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Grid Readers Respond: what are the worst intersections in Philadelphia?

How does the Philadelphian cross the road? It isn’t always easy or safe. Dangerous intersections mean bikers, pedestrians and people with disabilities risk life and limb to simply get where they’re going. The risks they take are apparent in death and injury statistics — 49 pedestrians and cyclists were killed in 2021, according to the

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6 mins read
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Electric bikes can help fight climate change and solve social inequities.They also pose serious hazards. Where do they fit on the streets of Philadelphia?

Last fall, I was cruising down a street in Mount Airy on my new electric bike, joyfully accelerating into the wind and relishing in emission-free transportation, when suddenly it hit me. The pavement, that is. An SUV facing the wrong way on the two-lane road jumped out from a line of parked cars in front

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8 mins read
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Commuters share the joys (and pains) of vintage bicycles

Bicycles continue to evolve — with carbon fiber frames and electric motors, among other newfangled components — but the machine’s design hasn’t fundamentally changed for generations: two wheels, handlebars and a diamond-shaped frame. Aaron Zucker, Leslie Lodwick and Alex Bomstein remind us that we can ride bikes made decades ago, that we needn’t buy the

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4 mins read
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Conshohocken’s bike shop-café weathers the storm with the help of community

At its height, it reached three feet. The color of chocolate milk, the water flooded The Tricycle Shop’s first-floor retail and café space, submerging bistro tables and balance bikes, buoying trash cans and stacks of paper cups, lapping at the midsections of mannequins sporting branded jerseys. Hurricane Ida’s September 2021 rampage through the Philadelphia region

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2 mins read
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The private and public sector must work together to find sustainable solutions to the increasing demand for home delivery

In business there are two certainties: convenience is never without cost, and sudden changes — disruptions — create new opportunities. The escalating demand for “last mile delivery,” the process by which industries and companies ship goods directly to the customer, is a textbook example of costs and opportunities. Even if you are among the estimated

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6 mins read
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The process of Washington Avenue’s redesign falls short of democracy and fairness

Just as there is no agreed-upon definition for “gentrification” or “safety,” there are no universal standards when it comes to gathering community feedback. A decade-long South Philadelphia streets fiasco demonstrates this idea in a perfect microcosm: Washington Avenue and its controversial repaving. Washington Avenue is a wide corridor housing businesses and residences on either side

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6 mins read