News Links: Volunteer Carpenter Joe Shapiro, New Rules for Farmer Markets, L & I Demolition Map

March 21, 2014 Category: Uncategorized

Alex Vuocolo

	Volunteer Carpenter Enlivens West Philadelphia Grid Magazine profiles Joe Shapiro, a former civil engineer at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, who has volunteered his carpentry skills to improving public spaces in West Philadelphia. [Grid Magazine]
	New Rules for Farmers’ Markets City Council approved new, simpler rules for setting up farmers’ markets in Philadelphia. Plan Philly reports that the changes include removing the licensing fee, simplified rules for operating markets and a simplified registration process with the Department of Public Health. A manual for market operators will also be released within the next two weeks. [Plan Philly]
	MAPS: Every building the city has torn down for being structurally unsafe City Paper obtained statistics on the locations of every building that L&I tore down. The maps illustrate the department’s focus for its demolition strategy, unsurprisingly clustered in older, more blighted areas of the city. [City Paper]
	Dual Five-Story Projects Signify Brewerytown’s Evolution A community meeting was held last night in Brewerytown to last night to discuss the development of a lot at 27th Street and Girard Avenue that has sat vacant for over 20 years. The five-story building, to be called Girard27, will feature 68 apartments above 15,000 sq ft of retail space. [Hidden City Philadelphia]
	Should Pa. adopt an open data policy? Ask gubernatorial candidates A statewide group of civic hackers and open data advocates plan to ask the state’s gubernatorial candidates about transparency and access to data. It’s put together by Code for Philly and Open Pittsburgh. [Technically Philly]