Latest News

My month with Jenkintown’s Right-to-Know Process

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Most residents might not know this, but Jenkintown has a “Right to Know” officer, and his name is Rick Ware. We’ve exchanged several emails with Mr. Ware in the past few weeks, because we want to determine what Jenkintown residents have spent on their sidewalk repairs since the Borough’s paving program began in April, 2015. Those who have filled out the permit form saw a line item for the estimated cost […]

Latest News

Why do anything once?

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Update: Looks like our headline will pack a bigger wallop of relevance than expected. According to the Borough Council’s meeting minutes, PECO plans to replace gas mains on not only Rodman next year, but Runnymede as well. So much for our nice fresh pavement. Did anyone consult with PECO about their plans to do this? Unlikely. We awoke this morning to the sound of stone saws carving up the pavement […]

Latest News

How much did Jenkintown sidewalks cost?

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The Borough won’t tell you, and no longer wants to know Jenkintown Borough does not know what you paid for their sidewalks, and at some point this past summer, it decided not to care. Up until at least April 1 of this year, the permit form that residents completed before they could proceed with their sidewalk or curb repair, asked for the “Cost of work”. Apparently that information is not compiled, […]

Latest News

How much did Jenkintown residents spend so far?

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Last week Walkable Jenkintown filed a Request for Information. We’d like to know what YOU have so far spent on sidewalk and curb repair as a result of the Paving Program. The permit you or your contractor filled out and supplied to the Borough with your $25 fee included a line item for the estimate provided by that contractor for the total work. If the Borough entered this information into a […]

Policy

Let’s consider Ithaca’s sidewalk plan for Jenkintown Borough

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Ithaca’s program results from a government that listens to its constituents Now that we have our own sidewalk ordeal behind us, we can concentrate on the ordinance and getting it changed. So many other other communities have better, more equitable and predictable methods. Ithaca, New York is one such place. Can Ithaca’s sidewalk plan work for Jenkintown Borough? Last week, we dropped our toes in the water at the Jenkintown Community […]

Policy

Jenkintown must pursue a pedestrian-first policy

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This essay was originally written for the StrongTowns.org blog and was published last week. If you agree, please share this with friends and neighbors, especially if you live in Jenkintown. Jenkintown, Pennsylvania actively promotes itself as a walkable community. Indeed, this borough that barely encompasses a square mile has sidewalks lining both sides of all of its streets. We moved here for that reason among others, but at that time, we […]

This Meets Code

How walkable becomes laughable

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In what universe does this make sense (or pass code)? Welcome to Jenkintown. We want to emphasize that we do not blame the homeowner. As one might expect, they will tend to do only what the borough requires on property the homeowner doesn’t own. This is the fault of the policy that eschews a wholesale, money-saving approach to pedestrian infrastructure. It is also the fault of our government that believes […]

Policy

The real parking problem

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When people and businesses howl about a lack of parking, what they really mean is a lack of foot traffic. When those businesses set up in a downtown environment, they must understand that foot traffic and parking are often mutually exclusive concepts. This video helps to explain the reasons. KW Parking from Kronberg Wall on Vimeo.

Policy

Parking Lots: The opposite of walkable

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A few years ago, we operated a Jenkintown-related website called Jenkintown Station where we commented and reported on issues related to Jenkintown’s development. The site had no affiliation to SEPTA or the the train station, but it did a good job attracting comments from readers. We plan to resurrect it, but while working on that, we found this 2010 article about the $2.4 million parking lot. It’s a good time […]

Latest News

New Yard Signs are available

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Today, we just took delivery of our new yard sign. You too can proclaim your support of simple common sense, fiscal responsibility, and a better pedestrian infrastructure. Would you like one of your own? Let us know. If you’d like to make one of your own, download this PDF.