July 27: Hidden Fairmount | Less Park, Less Drive | Pupside to Gentrification

Need plans for the weekend? Don’t worry: Curbed has got you covered with  a list of 17 hidden gems of Fairmount Park.

Angie Schmitt over at Streetsblog has the skinny on a fat new study that suggests that if Americans had to pay for the parking they get for free, we’d drive a whole lot less. “Americans would drive about 16 percent less. That equates to about 500 billion fewer miles per year.”

In the last three years, three car-free bridges over the Schuylkill have opened up: the Manayunk Bridge, Sullivan’s Bridge and the Pencoyd Bridge. Dan Geringer checks in on the trio, finding they “have created a trail-connections paradise for legions of foot-powered folks, feeling the car-free power of bikes and sneakers.”

It might be time to replace the filter on your Brita. StateImpact’s Marie Cusick reports that a new database shows pollutants are in most state’s water.

If it seems like there’s been a pupulation explosion in Philly, well, that’s because there has been. Dogs are everywhere these days, Julia Terruso reports for the Inquirer, especially in Philly’s gentrifying neighborhoods.