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One Great Idea: Jerry Blavat

    by Jon Anderson
    Published 

"When I was a kid, I grew up in a neighborhood. Everybody knew everybody in the neighborhood. And if you stepped out of line, you didn't have to worry about the policeman. You didn't have to worry about your parents. You worried about your neighbor, who said, 'If I tell your mother ... ' [And you would say] 'No, please, don't, don't - I won't do it again.'

"That's the problem with Philadelphia today. There's too much violence.

"You go to your neighbor. You help your neighbor. If you see something in the neighborhood that's not right, go to the neighbor that's also seeing it, and then you can correct it.

"The police today - they can't cover everything, man. We as neighbors can.

"This is the City of Brotherly Love, not brotherly rage. Philadelphia is a great city made up of neighborhoods. We have to go back to that philosophy - neighbors watching neighbors, neighbors helping neighbors, keeping everything together in this great City of Brotherly Love. That's it."

One reader's idea:

"As a Philadelphian who is dependent on public transportation to get anywhere, I am sure that there is more than one great idea that will help improve SEPTA. Here's an idea: a website for tracking buses and trains that is designed to work on mobile phones ... where each bus' tracking device is actually enabled.

"Finally - and I know I'm not alone on this one - how about a fare-card system that is easy to use across all the vehicles and routes in the network, and easy enough for tourists to understand how to use while they visit our wonderful city?"

Suggestions can be sent to onegreatidea@phillynews.com.

The Inquirer and Philly.com have launched a 45-week project to inspire Philadelphians to suggest great ideas for the city and region.

In our "One Great Idea" project, we're asking well-known and less-known people of our region to tell us their single great idea to change Philadelphia. These video interviews will run on Philly.com each Tuesday and on The Inquirer's Wednesday commentary pages.

Post comments, vote on this idea, or share your own great idea at www.philly.com/OneGreatIdea, or write to inquirer.letters@phillynews.com.