http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity Just another WHYY Blogs weblog Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:57:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I was reminded by Philebrity's commentary on the city's recycling PSA posters that this week marks the beginning of weekly, single-stream, curbside pick up of recycling.  WHYY's Bill Hangley did a story that ran on 91FM this morning about recycling that included information about the city's Christmas tree recycling program: City ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/05/also-new-in-2009/ If you are a home alarm owner, the annual registration fee with the City of Philadelphia is going up this year. The fee is now $50- up from $35 in 2008. But why register your alarm in the first place? The biggest incentive, from what I can tell, is that ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/05/2009-brings-higher-philly-home-alarm-fees/ [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Photo by Flickr user iFranz. Creative Commons License"][/caption] Greater, Greater Washington's Cavan Wilk posted a fantastic piece about the possible end of shopping malls that had me wondering what the changing economics of these staples of suburbia could mean for this region.  Wilk's points to a recent ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/05/will-king-of-prussia-ever-be-dethroned/ Maybe you've set out this year to exercise more, lose weight, save money, quit smoking, lead a less stressful life or do something else. While resolutions typically are a personal thing, what should Philadelphia's resolutions be? Mayor Michael Nutter and City Council probably have their own ideas for Philly in ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/04/citizen-spotlight-tis-the-season-for-new-years-resolutions/ By Tom Ferrick [caption id="attachment_6167" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="If the Mummers don't take action, this could be the only guy left watching the parade."][/caption] What would you call a big parade that hardly anyone shows up to watch? I would call it a failure. In Philadelphia, we have a different name for it. ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/03/oh-yawn-dem-golden-slippers/ Add this to the New Charter Watch file since we may end up seeing a lot of clarification and talk about how the current Home Rule Charter works: Nutter: Wait for written ruling before appealing library closures As Tom said earlier today, the library issue seems to have won Nutter nothing and ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/02/link-leftovers-nutter-plays-waiting-game-ypp-looks-forward-to-new-year/ ...and it appears that the call center is getting quite a work out: Philly's new 3-1-1 information line received 3,576 calls within its first 24 hours of operation - with public-safety questions topping the list of requests. The new 3-1-1 nonemergency call line formally kicked off just after 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Any ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/02/two-days-into-3-1-1/ [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="403" caption="Ghost bike on MLK Drive near Sweet Briar. Photo at Philly.com"][/caption] The piece in today's Inquirer about the Ghost Bike movement brings to mind a lot of items that I've been reading on sites like Streetsblog (NY), Greater Greater Washington (DC), Philadelphia Bicycle News (Philly, of ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/02/cyclist-and-pedestrian-safety-in-a-car-biased-world/ By Tom Ferrick When it comes to Mayor Michael Nutter and the libraries, the phrase “more trouble that it’s worth” comes to mind. The Urban Dictionary, a snide and funny web site of American slang, defines the phrase as follows: “high maintenance; requiring excessive investments of effort that may not be exceeded ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/01/was-it-worth-it/ Not blogging today because of the day off.  Perhaps I'll even go catch a glimpse of the Mummers parade. Anyway, 2008 was one heckuva year for Philadelphia.  If you were "the city" what would your resolutions for 2009 be?  What do you think the city will look like on January 1, ... http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/01/01/share-your-new-years-resolutions-for-the-city/