Ideas We Should Steal: Letting Citizens Shape Philly’s Budget

South Bend, Indiana proactively boosted resident feedback in its budget season through its 311 line and by meeting citizens where they are. Could the same efforts in Philly create a budget that reflects residents’ priorities?

By Malcolm Burnley

Ideas We Should Steal: Manufacturers Paying for Recyclable Waste

In California, Colorado and other states, Extended Producer Responsibility laws help fund recycling efforts in underserved communities. Could a similar rule improve Philadelphia's trash problem?

By Courtney DuChene

Ideas We Should Steal: Educate Adults For Teaching as a Second Career

Philadelphia’s teacher shortage keeps getting worse. A long-time university president finds solutions from her own past, and from the UK, where a program has trained 850 professionals for new jobs as teachers

By Elaine Maimon

Ideas We Should Steal: The School Day When No One Eats Alone

Lots of kids feel socially isolated — especially at lunchtime. A national movement is working to change that, today

By Michaela Haas

Ideas We Should Steal: Counting Votes Faster

Will PA join 42 other states that start processing mail-in ballots before Election Day in time to avoid uncertainty over the 2024 Presidential election?

By Jemille Q. Duncan

Recap: What We Learned at the 2023 Ideas We Should Steal Festival

The Philadelphia Citizen’s sixth annual celebration of solutions was its biggest yet — with some of the biggest revelations to inspire you to make our city better in approximately a bajillion ways

By Lauren McCutcheon

Ideas We Should Steal: Stop Hitting People With Cars

Stories this week of the Sixers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. and a beloved former school teacher being hit by cars brought up a perennial Philly problem: Our roads are unsafe. Here, recommendations to fix that

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy