Making spongier and more climate-resilient cities
We decided to revamp a story about a wonderful solution, with a few updates. The world’s cities and population centers are overwhelmingly located near water. This makes good sense since water is essential for living, and throughout history, people have built their settlements where water is Read More...
Sponge Cities: the future of flood resilience
The world’s cities and population centers are overwhelmingly located near water. This makes good sense since water is essential for living, and throughout history, people have built their settlements where water is accessible and in abundant supply. However, in recent decades the vital good that Read More...
This soccer club to become the first in the US with a zero-landfill stadium
Soccer games at the Subaru Park stadium in Philadelphia are about to get a lot greener thanks to a new initiative that aims to divert 100 percent of the waste generated during matches away from landfills. Home to the Philadelphia Union soccer team, the stadium produced more than 570,000 pounds of Read More...
The formerly incarcerated find employment and community at Down North Pizza
Philadelphia's Down North Pizza is famous for its Detroit-style square pies and secret, smoky tomato sauce, but back in the kitchen, the restaurant is doing more than just churning out great pizza. It’s also offering employment opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. Philadelphia has Read More...
Philadelphia will no longer pull drivers over for low-level infractions
Last week, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed the Driving Equity Act, making it the first major city in the US to ban low-level traffic stops. The law, which will go into effect in early 2022, will also require city police to collect and publicly release data on traffic stops. Multiple studies Read More...
Philadelphia is using a mediation program to prevent evictions
Back in August, with Covid-19 cases on the rise and tenants across the city struggling financially, the city of Philadelphia decided to take an unconventional approach to solve a housing crisis with their Eviction Diversion Program. With the new program, landlords are required to attend a Read More...
Affordable housing and vertical farms: A match made in heaven?
We’ve written about vertical farms and affordable housing extensively at The Optimist Daily, but never have we seen these two concepts combined. Until now, that is. This is the exact combination we’re going to witness in Westbrook, Maine, where a multistory greenhouse is being constructed Read More...
Philadelphia to provide free internet for 35,000 low-income families
The pandemic has shown us all how important it is to be connected to the Internet. The problem, however, is that millions of Americans still live without a reliable connection to the web, which is especially problematic for kids considering the school year is just around the corner and is expected Read More...
Philadelphia is planting trees to prevent premature deaths
We’ve talked a lot about the mental and physiological benefits of time outside. One U.S. city specifically is studying these benefits and taking action to improve the health of its residents. A study found that Philadelphia could prevent 400 premature adult deaths a year by increasing its tree Read More...
Philadelphia’s library system joins in on ditching fines for overdue books
Following into the steps of Chicago, and Los Angeles, Philadelphia’s library system has officially joined the movement of ending the policy of charging patrons for past-due materials, also eliminating any existing overdue fines from library cards. The library’s former policy imposed fines of Read More...