Reimagining a Major Philly Street for People, Not Cars

In an op-ed in Next City, Lydia Kulina outlines a people-centered vision for Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway that protects pedestrians and creates a vibrant public space that discourages dangerous practices like drag racing. “As countless users have experienced, it is not responsive to the needs of pedestrians and undermines contemporary planning ideals that have been substantiated in recent decades.”

“We must begin to see disturbances in the city as a by-product of the erroneous settings we have created,” Kulina writes. The drag racers are, in fact, using the parkway for its intended purpose: to move car traffic, fast. Now, the Reimagine the Parkway Commission is working to redesign the thoroughfare. “It will cost millions to rethink and revise these faulty design decisions as the commission begins the combined infrastructure, transportation, and economic plan.”