People’s Emergency Center’s Bernice Elza Homes, an affordable housing program for young homeless mothers opened on October 21. Bernice Elza homes are located at 3801-11 Brandywine Street. Drive by and check it out!

University City Review: SCI-West Updates

The buzzword for 2010 seems to be “healthy”. However the SCI-West target area is faced with some challenging health statistics. For example, more than one-quarter (26.7%) of the adult population in the SCI-West target area is obese and three out of ten children ages 6 – 17 are overweight. Those of you who have followed SCI-West from its inception know that “healthy” has always been one of our themes. This past year SCI-West partners have been working diligently on programs that address health at the neighborhood, household, and individual levels. Our partners are working together to confront the some of the health issues that face West Philadelphia through the “Healthy Homes” program. To date, over 40 families have participated in the program.

SCI-West has partnered with University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Public Health Initiatives, The Netter Center, the Urban Nutrition Initiative and the Lea School to produce the “Healthy Times” newspaper. In this extra-curricular program, 5th grade students produce a newspaper about healthy living. They also learn professional journalism skills, while raising awareness of health, fitness, nutrition and safety in the surrounding community.

Our partners are collaborating with the Philadelphia Police Department and National LISC Community Safety Initiative to jointly tackle crime hot spots in our area with creative intervention strategies. Read more below about these efforts to create healthy and safe neighborhoods.

Finally, we are excited to announce that our partnership with the Mural Arts Program will produce Philadelphia’s first living wall. This is one of four gateways that SCI-West and Mural Arts will partner on in the target area. The living wall will feature year round growing plants. It is scheduled for completion in late April of 2010.

Please take some time to check out the SCI-West blog at www.sciphilly.org and be sure to become a fan of ours on Facebook! We will be posting weekly information on employment and grant opportunities, as well as other information that you need to know.

More Updates:

• People’s Emergency Center’s Bernice Elza Homes, an affordable housing program for young homeless mothers opened on October 21. Bernice Elza homes are located at 3801-11 Brandywine Street. Drive by and check it out!
• Healthy Homes Program helps over 40 families in SCI-West Target Area
• The Enterprise Center CDC has partnered with The Partnership CDC to deliver the Healthy Homes Workshop series. Over 40 West Philadelphia families have learned about prevention and intervention methods to combat unhealthy household conditions. Topics have included asthma awareness and triggers, lead prevention, water quality, and alternative pest management. Future workshops will cover monoxide/radon hazards and fire safety. Each family will participate in follow-up home visits with a Healthy Homes educator to assess risk and proper installation of devices. The Department of Public Health, Integrated Pest Management, National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer, National Nursing Centers Consortium, and the Philadelphia Water Department have all presented in the series.

SCI-West Gateway COMING SOON!

Philadelphia’s first living sculpture slated for the intersection of 38th and Powelton Ave

Philadelphia’s first living art sculpture is well on its way to becoming a reality in West Philadelphia. Construction documents and structural engineering are complete. The green wall components have been ordered and the plants are already growing. Construction will begin in a few weeks. Look out for it!

10 Slots available for SCI-West Residents to participate in The Partnership CDC’s Green Professional Training program

Learn all you need to know to become a certified green and cool roof installer! The program will kick off in the end of March. Call Alix at the Partnership CDC for more information at (215) 662-1612.

SCI-West Partners with the Philadelphia Police Department

SCI-West in partnership with UCD, PEC, Philadelphia LISC, LISC’s National Community Safety team, and the Philadelphia Police Department began work in 2009 to identify ways to work together to transform crime hot spots in the SCI-West target area. Meetings started with simple dialog, but have resulted in direct collaborations that hold great promise for the area.

Thus far, these meetings have produced a culture where there is a mutual commitment and an emphasis on linking policing with specific neighborhood revitalization efforts. This program supports a strategic collaboration between the SCI-West partners (UCD, PEC, TEC and TPCDC) and the police.

Work has started with several specific crime and community development targets in both the 16th and 18th district. UCD, as the lead for the SCI-West public safety collaborative has completed a crime study that highlights crime and safety issues specific to the SCI-West target area. The study includes information from multiple GIS layers of data sets and includes the tracking of dispatched calls from January 07 through August 09 by location, type and frequency. Data includes info from over 135,000 incidents during this time frame. Together they are working on several areas of collaboration.

The PPD and SCI-West partners have joined forces to look at synergies between public safety and economic development efforts. Joint activities to date include: performing design reviews on PEC’s current and planned housing developments, analyzing how corridor businesses can alter merchandise mix and stores hours to prevent loitering, and planning around how to use a combination of CDC, neighborhood, and police resources to impact a crime ridden block in the target area.

“We’re calling for a 60-day moratorium at the PPA,” said Lawrence Clark, who organized Tuesday’s protest. The moratorium would allow those who owed payments to the PPA time to establish financial hardship, halt the auction of vehicles and impose a freeze on hiring and the awarding of contracts.

University City Review: Grassroots Coalition Takes on the Parking Authority

While the cable show “Parking Wars,” may generate amusement from its viewers- the Philadelphia Parking Authority’s (PPA’) practices lack a punch line for many motorists.

Others even go so far as to compare the PPA to a vulture swooping down on unsuspecting prey.

That’s why the People’s Choice Movement Coalition held a protest march in front of the PPA’s headquarters on 9th and Filbert Sts. Tuesday, March 2nd.

“We’re calling for a 60-day moratorium at the PPA,” said Lawrence Clark, who organized Tuesday’s protest. The moratorium would allow those who owed payments to the PPA time to establish financial hardship, halt the auction of vehicles and impose a freeze on hiring and the awarding of contracts.

“Many people need their cars to get to work, to drive their kids to school or to the grocery store,” said Clark. But, Clark continued, “it can cost six to seven thousand dollars to get one’s car released from the impound lot before it goes up for auction.”

“People are losing their jobs because of this practice,” said Clark, adding, that this fact seems particularly unsettling when taking into account the state of the economy and the current rate of unemployment in Philadelphia, which according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics was at 9.7 percent in January of 2010.

Even the IRS is showing more compassion about the funds that it’s owed, quipped People’s Choice Movement Coalition’s Marilyn Jewett.

And for members of the Coalition, they equate the PPA’s practices to the “illegal towing of vehicles, favoritism in parking enforcement in certain parts of the city while being punitive in others.”

“People should be able to set up reasonable payment plans and have a reasonable time to the funds to keep their vehicles from being towed.”

As it stands now, motorists need to pay eighty percent up front of what they owe the PPA to get their vehicles released from the impound lot. “But if you can pay eighty percent, then you can pay all of it,” Clark exclaimed.

Besides imposing a sixty- day moratorium, the Coalition is calling for the establishment of an independent review board. It has to “include citizen representation and not be stacked with political and patronage cronies.”

This review said Clark should entail a study of: “time management study for all employees, awarding of contracts, revenue enforcement policies, hiring practices, mission statement and functions as well as administrative and operational functions.”

“No one is advocating for the people,” said Clark of why the coalition formed. “However, we pay the salaries of those employed at the Parking Authority.”

Thus far, the Coalition has made several attempts to meet with the PPA. “We’ve had no response from them yet,” said Clark.

Tuesday’s rally was only the beginning of the first steps in what could become an extensive battle. The People’s Choice Movement Coalition plans to hold a series of citywide town meetings to bring attention the PPA’s practices. For more information or to become a member, call: 267-270-0239.

The Center City District (CCD) was slammed with an class-action lawsuit earlier this month from former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Russell M. Nigro on the grounds that the district doesn’t equally apply its public maintenance services to condominium owners.

Weekly Press: Center City District Sued over Maintenance Exemption

The Center City District (CCD) was slammed with an class-action lawsuit earlier this month from former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Russell M. Nigro on the grounds that the district doesn’t equally apply its public maintenance services to condominium owners.

Or rather, the public maintenance service fees don’t apply to those who purchased their condominiums prior to September 13, 2005.

Created in 1990, the CCD was the city’s first of many improvement districts, like University City’s UCD. It’s mission? That centered on improving the quality of life in several downtown neighborhoods. This entailed using public services to make said neighborhoods cleaner and safer because the city could no longer foot the bill.

Part of the cost of paying for those services however was transferred onto homeowners who reside within CCD, which covers 120 blocks and more than 4,500 properties. It is roughly bounded by the Schuylkill on the west, Sixth Street on the east, Vine Street on the north and Locust Street on the south, with extensions along the Broad Street corridor.

According to the district’s budget, the fees charged each property contributes to its $15.2 million to its annual budget.

So why the lawsuit?

Well in the district’s early days, when the only Condos to dot downtown Philly’s skyline were basically limited to the Academy House at 1420 Locust St., with many of its owners- senior citizens. And according to the CCD’s President Paul Levy, many of those senior citizens couldn’t afford the $93 the district required them to pay in fees. In response, the district allowed owners for whom the condos were their primary residence to file an opt-out exemption.

But that was 1990. As the city’s downtown continued to re-emerge as a booming metropolis of high- end restaurants, cafes and boutiques; its Condo Market also boomed. The opt-out option no longer seemed viable, so in 2005, the Center City District’s Board determined that everyone who purchased condominiums after September 13th of that year were required to pay the district’s fees. Those who had the exemptions would, like NYC’s practice of rent control, remain in place until they moved out.

Nigro, who’s currently employed at the BRT, purchased a $1.35 million condominium on Washington Square after the 2005 deadline, and according to the lawsuit, had to pay $1,176 to the district to cover that year’s assessment.

To George Bochetto, who filed the suit on Nigro’ suit: the district’s assessment is actually a tax. The CCD’s collection policy violates the taxing-uniformity clause of both the Pennsylvania Constitution as well the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Though Levy disputes the lawsuit’s legitimacy. “We believe that the suit that has been filed is without merit and are convinced that the Center City District has done the right thing in allowing long-term owner occupants to “opt out” of the CCD charge,” Levy explained over an email exchange, adding, “We would be concerned if the growth of Center City’s new condominiums had an adverse impact on the senior citizens who have lived in Center City for decades, many of whom live on fixed incomes.”

Since 2002, NPS has cut down nearly fifty trees in Washington Square Park—and often without legitimate cause, said long-time resident William Hawkins. And to add flame to the fire, NPS has said it might remove yet another tree—a 150-year-old Sawtooth Oak in the park’s southeast corner.

Weekly Press: Washington Square Residents Accuse Park Service of Removing Tree

Washington Square Park, with its proximity to Independence Square, symbolizes many things to many people.

For some, it’s revered as the location of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Others respect it for its historical significance. After all, it was one of the five original planned squares laid out on the city grid by William Penn.

And for some, with its many old growth trees, plants, and lush, rolling green lawn, it represents a tranquil escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday city life.

But for those who reside on the park’s perimeter, that sense of serenity has—and continues to be—threatened by the National Park Service (NPS).

Since 2002, NPS has cut down nearly fifty trees in Washington Square Park—and often without legitimate cause, said long-time resident William Hawkins. And to add flame to the fire, NPS has said it might remove yet another tree—a 150-year-old Sawtooth Oak in the park’s southeast corner.

What has Hawkins and other nearby residents like Art Bousel up in arms over this prospect results from the fact that they claim that the tree, like many of its predecessors, doesn’t need to be removed.

“The engineer from the Morris Arboretum, that the Park Service hired, said it was safe for now,” explained Bousel, adding, “I should know, I was there the entire time.”

Bousel, who moved to Philadelphia from Chicago two years ago, decided to live near the park in part because of the shade its trees provided. Since Bousel established residency two years ago, he claims that the NPS has removed at least six old growth trees. So as soon as Bousel found the slightest reason to suspect that the Sawtooth might be next on the chopping block— a light rope fence had been tied around the tree’s parameter—Bousel contacted the park service and learned that the tree was going to be inspected.

The inspection, which took two and a half hours to conduct, occurred on February 2nd.

“At the start of the inspection, and throughout the inspection, the expert repeatedly stated that the tree should be left alone, at least for the time being,” said Bousel, adding that although the tree had a small crack on its surface, the inspector, said Bousel, claimed the tree was attempting to heal itself and “did not pose any safety hazards to pedestrians in the park.”

Following the inspection, Bousel engaged in an email exchange with representatives from the Park Service, confirming the results of the inspection. The Park Service would maintain the tree for the foreseeable future.

But Bousel’s reassurances were short lived. A few weeks after the inspection, metal barriers were placed around the tree, with NPS signs announcing that the tree is unsafe.

For Jane Cowely of NPS, however, “The engineer from Morris Arboretum determined the tree had two main flaws,” said Cowley, of why the tree has been quarantined from the rest of the park. According to Cowley, “the tree is cracked and has an off-center cavity.”

But said Cowley, nothing has been determined yet. The Fairmount Park Commission, in fact, plans to conduct another inspection of the tree this week.

But if the tree has to be removed, said Cowley, then NPS will replant more trees, as it has “with the three Chestnuts—one planted in Washington Square, the other two in Independence Square—this past fall. “

To Bousel, the reassurances that NPS will replant the tree fall on deaf ears.

“Not a single one of the old growth trees that has been removed has been replaced,” said Bousel. As for the recently planted Chestnut, Bousel refers to it “as a twig that the Park Service planted because someone donated it and they had to.”

“The NPS keeps pointing to hazard issues as the reason for cutting down,” added Hawkins, explaining that he disagrees with several of those decisions, such as its decision in 2002, which was reversed, to remove the park’s Cherry Blossoms.

The tree’s removal could also cause wildlife problems, said Bousel, explaining that it’s the nesting site for more squirrels than any other in the Square.

To learn more about the Morris Arboretum’s findings, visit: www.nps.gov/inde/washington-square.htm.

In a last-ditch effort to preserve Philadelphia’s Board of Revision of Taxes, five board members filed suit against the city this week, asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to halt the dismantling of the embattled agency.

Inquirer: BRT members sue Phila. to preserve their agency

In a last-ditch effort to preserve Philadelphia’s Board of Revision of Taxes, five board members filed suit against the city this week, asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to halt the dismantling of the embattled agency.

In the May 18 primary election, Philadelphia voters are scheduled to determine the BRT’s fate. The ballots will ask voters’ permission to abolish the agency effective Oct. 1 and replace it with two new entities: one to set property assessments, the other to hear appeals of those assessments.

If the state Supreme Court approves, the BRT’s suit would take that question off the ballot, preserving the property-assessment status quo for at least a while longer.

As documented by Inquirer reports, the BRT has presided over an assessment system that is among the most inaccurate and inequitable in the nation.

The suit contends that the city lacks the authority to completely dismantle the seven-member board. It argues that the state legislature specifically vested assessment appeals powers with the BRT, and required that BRT leaders be appointed by the city’s judiciary.

By proposing to abolish the BRT, the city has “usurped the legislature’s power” and “usurped the established exercise of independent judicial power,” the suit contends.

Attorneys William P. Murphy and Howard K. Goldstein, who filed the suit on the BRT members’ behalf, declined to comment. Board member Robert N.C. Nix III, who speaks on the board’s behalf, did not return a message seeking comment.

Until now, the BRT had seemed to be quietly moving toward inevitable dissolution.

The board, which is appointed by the city’s judiciary, voluntarily handed over day-to-day control of property assessments to the Nutter administration in November. The mayor named Rich Negrin, a senior Aramark attorney, to lead the BRT’s assessment employees, and to prepare them for the transition to a new agency.

Only the board, and not Negrin’s unit, is involved in the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the board has continued to consider assessment appeals, but that job, too, would grind to a near halt next year. Mayor Nutter has ordered a two-year freeze on reassessments, to give the city time to generate accurate assessments.

“They’ve turned over all their assessing functions to Rich Negrin and the mayor’s office. There’s not going to be any appeals next year. It’s not clear what they’re fighting for, other than the right to get paid,” said Councilman Bill Green, who sponsored the legislation that would abolish the BRT with voter approval.

At $70,000 a year for part-time work, a job on the Board of Revision of Taxes is one of the most desirable public-service plums in Philadelphia.

Read the full story…

SCRUB, the Public Voice for Public Space, seeks a graduate student intern to research, report and organize data on the energy used by various forms of accessory and non accessory digital signage.

The Samuel S. Fels Fund recently awarded 25 grants to Philadelphia nonprofit organizations to support internships for graduate students during the summer of 2010. These internships are full-time and take place over the summer. The interns are paid a stipend of $6,000. The internship position description and contact information for applicants are below.

The Samuel S. Fels Fund was founded in 1935 by Samuel S. Fels, a Philadelphia philanthropist. The Fund is a private foundation with a broad interest in community programs, education and the arts. Grants are restricted to organizations located in the city of Philadelphia or focused on local issues.

SCRUB, the Public Voice for Public Space, seeks a graduate student intern to research, report and organize data on the energy used by various forms of accessory and non accessory digital signage. Driver distraction and other safety issues related to digital signage, often in the form of huge electronic billboards, are receiving attention from the public and regulators. However, the energy consumption issues related to the rapid spread of digital signage are not. SCRUB is dedicated to protecting and improving the city’s distinct visual environment through education, advocacy and legal action. The organization intends to educate government officials, community organizations, and citizen groups regarding the energy impact of digital signs. The Fels Intern will:1) Research the current types of digital signage, their size, typical usage, and theoretical energy requirements, 2) Conduct a field survey to identify 20 sites with accessory digital signage and 5 sites with non- accessory digital signage and survey property owners and other sources to  determine how well the signs work, and what their energy requirements are, and if the property owners believe the costs of the signs are justified by their benefits, 3) Create a photo gallery showing  digital signage types with detailed information on energy consumption for each sign type, 4) Extrapolate data on energy consumption to determine the larger scale impacts of the conversion of regular signs to digital signs, both locally and on a national level, and 5) Prepare a White Paper to be published on the SCRUB  website. The following students are eligible; a student who will enter a full-time graduate program in September 2010; a full time graduate or professional student; and a student who will complete a graduate program or professional school in May 2010. The ideal candidate will be studying architecture or engineering with an emphasis on sustainable design/and green building practices. He or she will have excellent verbal and written communications skills, strong organizational skills, and competency in relevant data analysis skills. Send a resume and letter of inquiry to Jim Mullen Mullen@publicvoiceforpublicspace.org or call 215-731-1775.
 
For more information about SCRUB, visit www.publicvoiceforpublicspace.org

But help could be on the way. Rep. Earl Blumenauer just introduced a piece of legislation that would create a $2 billion grant program to fund safe networks for biking and walking. Send a letter to your representative urging them to co-sponsor the Active Community Transportation Act (H.R. 4722).

A message from Transportation for America:

In the last 15 years, 76,000 Americans have been killed while walking or simply crossing the street.

But help could be on the way. Rep. Earl Blumenauer just introduced a piece of legislation that would create a $2 billion grant program to fund safe networks for biking and walking.

And this week, more than 700 bike advocates are descending on Capitol Hill to drum up strong support for the program.

We have to back them up: Send a letter to your representative urging them to co-sponsor the Active Community Transportation Act (H.R. 4722).

This bill is a no-brainer. It will make America’s roadways safer, create jobs, reduce traffic congestion, cut emissions, and promote healthy living. It even pays for itself – as we make biking and walking safer and more accessible, we save billions of dollars on reduced healthcare, gasoline, and environmental costs.

And if we build it, they will come! Half of all trips taken in the United States could be accomplished with just a 20-minute bike ride, and a quarter are within a 20-minute walk. We need to make it safer and easier to make those trips on bike or foot. Polls have shown that Americans think their cities and communities should be more walkable.

Let’s get America back on its feet! Send a message to your representatives asking them to co-sponsor the Active Community Transportation Act.

Sincerely,

Ilana Preuss

National Outreach Director

Transportation for America

Mayor Nutter presented his Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Address to members of City Council last week.  We’ve looked over the proposed budget to see how it would affect the Next Great City (NGC) actions, and this is what we observed.

A message from Next Great City:

Mayor Nutter presented his Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Address to members of City Council last week.  We’ve looked over the proposed budget to see how it would affect the Next Great City (NGC) actions, and this is what we observed:

Energy – Mayor Nutter has proposed a $500,000 budget line to make energy-efficiency improvements to city facilities. While the NGC recommendation is for the construction of energy-efficient facilities, energy-efficiency improvements of existing buildings is in line with that goal. 

Parks and Trees – A proposed $1 million increase in capital funds for tree planting would support Next Great City’s tree planting goal. An additional $2.5 million for the Department of Parks and Recreation’s operating budget for new staff will be a boon for fostering healthy parks with improved maintenance.

Recycling – Mayor Nutter has proposed the “Keep Philly Clean Service Fee”, which would be $300 a year for most residents, or $200 for low-income households. While a “pay as you throw” system would help to incentivize recycling, a flat fee does not encourage people to produce less trash or to recycle more. However, residents that sign up with the Philadelphia Recycling Rewards program can earn up to $400 a year, offsetting the proposed trash fee.

The “Keep Philly Clean Service” as proposed will be a benefit to the NGC vacant lot recommendation by providing more revenue for cleaning and greening.  The funds would also restore leaf recycling, helping to increase composting.

Riverfronts – The proposed budget includes over $6 million for riverfront improvements. Specifically, the allocations would go to:

• Central, Schuylkill and North Delaware Riverfront Improvements – $4.13 million
• Race Street Pier Infrastructure and Park Improvements – $1.9 million
• Additionally, more than $8.8 million in City, federal, state, and private funding is proposed for plans and improvements along the Central and North Delaware River waterfronts, with an additional $4.3 million in City, state, and federal funding for Schuylkill Riverfront improvements.

Citizens are urged to speak out to share their thoughts during the public hearings that will be held in the coming months.

A bill ending height restrictions on all properties within the Central Delaware Overlay that are not zoned residential or light commercial awaits Mayor Michael Nutter’s signature.

City Council unanimously passed the bill at its meeting last week.

The legislation, introduced by First District Councilman Frank DiCicco, amended the overlay, a temporary zoning measure designed to protect the waterfront from development that goes counter to the city’s long-range goals until a master plan and associated zoning are in place.

The amendment also gives the city planning commission an extra two months to develop the guidelines that will govern the implementation of the overlay.

The Central Delaware Advocacy Group lobbied against passing the legislation unless another zoning category were exempted along with C-2 commercial and residential – Commercial Entertainment District, the classification that allows for casinos.

DiCicco said at the committee hearing on the legislation that he thought exempting the CED zones would be redundant, because part of the CED definition says it takes precedence over any conflicting law. But CDAG Chairman Steven Weixler said he’d feel better with an overt exemption, which CDAG believed would be insurance in any future court cases.

Bill Kramer, director of the city planning commission’s development division, said at the hearing that he would talk to the legal department, who would then advise DiCicco.

DiCicco’s policy chief could not be reached for comment Monday. Kramer said in a voice mail that he expected if the CED concern were to be addressed, it would happen through another piece of legislation. He said that because any project on property with a CED designation would have to go through a detailed Plan of Development process, that process would “take care of any height restrictions or height requirements” and nothing that exceeds what is within the CED zoning language would be approved.

For that reason, he said, “I don’t think it much matters” that the amendment to the overlay does not explicitly say the CED height limits still stand. 

Previous coverage.

-Posted by Kellie Patrick Gates

Publications from City Council, GRID Philly, DVRPC, Next Great City, Preservation Alliance, University City District, Economy League, Fairmount CDC, etc.

GRID Philly, April 2010

GRID magazine is a new Philadelphia-based magazine for sustainability. Covering topics such as energy, food, shelter, transportation, ecology and culture.

DVRPC Focus Newsletter, March 2010

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission presents Focus, news and events for local governments within the DVPRC region.

Councilman Darrell Clarke, 5th District Update, March 2010

This is Councilman Clarke’s “5th District Update” which was created to keep you posted on ongoing events and happenings in our district. Click on the link above and feel free to forward to friends or other organizations of the 5th Councilmanic District. If there is anyone who would like to be on the list to receive the “5th District Update” please reply to darrell.clarke@phila.gov with the subject line “5th District Update Email List.”

Preservation Alliance e-news, March 2010

The mission of the Preservation Alliance is to actively promote the appreciation, protection, and appropriate use and development of the Philadelphia region’s historic buildings, communities and landscapes.

Next Great City Newsletter, 8 March 2010

The Next Great City coalition is made up of diverse groups all working towards a common goal: making Philadelphia the Next Great City. The initiative is dedicated to creating a positive future for Philadelphia by advocating for common sense, cost effective policies that enhance environmental quality, strengthen neighborhoods and increase our economic competitiveness.

Federal Transit Administration, Transit Research and Industry News Update (January – February 2010)
The Federal Transit Administration’s Transit Research and Industry News Update, a report that provides a variety of information about transportation-related research and technology.

University City Community Enews, March 3, 2010

Click here to read the community newsletter from the University City District, which includes updates on free events and workshops across the neighborhood.

PA Chapter of the American Planning Association Newsletter

The February 2010 Issue of The Vantage Point is now available.  In this issue: PA Land Choices Teaches the Importance of Land Use Planning; Integrating Transportation and Land Use into Comprehensive Plans; Call for Presentations for the 2010 Annual Conference; Required Training Initative; PA Chapter Annual Awards – Applications Now Available