Seeking an Automotive Balance in Philly

The city continues to grapple with the practical implications of local planning legend Edmund Bacon's prescriptions for carless streets.

1 minute read

October 15, 2013, 6:00 AM PDT

By Lynn Vande Stouwe


A failed 70's era experiment in carless streets still resonates in Philly, according to Jonathan Geeting.  By banning cars in a ten block stretch of Center City to create the Chesnut Street Transway in 1976, planners hoped to increase foot traffic.  However, the strategy actually drained the area of street life and proved catastrophic to local businesses, which fled in droves. 

Philly has since "overlearned the lesson of the Transway," says Geeting, planning to the other extreme in prioritizing cars over people.  But planners are beginning to recognize that a more moderate approach to the delicate car-pedestrian balance can help reinvigorate the city's streets. He writes:

"Just like with the Chestnut Street Transway, misallocating street space or designing streets to accommodate only cars or only transit can destroy wealth and render commercial properties unattractive to businesses and their customers. Bacon’s 'No Private Cars' mantra was too radical for his day, when the nation’s car culture was ascendant, and it is too radical now. But there is growing agreement that fewer private cars is key to successful neighborhood retail clusters."

Geeting argues that flexible, small-scale improvements to the built environment are the key: such changes are inexpensive and can have major impacts but are easily reversible if they prove as ill-advised as the Bacon-inspired Chesnut Street Transway. 

Friday, October 11, 2013 in Next City

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight