[volguus zildrohar]

This is one of Philadelphia's most underdeveloped attributes.

The vast majority of this city outside of the Far Northeast and parts of NW Philadelphia (Germantown/Chestnut Hill/Mt. Airy/Roxborough/Manayunk) is easily traversed by foot. It is simultaneously expansive and compact. Blocks, generally, are a manageable length and hilly areas are far flung and infrequent. Pick a street on the grid and start walking and you'd be surprised how far you'd get before you realized how much ground you've covered. You could walk along Market Street from the city line at 63rd Street to Penn's Landing at a brisk pace in ~two hours and still be good for going out that night. I've only personally experience the same situation in Manhattan (the only place I've really walked in the same way) and the same held true. A walk up Broadway from Battery Park to Times Square is not only painless but surprisingly brisk.

As well, the vehicle-unfriendly nature of many city streets adds to the potential. I've been to a lot of places and have never seen pedestrians treat automotive traffic with such complete disdain. Jaywalking, traipsing along the blacktop, playing 'Frogger' - these are time honored Philadelphia traditions that transcend all social divisions.

As Segun notes, the biggest obstacle to the full realization of what our streets can be is the collection of hostile landscapes many of them run through. In post-industrial neighborhoods there are fallow hazard zones. In many adjacent neighborhoods that same street scale works against itself. The tiny, narrow side streets of Kensington, Strawberry Mansion, Nicetown and Harrowgate that are tucked away from the larger grid and the view of regular traffic are effectively 'dens of iniquity'. Take it from a life-long Philadelphian - small streets in the hood are usually no good.

Thankfully, the current mayoral administration seems to really understand all of this and is all about supporting policy. The city's 'Complete Streets' bill just recently passed and now it's all about enforcement. They understand that the life of any healthy city is in its streets and it's time to get us back into good shape.