THINK.urban

02/14/2018

I am very excited about my current (and future) obsession - The Women Led Cities Initiative. We are crowdfunding for our inaugural working conference in Philadelphia, which will act as a pilot test for a replicable program that any city can use. Please consider supporting our efforts in any way that you can, and help start this important initiative. Thank you!

This inaugural working conference of The Women Led Cities Initiative will bring together women working in all areas of urbanism to connect, collaborate, and start the conversation around a feminist city for all.

11/10/2017

Today and everyday...
(Art by ) @ Queen Village, Philadelphia

11/08/2017

happened recently and I summarized my five takeaways (with love!) over on my blog at medium.com/. Here they are in turn.
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Takeaway #5: Give is more time. Look at all these smiling faces at 12:30pm- a half hour before the event is scheduled to end. Why stop this short? One of these days we’ll get to a point where we’re given more hours of freedom, more days of open streets to play in, and eventually more streets for people in our cities. What’s stopping us??
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11/07/2017

happened recently and I summarized my five takeaways (with love!) over on my blog at medium.com/. Here they are in turn.
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Takeaway #4: Dump the dump trucks. I don’t like to post negative photos but it’s hard to get around this one (literally). I’m assuming the fault lies with Homeland Security, but I’ve been to many open streets events and never seen this kind of lack of priority to the people who have been given access to the street. Take a lesson from in NYC and find another way so that participants don’t have to maneuver unsafely around this messy behemoths.
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11/07/2017

happened recently and I summarized my five takeaways (with love!) over on my blog at medium.com/. Here they are in turn.
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Takeaway #3: Play to your strengths. The attempt to connect two very different neighborhoods meant greater attention was paid to making it more equitable this year, though unless research was conducted (I didn’t see any) its hard to say how successful it was. It’s a tough job, and might be tougher than it has to be. If Philly is a city of neighborhoods, why not embrace that? The incredibly popular program brings pop-up parks to different neighborhoods each year. I suggest a similar program for Free Streets next year so each area gets the attention it deserves.
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11/07/2017

happened recently and I summarized my five takeaways (with love!) over on my blog at medium.com/. Here they are in turn.
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Takeaway #2: People first, always. This photo shows a chance encounter between two groups of people, made possible by open streets. I could have just as easily posted a photo of a group of people huddled together in branded hoodies catching Pokémon specially partnered with the event. While I’m in favor of getting people in public space, the addition of an app-based activity meant there was seemingly less of this kind of socializing. I suggest more smiling volunteers and no Pokémon GO next time.
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11/06/2017

happened recently and I summarized my five takeaways (with love!) over on my blog at medium.com/. Here they are in turn.
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Takeaway #1. Take a lesson from Tactical Urbanism. While some interventions like this helped alleviate wide swaths of roadway, they definitely could have gone farther with the amount and placement of programming, to make people feel excited every stretch of the route. Take the opportunity to showcase what’s possible when we make a street complete - even when it’s not closed to cars - so we can push for non-auto culture change in Philly through physical demonstrations.
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11/06/2017

Hey Philly. I love your style, and your this year was awesome. But now I’ve got some takeaways to make it even better next year. Come on over to my page for more...(medium.com/). XOXO
❤️

11/03/2017

Thanks again ! It was so great sharing the main stage with Skye Duncan of the Global Designing Cities Initiative to talk streets and children. ❤️ Home again and ready for a busy November developing . (Thanks for the photo !!)

10/31/2017

Going into day 2 of the urban innovation summit workshops with their new round of fellows! Then tonight it’s off to Chicago for to do a live recording of Third Wave Urbanism! If you haven’t listened yet, check out the latest for a thorough discussion on the ins and outs of Airbnb six months after New Orleans has started regulating the short-term rental service. (Almost out of the maze... photo of Gamla Stan, Stockholm from my recent trip.)

10/28/2017

Scenes from today’s ! This was the second iteration of in Philly, the first directed by the new city initiative. The 3.5 mile route went north-south this time from to El Centro De Oro in Fairhill. More photos and thoughts coming soon!
@ Philly Free Streets