Monday, February 10, 2014

Philly Loves to Run, Just Not Really in Pennsport


You may have seen this picture floating around the internet in the past few days.

Philly runs Kelly Drive, The Parkway, The Rivers, and Center City but what about Pennsport?

FlowingData put together this visual representation of where people like to run in Philadelphia. The information is taken from the fitness apps most of us (yes, I sometimes partake in a jog around the 'hood) use without thinking of how the data is analyzed, or in this case, visualized.

A quick glance at the map and you'll see the typical running spots as heavy purple lines: Kelly Drive, Center City, The Schuylkill River Trail, and along the Delaware River. Absent from this picture is that these heavy lines along the Delaware River beyond Washington Avenue and down in to Pennsport, especially from Pier 53 through Pier 68.

However, this soon might change in the near future.

The continued development on the Pennsport section of the Delaware River Trail is an immense opportunity for the neighborhood and Philadelphia as a whole. In fact, with construction ongoing at Pier 53, there is a meeting this Wednesday from 7pm to 8pm at the EOM to discuss just that -- future recreational opportunities along the Delaware River at Pier 68. While much of the talk is about the future fishing and kayaking opportunities, not many people are taking in to consideration the importance of Pier 68 as the final piece of the Delaware River Trail -- a fact that could benefit runners the most.

Come to the meeting on Wednesday night to get more information on the future Pier 68 site. Take part in a collaborative community process that is actively seeking your input to help shape this site in to something you will actually use.

Can't make the meeting Wednesday night? Take this brief survey. I'll be bringing the free type answers to the presenters and submitting the ideas for consideration.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.



1 comment:

  1. Hey, do you happen to know what is going on near Hom Depot? The old building that sat on the corner of Del Ave and Tasker has been torn down. Seems like they're getting ready to build. I heard a super Wawa, and heard AAA is building a building. Hopefully it's something interesting.

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