This Fall, we launched an annual series of Town Halls in various locations throughout the Greater Philadelphia Region served by the Bicycle Coalition.
The idea started in January, when we hosted an open house at the BCGP offices for members to meet our new Executive Director, Chris Gale, meet with staff, and learn about our plans for the new year. Around 125 people showed up! Reflecting on the fruitful coming-together, we wanted more: more meetings with our members, more sharing of our work, and more spaces for all of us to come together and connect over our shared goals.
“We get to talk to people at events, over emails… but if we want to be advocating with our members and community, I need to hear more about what’s important to them,” said Chris Gale. “The idea is, if we can get an understanding of the issues or programs that matter most to the community, we can come back the following year, and say ‘this is what we did to address that.’”
Coming to the Coalition after a long career of working to expand opportunities in marginalized communities, primarily around child education programming, but not from a cycling background, Chris promised the board that if he was hired, he would immerse himself in the community. “Part of the Town Halls are for the community to get to know me and where I come from, but equally, it is for me to get to know our members.”
The first town hall meeting was held in Center City, Philadelphia, at the Old Pine Community Center. After discussing recent wins and challenges, Chris opened it up for a Q&A before mingling and conversation. Because of the recent tragedy in Center City, we took some time to talk about Spruce & Pine and our strategy for getting concrete action from our city decision makers. We discussed the new separation of the city departments of Streets and Sanitation, our different resources for getting comfortable riding in the city, what concrete barriers in bike lanes could look like, and ideas for engaging legislators. One idea from a member was to get Philadelphia Mayor, Cherelle Parker, on a bike, which excitedly, would come to fruition in the following two weeks. 
Our second town hall was held at Haverford College on the Main Line. We talked about the unique challenge of cycling in the suburbs and getting the siloed decision makers of the townships together to make cohesive changes in our roadways. The room was filled with passionate cyclists looking to connect with their neighbors in order to spearhead initiatives and get more services in their community. (If you would like to get connected with Philly suburbs, ask uma@bicyclecoalition.org for the contact.)
It’s been a very generative first two town halls and we’re excited to be heading to South Jersey for our final town hall of the year at the William G. Rohrer Memorial Library in Haddon Township. It’s been wonderful to meet and to facilitate connections between community members. We hope if you’ve missed the last town halls that you’ll come join us on October 3rd. RSVP here.
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The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia leads the movement to make every bicycle ride safe, to empower youth and adults to ride, and to foster a ridership that reflects the diversity of the region. As a member, you are among our most dedicated supporters. Make an impact today!