Despite Retrograde Liquor Policies, PA Has Higher Binge Drinking Rate
Back in the 30's, when the end of Prohibition was within sight, Pennsylvania's Prohibitionist Governor Gifford Pinchot saw the writing on the wall and created a Prohibition-lite framework for regulating alcohol in Pennsylvania. His stated goal was to "discourage the purchase of alcoholic beverages by making it as inconvenient and expensive as possible."
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City Land Sales Need Less City Council Meddling, Not More
Back in 2014, the City of Philadelphia created a Land Bank to manage the disposition of the City's huge stockpiles of vacant property. Philadelphia owns a lot more land than most other big city governments do, and people on all sides of this issue generally agree it would be a good thing if we owned less.
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Mayor Kenney's 'Zero Waste' Initiative Should Restore Street Sweeping Services
(We used to do this | Photo: Philly History)
Mayor Jim Kenney announced the creation of a Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet this week, which will spend the next six months figuring out how to turn Philadelphia into a "zero waste" city by 2035.
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It's Illegal to Build Apartments on the Vast Majority of Philadelphia Land
The Philadelphia Fed's new study on gentrification made a big splash recently with the finding that between 2000 and 2014, the city lost one-fifth of its affordable rental units--23,628 in total.
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How Much Does Ballot Position Impact Philly Vote Totals?
Everybody knows that a candidate's ballot position has an impact on his or her chances of being elected, but it's always been unclear exactly how large the effect is.
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With Lowest 'For Sale' Inventory in 16 Years, Philly's Housing Boom Isn't Over Yet
While various housing commentators have wanted to call the top of the market for Philly's post-recession housing boom for a couple years now, this chart created by our friend Jake Liefer should pour cold water on that notion.
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Listen to Philadelphia 3.0 on WHYY's Radio Times
Our campaign to recruit people to run for ward elections in 2018 has been picking up steam for the last month, and local media is taking notice. We sold out both of our January workshops, which will train 200 people on the nuts and bolts of winning ward elections, some of the neighborhood teams we've helped organize are already starting to meet already, and sign-ups continue to roll in through our web form.
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A Happy Two-Month Break to Philly's "Full-Time" City Council
If next week were a normal week, on Monday you could expect to read our weekly digest of the most interesting bills introduced in City Council the previous Thursday. But there won't be any new bills introduced this week, because City Council is going on holiday break...for the next two months.
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Rebecca Rhynhart Considering Primary Challenge for Philly Controller
(Rebecca Rhynhart)
One good thing about politics as a hobby is that if one election doesn't go your way, the next one is always just six months away. And luckily for those Philadelphians who have an overabundance of nervous energy to burn after 2016, the two major citywide primaries in 2017, for District Attorney and Controller, are shaping up to be competitive elections where a little volunteer work could go a long way toward changing the course on important issues facing Philly.
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Council Report Card: Week of December 12th
In which Derek Green and Al Taubenberger propose increasing the reward for reporting on short-dumping; Several Councilmembers propose some basic accommodations for pedestrians near construction sites; Mark Squilla proposes a crackdown on SLAPP lawsuits and a rezoning of Queen Village; and Curtis Jones, Helen Gym, and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez request an update on the Police Department's body camera project.
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