COMMUNITY SOCIAL ISSUE:

PARKING IN SOUTH PHILADELPHIA

Survey questions:
1. Where do you live and describe the parking situation around your area?
2. Describe what happens when you cant find a parking place? How does it affect your
lifestyle for good or bad?
3. In your opinion, what factors might be causing the problem and why?
4. Have you any ideas of how the situation might be improved?
South Philly Participants:
Joe 80-year-old native Italian resident who has lived in South Philly 60 years & has a
handicap spot in front of his house.
1. I live on 10th and Mifflin and the parking problem is bad but I dont have
to worry about it because I have a handicap parking spot that has been
there since my late wife was ill.
2. It doesnt affect me but it affects my daughters family.
3. I know why theres no parking places. Its because people like my
daughters family have 6 cars and most of them they dont even use they
just sit there taking up space.
4. I told her to get rid of the other cars but she wont listen. People
shouldnt have more than 2 cars. They should take public. Lots of Italians
are afraid of public transportation. They also think its dirty and low class.
Tommy 60-year-old contractor from Irish heritage who grew up on 2nd Street. He has a
good sized pick-up truck he uses for work.
1. I live on McClellan between 9th and 10th Streets. Parking is really bad
especially for me because I do construction work and have to have a truck.
2. You should see how I have to squeeze into spaces. If they put in 2-hour
parking signs Im screwed because it would only be for people who live
on the main streets. Im down a small side street. Then I would only be
able to park my big truck down a side street.
3. Everyone has cars now. People from Jersey who work in Center City
come here to park their cars for free so they dont have to pay for parking
in the city. Its not right.
4. Parking garages could be built? Ha ha. I dont see it changing any time
soon.
Acheang 45-year-old Chinese-Indonesian small restaurant owner who has a small sushi
place on the corner of a crowded residential block. He has several delivery-men who use
cars. He just moved to South Philly 6 months ago.
1. I live in China Town actually. But I think I might move here if I can buy a
house. I dont have too much trouble because I come in the middle of the
day. Late afternoon it gets hard.
2. I have a neighbor who yells at me and says that my sushi place is causing
problems with parking in the neighborhood. Hes mean. He curses at me

and thinks I dont understand English. I have a security camera if he tries

to do something bad. I really want to pay for a parking sign for loading in
front of my place. That way, my delivery guys can have a place to park
and they dont block the road. I have applied but I havent heard from the
city yet.
3. No space. Too crowded. Also, we are close to Passyunk Avenue. Lots of
customers from outside.
4. Maybe should have a big cheap parking place for visitors.
Kristen 30-year-old Caucasian mother of a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old who drives an
SUV. She has lived in South Philly for 4 years.
1. I live in Newbold on 18th and Mifflin Streets. Parking is only bad in the
late afternoon and evenings. Its really bad on Sunday evenings and week
nights. I dont have too much problem like areas closer to Broad street. I
think it will get worse though. Lots of gentrification going on.
2. If I cant find a parking place, I use a lot of gas looking. Also, if I have to
park far from my house, its a hassle because I have little kids. I wish I
hadnt bought an SUV. Its too big for some spots. Im getting good at
parallel parking though.
3. I think the parking problem for me is because even though I live here,
there are some areas that I cant park in because of 2-hour parking permits.
I live only a block away from many streets that I can only park in for 2
hours. But I live here!
If I go farther east, the neighborhoods are not very safe, especially at
night. But I dont often have a choice.
4. I know I should take public more but its hard with a stroller and two kids.
I get really tired. I do walk more. People should walk more and take
public in general. Uber helps now especially if I have to go to Center
City. Every resident should be able to get a 2-hour parking permit.
Hang 35-year-old social worker from Vietnam who has lived in South Philly for 20 years.
1. I live on 7th and Mifflin. Parking is getting worse near my house. It
didnt used to be bad but more people with money and cars are moving
in.
2. I have a job that requires that I have a car. I have to do lots of home
visits. I spend a lot of time finding parking around where I work on
South Broad and Morris Streets. Thats harder than finding parking near
my house. I always have to leave early to make sure I have time to park.
Its just the way it is.
3. Theres just no space and too many people with cars. Lots of people who
dont take public. Sometimes the buses are late and too crowded.
4. I wish my job had a parking place. Maybe a parking garage like in Center
City. Its only going to get worse.
The Chosen Ones:
If I only had 2 people to choose out of the 5 that took the survey, I would choose Tommy the
Irish Contractor and Hang, the Vietnamese social worker. Tommy was raised here and states

that he knows everyone who lives on Two Street His childhood best friend is the current
Philadelphia City Mayor Jim Kenney. Hang has been here for 20 years and really knows the
Vietnamese Community. Both have plans to stay in South Philly the rest of their lives. They
are the stakeholders who would be most invested. Hang, who is female and a mother, is familiar
with PAR principles and has deep knowledge about the poorer population in South Philly
through her immigrant history and her job. She is outspoken and has experience working with
groups. Tommy has a great deal of pride about being from South Philly. He also represents a
large portion of the population who are in the construction world and has strong views and isnt
hesitant about expressing them. He gets angry with his wife for not using the subway to get to
work. Both of Hang and Tommy can meet during the evening hours (Work Group for
Community Health & Development University of Kansas, 2016).
Answering the questions from the PAR Toolkit:
(Rachel Pain, Geoff Whitman and David Milledge (Durham University) & Lune Rivers Trust,
2010-2011):
1. COLLABORATION
As is obvious from the name given for this kind of research, participation from the
community is key. In fact, it is to be given priority over input from outside peoples and
organizations. The entire process needs to be led, designed and planned by the
community members who will be the most affected by any changes resulting from the
research.
2. KNOWLEDGE
Once a research team has been chosen, everyone should be able to share what knowledge
they have that they can bring to the table as well as skills. After this, the group will
develop questions together on what knowledge and data is important regarding parking,
public transportation, how many residents own cars, how has the parking issue been dealt
with in other parts of the city. Then the group will need to decide how this knowledge
will be obtained and who will be responsible for what.
3. POWER
No matter how much power a member has or what status he or she has in the community,
everyone must be treated as equals. Some members will be more talkative than others and
issues of possible xenophobia will need to be addressed. Although the issue is about
parking, even those residents who do not own cars need to be included in the research
findings. It needs to be clear however, if a members position of power could help the
research process. For instance, there are prominent members of the local civic
association who also work as urban planners for the city of Philadelphia as well as
lawyers.
4. ETHICS
Members of the research team need to be sensitive in how they gather information as well
as how they document it. Participants need to be asked whether they prefer to contribute
anonymously. The parking issue is a hot topic and needs to be handled with care.
Members need to be reminded of this throughout the process.

5. BUILDING THEORY
The process of designing the research, implementing it, reflecting on it, analyzing
findings and then finally releasing the results needs to be planned in the beginning and
open to change during the process if necessary.
6. ACTIONS
As the research process is planned, modified and analyzed, each step or meeting should
have at least 2 actions steps before ending the meeting. These steps should include
cooperating with the city government early on in the research process so they are made
aware and can make plans based on the research.
7. EMOTIONS & WELL-BEING
Having a circle time at the beginning of each meeting is important and perhaps at the end.
This is a time when every participant is given space to share how they are feeling.
Parking can turn into a volatile issue. People are known to fight over parking issues.
Five Goals and Three Action Steps:
1. Make life easier with regard to parking for the residents in South Phillys East Passyunk
Crossing and Newbold Sections.
2. Create a solid research team from local stakeholders
3. Team will fully understand the PAR approach
4. Research project will be designed from start to finish including timeline.
5. Decide who will be responsible for each part of the research project.
Action Steps:
1. Create a survey with carefully crafted questions.
2. Pick your team of participants from the results of the survey.
3. Find a place and time for the first meeting. Contact each participant.
References
Chambers, R. (2002). Participitory Workshops. Earthscan.
Rachel Pain, Geoff Whitman and David Milledge (Durham University) & Lune Rivers Trust. (2010-2011).
Participatory Action Research Toolkit: An Introduction to Using PAR as an Approach to Learning ,
Research and Action . Retrieved from Durham University:
https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/beacon/PARtoolkit.pdf
Work Group for Community Health & Development University of Kansas. (2016). Section 2. Communitybased Participatory Research. Retrieved from Community Tool Box: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tableof-contents/evaluate/evaluation/intervention-research/main