On December 21^st, the U.S. EPA announced the communities selected to participate in the 2012 Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program. Philadelphia was one of the 8 locations chosen from amongst the more than 18 communities competing for the assistance. The sites were selected based on their need for assistance, the urgency of their situation, the scale and importance of impending development projects, and the level of engagement from the community. Over the next 6 months, several experts from Global Green USA will travel to each of the selected sites and spend 3 days providing recommendations on infrastructure and policy changes that will help these communities enhance their sustainability. Mayor Michael Nutter commented on the news, “My administration aims to integrate sustainability into the city’s buildings, neighborhoods, and the lives of its residents, and this grant will provide essential resources to make this a reality.”

Global Green USA, along with several smaller organizations, will apply the LEED- Neighborhoods sustainability rating system to each of the communities and use the results of that measurement to provide a great deal of information on the current sustainability of each community as well as to make recommendations to improve the sustainability of these regions while meeting the goals and needs of each location. In doing so they will: identify the positive sustainable aspects of each neighborhood, consult with community stakeholders, and identify significant opportunities for the improvement of sustainability. Based on this analysis they will propose changes to the physical layout and operation of the community as well as to the policies governing its management.

An example of a walkable Philadelphia street, with additional space devoted to pedestrian travel compared to vehicular.  One of many recommendations that may be made by Global Green USA would be to increase this type of thoroughfare to promote foot traffic and bicycles over motor vehicles.
Source: http://thecityfix.com/blog/most-walkable-u-s-cities-in-2011/

State Impact (National Public Radio) article on Philadelphia receiving the grant
http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2011/12/21/epa-awards-sustainability-grant-to-philadelphia/

U.S. EPA Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program Website
N.B. This site has not yet been updated to include the 2012 recipients of this grant program, but it provides background information on the grant, the activities that will be undertaken, and the impact that previous iterations of this grant have had on other communities.
http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/buildingblocks.htm