays, March 4 – April 3, 6 pm - 8 pm
Preservation Alliance: Building Philadelphia Speaker Series
The Preservation Alliance presents a 10-part series with local architects, urban planners, archaeologists, and historians exploring the political, economic, and design trends that drove Philadelphia’s development. Topics include major urban planning projects such as the Ben Franklin Parkway and Society Hill, Philadelphia's varied architectural styles, and immigrant history.
Saturday, March 30, 9 am - 5:30 pm
TransportationCamp PHL 2019
Organized by Young Professionals in Transportation, Women’s Transportation Seminar, and Drexel University, TransportationCamp is a day filled with ideas at the intersection of transportation, technology, and urbanism. The participant-driven conference series follows the “unconference” format, lending itself to a more pertinent, thought-provoking, and active event.
NEWS
Former Fairmount Park Conservancy Executive Director Jamie Gauthier is running for City Council in the 3rd Council District in West Philly against long-serving Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell. Gauthier has run two organizations important to Philadelphia's urbanist advocacy community, Fairmount Park Conservancy and Sustainable Business Network, and previously worked for a third at LISC. 5th Square has tangled with numerous misguided proposals from Blackwell over the past few years, like that time she wanted to require City Council approval to put a planter in front of your home or store, or the time she tried to take even more power away from the Mayor to implement protected bike lanes. Needless to say, this race is going to be a critical one to watch in 2019.
The Inquirer has a very well done solutions-oriented feature all about Philadelphia's congestion issues, and solutions from around the world that could work for us. Guess what? These are the exact same things we are advocating for! Namely: redesigning streets to accommodate all users, dedicated and enforced bus lanes, decongestion pricing, and incentives for companies to deliver packages using smaller vehicles.
On WHYY's local news podcast, The Why, devotes an episode to the topic of zoning and housing affordability, Minneapolis' innovative solution to end auto-centric single-family zoning in favor of allowing three units on all lots citywide, and whether this can work in Philly. We think it can (and will), but this segment does a fair job covering both sides of the argument. It's a great entry point for learning about the connection between zoning and unaffordable housing.
WIN: Society Hill Civic Association lost their frivolous appeal of 1 Dock Street, a 31-story apartment building on the Sheraton property across the street from Society Hill Towers that is allowed by-right under the zoning code. Our Philly YIMBY initiative spoke out against the appeal, calling on the Zoning Board of Adjustment to apply the same set of zoning rules to wealthy neighborhoods as they do to less wealthy areas.
A concerning look by the Atlantic at how our cities' transportation options are failing parents with young children and those with disabilities, following on the tragic story of Malaysia Goodson, a young mother who, while caring for a one-year-old child, died after falling down a flight of stairs in a Midtown Manhattan subway station.
OPPORTUNITIES
PA State Senator Art Haywood, based in Mt. Airy and Abington, is seeking a District Represenative
NV5 consultants is seeking an Active Transportation Civil Engineer
The Pew Charitable Trusts is hiring a Coordinator for its Philadelphia Program
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is seeking Planner/Research Analyst, Transportation Planner for Freight and Aviation Programs, and a Traffic Counting Technician.
WHYY's PlanPhilly is looking to hire a reporter providing daily coverage of Philadelphia's planning and development news
The City of Philadelphia opened its application period for Recreation Leader Trainee
The J.M.K. Innovation Prize seeks non-profit and mission-driven for-profit organizations who are spearheading early-stage projects in the fields of the environment, heritage conservation, and social justice. In 2019, J.M.K. will award up to ten Prizes, each including a cash award of $150,000 over three years, plus $25,000 for project expenses, for a total award of $175,000.
CityWide Stories is seeking writers, photographers, and a social media coordinator (part time).
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. Support our advocacy with a recurring monthly contribution of $5.