Phil, our The Next Mayor intern, did a great job gathering up the headlines from the weekend and today. So what's going on in the news?
In their "Heard in the Hall" column, the Inquirer tracks down the one guy in the whole system of city government who's job it is just to help out the little guy - the Parking Authority's public advocate. Having just gone through my own little saga with what I believed was a disputable ticket, I'm happy to know that such a person exists. My story had a happy ending, aided no doubt by the fact that my fiancee, who is much prettier than I, was the one who appealed the ticket with the gentleman at the PPA's ticket ajudication office.
Also included is an "I told you so" to some of the Michael Nutter doubters, marking the one-year anniversary of Nutter's campaign kick-off. Jerry Modesire and every elected official not named Kathy Manderino, you got served... by the Inquirer.
And what does Michael Nutter get for his troubles while he's stuck in not-yet-mayor-elect limbo? Dougnut peaches, okra and homemade soap at the Headhouse Square farmer's market! It seems that Nutter gets all of the cool speaking gigs that the current mayor turns down doesn't get invited to.
The Urban Warrior is having trouble keeping his neighborhood safe. If someone known as the "Urban Warrior" can't get the job done, what hope do I, the "Metropolitan Pacifist" have? But seriously, you know the violent crime is getting bad when UW is throwing up his hands.
Showing that's not all Farmers' Markets and soccer games, Michael Nutter did an appearance on NBC-10 and responded to the city's violent weekend:
"We have to get guns off the streets," mayoral candidate Michael Nutter said Sunday on NBC 10. "If we cannot convince Philadelphians to stop carrying weapons on the street because we're going to take them away from them in the most aggressive legal fashion possible, we will not change some of the behavior going on out here."
My favorite punching bag, SEPTA is the subject of a Daily News editorial and an Inquirer news analysis today. Both pieces make the same point: "Ok, SEPTA, you got your money, now there's no excuses." If there's one thing the Phillies have taught us, it's that increased spending doesn't always lead to better results. SEPTA's issues, however, should be a lot easier to fix than a bullpen that's shakier than that Rt. 100 Norristown line. I've already said my piece about what I would like to see from SEPTA so I'll leave it at that.
The Inquirer's Daniel Rubin has a fascinating interview with a homeless guy who's written way more books than I have. That coupled with a long feature from Sunday's paper about the growing population of homeless in Center City (video here) leads one to wonder just how well the 10-year plan to eliminate homelessness is going. No too suprising, I suppose, is the fact that what the homeless really need are "homes," not "shelters." Unless and until a concerted effort is made to put "housing first" as the strategy, this issue is not going away.
Could we soon add SEPAA to our list of regional authorities?
Finally, I'm such a nerd that I'm fascinated by articles like this one, that reports on the growth of jobs measured by zip code. Though parts of the city are starting to do better in terms of adding jobs, it's the zips that represent the far away, accessible only by car, suburbs that are really seeing gains in employment:
The Lansdale area is part of an outer-suburban belt that produced the most new jobs in the Pennsylvania suburbs since the mid-1990s, according to new data on job growth by zip code from the Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project at Temple University.
This belt stretches from Kennett Square in southern Chester County to Doylestown in central Bucks County.
In South Jersey, Mount Laurel and Marlton had large employment gains, according to the data. The towns are farther-out suburbs, but on, or near, the New Jersey Turnpike.
Where in the past, job growth could often be tracked by the proximity of major transit stops, now where seeing the employment centers being organized along the region's major highways, making Greater Philadelphia "an exit-ramp economy" according to Steve Wray at the Economy League... bringing us all the way back to the SEPTA issue (and the city's tax structure, but that's a discussion for another post).
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be enough money in the new transportation bill for SEPTA to build out new lines - either from suburb to suburb or from city to suburb. We won't be seeing congestion relief along the Expressway, 422 or 202 any time soon. All that we can hope for is that regional mass transit is able to pick it up when gas prices get to the 5,6 or 7 dollar level that many economists think will start to chase people from their cars. If you're interested, YPP has started a discussion to allow people to suggest to SEPTA how they should spend their newfound money.