Southeastern Pennsylvania
Network News
July 2008
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10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania is an alliance of organizations and individuals committed to promoting land use policies and actions that will enable Pennsylvania to strengthen its diverse urban, suburban, and rural communities.

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The Network Vision:
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Metropolitan Development Network was created in March 2006 to identify critical issues which need to be addressed in order to revitalize the older cities and towns in the five Southeastern counties of Pennsylvania: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia. In order to ensure healthy and economically competitive communities initiatives the network will encourage:
  • More citizens and communities working together to solve shared problems
  • Many types of homes within all communities at prices everyone can afford
  • Easier less costly transportation to shopping, jobs, and cultural events
  • Vibrant healthy economies
First Suburbs Convention Vote
First Suburbs Convention Prioritizes Issues of Primary Importance
On Saturday, May 31, 2008, the Southeastern Pennsylvania First Suburbs Project assembled 220 people from more than 50 communities to an Issues Convention at Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote, PA. This meeting was the next step following the First Suburbs Summit, held December 7, 2007, when more than 300 community leaders from Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties initially identified four problems within First Suburbs that are contributing to blight: -- school funding, -- housing, -- infrastructure, and -- social services. More...

Water and Growth: Toward a Stronger Connection between Water Supply and Land Use in Southeastern Pennsylvania
Public water systems have expanded rapidly into new areas and supported sprawling development patterns in southeastern Pennsylvania, despite the fact that most of the overall system capacity to treat and deliver water remains unused. That is the conclusion of a report released by 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania examining the relationship between water supply infrastructure and land use in the five counties of southeastern Pennsylvania. The report, Water and Growth: Toward a Stronger Connection between Water Supply and Land Use in Southeastern Pennsylvania, presents data compiled by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and concludes:
  • Public water systems in southeastern Pennsylvania have enough unused capacity to serve more than a million new people.
  • During the 1990s, the area served by public water supply systems expanded by 23 percent while the region's population grew by just 3 percent.
  • New water infrastructure is supporting fewer people on more land. In 1992, population density in areas served by public water was 6.4 people per acre. But in areas where public water service has been added since 1992, the population density was only 1.3 people per acre.
More...
SAVE THE DATE! We will launch the First Suburbs Action Agenda to candidates and elected officials on Sunday, September 28 in the afternoon. Details will follow.
Smart Transportation Guidebook: Planning and Designing Highways and Streets that Support Sustainable and Livable Communities
In conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) has commissioned the Smart Transportation Guidebook.
Smart Transportation can be summarized in six principles:
  • Tailor solutions to the context
  • Tailor the approach
  • Plan all projects in collaboration with the community
  • Plan for alternative transportation modes
  • Use sound professional judgement, and
  • Scale the solution to the size of the problem

Building Green: Overcoming Barriers in Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) released a new report, Building Green: Overcoming Barriers in Philadelphia that identifies obstacles to green building in Philadelphia and recommends solutions to dissolving those barriers.

Promoting Civic Design Excellence in Philadelphia
This report, funded by the William Penn Foundation, and developed by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, looks at the state of civic design in Philadelphia in 2007 and makes recommendations as to how the City can strengthen its own functions to improve the quality of civic design that defines our urban landscape. Topics covered include elements of civic design, design review, design guidelines, design education and advocacy, and best practices from across the country.

Marilyn Wood
10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania

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