With Nutter’s proposed “cost cutting decisions” like closing down 11 Philly libraries and consolidating city fire departments making headlines ever since I returned to the Cradle of Liberty, I’m at least glad to hear that there’s a stay of execution on the libraries – for now.

Still, it would be nice to hear that same will be said about our local fire departments. So, I’ve come up with two ideas to show Nutter that downsizing these engines would be a bad idea:

1. Burn down a library. How deliciously ironic. Especially if the library is a) one of the 11 that may be closed and b) near a fire department that’s getting axed.

Cons: Illegal, I’d never do it, nor do I condone anyone else doing it.

2. Go to the fire department, ask for “War & Peace”. Keep doing every single day.

Cons: Pissing off Philly firefighters might not be a good idea, who realistically wants to read “War & Peace” except to brag about it?

Maybe the City would have a little bit more in their coffers if some idiots at City Hall weren’t being paid $90,000 a year:

Yeah.

- AP

Oh, SEPTA. How I missed thee. Sure, people here may complain but – come on – could it get any better than riding a bus or a train or a subway and actually see OTHER people riding it, too?

Was on my personal favorite line today – the Market-Frankford Line. Boy that thing is fast. And reliable. And really, really convenient. Looks like they’re running every 6 minutes instead of every 10 or so like they used to during the weekday off-peak-or-am-I-just-playing-hooky-from-work hours.

What I love best though, is the Magic Voice. You know – that computerized chick that tells you “Next Stop. Fifth Street. Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.” or “Next Stop. Second Street. Wheelchair Accessible.”

Sometimes I add stuff to what she’s saying in my head like “Next Stop. Spring Garden. For Bus 25 and A Way Safer Way To Get To Aramingo & Allegheny.” Or “Next Stop. Millbourne. Where The Fuck Is Millbourne?”

Anyhow, yeah, give it up for the El.

Could you awesome Philadelphians do me and my fellow Delaware Countarians a favor?

Go to this part of the SEPTA website and fill out the form. Let them know that they should expand not only the hours of the R2 – particularly on the weekends – but the damn 119 bus line as well.

Ever seen the R5? It has ridiculously convenient, expanded hours and it’s because people take it to go party at night. How come I either have to stay in the City until 5 in the morning OR cut out of events super early just so I can get the R2 to Delaware County in time to take the 119 home from Chester, whose last bus leaves at like 9:30 p.m.?

Not cool. People in my area like to go to the city, too. And SEPTA has done an excellent job expanding the hours of the 113. Too bad the closest 113 stop to my house is about a 60 to 90 minute walk from my house. That wouldn’t be so bad when it’s not negative 9 degrees outside.

Just like with the R5 running late, people will tell their friends: “Hey, friend! Don’t drive into the City..the R2 runs till 2 in the morning and you can take the 119 home after that!”

If people who live in the northern part of the County – like in Upper Darby – have the luxury of taking an overnight El shuttle to 69th street and late runing buses – why can’t us closer-to-actual-Delaware Delaware County peeps have that luxury?

It sure would be a damn good idea.

I’m just sayin’.

- AP

Foxwoods wants to build a casino at The Gallery. Some people are opposed to it because of the je ne sais quoi that a casino might bring to the area – like traffic.

Other people are opposed to the casino because of the “shady elements” and “crime” and “prostitution” that a casino “would bring” to the area. That reason always make me chuckle because – if I recall from my eleventeen years – isn’t Chinatown the place where kids go to get fake ID’s and nunchucks and chewing gum that gets you high?

Still others are are opposed to the casino, for, well, batsh*t crazy reasons.

From my peeps at Fox 29…

Yeah, I wish I was making that up. According to this chick, the Foxwoods business model looks a little something like this:

1. Destroy Asian community under the guise of Pai Gow poker and loose slots

2. ???

3. Profit.

I understand the trials and tribulations of wanting to build ANYTHING anywhere in a city that’s cramped for space. I understand it’s not as easy a deal as Harrah’s had – all they had to do was build in Chester, where only like 5 people live and it was quite easy to simply build a casino directly across from a federal “pound me in the ass” prison. I understand that words like gentrification get thrown around in major cities like everyone is trying to emulate that one dude’s speech in “Chasing Amy“.

I’s in yer nayborhood, steelin yer moneyz

But..seriously? Really? The reason they want to build in Chinatown is to specifically target the community there and destroy it?!

Yeah – it’s not because the casino would be in a prime location or anything. It’s not like putting a casino right in the heart of Philadelphia would be a great idea. It’s also not like Foxwoods is also thinking of the Delaware Riverfront as an alternate location. I guess Foxwoods has a plan to gentrify really lame night clubbers, too.

They totally want to take advantage of people who will “like the casino a little too much”.

*rolls eyes*

Just build the damn thing so the city can take the revenue and reopen the rec centers and libraries that Mayor Nutcase is shutting down.

Be seeing you,

- AP

While Obama overwhelmingly won the support of Philadelphians (65% to Clinton’s 35%), Clinton proved that she is the clear choice for Pennsylvanians state-wide. Being a huge supporter of Senator Clinton, I listened intently to her victory speech last night. She said one thing that really stuck in my mind (not verbatim), “…I’ve seen parent’s with their daughters saying – See? You can be anything you want to be.”

On an even more local level, Larry Farnese won the 1st District Senate Seat – proudly representing South Philadelphia. While I voted for Anne Dicker, I was very satisfied that union boss John Dougherty did not clinch the victory. Dougherty also “killed” more trees then Farnese and Dicker – and if anyone knows, I am all about greening South Philadelphia.

1. Philadelphia Film Festival: April 3-15. There are complimentary guides around town. I’m sure you can pick them up at any Ritz theater, the Prince Music Theater, The Bridge: Cinema DeLux, International House, and the Bryn Mawr Film Institute – all venues for the films. TLA stores are selling advance tickets already.

2. April 5 – Philly Spring Cleanup. Join me!

3. April 12 – Roller Derby Double Header at the Sportsplex in NE Philly. $10 advance purchase, $12 at the door. Never seen them; have always wanted to be one – a tough bitch on wheels. I’ll have to watch. They would kill me, I suppose.

4. April 15 – Deadline for filing 2007 income tax returns. Yay.

5. April 15 – reward your possibly last-minute scramble to file the taxes with a Phillies home game. It’s Hatfield Phillies Franks Dollar Dog Night! Get yourself some cheap weiners and expensive booze.

6. April 18-20th – Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention, Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel. $15 per day, $35 for the weekend. Get marked!

7. April 22 – Pennsylvania 2008 General Election Primaries. 7am-8pm. Here’s a handy guide to finding your polling place. Rock it!

Here’s wishing you a sweet April!

Here are his goals:
Recruit over 10,000 volunteers
Clean up 5,000 neighborhood blocks
Clean more than 50 commercial corridors along major thoroughfares
Clean 10 neighborhood recreation centers
Clean 10 areas in Fairmount Park
Remove over 1 million pounds of trash and litter from across the city!

If you’ve ever wanted to help out in making this city better, this is a great way to begin. It is very easy to sign up. I, for one, would be very happy for Philly to lose the reputation of “Philthadelphia.” Besides, aren’t we trying to become a green city?

Here is my post about the experience I had last Saturday, attending a Great Expectations community forum as a observing blogger/citizen journalist. This is also up on the Great Expectations blog. Albert Yee was also there and has posted his thoughts (and some terrific photos) on his blog and Philly Future.

Walking into the John M. Perzel Community Center in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia last Saturday morning, I had little idea of what to expect. I was there to attend a forum of neighborhood leaders and listen in as they brainstormed ways in which a new mayoral administration could help Philadelphia overcome some of the challenges that prevent it from serving all its residents effectively.

After signing in, I was pointed towards the far end of a double-wide basketball court. Ten round tables were set up around the sectioned-off area, covered with white tablecloths and multiple sheets of clean white butcher paper. Pens, note cards and crayons were set in the middle of each table in order to encourage creative thinking and the taking away of ideas.

Grabbing a bagel and some coffee, I settled in as Chris Satullo and Harris Sokoloff introduced the day’s agenda and the goals for the gathering. They set a hopeful and positive tone from the very beginning, stressing that the point of the day was to share experiences, create networks and generate momentum. The intent was not to solve all the problems that neighborhoods face but to start conversations that will hopefully lead to solutions further down the line.

In the first roundtable the participants were asked to discuss the current relationship between civic organizations and City Hall. More specifically, what works, what doesn’t and what should be preserved. Jeff Friedman, a member of the East Falls Development Corporation Board summed up the status quo neatly, “Currently it’s a structure of special deals.” If a neighborhood has a good relationship with their city councilperson, then they receive good service. However, all it takes for neighborhood services to go down the drain is for a civic leader to have a falling out with their councilperson.

Marc Stier from Neighborhood Networks added that the point that if you’re a new civic leader, there’s no institutionalized way of learning the ropes. There’s no resource book that can guide a leader through the process. He said that he finally sat down with his councilperson in order to get the names of people at City Hall who actually had the power and ability to respond to his neighborhood’s needs.

At this point, the table facilitator asked the group to focus on things that they liked about the city’s delivery of services. There was a long pause as people looked at their hands, doodled on the butcher paper and quietly cleared their throats. Finally Rodnell Griffin from the Hunting Park Neighborhood Advisory Council said, “Quiet frankly, I don’t like it.” She explained that there are no resources at their fingertips. They do all the work and the councilperson gets all the credit. Others started chiming in that it requires an enormous amount of work to get the day-to-day stuff, like trash pick up, leaf removal and street plowing accomplished. They all agreed that if those things could be done without monumental effort on the part of the neighborhood organizations, they’d be able to turn their attention to planning and development. Right now there isn’t the time or energy available to take on those larger issues because everyone is focused on making sure that the basic needs are taken care of.

Turning their attention to the last prong of the original discussion prompt, they tried to come up with the strengths of the current system and identify a few things that could be preserved. Marc Stier offered that one of the strengths of the status quo is that it has taught him how to mobilize his community in order to stop things that could do harm to the neighborhood. Someone later commented that it seemed sort of problematic if the greatest power a community group possessed was their ability to put the brakes on an issue or proposal.

This first conversation soon came to a close and the civic leaders were asked to shuffle themselves around the room so that they’d get an opportunity to talk with other people during the next conversation. During round two I learned about new and developing communities within the city and the ways in which they are being allowed to slip through the cracks of the city services. I watched as connections were forged between representatives of different agencies and found great hope in the idea that this forum, which was designed to be the start of a larger conversation, was already serving to deepen the discourse and bring people together.

The final roundtable raised issues of accountability, transparency in City Hall and the idea that neighborhoods need to lose their myopic focus on their own small localities and turn their attention to the larger community. This idea that there is strength when groups bond together persisted throughout this final conversation and left me with an overwhelming sense of hope when the group broke for lunch.
In the afternoon, we broke up into four groups, each with a different discussion topic at hand. I sat in on the conversation about accountability in the delivery of city services. It was universally agreed upon that the current structure of accountability isn’t working and that the city needs to establish a better way to establish goals and measure growth and achievement. Helpful suggestions included moving some, if not all, City Council and Zoning Board meetings to the evening so that it would be easier for a greater number of people to attend and establishing an ombudsperson for the city.

The day wrapped up with a short question and answer session with the current mayoral candidates. I was impressed with how well Michael Nutter and Al Taubenberger worked the stage together, each building on what the other had said and rarely actively disagreeing. I’d never had the opportunity to see two opposing political candidates co-exist so pleasantly.

Throughout the course of the day, as I listened to the issues and concerns, I couldn’t help but feel incredibly fortunate to live in a city where so many people are engaged in crafting a better future. I left the event buoyed by a sense of hope, knowing that for all the problems that Philadelphia faces going forward, it is also blessed to have such an informed and passionate population engaged in the conversation and deeply committed to finding resolution.

This Monday night drill will impact driving, Septa lines, and give you cause to wonder, “What’s going on?”

The following is from the READY PHILADELPHIA site about tonights exercise.

Road Closures and Detours
Road closures and detours will be in effect from approximately 6:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. The Police Department will barricade these locations:

Fairmount Avenue and Kelly Drive (inbound only)
Traffic will be detoured onto Fairmount Avenue. Right onto Pennsylvania to 21st Street, right onto 21st Street back to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

25th Street and Kelly Drive (inbound)
No traffic permitted into Eakins Oval.

25th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
Access to the Art Museum and Spring Garden Street Bridge will be through the Spring Garden Street Tunnel ONLY.

Spring Garden Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
Spring Garden Street traffic will access the tunnel for travel to West Philadelphia.

Eakins Oval at the outbound Kelly Drive entrance
No traffic permitted into Eakins Oval. This closure will allow outbound Parkway traffic to go north onto Kelly Drive.

Monday, August 6, 2007
Road Closures:
6:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
Exercise: 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Eakins Oval, Benjamin Franklin Parkway

This is only a drill – there is no impending threat to the citizens of Philadelphia or the region.

During this exercise, residents should expect to see a large number of Fire and Emergency Medical vehicles, as well as private ambulances, responding to Eakins Oval, Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Residents should understand that there is no actual emergency.

Last Friday night, tons of kids, teens, and adults gathered around town for the release of the seventh and final Harry Potter book, Deathly Hallows. Just about every Borders and Barnes and Noble in Philadelphia had events, but my discussion group Potterdelphia decided that a smaller independent book shop would be the perfect place for our party!

And it was. It was totally awesome. The festivities at Big Blue Marble in Mt Airy began at 7pm and ran until just past midnight—of course no one wanted to hang around once books were handed out! The Marauders performed a set around 9pm, we did trivia for an hour starting at 10pm, kids and teens were running around in costume, and boxes of books taunted us at every turn.

Big Blue Marble is a wonderful book shop located near Weaver’s Way co-op in this neat little section of the city. The walk from the Carpenter R8 station takes no time at all and the store itself has three levels of awesomeness, with a cafe on the second floor and community space on the third.

Thank you thank you thank you to all the great staff members who were so amazing that night! I had more fun at this party than previous big-name-store-sponsored Harry Potter book releases, and the warm and cozy atmosphere made this truly feel like an intimate friends and family gathering and not some nameless event with people lined around the block barely looking at each other.

(Side note: I just love Mt Airy, and one of our group members, who’d just moved to Philadelphia last year, had never been in this neighborhood and had to call her friend and gush about it.)