Philly Eco-City

I wrote this post in July of 2007, before the election of the new Mayor of Philadelphia.

The major themes of the election for the next mayor of Philadelphia predictably were:
Crime, Jobs, Ethics, Taxes and Neighborhood development.

For even sake, has anyone in the local political class heard of Global Warming?

I hear that Michael Nutter is a firm supporter of sustainability.
Cool.

I found the absence of a unifying direction in the platform of the candidates striking, even bewildering.

Crime, under-employment for youth and for the under-privileged population of the city, ethical lapses from city officials, fair income sources for the city, neighborhood development, in my mind, are all symptoms of a deteriorating social fabric of The City. Not just this city, all large cities on the planet exhibit these symptoms with varying degrees of acuity.

The fact that Philadelphia is the city where the Constitution was drawn is not just a historical event. I propose that Philadelphia be the city where the model for the city of the next decades emerges.

What does this mean ?

For this to happen, it means that the platform of the winning candidate needed to present a coherent plan addressing all the tactical subjects through one or two organizing themes. The two organizing themes I propose are: Ecology and Building Community.

It turns out that those two themes are very intimately intertwined. We cannot build a more sustainable city without a deeper level of community

So, what will it take to make Philadelphia the world’s leading Eco-City ?

The initial building blocks necessary for making Philadelphia an Eco-City are already here:

- Fairmount Park: one of the largest parks within city limits in the country
(see: http://www.fairmountpark.org/ )

- Recycle Bank: you recycle, you win, the city saves and you help the environment. (see www.recyclebank.com )

- Sustainable Business Network: one of the very first Pro-Environment Business group in the country (see: http://sbnphiladelphia.org/ )

- White Dog Café: a model Eco-friendly, Community friendly venue (see: http://www.whitedog.com/)

- Philly CarShare: save on gas, save on parking, save on insurance, etc…
(see: http://www.phillycarshare.org/ )

- The Bike Workshop (http://www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org) & the Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition (http://www.bicyclecoalition.org):

Here are seven initiatives that, implemented as part of a coherent plan, will move Philadelphia toward a more Community and Eco friendly, self-sustaining city

1. On one side we have hundreds of Septa diesel buses continuously spewing tons of soot and carbon dioxide in the air. Carbon dioxide is one the green house gaz responsible for Global Warming. On the other side, the School District of Philadelphia runs a hundred or so large school cafeterias that produce kitchen grease that is collected for a fee by grease recycling company. How about using the kitchen grease from the Philadelphia School District cafeteria to run a few city buses?
   It would be a start to running cleaner city buses, it would recycle a useful byproduct from the school cafeterias that the School District is currently paying to remove.
2. Expand the recycling program to the whole city of Philadelphia
3. Urban agriculture – Expand the initial program started by Pennsylvania Horticultural Society à create jobs
4. Create “Philly-BikeShare”™: a low cost rent-a-bicycle program similar to the one launched successfully in Lyon – France and being introduced in Paris and a number of other European cities. I can envision a joint-venture between a local advertising firm, the City of Philadelphia and a few key non-profit organizations such as: Philly-Cycle, the Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition and the Bike Workshop to build a low cost rent-a-bike program on the model of what Lyon is doing à create jobs.
   See: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/30/business/bgbike.php
5. Expand the use of public transportation –> create jobs
6. Stimulate construction of low pollution public transportation à create jobs
7. Discourage use of cars in the city. What about a pedestrian South Street ??

Philly Eco City needs to be a vision for a sustainable Philadelphia that involves the Philadelphia area eco-entrepreneurs and activists and the political and economic leadership of Delaware Valley area. Changing the way each of us consume, use energy and move around will take time and sustained efforts from each one of us.