Category: Urbanism

No comments

PGW, Darrell Clarke, and the Papers

  By Philadelphia, Public Policy, Urbanism

In a city that, despite its recent growth, has a poverty rate of 30.2% and schools that have been devastated by deep budget cuts, our two daily newspapers are now crusading to….sell the gas works. In a city that has suffered from a governor who demanded those education cuts and a mayor who was ineffective in blocking them, our two daily papers are now crusading…to make City Council President Darrell Clarke, public enemy number one. This crusade is, fortunately for Philadelphia, not working. Unless I missed a protest at Council or sit-in at Dilworth Park, the city is not rallying to the cause of selling PGW or tarring and feathering Darrell Clarke. Nor should they. The sale of PGW proposed by Mayor Nutter remains a bad deal. And outside of a couple of blocks in Center City and a few pages on Facebook, most Philadelphians know it. I explained the… Continue reading

No comments

The dangers of Philadelphia’s zoning code revision for neighborhoods

  By Neighborhoods, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Urbanism

I’ve been predicting for some time that the Philadelphia zoning code revision is going to be the next flashpoint for progressives. I’ve been concerned that a zoning code commission heavily weighted towards developers will attempt to limit the power of community groups to guide development in their neighborhoods. So I’m not surprised to that at YPP Matt Ruben has pointed out that a provision in the zoning code revision would undermine the impact of community groups over the zoning process. Matt and others have suggested some ways to improve the process. I’m not yet sure we have the best solution although some of the ideas put forward on that thread are good starting points. But one problem with the whole reform process is being missed in this discussion. Paul Boni points out that community groups generally are welcome at the ZBA, Planning Commission, and Historical Commission. This is true and… Continue reading

No comments

Save the Broad Street buildings

  By Philadelphia, Urbanism, Zoning

Yesterday, the State Department of General Services (DGS), which is building the Convention Center Expansion, ignored a ruling by the State Historical Commission, and started demolishing two historic buildings that stand in the path of the new building. This is doubly disappointing. It is important that we save these buildings. And the way in which the DGS, and our political leaders, are acting is truly despicable. Evidently it was too expensive to violate the trust of the people the way we usually do them in this state–which would have meant that the demolition would have started at 2 am. Instead, the state has acted at the next most nefarious time, when the holiday season is upon us and we were celebrating, among other things, a decision that we thought would protect these buildings. The whole story is below. Read it. And then email Governor Rendell and ask him to order… Continue reading

No comments

Towards a Beautiful Politics: The Next Great City Initiative

  By Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Urbanism

Neighborhood Networks, the organization I helped found, was one of the early supporters of the Next Great City initiative. So I was there last week when its ten point program to provide “renewed energy and strength to our neighborhoods and city” was unveiled. I was also one of the folks who, from time to time, criticized the initiative for not being bold enough. Sure, we need to improve transit stops as the Next Great City suggests. But we need much more dramatic improvements in our transit system. Yes we need to adopt modern zoning. But, even more we need a bottom up process by which neighborhoods can adapt a reformed zoning code to their own circumstances. Of course we need public access to our waterfronts. But, to do that, we need to stop the casinos and develop a plan that finds space along the waterfront for everything that belongs there—parks,… Continue reading

No comments

Progressives, Nutter, and Crime

  By Criminal Justice, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Urbanism

One of the themes of my political work over the last few years, and of my campaign for a council at large seat, has been that we Philadelphians have consistently failed to look outside the city limits to learn about innovative public policies adopted in other cities in the US and around the world. Some recent posts by progressive on crime—including Ray Murphy’s harsh critique of Michael Nutter’s crime proposals—show that this is a problem of the left as much as the right. Continue reading

No comments

Take action to repeal Act 193

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Urbanism, Zoning

About two months ago I blogged about Act 193. Now is the time to take action to repeal it. Act 193 threatens the rights of Philadelphia community groups to protect our neighborhoods from harmful development. Community associations—and city-wide groups like SCRUB and the Preservation Alliance—rely on zoning to prevent bad development that undermines our quality of life. We fight zoning variances that would allow new developments that is out of character with our communities. And, if we lose at the Zoning Board of Adjustment, we appeal their decisions to the courts and win there. Continue reading

No comments

Neighborhood Defense.org kickoff

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Urbanism

Press Release Neighborhood Defense.org kicked off its effort to repeal Act 193 today at a press conference at City Hall. Neighborhood Defense.org is an alliance of Philadelphia community associations and civic groups working to protect their longstanding rights to appeal decisions of the Zoning Board and other city agencies that regulate land use. On Monday, Neighborhood Defense.org launched a website where individuals and community organizations can register their support for the repeal of Act 193. The website will be used to fax and email state representatives and senators and create local networks of community activists who will contact and lobby their legislators. Continue reading

No comments

Political disaster strikes city neighborhoods

  By Philadelphia, Urbanism, Zoning

The City of Philadelphia suffered a disaster this week. It was not a natural disaster or an act of terrorism, but a disaster created by our political leaders. Recent rulings by Philadelphia Common Pleas Judges have undermined the right of community organizations and neighborhood groups to appeal variances granted by the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA). As a result, the right of these organizations and groups to even appear in front of the Zoning Board has been called into question. Continue reading

No comments

Gar Alperovitz and the next left

  By Economic Development, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Urbanism, US

In April I had the pleasure of introducing the noted political economist Gar Alperovitz at an event sponsored by the Weavers Way Cooperative in Mt. Airy. The following essay is an expanded version of my introduction. They to point to the lessons we can learn from Alperovitz and how those lessons are already being put to work in my own community, Mt. Airy. During the Carter presidency people began to notice that liberals were running of out ideas for making our country more just and democratic. Carter may have been wrong to attribute the difficulties of his presidency to a nationwide “malaise” but as a description of liberal political thought, the term seemed appropriate. At the time, my teacher Michael Walzer wrote an article in the New Republic that explained this phenomenon. He pointed out that liberals, in fact, rarely had ideas of their own. Their ideas were borrowed from… Continue reading

No comments

Learning from Jane Jacobs

  By Philadelphia, Urbanism, Zoning

Vern Anastasio is sponsoring another in a series of meetings on zoning and land use planning issues tonight at the Fleischer Art Memorial at 719 Catherine Street. I am still out of town so I won’t be able to make it. I had a family emergency in the middle of the first one and had to leave early. But it was interesting and useful. And, at one moment, it turned scary. The whole issue of zoning is quite complicated and I want to write about it at length. I very much think we need to reform the way we make land use decisions in the city. But I don’t want to see us go from a system that is already problematic to one that is disastrous. And this exactly what will happen if, as some folks suggested at the previous meeting, we return to the days when Philadelphia had an… Continue reading