The little garden that did!

Our lovely little Gas Station Garden at 11th & Snyder has been awarded an HONORABLE MENTION in this year’s PHS City Gardens Contest! Launched in 1975, the contest now receives over 300 entries with teams of volunteer judges visiting each site during the months of July and August. We have been invited to an Awards Reception during the 2010 Flower Show and will receive a Pennsylvania Horticultural Society certificate for our participation. We competed in the community gardens category and we are incredibly pleased to have been recognized for our efforts! This is a great honor for our young garden – it turned just 1 this summer – and the best is still yet to come. Look out, 2010 City Gardens Contest!

The garden was visited by the City Gardens Contest judges (pictured above) on Thursday, July 9, when several community members happened upon the judges and stopped to tell them just how much the garden means to the neighborhood. We found out a few weeks later that our garden made to the final round of judging and it was visited a second time on August 8.

Many thanks to all of the dedicated LoMo members who have pitched in over the course of this year and last to get the garden going and keep it hydrated and happy during the hot & dry summer months. We couldn’t have done it without you!

All too familiar a sight?

Here’s how to report a tagged mailbox to the U.S. Postal Service:

1) Go to www.usps.com

2) Click on “Customer Service” in the top right hand corner.

3) Click on “Email us,” enter zip code.

4) Select “Problem” from the drop down menu, then “Customer Service,” then “Support,” then “Vandalism/Theft Problem,” then click “Continue.”

5) When asked “Where Did This Problem Occur,” select “Collection Box” then provide information about the location of the tagged box.

Lessons Gleaned from City Biking 101

Special thanks to the Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition for dispatching two of their Bicycle Ambassadors down to our neck of the woods for the Sept. 9 “City Biking 101″ workshop, and thanks also to our local library for use of their waterproof venue! Participants took home a head full of tips and helpful info, including the fact that it is REQUIRED BY LAW that bicyclists use a red light on the back of their bike and a white light on the front during evening hours. Strange, though, that it isn’t required by law that bicyclists wear helmets, but don’t let that stop you from using one!

For other helpful tips, including how to properly adjust your helmet and lock you bike the right way, check out the Bicycle Coalition’s list of handy links: http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/resources/materials. And check out one local blogger’s account of the workshop here.

POP QUIZ: What watershed does LoMo belong to?

A: The Delaware Direct Watershed. 

Philadelphia Water Department staffer, Joanne Dahme, joined us during our Sept. 2 General Meeting to give us the inside scoop on how our City’s sewer system works, how her department is working to comply with the EPA’s Clean Water Act, and how we can all help improve the health of our watershed.

PWD’s “Green Cities – Clean Waters” initiative is a multi-tied, long-term plan that is broadly focused on improving the environment of the Philadelphia area. One goal of the new program is to reduce the amount of stormwater runoff from the City’s built environment. Did you know that during periods of intense rain in Philadelphia, rainwater gets mixed in with sewage, which then gets emptied into our streams and rivers? Imagine the damage this causes to fish and other creatures who call our bodies of water home! By reducing the amount of “hard,” impervious surfaces (i.e. concrete & asphalt) throughout Philadelphia and creating greener streetscapes, rain will be diverted from our over-burdened sewer system and will instead follow a more “natural” cycle. LoMo will be working with PWD to select areas within our boundaries that will be considered for participation in the “Green Streets Program.” If you have a suggestion for a particular block of section of our neighborhood that should be added to the list, please let us know!

Rain barrels are another way to divert rainwater from our sewers and repurpose it in useful ways, like watering your garden or washing your car. The Water Department has, to date, given away over 1,500 rain barrels which they estimate have kept 5,187,456 gallons of water a year out of our sewers and waterways. Pretty impressive! LoMo co-sponsored a rain barrel workshop with EPX on August 22 and over 40 neighborhood residents took home a free rain barrel. We hope to offer another rain barrel workshop in the future so that more LoMo residents can take advantage of this program and start making a difference in the health of our watershed. Interested in buying your own rain barrel? Check out more info on the model offered by the Water Department here.

And last, but not, least, the Water Department is encouraging residents to participate in the TreeVitalize program and plant a tree in front of their property as another means of diverting stormwater from our sewers. Street tree pits capture the flow of stormwater, letting it soak back into the soil naturally and nourish the tree planted there. Trees, in turn, provide shode, improve air quality, absorb noise, and beautify neighborhoods. LoMo will be organizing its third tree planting this fall – Details TBA soon! – so please come out and support this important neighborhood effort!
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Check out another local blogger’s post about our recent meetings with the Water Department here.

Stiff Penalties for Curfew Violators & Their Parents

Call 9-1-1 to report curfew violators or file an online report at http://www.ppdonline.org/rpts/.

Our neighborhood’s past, through the lens of Peter Capano

New Wilmington Art Association and Adaptation present “All For One” photography exhibit by Philadelphia artist Peter Capano
September 4-17
Opening reception: September 4, 6-9pm
Closing reception: September 17, 6-9pm
4 West 5th Street, Wilmington, DE
To view the exhibition by appointment, call 302-312-5493.

 
 
To view more images from the show online, visit http://adaptationart.wordpress.com/.

Tired of tires?

Throughout the year, residents may bring up to 2 tires at a time to our local Streets Department Citizen Drop-Off Center at 3033 S. 63rd Street, near Passyunk Avenue, along with discarded computers, televisions, and appliances. Also, please note that the amount of trash bags put out on your curb on trash night should not exceed (4) – 32-gallon receptacles or (8) – 30″x 37″ bags. Anything in excess of this amount should be brought to our local Citizen Drop-Off Center. Compactable furniture, such as, sofas, mattresses, etc. can be left for collection at curbside, up to two items per week. For more information on Streets Department curbside collection policies, visit: http://www.phila.gov/streets/Sanitation_FAQ.html, or call 215-685-4290.

Now get your Grid at Fumo

Grid magazine is Philadelphia’s great new monthly mag with a sustainability focus. It’s got everything – interesting profiles on sustainability pioneers, event listings, mouth-watering recipes that incorporate fresh, local ingredients, and also fun DIY projects like how to fix a bike flat and build a composting bin. And now it’s easier than ever to get your hands on a copy of Grid because our local Fumo Family Library is a new distribution point for the mag! (As if there weren’t already a million other great reasons to stop by our local branch!)

Register NOW for the Aug. 20 rain barrel workshop!

We are excited to announce that we’ll be teaming up with our neighbors in EPX to co-host a Water Department Rain Barrel Workshop on August 20 at 6 PM in the Methodist Hospital’s Morgan Conference Room (located in the basement level). Special thanks to the Water Department for making this workshop possible and to Methodist Hospital for use of their venue! The first 60 residents to pre-register starting July 21 will receive a FREE rain barrel (a $165 value). You can register online at www.phillywatersheds.org/rainbarrel or by calling 215-685-4945.

The workshop will illustrate what the Water Department is doing about storm water issues across the city and will also provide information on ways that we can all help improve the health of our local watershed, including the use of rain barrels. Check out this recent Inquirer article on the workshops, which are making a big difference! The Water Department estimates that the nearly 1,500 rain barrels that they’ve already given out across the city have diverted over 5 million gallons of water from our already over-burdened sewer system. Take one home after our August 20 workshop and help that number grow!

SEPTA’s gone Google

On July 1, officials announced that schedules and routes for all SEPTA trains and trolleys will be synchronized with the web-based trip-planning program Google Transit. On the Google Transit Web site, part of the larger Google Maps program, users can now enter a starting point and destination in the Philadelphia region – keywords like Independence Hall, Lincoln Financial Field, or even exact addresses – and Google will display a SEPTA route. Google Transit’s goal is to encourage travelers to learn their options before getting into a car, said Google spokesman Sean Carlson.

It’s easy– Visit www.google.com/transit then enter your starting location and destination. I tried out “Fumo Family Library, Philadelphia” and chose “City Hall, Philadelphia” as my destination. You can indicate the exact time you’ll be traveling, as well. Google computed, then I was asked to further refine my destination by chosing from a list of options provided. (This may or may not happen to you during your search.) Then, voila! A great set of directions and Google even provided a link at the end of the page to the SEPTA website, in case I had any questions about my fare.

Currently, only subway and regional rail routes have been incorporated into the online system. SEPTA officials predict that the system’s bus routes will be searchable by the end of the year.

Philadelphia is one of over 400 cities that now have their transit systems synched with Google Transit. Miami, Portland, Ore., Chicago, Baltimore, New York, and Pittsburgh are all on board, which means that users can plan their multi-city public transportation trips using the system. Don’t worry, you can ask Google Transit for walking and driving directions, too.

And to further its technological advances, SEPTA will launch a new Twitter account on July 10, which will enable travelers to “follow” SEPTA’s travel alerts and other announcements.

Yes, SEPTA, we are getting there.