January 12: NYT <3s Philly pop-ups | Knight Cities finalists | Athenaeum contest

The New York Times ranked Philadelphia third on their global list (and first in the US) of 52 recommended destinations for travelers in 2015, citing our parklets, and pop-up public spaces like Spruce Street Harbor Park.

Congratulations to all our friends advancing to the next round of the Knight Cities Challenge. It’s exciting, but not surprising, to see so many people in the PlanPhilly orbit on this list.

Holly Otterbein says if Darrell Clarke doesn’t run, Philly’s unions will have a hard time uniting behind any one candidate.

Is it worth building new streetcars without giving them their own dedicated lanes? Typically they don’t go any faster than buses, and actually slow buses down.

Fun fact: the Rt 15 trolley along Girard actually has the legal right of way in the center lanes (see page 29), sharing it with left-turning cars only at certain intersections, but the lack of a protective barrier and the lack of police enforcement renders this meaningless.

Should Pennsylvania adopt pay-by-the-mile auto insurance policies? Economist Dean Baker makes the case for states to move in this direction.

GroJLart reviews the proposals for the Athenaeum contest that asked participants to reimagine what a replacement for the John Notman building might look like in 2050.