University City District Blog

We are deeply grateful to Bank of America for their recent $100,000 grant for our West Philadelphia Skills Initiative. The generous grant is part of Bank of America's philanthropic giving efforts in local communities. Awardees were selected for their commitment to addressing basic needs, medical response, and workforce development for individuals and families.

UCD works year-round to keep our streets beautiful, green, and safe for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.

Philadelphia's street-sweeping pilot program is set to expand to certain neighborhoods in Philadelphia, including some areas of our community. Beginning April 4th, 14 pilot areas will begin seeing regular street-sweepers cleaning their neighborhoods, and six of these areas will begin receiving fines of $31 for cars that do not move during posted sweeping times beginning in May.

Last week, we passed the two-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the economy and altering daily routines. In those early days of the crisis, mandated lockdowns kept Philadelphians at home, and as a result, traffic, transit ridership, and even pedestrian travel through our neighborhood all but dried up.

Recently, the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability (OTIS) announced plans to implement new street safety measures on portions of West Market and Chestnut Streets, two of the main east/west thoroughfares that cross West Philad

Each year, we at University City District invest in the vitality of our neighborhood. We foster clean, safe, and active streets; we cultivate civic infrastructure and activate dormant public spaces through placemaking efforts; we plan and execute signature local events; and we create an opportunity infrastructure that connects talented Philadelphians to life-altering careers at major employers. Although 2021 presented new challenges, our commitment to changing places and changing lives never wavered.

We are pleased to share that we are the recipients of a $30,000 grant from the Lincoln Financial Foundation to support the continued operation of our West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI), our cohort-based, employer-driven job training program.

In partnership with SEPTA, our West Philadelphia Skills Initiative is once again recruiting Philadelphians for training and job opportunities as Bus Operators. This next cohort includes no-cost CDL training. 

We're seeking customer-service superstars who have had a valid driver’s license for at least the last three years, with open schedule availability, and who possess an interest in growing a career at SEPTA. Training is online, but testing is in-person. Commitment to the full training schedule (below) is a must: 

As we close out 2021, we at University City District are reflecting on the many challenges this neighborhood has persevered through since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public spaces became essential outlets to ease the stress of cabin fever. Our favorite restaurants and retailers shuttered early on and then found creative ways to stay afloat until foot traffic returned to the streets. Anchor institutions hired locally as they built out the infrastructure to combat the pandemic.