July 30: University City crime rates dropping | $106M for The Gallery | Big win for NACTO | How to force a Sheriff’s sale

Macerich Co, a California-based company with experience in urban mall development, will invest $106.8M in The Gallery. “Macerich will acquire a 50 percent interest in the Gallery under terms of the deal. PREIT will invest with Macerich in Gallery improvements on a 50/50 basis.”

Here come the construction jobs: With $570 million in Philadelphia-area capital projects planned over the next two years, SEPTA is working to ensure that small, minority, and female contractors share in the benefits. The outreach stems from a decision at SEPTA in May to apply federal standards for “Disadvantaged Business Enterprises” to the state money, and the agency has set a goal of 13% DBE participation.

Hey transportation engineers – FHWA says you can design city streets that work for everyone. “On Friday, the Federal Highway Administration made clear that it endorses the National Association of City Transportation Officials’ Urban Street Design Guide, which features street treatments like protected bike lanes that you won’t find in the old engineering ‘bibles.'” For more on the politics of this issue, see our Explain That Term post on “level of service.”

Temporary interventions in the built environment like pop-up parks, eateries, and open streets days can sometimes lead to permanent changes. Streetsblog reports on some interesting research from Minnesota that will be presented at the Pro-Walk, Pro-Bike, Pro-Place conference in Pittsburgh this year.

Crime rates keep dropping in University City, according to new number from University City District. Crime has been dropping all over the city, but University City is fortunate to have a whole set of organizations working on increasing safety and safety perceptions, including “UCD, the Penn Police Department, the Drexel Police Department, and a host of other security details and town watches and public safety units from all the other institutions in the area.”

And Christopher Sawyer explains how to force a property into Sheriff’s sale. Hint – ask your District Councilmember to do it, to bypass the $1,100 fee at Department of Revenue.