Plowed Roads Are Not an Unreasonable Expectation

Owning a small business means wearing a lot of hats, but one role I did not expect to take on is asking whether my city is meeting the most basic standards of care for the people who live and work here. One of the side effects of living in Philadelphia seems to be lowered expectations for quality-of-life issue urgency from our elected officials.

This week, once again, our team showed up. Like they always do.

Our Minders have bundled up, rerouted, navigated unplowed streets, and dodged 10-foot tall snow piles in intersections. I am always proud of them. Their commitment and resilience are the reason our business exists. 

But here is the part that needs to be said plainly: My employees should not have to be heroes just to get to work.

Remie navigates the city. (Dogs are the best part of snow days.)

A city of our size, density, and climate should be able to clear major roads and residential streets within a reasonable window after a snowstorm. Expecting plowed roads three days after nine inches of snow is not an unrealistic demand in the 6th largest city in the United States.

When we are told there are “200 trucks on the road,” yet neighborhoods remain untouched days later, the disconnect is obvious. If 200 trucks are not enough, the answer isn’t to post cute reels on social media. (Because we can all see with our eyes what our neighborhoods look like.) The answer is to deploy 800 trucks. Call in outside contractors. Do what you need to do. And do it now. (Preferably, yesterday.)

Other cold-weather cities have figured this out. Boston has figured it out. Chicago has figured this out. These places experience REAL winters and consistent snowfall, and still manage to keep their cities moving because they treat snow removal as essential, not optional.

This is not about inconvenience. It is also about safety.

Unplowed streets mean residents slipping when they cross the road, emergency vehicles delayed, kids can’t get to in-person classes (with free lunches and breakfast for many kids who need it), caregivers unable to reach the people who need them, and small businesses forced into impossible decisions. Do we risk safety, or do we shut down and absorb the financial hit?

For service-based businesses like ours, the burden is heavy. Our work happens outdoors, on foot, on the streets and sidewalks. We see firsthand how terrible of a job the city is doing. And we see the toll it takes on the people who need to travel to get to work. Our employees are TIRED. (I don’t negate the work that the hardworking city employees are doing. I heard the bulldozers overnight in our neighborhood. But we clearly need MORE trucks out there to ease the burden on the street crews.)

I love this city. Our business was built here. Our clients and our employees live here. We are invested in this place not just economically, but emotionally. It is HOME. (Philly forever.)

That is why it is so frustrating to watch the same problems repeat themselves with the same explanations and the same obvious outcomes. Hoping for warmer temperatures is not a winning strategy for city planning in our climate.

This is a call for city competence. A call for planning that reflects actual reality, not press releases and photo-ops for social media. A call for leadership that understands that residents and workers are not asking for too much. We are simply asking for basic infrastructure functionality. This is not rocket science. Its logistical competence and care for constituents.

Our team will continue to show up for our clients, because that is what we do. But the city must do better by the people who keep it running. Showing up should not require superhuman effort.

It just requires plowed roads and cleared intersections. 

Ollie walks down unplowed Kimball Street in Bella Vista, Philadelphia, three days after the storm.