Walk Around Philadelphia’s fall cycle begins

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Each winter and fall, a small but growing group of Philadelphians gathers with a simple goal: to walk the city’s perimeter.

The walk isn’t about following the familiar river trails or parkways, but about exploring the city’s true, rich edge. Along the way, participants pass by back lots, farms, bodies of water, cemeteries, shipping terminals and the airport, as well as universities and prisons. But the journey is about more than geography.

“Walk Around Philadelphia is an invitation for us to explore our boundaries together,” said JJ Tiziou, the multifaceted artist who started the walk almost 10 years ago. It’s also an invitation “to understand the scale and scope of the city, to spark some curiosity.”

What is the walk?

Tiziou first circumnavigated the city’s 100-plus-mile boundary with a small group of artists in 2016. What started as a personal experiment has evolved into a public project that takes place  twice a year.

Each February and September, dozens of participants can sign up for the walks, which take place in segments. Over the course of a month, each weekend offers a chance for walkers to complete the city’s perimeter.

Participants can choose how much of the walk they want to do. “There are people who do it all in one go. Some people do it a segment per season, one day here, one day there,” Tiziou said.

The goal isn’t to see who can cover the most ground or go the fastest. “Sometimes people who come from competitive hiking mindsets will ask me, ‘Oh, what’s the fastest anyone has ever done it?’ I’m like, well, that’s not a fair or helpful question because Walk Around Philadelphia is the one project where you get bonus points for detours and delays,” Tiziou shared.

The walk takes place in groups large enough to enjoy good company, but small enough to accommodate route changes, pace adjustments and other decisions each participant may want to make.

In this case, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey” rings true. The walk aims to create an opportunity to connect with the city, its neighborhoods and its community differently.

It can even be a way to connect with yourself from a different perspective. “One of our guidelines is that if you’re used to being the leader, then maybe you can set a boundary on yourself and see what it’s like to be a follower or a supporter,” said Tiziou. “And if you’re normally shy or hesitant, or you’re totally happy just following along, you can push yourself at your own growing edge.”

Creating a safe and inclusive space

Lily Alexander, who coordinated the walks over the past year, described organizing the groups and routes as an exercise in intentionality, designed to make participants feel included, safe and comfortable.

“Some of it has been logistical — how do we welcome more people into the walk while also keeping it to a small enough group that people can really make those connections, feel safe and create experiences together, deciding how they want to take the route?” Alexander said.

As the walk has grown in popularity, maintaining small group sizes — no more than 15 participants — has been crucial to preserving the sense of connection.

“We started to add segments going both directions. Starting at the same point, one group would go clockwise, the other counterclockwise,” Alexander said.

Equity is also a key principle in organizing the walk.

“In our last February walk, we gave away $6,000 in cash stipends to participants. That was 15–16% of our walk group,” said Tiziou. “That makes the walk very different from a lot of other city trail programs. If only people who have the means go and do these things, the groups of walkers will look a lot like me. And that doesn’t feel right to me.”

The walk operates on a sliding-scale principle. Registration fees range from $15 to $250 per segment.

“But then if [participants] don’t have the means, they do it for free. And if they’re facing a financial hardship, we offer them a free registration with a $200 Visa gift card,” Tiziou said.

Each segment’s starting point is accessible via SEPTA, and participants are free to leave the walk at any time — there’s no obligation to complete a segment.

Walking across differences

Lily Alexander also helped organize the first walk to specifically include Spanish-speaking participants. The event offered an opportunity for neighbors who are native Spanish speakers or learning the language to connect through the walk.

But this raised new questions for the organizers.

“Some of the [Spanish-speaking] organizations we reached out to were like, ‘Our people wouldn’t feel … you know, given the ICE raids, the persecution … we don’t really know if people are going to feel safe going on a walk around the airport,’” Alexander said.

The organizers’ approach was to acknowledge and validate these concerns while also communicating to those interested in participating that there is safety in numbers.

“I would never want to pressure anyone to come, but I think the idea is we’re safer together and we’re safer with more connections that we have. We’re safer the more we can unite across differences while recognizing how different we are, but also how much we can share and build together. And I think the walk is a really good place to do that,” Alexander said.

Lisa Hardy, a Center City resident, signed up to walk the city’s full perimeter last winter to prepare for a big hiking trip and to get to know her city better.

“I just thought it would be an accomplishment to see all of Philly, you know, during one time frame, one month, one exposure,” she said.

Along the way, she discovered a few surprises. “Number one, the public transportation. Number two, the different people that we met on each section of the hike. There were only two or three of us signed up for all [12 segments]. Meeting different people who were from different parts of the city and who were involved in different jobs. One of my topics was on every walk: I would be like, what book is this person reading?”

Inspired by those connections and how transformative the walk was for her, Hardy has now become a “trail angel” for one of the segments of this fall session.

“On many of the hikes — though not all — [JJ] gets a volunteer, or a few times we had a place open up and provide snacks, refreshments and a break. It’s just another great surprise you find on the trip,” she said.

Individuals walk for different reasons.

“People come from all sorts of directions, whether they’re big fans of Philly, they have some Philly pride and want to champion that, or they have Philly curiosity,” said Tiziou.

No matter how they arrive, the walk offers an opportunity to see Philadelphia with fresh eyes, be ready for the unexpected and become part of a new community — whether for a few hours, a few days or an entire month.

“There’s this immediate camaraderie that builds up between the group,” Tiziou said. “I’ve never more seen complete strangers reach out and hold hands to help each other across a log or something like that. Instinctively, we just reach out to each other and support each other.”

Looking ahead at fall preview hikes

This year, the organizers have scheduled two preview hikes on Saturday, Aug. 30 and Sunday, Aug. 31. Each is a roughly three-hour walk, 5–6 miles, from Cherry Street Pier past Penn Treaty Park toward Graffiti Pier, offering participants a chance to reflect on the city’s borders, ecology and spaces. The preview events lead up to the full 100-plus-mile Walk Around Philadelphia, which returns Sept. 5–28.

More information can be found at Walking Around Philadelphia’s website.