Philadelphia
Streetsblog Basics
The Backstory and Aftermath of Philly’s Teen Bicycle Freeway Takeover
Perhaps you saw video on social media this week showing hundreds of teenagers riding bikes, popping wheelies on a Philadelphia expressway. It was an unauthorized freeway takeover that ought to have brought a smile to even the sourest face.
April 28, 2017
New Philly Mayor: Politicos Can No Longer Park on the City Hall Sidewalk
The Jim Kenney administration is off to a promising start in Philadelphia. One of the mayor's first acts in office was to end the thoroughly obnoxious practice of letting government honchos park on the sidewalk "apron" around City Hall -- a public space.
January 7, 2016
Miraculous! Philly’s Open Streets Open Eyes During Papal Visit
The official name for it was the "traffic box" -- the 4.7-square-mile chunk of center city Philadelphia where incoming motor vehicles weren't allowed when Pope Francis was in town this weekend. But rather than the traffic nightmare some anticipated, something wonderful happened: #popenstreets.
September 29, 2015
The Philadelphia Bike Story
Of U.S. cities with more than a million residents, the one where people bike the most is Philadelphia. In 2012, the U.S. Census estimated Philadelphia’s bicycle commute rate at 2.3 percent [PDF], higher than Chicago (1.6 percent) and New York (1.0 percent).
May 12, 2015
Bike-Share Comes to Philly With the Launch of Indego
On Thursday, Philadelphia's long wait for a bike-share system came to an end with the launch of the 60-station, 600-bike Indego system, which is set to expand in the near future. At the kickoff, volunteers and officials -- including Mayor Michael Nutter -- rode about half of those bikes to their docking stations.
April 24, 2015
Philly Urbanists Launch Political Action Committee to Shake Up City Council
In a move that may mark, in the words of Philadelphia Magazine, "New Philadelphia's political awakening," a group of Philly urbanists launched a political action committee earlier this month to support candidates who will reform local land use, transportation, and taxation policies.
January 21, 2015
Four Mayors on Why They’re Building Out Their Cities’ Bike Networks
A growing number of mayors want to make big strides on bike policy, and they need smart advocates to help them do it.
September 9, 2014
Can Snow Inspire Better Streets? It Already Has.
Sneckdowns are having a big moment. In case you've missed the viral blog posts and major press coverage, sneckowns (a contraction of "snowy neckdowns" popularized by Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson Jr. and Streetsblog founding editor Aaron Naparstek) are leftover snow piles on city streets that show space that could easily be reclaimed for pedestrians.
February 12, 2014
In Philly, Housing in Walkable Places Held Up Better Than Suburban Housing
It's been a bad few years for homeowners around the country, and those in greater Philadelphia are no different. But people who owned houses in Philadelphia's center city or suburban areas near a walkable town center fared better than others.
November 9, 2012
“The Porch” at 30th Street Station Welcomes You to Philadelphia
For nine months now, Philadelphia's awesome new public space "The Porch" has been flying under the nation's livable streets radar.
August 3, 2012