David Bowie and Mick Jagger approved.
"Philadelphia is a block party city," according to Jon Geeting, and it's no accident. "The city offers residents a very lightweight process for closing their streets for a weekend day of community fun: Pay an affordable $25 permit fee, and get the approval of 75% of the neighbors."
A block party culture has resulted from the ease of closing streets in Philadelphia, and given the city's role in allowing it all to happen, there's also a lot of data available about where and when the parties do down.
According to Geeting, "thanks to a new city dataset obtained by PlanPhilly, and mapped by GIS analyst Shrobona Karkun, the last ten years of block party data are available for our perusal." Thus, we have one of the funnest maps of all time, available at the article linked below, showing every block party hosted in the city of Philadelphia between 2006 and June 2016.
Read the full story: Mapping 10 years of Philadelphia block parties
Learning loss and urban schools, part 2
Did test scores in progressive cities drop more post-COVID than test scores in moderate ones?
Philadelphia lawmakers fight to save 'Chinatown Stitch' from Trump cuts
The freeway cap project, approved and funded under the Biden administration, is now in jeopardy after the federal government rescinded all but $8 million in funding.
SEPTA's bus-mounted lane enforcement cameras cut travel times by up to 6%
The AI-assisted cameras have issued nearly 200,000 citations to drivers blocking bus lanes.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority