"Inspired by the massive street closures during the papal visit, some Philly residents are saying, "Let's do it again.""
"The group doesn't envision closing all of Center City, and the interstates along with it. A smaller section would suffice. They hope to do it for three weekends in the summer."
What is the main point of the article, and how is it supported?
During the visit from the Pope, Philadelphia closed many of the city's streets to cars. Many people living in the city are responding to this, with interest in making open streets a regular occurrence.
Open streets are a trend in city planning. Cars may not drive in certain streets. The streets can fill with bicycling, walking, sports and music. It turns into a community event for appreciation of the outdoors and minimizes car exhaust pollution.
What actors (individuals or organizations) are referred to? (Provide names and short descriptions.)
Jake Liefer
One of the "organizers" of the Open Street movement (or at least its Facebook page, kind of unclear)
Jim Kenney
Jim Kenney is a Democratic candidate for mayor of Philadelphia.
Possible soon-to-be mayor
Supporter of this movement, but is paying attention to the interest of the public and businesses in the area.
Some local businesses were hurt by the papal visit. He suggests that this could have been caused by "stepped up security," not solely because of the open streets.
Data is going to be collected before putting anything into action.
What kind of causation or responsibility is argued or implied in the article?
The article implies that this movement was caused by desire for further development of the city culture of Philadelphia.
Although the environmental impact of Open Streets Philadelphia was not analyzed, this movement has support for environmental, cultural, and physical activity interests.
A Philly resident was quoted, saying the papal car restriction allowed him to take his year old child on her first bicycle ride.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
This article does not focus on the health impacts of removing cars from the streets.
Inequity addressed would be the difference in business between companies and organizations in the area of restriction versus outside.
What three points, details or references from the article did you follow up on to advance your understanding of the issued and actors described in the article?
As a response to this short article I read up on more about the idea of Open Streets in Philadelphia
"Impromptu soccer games and bike rides, a lot of relaxed strolling — it’s really easy to see how much people loved this new way of interacting with their streets."
"And in the wake of #pOpenstreets the idea is gaining serious political traction. So much so that the current mayor might beat the next mayor to the punch"
Noted in the article was a Facebook page called Open Streets Philly. I visited this page.
5,310 likes (the page has existed for 6 days)
Posts include:
Photos of the papal visit time of open streets.
Blogs and news articles about the event and the city's campaign for making it a regular event.
Links to the online petition.
The article referenced the closed-streets model of "Ciclovia" in Bogota, Columbia
Every Sunday the city closes over 100 km of streets to cars for 7 hours.
Dan Kelley, "Open Streets Philly wants to go car free," Metro Phildelphia, September 29, 2015, http://www.metro.us/philadelphia/open-streets-philly-wants-to-go-car-free/zsJoiC---teU7e7ozBr25I/.
What two (or more) quotes capture the message of the article?
- "Inspired by the massive street closures during the papal visit, some Philly residents are saying, "Let's do it again.""
- "The group doesn't envision closing all of Center City, and the interstates along with it. A smaller section would suffice. They hope to do it for three weekends in the summer."
What is the main point of the article, and how is it supported?- During the visit from the Pope, Philadelphia closed many of the city's streets to cars. Many people living in the city are responding to this, with interest in making open streets a regular occurrence.
- Open streets are a trend in city planning. Cars may not drive in certain streets. The streets can fill with bicycling, walking, sports and music. It turns into a community event for appreciation of the outdoors and minimizes car exhaust pollution.
What actors (individuals or organizations) are referred to? (Provide names and short descriptions.)- Jake Liefer
- One of the "organizers" of the Open Street movement (or at least its Facebook page, kind of unclear)
- Jim Kenney
- Jim Kenney is a Democratic candidate for mayor of Philadelphia.
- Possible soon-to-be mayor
- Supporter of this movement, but is paying attention to the interest of the public and businesses in the area.
- Some local businesses were hurt by the papal visit. He suggests that this could have been caused by "stepped up security," not solely because of the open streets.
- Data is going to be collected before putting anything into action.
What kind of causation or responsibility is argued or implied in the article?- The article implies that this movement was caused by desire for further development of the city culture of Philadelphia.
- Although the environmental impact of Open Streets Philadelphia was not analyzed, this movement has support for environmental, cultural, and physical activity interests.
- A Philly resident was quoted, saying the papal car restriction allowed him to take his year old child on her first bicycle ride.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?- This article does not focus on the health impacts of removing cars from the streets.
- Inequity addressed would be the difference in business between companies and organizations in the area of restriction versus outside.
What three points, details or references from the article did you follow up on to advance your understanding of the issued and actors described in the article?