December 12: Using the HQ2 model | Azavea’s Summer of Maps | Ghosts of Midtown II

Using the HQ2 model as a business attraction regular: at Monday’s Council hearing, Councilman Derek Green discussed the city’s collaborative potential that was revealed in the Amazon bid process and Councilman Allan Domb suggested targeted marketing to establish a reputation as a business-friendly city.

In an opinion piece for WHYY News, Praise 107.9’s Solomon Jones argues that stop-and-go owners use a “predatory business model” and are “pretending” Councilwoman Cindy Bass’s proposed bill “is a safety issue rather than a legal issue.” Jones writes that the nuisance businesses are small convenience stores or delis that sell “crack pipes to addicts, or peddle illegal loose cigarettes” in poor black and brown communities. On the other side of the debate, Chi-Ser Tran, who grew up with a family business that used protective barriers, shares positive experiences in the neighborhood but writes that crime still happens.

Tax and the City: tax reform looks like an attack on cities, writes Diana Lind in an op-ed for Philly.com. Lind covers aspects of the proposal tax packages that underpin municipal and community development projects.

A lawman, a lunch counter, an occultist, and a philandering Canadian crook: GroJLart, contributing to Hidden City, uncovers the ghosts of 11th and Sansom Streets, most recently home to the now shuttered Midtown II diner.

A new snowplow-hailing app has come to Philly, Technical.ly Philly’s Roberto Torres writes. Likened to ‘Uber for snow plows,’ Connecticut-based SnoHub comes armed with 34 local contractors and provides on-demand snow removal.

Morning map: GIS B Corp Azavea is seeking project submissions for next year’s Summer of Maps program, Generocity shares. Nonprofit that participated and received customized spatial analysis tools include the Bicycle Coalition, Clean Air Council, and the Food Trust.

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