How about Philly becoming a “Bright Green” City

I recently stumbled upon an interview of Alex Steffen in the April issue of The Sun Magazine.
The Sun Magazine is my favorite magazine and it is actually the only remaining subscription to a paper magazine I have kept. Why?
Well, every issue of The Sun is a mix of politics, religion, poetry and fiction. lt is personal, political and provocative. It has no advertising at all, nothing. So they can print whatever they want.

Back to Alex Steffen: Alex is based in Seattle – Washington State where he runs worldchanging.com, a large blog site dedicated to  Sustainability, writes books and consults. Alex coined the term “Bright Green City” to describe the combination of reduced environmental impact and improved design. He says that “livable cities will have lower carbon emissions, increased economic competitiveness, along healthier populations and a greater sense of community”.
“Efficiency will be achieved by building compact neighborhoods in which people can walk or bike to school or work and share services and resources, while saving both money and the environment.”  Here is a link to the Alex Steffen’s full interview in the April issue of the Sun Magazine: The Bright Green City.

If this sounds familiar it is because Philadelphia has already most of the ingredients to become a Bright Green City.

Mayor Nutter, who I consider one of the best Mayors Philadelphia has ever had, wants to make Philadelphia the “Greenest City” in the country.
To that effect he has established the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and has embarked all the city departments in reaching a set of 15 goals described in Greenworks Philadelphia.

Reading through the set of 15 targets described in the Greenworks Philadelphia Plan, I notice an objective noticeably absent from the Greenworks Plan: the Greenworks plan does not say one word about building a greater sense of community among Philadelphia residents. The closest we get is Target 15: Engagement – “Greenworks Philadelphia will use the power of new technologies and old-fashioned word of mouth to engage every Philadelphian in this important work.”  Nice but no cigar.

So, to move from the  “Greenest City in the country” to a “Bright Green City“, the one thing I see missing is fostering a greater sense of community. That is how Philadelphia will move from competing for the Greenest City to being a Bright Green City.  Considering how far behind Portland Oregon we are, I am not sure we will ever be the Greenest City in the country.  And I am sure we can become a Bright Green City.

**The picture that illustrate this entry came from “My Other Car is a Bright Green City” which is an essay written by Alex Steffen,  partly published by StreetsBlog.org. You will find the full version of that article here.