February 6: Sneckdown | Learning from Buck fire | Asian Philadelphians in need | Planning Camp recap | More Columbus Square development

Good morning, Streeters. We hope you aren’t among the 400,000 people still don’t have power from yesterday’s ice storm and that your commute is getting back to normal.

All of this crummy weather has been great for sneckdowns. What’s that? Spotting areas of underused road left covered in snow, which can help planners see streets that need to go on road diets and areas appropriate for pedestrian amenities. This Old City walked down East Passyunk and shared a few observations.

It’s hard not to feel outraged reading the damning grand jury report about the Buck Hosiery factory fire that left two firefighters dead and outlined myriad failures of a negligent city government. Daily News columnist Helen Ubiñas wonders when Philadelphia will stop taking a body-count approach to public safety. “Who in this city has the guts, the will and the power to finally put its people first?”

A new study finds that Philadelphia’s Asian community is growing but also deeply in need, the Daily News reports. Many Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Chinese families are far more likely to live in poverty, and the newest immigrants are among the worst off.

Technically Philly checked in on last weekend’s PlanningCamp and previewed “Plan in a Box,” a web-based tool being designed by Open Plans to make planning project information more widely sharable.

Will a city-owned parking lot at 12th and Wharton become a new apartment house? Passyunk Post reports that Alterra Property is interested in building on the site and will present conceptual plans to the Passyunk Square Civic Association’s zoning committee on Tuesday at 7.

The Buzz is Eyes on the Street’s morning news digest. Have a tip? Send it along.
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