Philadelphia magazine says a staffing decision by new Mayor Jim Kenney is a big victory for urbanists and bike advocates.
"Mayor Jim Kenney is creating a brand-new position in his administration called the 'Complete Streets Commissioner,'" according to an article by Holly Otterbein.
The article calls the pending hire "proof of how far urbanists have come over the last few years," before providing a rundown of the anti-bike initiatives proposed in the city only a few years ago—one by then-Councilmember Kenney himself. Now, however, "Bikers and urbanists are a recognized political constituency in the city, deemed deserving of virtually their own commissioner."
The article includes a quote from Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt, who says the new position will oversee the process of "making sure our streets are as multimodal as possible, including advocating for protected bike lanes." Hitt also told Otterbein that the new commissioner "will implement what the Kenney administration is calling its 'dig-once' policy, which seeks to cut back on the number of times that the city's utilities rip up the streets."
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