So, does this mean YPP has been co-opted by Philadelphia Forward? Or vice versa?

Either way, Brett Mandel deserves a shout out. He gets trashed fairly frequently on this site. Folks should give him a tip of the hat for reaching out to the YPP community and getting it involved in his Metro feature.

So I could claim Dan is just a copycat.

I was the one saying 311, 311, 311. Surprised? Yeah I thought not.

I do think there is peril in the broad strokes painted at times between YPP "progressives" and Phila Forward "reformers". I think in this as in most things there is a spectrum of continuity and lots of smart and interesting people that mix and match categories in all sorts of interesting and sometimes unexpected ways. Its one thing to say "I fall into the I fear city can't afford any reduction in tax revenue or tinkering with business taxes at all camp" or the "I think economic redistribution works best at a state and national level and if its badly implemented at a local level it ultimately hurts municipal competitiveness to the point of impoverishing the city's capacity to deal with basic services like schools, etc." Its one thing to assume either viewpoint to some degree and argue it passionately. I think however when people on either side make it an "either you are with us or against us" litmus test (and I have seen stuff that comes darn close on YPP) you actually hurt the "progressive" and "reformer" brands in this city, alienating and excluding a whole broad swath of folks who would be natural "progressive" and/or "reform" allies. But thats just my two cents.

Thats probably as deep into it as is worth going at this point for this thread.
-Sean
MrLuigi, my cat, actually only types half as badly as I do.