Help shape the future of the South District with this fun interactive map

As part of the comprehensive city-wide Philadelphia 2035 plan, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission has announced that a public meeting regarding the South District Plan will be held at South Philadelphia High School (2101 S. Broad St.) from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Dec 4.

The goal of the meeting is to discuss the future of the built environment in South Philadelphia and take part in an interactive exercise to help shape future development and public investment. There’s also this fun interactive map that let’s you mark community destinations, barriers, assets and opportunities.

The map is much like the one that was used during the Philly Bike Share public comment period.  You simply head over to the website, click “share your knowledge” and fill out the form.

Here’s an example: Say you think the E. Passyunk Ave. is an asset. You drag the red mark to the location on the map, list it as an asset, fill in the comment with your reasoning and it drops it down on the map. You can share it on social media and people are free to make a public comment on your comment. On the other hand, if you think the intersection of E. Passyunk Ave and Morris St. is a barrier for pedestrians, you would fill out a barrier comment and submit it. That could also be considered an opportunity.  Take some time and play around with the map, it’s fun and helpful to the district planning process.

The South District is large and diverse, stretching from river to river and roughly Washington Ave. to Packer Ave. The more public comments, the better overall sense the planning commission will have to make the necessary changes or improvements to make Philadelphia a more livable, healthy and economically viable city in the future. Besides, who knows South Philly better than you do? So get your city planning hat on and starting filling out some public comments.