It could have been me.
The other day, as I biked across town to my hair appointment near Rittenhouse Square, I witnessed another near miss. Driving behind a young woman, I audibly gasped and slammed on my brakes when a left-turning truck nearly hit her at an intersection—literally in the same bike lane a block away from where Dr. Barbara Friedes was killed last month by a man allegedly killed. driving under the influence.
For all intents and purposes, the separated cycle paths on Gran and Pine are typically a pleasant way to get across town. The tree-lined streets are beautiful, and provided no one is parked in the bike lane, it’s a relatively stress-free ride. I use them multiple times each week and will even change my route to make sure I’m at least riding on the safest infrastructure I can find.
But as I left the salon, bike helmet in hand, I was told to “be safe.” My friends love the exercise and freedom of cycling to work, but darkly joke about how they almost get killed three to five times a day. My friends with children make sure they don’t stand too close to the street when waiting to cross because even the sidewalk doesn’t seem safe. Meanwhile, my friend in Amsterdam makes fun of Americans for wearing hi-visibility gear and helmets while cycling to the beach from the city in flip flops and a sun hat.
As the sign at Barbara’s memorial rightly says: It doesn’t have to be this way.
It shouldn’t be difficult
In 2019, I conducted a study with the Lindy Institute of Urban Innovation at Drexel University about creating more parklets, pedestrian plazas, and bike enclosures on our streets. These small-scale interventions have a multitude of benefits – from reducing traffic to providing space for socialization – so we set out to find ways to increase these impactful improvements in our public realm.
Like so many things in Philadelphia, the onus for any of these upgrades lies with the individual. For someone to create a public parklet, you must be a business owner with the knowledge, interest and willingness to invest in a structure that you would then have to design, construct and maintain yourself. Without a clear incentive, outreach and support from the city via design and sponsorship, the program was largely non-existent. Only a handful of mostly Center City businesses installed parklets. The best-known example of a pedestrian plaza, Grays Ferry Triangle at 23rd and South streets, took years of advocacy and grassroots fundraising to become a reality. In short, it was inaccessible, uneven and a clear indication of the city’s lack of focus on improving public space.
When the pandemic hit, one of the big lines was the adoption of many of our recommendations, including so-called “street farms”, which were privatized for outdoor dining, with fees and inspections waived or reduced, and the design reflected the company’s personal aesthetic. We even had almost pedestrian streets reminiscent of Italian piazzas filled with patrons day and night. Of course, this was due to the unfortunate necessity of safely eating out and keeping our restaurants afloat, but I was hoping that if there was one thing that would hold up from that tumultuous time, this would be it.
But no dice. Where once there were hundreds of streets spread across the city, we are now back to almost the original number due to a re-imposition of regulations. When the city council raised this issue in April, I was hopeful again – maybe the pressure will result in a reassessment of the situation! If my report could not do it, perhaps the Council can. (Or City Commissioner Christy Brady, who released a report Wednesday about the benefits of streets and the ways in which the city makes it difficult to build them.)
As we prepare for the sesquicentennial here in 2026 in Philadelphia, I can’t help but think of Paris as it prepared to host the Olympics. It is a city that has taken steps beyond our wildest dreams ahead of the world’s gaze on its streets and public spaces. Despite Philly being voted (again) the most walkable city and feeling like the closest thing to a European city we can get in the US, we’re still light years behind what Paris and other cities have done to do their streets safer for everyone.
What we can do
So what is missing in our city? If you ask me, it’s about care.
If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again – when I look for model leadership, I look to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. She is a woman who prioritizes clean rivers, playgrounds near schools and truly protected bike lanes throughout the city, not just downtown. One that puts community above enforcement and sees the city as a holistic ecosystem. A leader who cares.
Mayor Parker doesn’t need to promise a swim in a freshly cleaned Schuylkill River to emulate Hidalgo. She may follow New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ example by appointing a Chief Public Realm Officer, a cabinet position given broad authority to work across the otherwise condensed and entrenched departments responsible for the myriad technical and social complications of making streets for people . In the short time she has held the position, Ya-Ting Liu has worked to create a standardized street design set of parts, rapid life-saving and low-lift changes like reducing crossing distances through curb bump-outs, and supported permanent changes to the pedestrian streets maintained after the pandemic .
Fortunately, some progress is being made in Philly. After the Philly Free Streets movement stalled, the Center City District is making some streets open to pedestrians every Sunday in September. The Avenue of the Arts is planning a block-long demonstration project to beautify Broad Street and calm traffic. The City Council was able to pass legislation that allows businesses to extend their streets to be more than just their property line and will provide “navigators” to help with the process. Mayor Parker has assigned teams of street cleaners to clear out abandoned alleyways and give our streets a much-needed refresh.
Now we just have to take it further:
- Let’s bring back a more expansive open streets event – like when it was the entire length of South Street or even included North Broad.
- Let’s actually make an artistic and inviting Avenue of the Arts, shorten crossing distances and calm the street through a reduction of lanes.
- Let’s create the first pedestrian street and bring back the dining that was so loved along streets like S. 13th in Midtown Village.
- Let’s make protected bike lanes that prevent unnecessary deaths and add to the zero vision budget, not reduce it.
- Let’s create a world class city to be proud of and take care of the rich so they don’t even want to throw their trash on the ground in the first place.
We have to believe that it can happen here, despite the cynicism that even I can all too easily fall into. These human-scale elements are what really make a difference, not band-aid “fixes”, brute force or high-tech sensations. We are all in the public domain in one way or another every day. We move through it, we meet in it, we laugh and cry and live in these common places between our buildings. Whether we walk, cycle, push a stroller or simply stand on a corner – we all deserve a more dignified public space. If we want a safer, cleaner and greener city, we have to start there – and start now.
Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman is an urban anthropologist at Drexel University and founder of THINK.urban.
MORE STORIES ABOUT BETTER CITY SPACES FROM THE CITIZENS
Left: Memorials to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Dr. Barbara Friedes, who died while cycling from work. Photos by Katarina Johnston-Zimmerman. Right: An NYC DOT Art Asphalt Art Activation, “The Sun Also Rises” by Priscila De Carvalho on 34th Avenue between 89th Street and 90th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens, a bike lane and pedestrian safety project.