A Failure in Philly

A terrible day for the City is an unfortunate sign of the lack of leadership

Yeah, this is a real estate blog, I suppose, but there’s so much more that goes into the health of a functioning city than some nice-looking infill. Case in point: the unfortunate news of traffic violence and gun violence once again rearing their heads. Both of these issues have been a plague on Philly over the last several years, continuing to hold back the city as it shakes free from the self-imposed shackles of the past.

But yesterday was especially disconcerting, with these preventable issues coming to a head, with two Philadelphians now no longer with us.

Near 18th & Spruce yesterday, from NBC10

Vision Zero has been stripped bare by Mayor Charelle Parker’s budget, and Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson has made it more dangerous for pedestrians along Washington Avenue by preventing a safer road diet from being implemented on the west end of the street. This is in tandem with the insanely lax enforcement of traffic laws - I have never seen so many blatant red lights being run or cars jumping into opposing lanes, and that is all due to this culture of doing whatever the hell you want. It is impossible to ignore the extreme moves that people make as a direct result of this - including the police officer who turned across lanes in front of me without signaling about a week ago.

The gun issue yesterday is sadly related, with an Amazon driver’s van - who has absolutely no incentive to park legally given their role and the lack of parking enforcement - getting in the way of a turning school bus. Sadly, the asshole decided that pulling out a gun and firing off a few shots near a bunch of kids was the most reasonable way to handle being asked to move an illegally parked vehicle. Even with shootings down across the city, it makes me sick to my stomach to think how many guns are around every moment of every day.

So, what the hell do we do? First off, the leadership of the city needs to step up, and needs to do so immediately. Mayor Parker has been nowhere near as available as she should be, and she should be making a stand for something beyond the return of city workers to the office. Secondly, there needs to be a HUGE push to curb illegal driving and illegally registered cars - why would you care about getting in trouble if there’s no way to be tracked? Third, maybe actually have infrastructure in place that works? Like curb-protected lanes and real bollards instead of paint and flex posts that do next to nothing except provide some feel-good vibes?

I don’t know, I’m just a real estate blogger and not the mayor of one of the biggest cities in the country, so maybe I’m off. I just know that if I had the ability to lead the change that I had promised the city, I would be busting my ass to do every single thing I could to make that happen so that we have fewer dead pedestrians and traumatized children. That’s just me though.