🎉 Hahnemann Home Ban Bill Held / 🗳️ Run for Committee Person / 💰 Update on PA Transit Funding

🎉 HAHNEMANN HOME BAN BILL HELD

Good news! Councilmember Young's bill ( Bill # 251101 ) to ban housing on the vacant site of the former Hahnemann Hospital has been held. While this bill has been paused for now, we will closely watch whether it makes it back into committee and will keep our petition signers informed.

Thank you to everyone who signed  our petition and took action to oppose this short-sighted housing ban!

🗳️ RUN FOR COMMITTEE PERSON

Committee persons play important and influential roles in Philadelphia politics, but the ward system can feel confusing and opaque.

Our sister-org Fifth Square PAC is co-hosting this event next Wednesday that provides a practical guide to Philadelphia's ward system and explains how to get involved and run for committee person.

💰 UPDATE ON PA TRANSIT FUNDING

Governor Shapiro's recent budget address expressed concern for transit riders across the state, but ultimately his budget plan falls short of meeting the immediate needs of PA transit.

We appreciate his previous transit funding executive actions, but SEPTA and PA's other transit agencies deserve a robust, dedicated funding source that allows them to invest in improving service for their riders.

See this statement from Transit for All PA for more details.

🔥 FIRESIDE CHAT WITH ANGELA BROOKS

Join our Housing Committee on February 26th for a "fireside chat” event with city planner Angela D. Brooks who oversees the H.O.M.E Plan as the City of Philadelphia's Chief Housing and Urban Development Officer, and is Immediate Past President of the American Planning Association (APA).

We will be hosting it at Indy Hall and providing hoagies, beer, and seltzers.

🚲 2026 INDEGO EXPANSION UPDATE

This past week, Indego released their 2026 expansion plans. They're planning to focus on adding new docks in the following neighborhoods:

• Germantown
• West Kensington
• Southwest Philadelphia
• Wynnefield Heights
• Packer Park / FDR Park

Read more here.

👋 BECOME A MEMBER

Thank you so much to those of you who have already joined 5th Square Advocacy as a member!

Our members support our grassroots work for a more accessible, sustainable, and equitable Philadelphia. Will you join us?

🚨  ACTION ITEMS

🚧 Safer West Market St

Market Street is one of our most dangerous roads. There have been 139 documented crashes just between 38th St and the Schuylkill River from 2020 to 2024. We're calling on city and state leaders to make West Market Street safer .

☁️ Clean Air for Grays Ferry

CHOP is currently constructing a 7-story, 1,000 space parking garage in Grays Ferry which would bring considerable additional pollution to the neighborhood.  CHOP has applied for a "Complex Source" air pollution permit from the City of Philadelphia's Air Management Services (AMS)--y ou can ask AMS to hold a public hearing about the proposal.

EVENTS

The Senator Nikil Saval Forum
February 9, 7:00 pm — 8:15 pm | 133 South 36th Street
Penn Political Union will be hosting Pennsylvania State Senator Nikil Saval for a conversation on housing affordability and urban policy

Manayunk Canal Towpath Boardwalks Rehabilitation Open House
Wed., February 11th, 6:00 - 7:30 PM | Venice Island Performing Arts Center, 7 Lock St
The City will be hosting an open house on its plans to make the Manayunk Canal Towpath more flood-resistant and improve accessibility

Tiny WPA 10th Anniversary Celebration
Feb 12 from 6pm to 9pm | 3145 West Jefferson Street
Join Tiny WPA for a benefit celebrating their 10th anniversary featuring music, an open bar, delicious bites, and a live auction. Come support their work make Philadelphia's public spaces better.

Philadelphia Western Suburbs Trail Summit
February 7, 8:30am - 12:00pm | 9000 Parkview Drive, Haverford, PA
Head to Haverford for a summit to review progress, identify opportunities to improve walking and biking throughout the western suburbs of Philly, and prioritize and help plan continuing trail connections in our communities.

Wharton-Weitzman Future of Cities Conference
Fri, Feb 20, at 8:30 AM | The Study at University City, 20 S 33rd St
The Future of Cities Conference is a student-led, faculty-advised conference that aims to bring together urban innovators and experts from the public and private sectors to challenge and deepen the discourse around the trends, technologies, and policies transforming the future of our cities

Transit Equity Day: Celebrate Public Transit and Envision the Future!
Feb 21, 12:00 PM | Kensington Corridor Trust, 3400 J Street
Join Transit Forward Philadelphia in person for a day dedicated to celebrating public transit and imagining what’s next! Dive into engaging conversation and activities as they explore ways to make PA's transit safe, sustainable and accessible for everyone.

Urbanist Fireside Chat with Angela Brooks
February 26, 6pm to 8pm | Indy Hall, 709 N 2nd St
Join our Housing Committee for a “fireside chat” event with city planner Angela D. Brooks who oversees the H.O.M.E Plan as the City of Philadelphia's Chief Housing and Urban Development Officer, and is Immediate Past President of the American Planning Association (APA).

2026 Vision Zero PHL Conference
Thursday, March 12th, 9:00am to 4:00pm | Temple Student Center South, 1755 N 13th St
This year's Vision Zero conference, with the theme "Putting Community First: Revolutionizing Street Safety", invites participants to explore how the physical, social, and economic city converge and what’s possible when community needs and lived experiences guide decisions

WHAT WE'RE READING

🏙️ HOUSING & LAND USE

• Inquirer.com / Housing ban on former Hahnemann campus is on hold in City Council as concerns mount
• Inquirer.com /  A look inside one couple’s office-turned-apartment on Market Street
• Inquirer.com / The cost of housing in Pa. is too high. Here’s what Josh Shapiro will need to overcome to fix it.
• Inquirer.com / Gov. Josh Shapiro proposes $53.2 billion state budget focusing on affordability, development, and raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage

🌳 PUBLIC SPACE

• Planet Money / (Podcast) Can transforming neighborhoods help kids escape poverty
• Inquirer.com / A quarter-century-old zoning law threatens to block a restaurant and bar in Fishtown

🚌 TRANSIT

• Inquirer.com / Other Pa. transit systems are dealing with the fiscal crunch that hit SEPTA last year
• NBC10 Philadelphia /  SEPTA rolls out leased rail cars to ease Regional Rail overcrowding

🚲 MOBILITY

• Grid Magazine / A new photography project features portraits and interviews with the people who roll through Philly’s streets
• re:MAIN / The Great Unbuckling: American’s Growing Hunger for Life Without a Car
• 6abc Philadelphia / Family of teen killed in hit‑and‑run sees first safety upgrades on MacDade Boulevard

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Committee of Seventy / Documenters Program Manager

Vital City / Policy Director

Eastwick United CDC

• Environmental Program Manager
• Grant Writer

AARP / Community Challenge Grant

Fish & Boat Commission / Environmental Education Specialist

Transit for All PA

• Digital Organizer - Data Lead
• Community Organizing Fellowship In Lancaster and the Lehigh Valley

Reinvestment Fund /  Nowak Fellowship

Indego / Community Ambassador

Transit Narrative Change Lab / Application

City of Philadelphia

• Internship (OTIS)
• Community Organizer
• OTIS Communications Manager
• Director of Tax Policy and Planning
• Change Manager

Pew’s Philadelphia Program /  Project Director, Philadelphia Research and Policy Initiative

Office of State Senator Nikil Saval /  Summer Interns

Center for Public Enterprise /  Housing Program Manager

East Falls Development Corporation /  Executive Director