Meet Fast Forward Presenter >> Ariel Ben-Amos

What is your Big Idea for Philadelphia?

Making Small Spaces Great Places

Philadelphians are embracing pop-ups in the ROW.  Parklets and pedestrian plazas have been built in neighborhoods from Logan to Cedar Park. The City is preparing to invest half a billion dollars in formal Parks and Rec centers investments.  For a fraction of the price, the City could set up a non profit to support community driven low cost safety improvements across Philadelphia.

StreetBoxPHL could serve as a non-profit intermediary that provides capital, technical and insurance support to remove obstacles for small NGO’s and block captains to improves their neighborhoods. Think a West Philly Tool Library for the street.  By making it easier for mom and pop neighborhood organizations to interact with Streets, deploy street furniture, and insure their investments, the City can make sure that pop-ups are not just gentrifying neighborhoods.

 

 

ariel.ben.amos(at)gmail.com

Ariel Ben-Amos, a native Philadelphian, has nearly two decades worth of experience in community development, transportation planning, and program development.  Working for the City of Philadelphia he has launched pedestrianization programs, coordinated green infrastructure investments in streetscape projects, and supported upwards of $20 million dollars worth of investment in local transportation networks. Ariel teaches in the University of Pennsylvania’s Urban Studies Program, and has served on the boards of non-profits across the city, from Bartram’s Garden to Young Involved Philadelphia.