Civic Grit
@civic_grit
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Urbanist and Philadelphia fan.
Philadelphia
Joined January 2024
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Last Seen Profiles
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#Philadelphia
has the most beautiful alleys and narrow streets in the US.
A 🧵with proof:
1. Quince St.
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Everyone is always talking about "most walkable cities". Let's get more granular.
Here's a list of the 11 zip codes in the US with over 10k workers and the highest share of commuters walking to work (according to 2022 US ACS data):
#11
Chicago's 60654 with 45.6% walking to work
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In 10 years Philadelphia will be a totally different city, in a good way.
A thread of 12 major projects set to transform Philly.
1. Calder Gardens.
A modern garden on the parkway celebrating the art and ideas of Philadelphian artist Alexander Calder. Est. 2025
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Everyone knows Amtrak is the best way to travel between Philly and NYC.
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Philly has beautiful pockets of quaint walkable urbanism that feel quintessentially American.
They almost feel like they're transplanted from an alternate US timeline.
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I've been frustrated to see a few large buildings go up in Philly with tons of trees in the renderings and 0 in the finished product.
What's going wrong here? Why aren't they planting trees that are part of the initial pitch?
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Walking in Philadelphia is dangerous.
It's too easy to turn down a random narrow street, discover a quaint cafe, wander into a used bookstore, pet the store cat, and sit in a tiny park for a bit.
Before you know it you've wasted hours and all you got from it is a wonderful day.
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#1
Oceanside, CA's 92055 with 66.1% walking to work.
The reason? It has a large military base.
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A list of the 11 zip codes in the US with the largest share of bicycle commuters.
Filtered to only zip codes with more than 10k workers and using 2022 ACS estimates.
#11
Santa Barbara, CA's 93117 with 11.02% cycling
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One of the reasons many Americans prefer suburban living is we've mostly stopped trying to make cities great.
A highway converted to a river? Unthinkable in the US.
We need to move past that. Better life in US cities is possible and we should aim for it.
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Love seeing all the Japanese accounts excited about the
@sixers
taking Amtrak from PHL -> NYC.
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People seem to like random photos from walks around Philly, so here's a thread of today's 2 hour stroll in Center City:
1. Just a dude, his dog, and his pig out for a stroll along the river.
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Philadelphia crash data from 2018-2022, filtered to only crashes involving pedestrians and injuries:
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they need to invent a 4th city that’s not new york la or chicago so me and all my friends can live there. don’t say detroit
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Another interesting factoid:
There are only 2 zip codes in the US with over 20% of commuters walking to work *and* over 10% biking to work:
Philadelphia's 19146 with 21.4% and 11.1%
and Cambridge's 02139 with 30.8% and 10.6%
Everyone is always talking about "most walkable cities". Let's get more granular.
Here's a list of the 11 zip codes in the US with over 10k workers and the highest share of commuters walking to work (according to 2022 US ACS data):
#11
Chicago's 60654 with 45.6% walking to work
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Independence Mall in Philadelphia is a bad park.
It destroyed virtually every building in the heart of Philadelphia's most historic neighborhood.
Countless incredible buildings and thriving city blocks gone.
A thread/rant:
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Philadelphia was absolutely gorgeous today.
Here's a thread of random photos from a 10 mile wander around the city. 1/
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Philly is fortunate to have such strong urbanism 'bones'.
Narrow streets, rowhouses, corner stores, public transit: it all makes Philly livable and walkable.
Across the US reformers are fighting so that in decades their cities might attain a fraction of what Philly has today.
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Something I've often wondered: why is paving like this so rare in most of the US, but prolific in European cities?
Is it cost, lack of expertise, bureaucracy, something else?
What is this random woonerf and why can't we this in Toronto?
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I have thoughts
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do any of you guys live in walkable cities that you really like that aren’t new york
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Philly has one of the highest bike commute %s of US cities.
Philly has also installed essentially no curb protected bike lanes.
All of the other top 10 largest US cities do better than Philly. Philly's only peer is Dallas.
A thread of some cities that do better:
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Independence Mall is a harsh before / after:
"We will tear down our history for a lawn with no trees that can't be used for anything!"
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Philadelphia has a similar population and pop. density to Montreal. Philly is flatter, warmer, and less rainy. A ton of people bike already.
Philly could take a lot of car congestion off the road by learning from Montreal's safer bike paths.
They say there isn’t room for safe, protected bike-lanes. They say there isn’t room for shade-creating, air cleaning street trees. Montreal shows that when you change your space priorities, you get better streets for EVERYONE. HT
@DaveLikesBikes
for video:
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Philly is a pretty incredible place on the rare occasions streets are repurposed to prioritize people.
A thread with a few examples, many of which are now gone.
S 11th: Unsafe road width repurposed for outside tables:
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It was perfect weather today in Philly: high 60s with a slight breeze and blue sky.
A thread of random photos from a 9-ish mile walk around the city:
1. Fishing on the Schuylkill
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People who think Center City Philly is too scary when the sun goes down aren't spending much time there.
This was last week:
@jimjleahy
Foolish and asinine comment. Many people outside Philadelphia are NOT taking public transit. Not sure what restaurants you are talking about that are close. And who is walking (at your own risk) in downtown Philly at night. And the building will be dark 250 days. That will not
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Post-pandemic drivers behaving badly has grown to endemic proportions all across the US.
A thread:
Philadelphia, PA:
In this video taken by one of our members you can see a sedan mounting and driving down a sidewalk at full traffic speeds. In the same video you can see another vehicle parked in the grade-separated two-way bike lane
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When Philly?
periodic reminder that no city has ever regretted removing an urban freeway
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To get these results I used to download S0801 table "Commuting Characteristics by Sex" for all zip codes in the US.
Then I used a spreadsheet to calculate commuter walk to work % excluding workers who work from home.
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Here in Philly a developer redeveloped a lot into $4 million and $3.5 million modern townhomes and then called into a zoning meeting to oppose a tiny coffee shop going in on the corner unit across the street.
Friendly reminder that “neighbourhood character” is mainly used as a complaint to keep poorer people out of neighbourhoods.
“Neighbourhood character” almost never stops new mansions from being built.
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Over 100k people visit Philadelphia's 30th St. Station daily, but when you step outside you're encircled by a ring of busy roads.
What if Philly instead used the station to put its best foot forward?
Today's wild public space concept:
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The Philadelphia school district budgets $36 million a year to pay predominantly middle class parents to drive their kids to school.
That's more money than the salaries of all the regular bus drivers combined, to move significantly fewer students!
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I'll keep saying it: Philly deserves one street like this.
Closing off Boise’s 8th street to vehicle’s has made it one of the busiest and most beloved streets in the city, cars aren’t the future
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It is telling about our society that many car owners want their vehicles to be very loud for strangers they pass, manufacturers are perfectly happy to accommodate, and society is unwilling to regulate.
Fake engine noise is fine but it can only be pointed inside the car.
Piping it outside has to be saddest thing I've seen in a while.
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5. Modern Trams
Philly will be getting new public 'trolleys' around 2027-2030. These new vehicles use a 'low floor' design that's roomier and easier to board.
These trams are commonly used in Europe and around the world, perhaps giving Philly streets a more international feel.
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Philadelphia's city gov. made one small tweak to their 'Vision Zero' website shortly after the new mayor's term began.
Can you spot what it is?
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We get a taste of pedestrianized Walnut each year at the Rittenhouse Spring Festival. It's almost *too* successful!
Routine car-free weekends on some Philly streets is perhaps the lowest-cost way to radically improve Center City's vitality.
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Imagine if any rowhouse in Philly could operate a tiny low-nuisance business from the ground floor.
Starting a small business would be cheaper and easier. Even retirees could turn their hobbies into a business.
Philly could be the US capital of tiny neighborhood businesses.
Worldly Wednesday 🌏
Any 2-story rowhouse in Tokyo, the owner can operate a restaurant, boutique, or small workshop on the ground floor.
That gives the city an incredible supply of potential unique microspaces that are affordable for entrepreneurs.
Ottawa should legalize this.
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Prior to the mid '50s Philadelphia's route 43 trolley ran over grass after exiting a tunnel by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
(Historical) trams on grass, Rotterdam edition.
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Paul Levy 10 years ago on I-95 in Philly:
"Long term that highway doesn't belong there. [...]
Don't let anybody tell you that it's I-95. I-95 is the NJ Turnpike.
[I-95 is] a regional road that connects South Philadelphia and Delaware up to Bucks County"
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2. Schuylkill River Trail Extension
Philly's massively popular river trail will have beautiful new bridges in 2025.
West Philly residents will gain a new scenic shortcut to Center City. Center City and South Philly residents will gain a pleasant walk / bike to Bartram's Garden.
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It pains me to no end how Philly was founded from its docks and nearly every street in its grid once went to the Delaware waterfront.
For well over a century you could stroll down Market St. all the way to the water to catch a ferry:
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4. I-95 Park Cap
Just a 10 minute walk from where the US was founded a giant new park aims to reunite Philly with its waterfront.
Philly will finally feel like a waterfront city again.
Currently under construction with an estimated completion around 2028.
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The lack of small commercial spaces in the US is tragically overlooked in urbanism discourse.
small spaces, with lower overhead and rents, with abundant housing and foot traffic around it - means you can have thousands of shops dedicated to perfecting art of one thing.
like delicious, fried doughnuts.
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Simply put: cities should prioritize the people who live in them, not the people who drive through them.
"we should destroy cities for the people that keep moving away from them. Owning a car means you are entitled to never slow down for anything and free front door parking everywhere and everyone else has to pay for that cost"
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In Philly a corner like 17th and Chestnut gets *21,000+* pedestrians a day.
Yet sidewalks on the adjacent 1700 block of Chestnut are narrowed for a measly *13* parking spaces.
Anyone with a clear head could tell you how little sense that makes.
In NYC for the day, I love how they do not prioritize street parking!
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Kelly Drive was packed with people walking, biking, and picnicking today, but the roar of vehicles is constant.
Long ago it was known as the most beautiful place in Philadelphia.
Closing it to through traffic on warm weather weekends would restore that reputation.
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@conspacecase
This visibly dented crash barrier a child just road their bike by illustrates the problem clearly:
This
@PennDOTNews
managed road is a great metaphor for why the agency desperately needs reform.
A heavily dented guard rail protects drivers who go off the road, but there's nothing to protect this cyclist kid from cars.
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I bet if the Philadelphia Museum of Art hosted a pop-up food / drink garden here during Spring / Summer / Fall it'd be extremely popular.
Have they done this before?
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This block of Chestnut St. in Old City is a strong candidate for a car-free destination block.
• It offers the closest food to what will in a few years be Philly's newest waterfront park
• It has low vehicle traffic
• People are drawn to cobblestone streets
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In Philly drivers are increasingly treating the first few seconds of red lights like a yellow.
In this video a car fearlessly blows a red right next to a police officer. Stuff like this is why traffic deaths are at record highs.
This is why Philly needs red light cameras.
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@ghett0thello
There's no faster way to get from Philly to NYC.
Even a private jet you've got to get to and from the airport. Amtrak is right in the city.
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.
@PhilaParking
should have a portable car crusher for cars that park like this with illegibly dark tinted plates.
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This
@PennDOTNews
managed road is a great metaphor for why the agency desperately needs reform.
A heavily dented guard rail protects drivers who go off the road, but there's nothing to protect this cyclist kid from cars.
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What say you, Philly?
When a river runs through it, a city really must provide paths to the water's edge, as Paris does.
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This 1930 photo of Philly showcases many of the poor civic decisions of the last century:
• The destruction of Callowhill
• Removal of Franklin Square's urban context
• Isolation of the Delaware
• Isolation of Old City with huge federal buildings and parks
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Last month on Tuesday April 9th the Schuylkill River Trail logged an astonishing 1,400+ people per hour at 5 and 6 pm.
I happened to be there. This is what that looks like:
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In Philly there is a vacant city-owned lot valued at $1.4 million where over the last decade a neighbor has DIY built a:
• Gazebo
• Tree fort
• Playground
• Pet graveyard
• Enclosed 12x23 ft. pool
They've also grown a full willow tree and installed speed bumps.
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3. FDR Park
South Philly's massive FDR park is in the process of a total revamp. The new park will blend wild nature with public sports facilities.
Significant parts of the rework will be completed by 2026.
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.
@PennDOTNews
says:
"Don't walk until traffic stops" but they tune traffic lights to not give pedestrians a head start.
"Never jaywalk" but crosswalks are unmaintained.
"Make eye contact" but tinted windows are not enforced.
And remember to wear neon bands on every extremity.
We’re back with more pedestrian info to wrap up Highway Safety Law Awareness Week. Here are some additional tips to stay safe as you’re walking outside.
For more safety law info, check out our blog post: .
#PATrafficLaw
#BeSafePA
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I was happy to see this Reddit post yesterday where a suburbanite visited Philly via
@SEPTA
and was “extremely impressed.”
We need to talk more about the qualities we like about SEPTA. It's not all doom and gloom.
We have Regional Rail through service through the Center City Commuter Connection and access to the Airport.
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While crossing the street a 55 year-old
@PennMedicine
anesthesia technician was killed by a driver.
Tragedies like this deserve more than a shrug.
Elsewhere Penn has installed 'speed tables' and signs to slow drivers. Had they done the same on Spruce he may still be alive.
JONATHAN MACK❤️
“My other half. My friend...My everything.”
Robin Mack describes her husband who was struck and killed by a vehicle this morning while he was on his way to work in University City.
The 55-year-old was an anesthesia technician.
Full story at 11 on
@6abc
.
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6. Benjamin Franklin Parkway Rework
The well-visited Art Museum and 'Rocky Steps' are presently next to high traffic roads, but this reimagining would instead put them up against a large park space.
New bike lanes would create a leisurely ride from City Hall. 2025+
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Philadelphia L&I keeps citing businesses for not having a "Sidewalk Cafe License".
Here's the latest place they cited a few days ago. City council is letting small businesses get bullied over a few chairs outside a deli.
This isn't good for the city.
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I wonder when Philly will rethink this highway ramp that's ~2x the size of Love Park and maintained by the parks department.
If the space were developed at the same value per sq ft as the residential tower on the adjacent block it'd earn the city $4.3 million a year in taxes.
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These planters are fantastic.
I routinely see people using them to get a safer head-start crossing the street. The additional visibility, shorter crossing time, and aesthetics makes a big difference!
I even saw someone sitting amongst them reading a book the other day.
🌱 Enjoy the greenery amidst the hustle; the bike lane planters in the office district are in bloom and serve as a welcome to those coming into Center City!
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7. Chinatown Stitch
Philly's Chinatown is split apart by a noisy and vast highway.
A cap, in the planning phases, would reconnect Chinatown's urban fabric with parks or buildings built over the highway.
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I don't think people realize how much untapped bicycle potential Philly has, if leadership has the will to tap into it.
In Philly zipcode 19146 11.2% of commuters biked to work. That's astonishing for the US.
And that's in spite of very poor bike infrastructure:
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This is one of many biases the US has ingrained at the expense of urban cities.
Researchers from Philly's Federal Reserve found burying I-95 would add $245 million in value for the region annually.
Yet further highway expansion is planned and burying isn't even on the table.
The approach to Philly from NYC on Amtrak reveals how much prime real estate we hand over to suburban drivers. The Schuylkill riverfront is no place for a highway. Sadly PennDOT will almost certainly widen 76 before considering removal or even capping.
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On days like Saint Patrick's Day it's painfully obvious Center City Philly needs pedestrian streets.
The sidewalks were overflowing with people and police officers had to manually direct traffic.
Car-free streets would attract more business and organize pedestrian activity.
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2. This is the crowd watching the dog park at Schuylkill Park.
Other cities take note: if you build an elevated trail near a dog park people will come just to watch dogs.
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11. The Rail Park
An abandoned and overgrown rail line is presently an elevated forest adjacent to Chinatown and Center City.
Philly leaders aim to extend the small existing park and convert the abandoned structure into a massive elevated park spanning multiple neighborhoods.
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Philadelphia today owes so much to these protestors.
Had they not prevailed South St and the surrounding blocks would have been leveled to create a highway.
Philadelphia, March 22, 1968: 56 years ago today.
An opponent of the Crosstown Expressway project pickets City Hall.
The community defenders prevailed.
photo: Jack Tinney, Philadelphia Bulletin / Temple University Libraries.
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Sister Cities Cafe in Philly is a great example.
A low-key cafe in a park and adjacent to a play area makes for one of the best spots for families in the city.
Parks + low-key business is a winning combo.
I wish American parks departments weren’t so allergic to having concessions in urban parks.
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9. New African American History Museum
Philly's African American History Museum will be relocated to a new building on the parkway, adjacent to the Free Library.
The project will also include a new residential tower,pedestrian space, library annex, and large nearby hotel. 2028+
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For fun a🧵reimagining Philadelphia's Independence Mall Park.
The nation was founded in 1776 at Independence Hall.
The core of this reimagination is to transform the park into a linear history of the United States where every 5 ft. from Independence Hall represents 1 year:
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1908 picture of Philadelphia's City Hall illuminated to celebrate 'Founder's Week', the city's 225th anniversary.
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Montreal, Boston, NYC, West Chester PA. All have routine car-free summer streets.
Philly is incredibly well positioned to benefit from it, the city and neighborhood orgs just need to step up.
Which neighborhood will be first?
“In Montreal, the beautiful season rhymes with pedestrianization! We are making these streets even more lively, accessibly and safe places!”
- Mayor
@Val_Plante
Montreal has announced 11 streets will be pedestrianized this summer, totaling over 9km (5.5mi).
📍 Montreal 🇨🇦
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• Cancelling South Street's most popular event
• Removing trash cans
• Wanting PPA to not enforce parking rules
• Major business owners feel "ignored"
Has
@southstreetphl
totally lost it?
I love South Street, and walk it daily. But none of the things the new head of the South Street Headhouse District is doing make any sense to me?
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This isn't in Philly but it should be!
Enjoy alfresco dining, live music, and more at Dining Under the Stars in Media this spring and summer! Every Wednesday through September 25."
#visitphilly
#thingstodoinphilly
#phillyfoodies
⬇️
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