Great Expectations

Today, the Citizens Agenda for Philadelphia's Future, the culminating product of the Great Expectations project for this year, was published online at www.greatexpectations07.com.

Also, the first installment of a six-part presentation of the Agenda in the ink-and-paper Inquirer appeared in the Sunday Currents section. During the week, the issue by issue rollout of the Agenda will appear on the local Commentary page, B2.

Every day as the Agenda is unveiled, we'll post an open thread for your comments on the issues covered in that day's print Inquirer. (If you want to comment on other parts of the agenda ahead of their print publication dates, that's fine, too. Go ahead. And don't forget the Citizens Convention to review the Agenda next Sunday at the Convention Center.http://www.greatexpectations07.com/convention)

Today's issues in Currents were Education and Knowledge Economy. They were paired for obvious reasons; together, they speak to the fact that any vibrant region is focused on providing educational opportunity and skill training to its citizens at every point from preschool to post-college. We expect the Education agenda to stir some debate; in the end, we chose not to go with the popular notion that the city should take its schools back fully from the state.

Philadelphia-area blogger and podcaster Bill Rowland discusses his impressions of the Great Expectations Citizens’ Convention held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Sunday December 2nd.

In this program, Bill covers the event including the welcome session, as well as discussions of three of twelve key issues found in the draft Citizens Agenda. Specifically The Knowledge Economy, City Services and Crime.

Listen in to Bill's podcast