Election 2011: The Next Great City?

With the 2011 Philadelphia City Council primary on May 17, the Next Great City coalition gathered at-large City Council candidates and the public for the launch of the Next Great City 2, a new agenda aimed at City Council candidates.

The Next Great City coalition is comprised of over 100 civic groups, labor unions, businesses, social service groups and nonprofits to advocate policies that will enhance the environment and strengthen neighborhoods.

The coalition has come up with five cost-effective policy recommendations to improve and develop Philadelphia neighborhoods.

At-large City Council candidates and other attendees gathered at the Academy of Natural Sciences on Thursday to listen to each of the five speakers who highlighted one of the five different policy recommendations. Seven members of the City Council hold at-large positions.

Bryan Collins, the Philadelphia Outreach coordinator for PennFuture and the coordinator of the Next Great City project said, “The coalition polled city residents and voters in fall 2010 to identify five priority recommendations for City Council action that Philadelphians would support to help Philadelphia become the next great city.”

The survey revealed that 78 percent of Philadelphians are more likely to vote for a city candidate who prioritizes improving the city’s water, air, land, and physical infrastructure.

The survey was conducted by Terry Madonna of Terry Madonna Opinion Research. The research also showed that over 80 percent of Philadelphians favored an increase in funding to make streets safer, a reduction in waste and increase recycling, a reduction in energy use, an improvement in the availability of fresh foods and an increase public funding to improve air quality.

Collins noted that the city has made considerable progress in the past four years with Mayor Michael Nutter. However, Collins said he believes the city still needs a lot of work to do.

“We need a good leadership to make the Next Great City’s goals a reality,” said Collins.

Collins read over the statistics of the poll results. The survey showed that one in four Philadelphians had an abandoned property in the neighborhood and one in five Philadelphians avoided a bike trip because it was believed there was no safe route.

Speakers included Jennifer Rodriguez of Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha and Kate Clark of the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging who stressed the importance of each of these results.

Clark explained how making streets safer for walking and biking allows a healthier life style for the community, especially for the elderly.

“We want to make seniors more connected with their neighborhood. We should help them age into their communities as long as possible and help them be active,” she said.

Other speakers included Jon Wybar of Revolution Recovery. He estimated only one in five Philadelphians composted food waste.

“Composting is long overdue in this city. Some soil takes 300,000 years to be prime. We need to bring it back. In order for these recommendations to get going the city needs to set up guidelines and parameters. We need to be good to our people as a collective group,” said Wybar.

Speaker Liz Robinson of the Energy Coordinating Agency raised concerns from the survey stating that one in three Philadelphians had trouble paying an energy bill.

Robinson wanted to make it clear that the traditional strategy of supply and generation wasn’t working. She said, “It is time for us to take the cleanest, cheapest, safest, quickest energy possible, and that’s energy conservation resources.”

Speaker Diane-Louise Wormley of Health Promotion Council wanted to stress the importance of nutrition, especially for the children who do not have close access to grocery stores and fresh food.

To put things into perspective, Wormley told a story about when she asked a group of students what they eat for breakfast. Wormely said the students replied with a laugh.

“They were honest. They said a bag of chips and a hug,” Wormley said. “If we don’t fix this now, shame on us.”

For more information about the Next Great City 2, visit www.nextgreatcity.com.