#8 Philadelphia: City on the Move

Look beyond Philadelphia's patchwork of abandoned manufacturing sites, and you'll find a city that's emerging as a solid model of how cities can reduce environmental impact while maintaining vibrant local neighborhoods and culture.

The "Brooklyn effect" seems to be happening in Philadelphia. From warehouses to old industrial sites, artists and young families are moving back into central Philadelphia neighborhoods. The challenge with modern urban renewal is how to enrich the center city without displacing longtime residents, many who work in service industries. Cities must remain affordable for all in order to be truly sustainable.

Philadelphia ranks strongly in many categories, including transportation (tied for #2 in overall mobility), local food and agriculture (#3), and energy and climate change policy (#5).

Healthy Living

Philadelphia is at the forefront of the urban local food renaissance. Its 18 farmers markets, all of which accept food stamps, offer a huge variety of produce and fruit from the surrounding Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch farms. Tasting a sweet potato pie from Reading Terminal Market, a longtime local food and craft market from 1892, is one of the best ways to experience a longtime staple of the city's African-American community. And the White Dog Cafe, featuring Judy Wickes's locally procured organic food, is the cultural center for urban-rural linkages statewide, with its breakfast talks, movies, and weekly community gatherings.

The city's water is relatively good (#17), coming from the Schuylkill River watershed. Air quality ranks slightly below average at #30, with moderate ozone and small particulate pollution. With about 12 percent of Philadelphia's city land devoted to parks, green space is a strength (#11). Fairmount Park alone is over 9,200 acres, or more than ten times the size of New York City's Central Park, and it's within walking distance of all of the city's 2.4 million residents.

Getting Around

Philadelphia's public transportation rates are among the highest in the nation, with 27 percent using it to get to work. It's one of the few cities in our study (Portland and Oakland are two others) in which public transit rates are improving—in 2004 a higher percentage of people were using public transit than in 2000. Thanks to its robust public transportation system, Philadelphia's mobile energy use is in good shape; in a separate SustainLane index, it ranked as the #5 city best prepared for an oil crisis.

Philadelphians can also easily walk or ride bikes to get around, with 6.5 percent of people walking to work. The city makes the top ten for city planning, with much less sprawl than the average American city.

Economic Factors

SustainLane's sustainable economic measures (farmers markets, green building, clean tech incubation, and health and green business directories) place Philadelphia at #4. In addition to the farmers markets, Philly has 2 LEED Certified and 5 LEED Registered green buildings, as well as an active Sustainable Business Network with healthy and green business listings.

City clean technology development partners include Kronosport, which makes some of the city's electric vehicles, and Philadelphia University, with which the city is applying for a patent for energy-efficient insulating walls for low-income housing.

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