October 28: Resettling Syrian refugees | Vernon Park improvements complete | Bullet voting report

Max Marin checks in on the local planning process for resettling Syrian refugees. Officials think the best locations would be either Lancaster, Allentown, or Northeast Philly.

An accounting of the costs of the Papal visit is beginning to take shape. SEPTA spent about $2.3 million on overtime costs, reports Jason Laughlin, and they also lost about $500,000 from a 5% dip in ridership in September. David Madden at CBS says DRPA lost about $1.4 million on bridge tolls.

With the general election coming up next Tuesday, you’re probably hearing a lot about “bullet voting” for one candidate or another. Does that work? Holly Otterbein reviews the evidence from an extensive new analysis of the data from the primary elections conducted by Commissioner Al Schmidt’s office. 

Council candidate Andrew Stober, in an interview with Citified, says one purpose of Vision Zero is “providing the Streets Department with much more political cover if there’s an intervention that’s going to make the street much safer for our most vulnerable citizens, even if it’s something that the neighborhood has concerns about or doesn’t like when they first hear about it.”

Taylor Farnsworth reports on a heated neighborhood meeting in Newbold over a Green City, Clean Waters plan to green a section of the parking lot at Guerin Rec Center. 84% of the people who filled out comment cards supported the plan. 

Germantown’s Vernon Park improvements are now complete, reports Neema Roshania. They “include the restoration of historic statues, renovated pathways, and the installation of playground equipment and adult fitness equipment.”

Sarah Clark Stuart at the Bicycle Coalition recounts the feel-good story of regional cooperation between activists, agencies, and elected officials from Philadelphia and its suburbs that made the Manayunk Bridge Trail a reality. 

The Architect’s Newspaper blog highlights andropogon’s work on Bartram’s Mile

Christina Sturdevant looks at three growing cities’ creative approaches to dealing with parking scarcity. Spoiler alert: none of them involve building more off-street parking.  

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