Sunday Video: How Does Philadelphia Even Exist

Shortly after his visit to Seattle (where he attending a talk co-hosted by with The Urbanist), Ray Delahanty headed to the East Coast and did a similar event in Philadelphia. Ray had a lot to say about Philly’s walkability and other positive aspects that often fly under the radar, sandwiched as the city is between New York City and Washington D.C., which have higher profiles nationally and internationally.

Delahanty declared Philadelphia might have the most walkable city core in the whole United States, which stems in large part from the thoughtful urban plan William Penn made for the city as he founded it in 1682, with plenty of narrow streets friendly to pedestrians.

“These streets are really a microcosm of what I’m thinking about when I think about walkability,” Delahanty said. “It’s not just about the physical act of walking. It’s how a street handles motor vehicles. It’s whether the streetscape is visually interesting. It’s whether you feel secure. It’s whether there are a ton of destinations nearby that are worth walking to.”

Philadelphia – at least in the center city and South Philly neighborhoods that Ray explored – checked all those boxes. These distinctions puts it among North America’s most walkable cities.

It’s not all roses in the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia is also dealing with service cuts on SEPTA, a legacy metro system which has an impressive network of rapid transit lines across the region. As Delahanty highlighted, those cuts mean frequencies have decreased, especially on weekends, when even bedrock routes are now seeing mediocre 10-minute headways – not really in line with a top-tier transit city, which boasts a population of 1.5 million, amid a metropolitan region of 6.3 million. Hopefully SEPTA can get out of its downward spiral and back on the path of service improvements and growth.