The Small Cities Lab hosted our inaugural Speaker Series event with Chris Satullo and Sara Satullo. Chris shared insights from his civic engagement work in Philadelphia, and Sara discussed her work in community development and presented, "Edged Out," an affordable housing series she published as a journalist for Lehigh Valley News. Following their presentations, Chris and Sara led an interactive workshop where attendees tackled the Friends Dilemma prompt. Around 80 students, faculty, and community members came out to hear from Chris and Sara on Wednesday morning.

Chris Satullo is director of the Can We Talk? dialogue initiative. He's a former editorial page editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer and vice president/news of WHYY public media. Chris has served as co-director of the Penn Project for Civic Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania.

Sara Satullo is deputy director of community development for the City of Bethlehem, where she oversees the City’s neighborhood-based community planning and programming as well as its affordable housing and homelessness initiatives. Prior to joining the city in 2022, Sara spent 16 years with lehighvalleylive.com and The Express-Times, during which she published the “Edged Out” affordable housing series.

Chris discussed the role of civic engagement in supporting projects throughout Philadelphia and the purpose of building “civic capital;” the need to understand community values and assets to move work forward. He noted that opposition to meaningful civic dialogue often stems from misconceptions, believing people will be hesitant to speak up for fear of offending others. This leads to compromises, where we end up agreeing on things just for the sake of avoiding conflict. He also pointed out how civility can be weaponized, used by those in power to dismiss others as "uncivilized" when they push for inclusion or change.

Despite these sentiments, Chris highlighted the power of civic engagement in creating successful initiatives, including:

• The Master Waterfront Repurposing in Philadelphia, which aimed to reconnect neighborhoods to the waterfront after highways had severed them.
• A creative approach during the 2009 recession, where the city gamified the budget process, allowing 4,000 citizens to provide input. This process helped balance the budget and saved numerous jobs and services from being cut.
• The reform of Philadelphia’s zoning code was also a success, as it involved community organizations and led to the creation of the Registered Community Organizations (RCOs), which gave communities a stronger voice.
• "Draw the Lines PA" initiative empowering people to create their own congressional maps to combat gerrymandering, revealing the nonsensical nature of political boundaries.

In guiding these civic engagement exercises, Chris distilled the work into several principals for the attendees: creating a "brave space" for honest dialogue, designing discussions that lead to action, gamifying engagement to make participation more intuitive, and accurately representing those not in the room. His overarching message was to begin with a focus on staying present and engaged, rather than on positions or disagreements, ultimately fostering more inclusive and effective civic dialogue.

Following Chris, Sara spoke about her work as a journalist for Lehigh Valley News as well as her three years working at the Deputy Director of Community Development at the City of Bethlehem. She began the discussion, pointing out the rapid change in housing affordability in Bethlehem, with rents increasing by 60%. She shared insights into her experiences as a journalist working to highlight residents’ perspectives on housing, development, and neighborhood change.

Sara focused on conversations she had with residents living in South Bethlehem, where tensions often exist between new developments and the preservation of older, established neighborhoods. A significant part of her research focused on Bethlehem Steel - once the driving industry in Bethlehem - where she debunked a common misconception: many believe Bethlehem Steel built housing on the Southside, but, in reality, it was residents who helped create and built their communities.

Sara also spoke about the decline of community hubs in the area, particularly the role of churches, which had once served as vital centers for connection and support. As these churches have declined, so too have places for residents to come together. Her talk highlighted the delicate balance between preserving a neighborhood’s identity and accommodating the pressures of new development in a rapidly changing city.

friends-dilemma-workshop

Following the talk, Chris and Sara led a workshop where attendees tackled the "Friends Dilemma," a thought-provoking discussion about balancing different perspectives. The room was split into smaller groups, each tasked with identifying the pros and cons of Bethlehem. As we started sharing our thoughts, it became clear that each of us had a unique perspective on the city. Some of us highlighted its location, historical significance, culture, and community, while others pointed out the challenges of green space, walkability, transportation, and close proximity.

What stood out was how different everyone's list of pros and cons were—what some loved, others didn't quite appreciate. This realization was the key takeaway: it's not about finding a perfect solution that satisfies everyone’s ideals, but rather creating an equilibrium. The goal is to accentuate the pros of Bethlehem, making the most of its strengths, while also acknowledging and mitigating its cons to accommodate residents with diverse backgrounds.