February 3, 2017: Toll Bros floor plans for Jewelers Row l USPS food access program l PA DEP lacks resources to enforce safe water standards

Toll Brothers released a few proposed floor plans for their 29-story condo tower. Curbed Philly covers the plans and provides a very helpful timeline on this intense saga. SLCE Architects will present at the Civic Design Review on Tuesday, February 7th, but Inga Saffron has already reviewed the design, finding it left much to be desired.

The impact of an adjustment to Maryland Transit Administration’s student access card policy shows how important public transportation is to the infrastructure of a community. Next City covers one councilmember’s attempt to raise the funds needed to maintain free transportation for students: a good old-fashioned bake sale and GoFundMe drive.

A graduate student team at Washington University may have figured out a way to address urban food insecurity and activate postal service offices slated for closure. First Class Meal received $7,500 from AECOM and the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities program to implement an initiative that uses USPS’s distribution infrastructure and building stock to help collect, store and redistribute surplus food to areas with low food access. Al Día and The Guardian report on this fascinating partnership.

Federal officials warn the PA Department of Environmental Protection that it lacks the necessary staffing and resources to enforce safe drinking water standards. Keystone Crossroads reports on how water sanitation problems in Pittsburgh led the city to close  nearly two dozen schools and issue an advisory to 100,000 residents to boil water before using it.

About 500 female descendants belong to the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, an organization that is second only to the National Park Service in their stewardship of historic buildings nationwide. Hidden City looks into the NSCDA/PA’s century-old clubhouse located near Rittenhouse Square.