We’ve told you on several different occasions about Philadelphia 2035, an effort to divide the city into eighteen districts and pursue a comprehensive planning process for each. We’re obviously development junkies and planning is certainly one of our realms of interest. But it’s not for everyone, and the folks behind Philadelphia 2035 understand that.

A tweet from @brettmandel tipped us off to a new game that was recently introduced by the Philadelphia Planning Commission to try to get more people into the planning process that’s currently taking place. Community PlanIt takes a playful approach to the planning process, and is probably even fun for normal people (ie not us) to mess around with.

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How does it work, you may ask?

Step 1

Step 2. Check out the blue dude.

Oh no! He's an evil technocrat!

The best part

Still confused? Here’s a sample question from the current game, which involves issues surrounding the University/Southwest District.

What do you want to see more of in this community?

Here's what others had to say.

And they pay you fake money!

So far, over a hundred people have participated in this particular challenge, with over four days still to play. If you read this site on a regular basis and you happen to live in West Philly, this would be a very worthwhile exercise to go through to think about your community through the eyes of city planners. And even if you don’t live in the neighborhood, you can still put on a planner’s cap and apply some of the concepts that come up in the game to your own part of town.

And besides, we’re gonna need all the help we can get if we’re finally gonna stick it to those pesky *crats!