Civic Grit

@civicgrit

Urbanist and Philadelphia fan.

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Civic Grit@civicgrit· 1d

On page 52 of this official study from over a decade ago it was recommended to close one of the redundant car roads connecting MLK to the Strawberry Mansion Bridge to create a proper pedestrian / bike connection: www.lowermerion.org/home/showpub... This has still not been started:

An screenshot of the report with the following text:

It is suggested that the southern ramp could be converted to pedestrian and bike use only. All vehicles travelling from Greenland Drive/Strawberry Mansion Bridge to MLK Drive could be directed to the northern ramp. Vehicles destined to Center City ramp to travel south. A minor ramp alignment change could be constructed if needed to ease the
right turn movement. Removing all vehicles from the southern ramp would
eliminate the movement from northbound MLK Drive to Greenland Drive/Strawberry Mansion Bridge. This might not have a severe impact. Left turns from northbound MLK Drive are already prohibited during peak hours at the southern ramp
and are prohibited at all times at the northern ramp. Therefore the ramps cannot be used by commuters
travelling northbound
from Center City to neighborhoods east or west of the river. Alternative
routes exist for vehicle traffic.
No volume information was obtained, but the traffic volumes on these ramps appear to be light. If it is determined
that a vehicle connection from northbound MLK Jr. Drive up to the bridge needs to be maintained, the southern ramp could at least be restricted to one- way 'up' (north) vehicle traffic, and half of the ramp
could be dedicated to pedestrian and bike use. At the southern ramp junction with MLK Drive, it would be possible to create a signalized pedestrian/bike crossing of MLK Drive, to complete
the connection to the MLK trail.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· 1d

This is also an understood safety issue. Many park users don't accept lengthy detours, they dash across roads to save miles. Already people routinely do that on Kelly Drive, and of course this detour makes the situation even worse. The state prioritizes car throughput over safety & park use.

An image of people running across Kelly Drive.

A picture of a family running across Kelly Drive holding their young daughter's hand.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· 1d

This is a well understood & solvable problem, there's just no political will for action. The regional planning commission, DVRPC, creates a map of where sidewalks are most needed. In Philly all of the mentioned roads are clear standouts on the map: www.dvrpc.org/news/2026/ne...

A screenshot of the missing sidewalk map showing very very missing around Philly but all of the mentioned roads, and quite a few others, in Fairmount Park prominently highlighted.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· 1d

On the MLK side of the bridge there used to be a dedicated pedestrian / bike trail, in addition to a car road with a pedestrian staircase. Presumably around the time of I-76 they removed that trail and staircase to make for exclusively 2 car roads. Sidewalks & crossings were never re-added.

An aerial image showing a dedicated pedestrian / bike trail connected to the Strawberry Mansion Bridge on the MLK side.

An old map showing the removed path, complete with public restrooms apparently.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· 1d

A single bridge closing in a park shouldn't result in an 8.1 mile pedestrian / bike detour to cross a river. This is the result of the city & state removing from the park sidewalks, trails, and staircases that previously existed connecting to the alternative Strawberry Mansion Bridge.

An image of the map showing the lengthy detour.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· 22d

Stoneleigh's a 7 minute walk from a train station and very close to Villanova but the main entrance is a few minutes down a stretch of road with no sidewalks. They have added an entrance near the sidewalks, but it's rarely open.

A Google Maps image showing the 7 minute walk from a train station to the entrance to Stoneleigh.

A Google Street view screenshot showing the lack of sidewalks on the way to the main entrance.

A Google street view screenshot showing the pedestrian entrance that's sealed.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· 22d

Morris Arboretum is owned by UPenn. For years there were serious discussions of reviving the southeast corner entrance but in the end they omitted that from their 2024 20-year plan. They pay a lot of lip-service to welcoming low income Philadelphians, but half don't own a car.

The southeast entrance to Morris Arboretum that is visibly locked.

A map showing part of the 40 minute walk from the nearest regional rail station to the Morris Arboretum main entrance. Reopening the entrance on the southeast corner would shave 20 minutes off.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· 22d

It gets me down how many beautiful large gardens there are in the Philly area that are near transit but place their main entrance far from the transit with no sidewalk connections. It feels intentionally classist and like a relic from the past. Morris Arboretum and Stoneleigh are two examples.

Morris Arboretum's main entrance that's clearly designed for cars.

Stoneleigh Garden's main entrance also clearly designed for cars.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· Jul 15

This is occurring just two blocks from where the abolitionist "Temple of Free Speech" Pennsylvania Hall was built in 1837 only to be burned down 4 days later by a pro-slavery mob. Nearly 200 years later the struggle to freely discuss and oppose slavery & racism continues.

An image of Pennsylvania Hall after it was constructed.

An image of Pennsylvania Hall being destroyed in a fire.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· Jul 6

Lots of lightning strikes within a block of Ben Franklin's grave tonight.

A map showing lightning strikes on Independence Mall, at the Arch Street Meeting House, and at other locations near Christ Church Burial Ground.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· Jul 5

Some photos from Philly's concert / fireworks saga last night:

Beams of light emanating into the sky from in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art reflecting off of the Schuylkill River.

A man's hand holds onto the fence looking through at the concert stage.

Tired looking people lay and sit on the median of the Ben Franklin Parkway.

Clusters of people look on at the fireworks above the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· Jul 4

250 years ago Thomas Jefferson recorded the temperature in Philadelphia a few times throughout the day. The high was 76 at 1 PM.

Thomas Jefferson's recording of the temperature on July 4th 1776.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· Jun 28

At midnight by Philly's City Hall a group of teenagers watched my wallet and phone so I could play pickup soccer. Great vibes in the city tonight! A mix of Croatians, Philadelphians, and others were rotating in and out. It wrapped up at ~12:30 when the ball owner had to go.

A photo of people playing pickup soccer by Philadelphia's City Hall.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 26

Veiller's earliest work in NYC addressed unsanitary & unsafe conditions in housing, but his later efforts turned towards aggressively proselytizing the idea that apartments destroy character & society and must be regulated away. He laid the groundwork for building & zoning codes across the US.

Text that says this from Veiller's Housing reform guide:

It should be recognized at the outset that the
normal method of housing the working population
in our American cities is in small houses, each
house occupied by a separate family, often with a
small bit of land, with privacy for all, and with a
secure sense of individuality and opportunity-for
real domestic life. Under no other method can
we expect American institutions to be main-
tained. It is useless to expect a conservative
point of view in the workingman, if his home is
but three or four rooms in some huge building in
which dwell from twenty to thirty other families,
and this home is his only from month to month.
Where a man has a home of his own he has every
incentive to be economical and thrifty, to take
his part in the duties of citizenship, to be a real
sharer in government. Democracy was not pred-

6

HOUSING EVILS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

icated upon a country made up of tenement
dwellers, nor can it so survive.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 26

This is an 110+ year full circle moment for NYC. Over a century ago Lawrence Veiller was so disgusted by the density, living conditions, and "evils" in his native NYC that he became a fierce national advocate for laws to artificially discourage multi-family housing across the country.

A screenshot with the following text:

In no other city is the mass of the working population housed as it is in New York, in tall tenement houses, extending up into the air fifty or sixty feet, and stretching for miles in every direction as far as the eye can reach. In no other city are there the same appalling conditions with regard to lack of light and air in the homes of the poor. In no other city is there so great congestion and overcrowding. In no other city do the poor so suffer from excessive rents; in no city are the conditions of city life so complex. Nowhere are the evils of modern life so varied, nowhere are the problems so difficult of solution.
If New York is so abnormal it may well be asked of what benefit to other communities are its problems; what lessons can others learn from New York's experience? New York, cosmopolitan in its population, is equally cosmopolitan in its social problems. Here will be found the problems of all other American cities, sometimes only in the germ, often, however, developed to an extent not dreamt of elsewhere. New York is the "horrible example." It is the startling crystallization in brick and mortar of the potential housing evils of every other American city. It typifies the kind of city that other American cities may develop into under the influence of similar forces, unless timely effort is put forth to prevent such development.

The following text:

The question is, " How are we going to stop it? " I think there is a way; at least, I have tried it and I think it is going to work. In framing our laws to regulate the construction of dwellings of all kinds, do everything possible in our laws to encourage the construction of private dwellings and even two-family dwellings, because the two-family house is the next least objectionable type, and penalize so far as we can in our statute, the multiple dwelling of any kind, whether it is flat, apartment house or tenement house.

It was upon that theory that our new housing law in New York State was drafted. And the easiest and quickest way to penalize the apartment house is not through requiring larger open spaces, because I think that would be un-constitutional, but through the fireproofing requirements.

If we require multiple dwellings to be fireproof, and thus increase the cost of construction; if we require stairs to be fireproofed, even where there are only three families; if we require fire-escapes and a host of other things, all dealing with fire protection, we are on safe grounds, because that can be justified as a legitimate exercise of the police power.

We can show the necessity of these extra precautions where many families live in a dwelling, and at the same time we have made it difficult to build apartment houses. I recommend that method to the conference. In our laws let most of our fire provisions relate solely to multiple dwellings, and allow our private houses and two-family houses to be built with almost no fire protection whatever.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

Here is an aerial before / after I-76 of Lansdowne Dr. The highway ramps forced the removal of all the park trails, which served as crucial connectors for park visitors. In many ways the reasonable thing to do would be to turn Lansdowne over to people walking / biking to restore park connectivity.

Lansdown Dr. before I-76 showing many trails adjacent to the road.

Lansdown Dr. after I-76. None of the trails remain.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

Closing Black Rd to cars would also open up a much more direct route for Parkside residents to walk or bike to the widest portion of the river park along MLK Drive.

A Google Maps image showing the 32 minute walk from Parkside to the wider portion of the park along the river. A much straighter green line shows a more direct route.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

2nd idea: MLK Dr. is a major artery for bikes / pedestrians and right now there are 2 ways from it into the park. Lansdowne Drive (bad) and Montgomery Dr. (worse). For cars there's a 3rd way: little-used Black Road. Closing this to cars would allow people on foot / bike to bypass Lansdowne.

A Google Maps route showing wear Black Road is.

A Google Street View image of a person riding a bike on Black Road with no cars.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

1st: introducing a short connecting segment of pedestrian / bike trail as shown in this first image could more easily allow and encourage park-goers to depart onto much less busy park trails skipping much of Lansdowne. This would actually be a restoration of a path that previously existed.

A green squiggle showing where the path would go.

A Google Maps screenshot of the incline where the path would go.

A segment of a historic map showing a path in the same location.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

People go to parks to get away from cars. Unfortunately to go between Philly's West Fairmount Park and Center City requires traversing the narrow & busy Lansdowne Drive underneath highway ramps. This bottlenecks park access. A few thoughts on low-impact ways to improve this situation:

A photo of cyclists needing to navigate traffic on Lansdowne because multiple cars are parked in the bike lane, perhaps after a minor crash. People walk on the narrow sidewalk on the left.

A Google Maps route showing the relevant stretch of Lansdowne.

A group of runners and cyclists are squeezed onto the narrow sidewalk adjacent to Lansdowne Drive.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

Either would be good! My reason for preferring this stretch of Ave. of the Republic was it gets little existing traffic (less political lift?), traffic would stay farther from the park core, it makes the monument more visitable, and may open up the possibility to connect the museum to the fountain.

A map showing traffic numbers for nearby drives. Avenue of the Republic has ~1000 AADT, S Concourse Drive ~9500, and Parkside ~5800. Additionally a green overlay shows contiguous areas of park created by closing S Concourse Drive.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

Maybe over a long period of time if the idea is tried out and people like it it can be made more permanent, creating a place that really feels special and like an amenity to the city. Idealized AI conceptualization:

An AI reimagintaion of Smith Memorial arch with a far more park-like design with kids & adults riding bikes and people on benches reading.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

The memorial is grand but rarely visited, in part because this portion of the park doesn't feel great right next to a road. People go to parks to get away from roads. Simply limiting traffic here would go a long ways towards making the monument feel special, and worth making part of a park walk.

A street view image of the Smith Memorial Arch.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

You may think "Ah, but the boulders to block the road cost money and cities can't spend money on parks". Well fortunately a 7 minute drive north of this location the city has already stock-piled boulders that appear to be the needed size.

A satellite image of the boulder stockpile.

Google Maps directions from the proposed blocked road to the rock stockpile, in case it helps.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 22

Fairmount Park is unsafe and unpleasant to get around when walking or biking. The city could pilot a small improvement: close this highly redundant stretch of Avenue of the Republic to cars. It'd reduce through-traffic by the children's museum and create a great space for kids to play & bike.

A map with a highlighted stretch of road in front of Philadelphia's Memorial Hall children's museum.

An AI generated image of a family riding bikes on the road, an older couple walking on it, and kids drawing chalk art on it.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 21

That quote is from a 1984 article in the Inquirer titled "Can Anyone Save Fairmount Park?" The article bemoans the sharp decline of Fairmount Park, and looks to Central Park's turnaround for inspiration. 46 years later the problems raised in the article all still exist, and are much worse.

A screenshot of a full page in the Inquirer for an article titled "Can Anyone Save Fairmount Park?"

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 21

"On sunny weekends, especially along Boathouse Row, this area of the park overflows with joggers, bikers, and strollers all jostling and dodging each other along a narrow pathway. At the same time, the wide, winding drives are open to cars that could just as easily be using the Schuylkill Expy."

Newspaper screenshot with the following text:

the park overflows with joggers, bikers and strollers, all jostling and dodging each other along a narrow walkway. At the same time, the wide, winding drives are open to cars that could just as easily
be using the Schulkill Expressway. Philadelphians are so accustomed to this priority treatment of automobiles in the park that few think twice about it. But imagine how much more pleasant, hou much more like a park, Fairmount Park would seem if the drives were closed on summer and fall weekends; park users could run, walk and ride in safety, breathing fumeless air. They could even approach Frederic Remington's famous
sculpture,
"The Cowboy," on East River Drive without taking their
lives in their hands.
NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 19

So simply navigating between destinations in West Fairmount is a hazard. A park, meant for people, has more missing sidewalks than nearly anywhere in the city! Pedestrians & cyclists are forced into traffic, and the park goes underused. Improving connectivity could open up the park to people!

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 19

The walk to Belmont Plateau actually once had a grand pedestrian path lined with trees by Horticultural Hall. The remnants are faintly there, but the path is severed by fences. The Horticultural Hall area now has 3 car access gates yet the original pedestrian paths are cut off.

A 1930 aerial image showing the landscaped tree plantings along the pedestrian path.

An image showing the covered up pedestrian paths.

An image showing a fence blocking off the fading away pedestrian paths.

Civic Grit@civicgrit· May 19

If you prefer sidewalks and legal crossings you can take Belmont Ave and add .5 miles to your route, but the sidewalks here are also in extreme disrepair and the nearby Ave itself makes for far from a pleasant park experience.