Better Blocks Philly has big ideas for South of South neighborhood

Call it what you want — South of South or Graduate Hospital — but the not-quite-Center-City-or-South-Philly neighborhood has big ideas on how to improve traffic conditions, and organizers are giving the public a peek this week and next.

As part of the Better Blocks Philly initiative, the South of South Neighborhood Association is working with two design firms for a series of events in the coming weeks to display and implement some traffic-calming features centered around Christian Street near 17th and 18th.

Mid-block crosswalks will be set up during the series, which runs Oct. 13 to 23, and other ideas for making the neighborhood more pedestrian-friendly will be discussed. Things like chicanes, bump-outs, parklets and pop-up stores are part of the grand plan, and are explained and sketched up here.

The first big Better Blocks Philly event is the opening reception Friday with a speaker from the Project for Public Spaces.