Philadelphia 2035 (Chester, West Chester, Media: terminal, roof, international)

[PhillyPhan95]

Originally Posted by rainrock

Why did you build a 20,000 seat soccer stadium in crime ridden Chester? Why did you build one f the regions biggest Casinos in crime ridden Chester. Why is the Aquarium and Outdoor Music Venue in Crime ridden Camden ?

Would you prefer that these places had nothing and be worse than they already are? You've got to start somewhere.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by AJNEOA

Blatstein should be designing developments out in King of Prussia. He's 20 years behind in his designs, causing developments like this one to become a burden to the city. It's ridiculous that our planning commissions have no power to stop developments like this.

I think one of the most interesting outcomes of this Broad & Washington drama is that it has indeed revealed that the planning emperor has no clothes beyond what the ZBA can do.

The Civic Design Review panel, ballyhooed when the new zoning code came out, is particularly useless, because the only power it has is exhortation - a builder is free to ignore every suggestion it makes, and as we have seen, many, maybe most, who go through CDR do just that.

I think, though, we do now have the raw material for an interesting exercise, maybe even a book or a series of articles - and maybe it's something the Desigh Advocacy Group might take on: What if we produced a series of designs that reflected changes recommended by the CDR panel but ignored by the builder for various large projects?

I remember reading that Lincoln actually visited the site as the troops left.

You remember half-correctly: Lincoln did pass through the site, which was indeed the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore railroad station, but in the form of a cadaver lying in state. His funeral train made a stop there. But yes, this is why the project is called Lincoln Square.

Originally Posted by cpomp

Study: Philly's 'Burbs Would Be Stronger If They Walked the Walk Like Cities - Property

I figured this was post worthy since the negative attitudes toward growth in many of our regions most desirable suburbs has held some areas back. I don't think we need to emulate everything the DC area is doing, but projects like One Ardmore Place should start being welcomed into the walk-able denser suburban communities.

The article did leave out West Chester and Conshohocken for some reason, they are probably leading the pack for dense suburbs in our region. KoP will likely follow. However, many of the Main Line towns and Media have such strong NIMBYism that it takes years for a larger project to get off the ground.

Author here: I acknowledge in my first paragraph that my list of walkable suburban Main Streets is incomplete. Conshy is an interesting case in that much of the residential and commercial development that's popped up around the train station and the bridge across the Schuylkill DOESN'T observe principles of pedestrian-friendly design, though the old business district is indeed walkable.

Then there's Norristown itself, the only one of the four suburban county seats that's a depressed community. The Montgomery County Courthouse looks like the capitol building of a small U.S. state, but the rest of the town surrounding it remains a mass of unrealized potential. There is some development taking place, but there's lots of room for more renewal. In terms of transit accessibility, only one suburban community beats it: Upper Darby, whose core commercial district exists because of the transit facility it grew up around.

Originally Posted by cpomp

I think 2008 or something is when the proposal first came out? I believe Dranoff is legally able to proceed with the project, but for whatever reason it hasn't begun yet.
It's a shame when towns like Ardmore have a chance to be awesome, but they settle for average.

A lawsuit filed by some Ardmore residents and businesses was tossed out by Commonwealth Court just this past January. It was dismissed with prejudice, which means they can't file a new one, but they can appeal the dismissal to the state Supreme Court. Many others in Ardmore, including the local business improvement district, the Ardmore Initiative, are pressing this group to give it up already, but I'm not sure they're ready to do that.

Originally Posted by BPP1999

Add to the list Malvern, Berwyn, Devon - blech.

None of these I would consider "walkable suburban Main Streets." Others I've left off the list include Lansdowne, Glenside, Burlington, Mount Holly, and Woodbury. If LOCUS included the entire Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area in its analysis, downtown Wilmington would be the second-largest "WalkUP" in the region, and it's something of an underachiever, even though Wilmington officials have made great strides in adding residents and amenities aimed at giving it life after 5 p.m. Trenton, media, cultural, historical and planning ties notwithstanding, is not part of the Philadelphia CMSA.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by BPP1999

Add to the list Malvern, Berwyn, Devon - blech.

Well, Malven and Berwyn were always, "Meh". Nothing new about that. Devon had/has the Devon Horse Show. But, I would say, only the rich WASP, over 60, care about that.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by rainrock

I had some business down near the airport this week. I have to tell you the general area is a depressing dumpster fire, Eastwick to Essington its just horrible . If you are a visitor and have to stay in an airport area hotel its like being timejacked back to the 50's and 60's. These people visiting there are probably saying you have to be kidding me. Its unbelievable. There is virtually no upkeep in that area.Unpresentable.

Philadelphia region needs a common sense czar to get it out of its ridiculous stupor. Like why are you putting the airport right next to the sewage treatment plant and oil refineries? Why are you building 5,000 hotel rooms in godforsaken Essington ,a neglected place that has not seen a penny of development other than chain hotels in the past 50 years.

Why did you build a 20,000 seat soccer stadium in crime ridden Chester? Why did you build one f the regions biggest Casinos in crime ridden Chester. Why is the Aquarium and Outdoor Music Venue in Crime ridden Camden ?

Why are you putting the mega entertainment venues/ball parks/arenas in the middle of a economically depraved warehouse district? This place is absolutely hopeless.

You still ignore the question about why you rave about Philly elsewhere but never here. Lol To outsiders we're blessed to live, in your opinion, but to locals you act like just another boring Negadelphian.

But, yes, some of this kind of makes you wonder about how Philadelphia got the World Heritage City honor?

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by PhillyPhan95

Would you prefer that these places had nothing and be worse than they already are? You've got to start somewhere.

The soccer stadium and casino have done nothing to improve Chester..

At this point Chester needs to start with a mass demolition of its existing neighborhoods, most are abandoned eyesores that add to the drug and crime problem. Chesters location is also detrimental to any hope of revitalization. Camden actually has potential to make a complete turnaround.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

You remember half-correctly: Lincoln did pass through the site, which was indeed the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore railroad station, but in the form of a cadaver lying in state. His funeral train made a stop there. But yes, this is why the project is called Lincoln Square.

I'm pretty sure that Lincoln road the PW & B to go to his first inaugural with the trip ending in Baltimore because of the threats to his life. So he may have stopped at that Phila. station beforehand.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by kyb01

But, yes, some of this kind of makes you wonder about how Philadelphia got the World Heritage City honor?

The price of admission to the ranks of World Heritage Cities is the presence of a UNESCO World Heritage Site within its borders.

We have one of those: Independence Hall, the first man-made UNESCO World Heritage Site in the United States (I believe it was added to the list before Cahokia Mounds, the oldest man-made WHS in the country, got on it).

Then our local promoters practiced some very skilled lobbying on the World Heritage Cities organization.

Keep in mind that the designation applies only to the city, not the region.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by rainrock

Why are you putting the mega entertainment venues/ball parks/arenas in the middle of a economically depraved warehouse district? This place is absolutely hopeless.

Because your friends and neighbors in the Main Line don't want anything bigger than a two-story house

This czar idea of which you speak (which is a good idea) would presumably mandate that:
- a four-mile extension of the Norristown High Speed Line is a fantastic idea,
- an eight-story apartment complex in seen-better-days Downtown Ardmore, across the street from a train station is a good idea
- the Devon Yards retail/residential proposal in seen-better-days "Downtown" Devon, across the street from a train station is a good idea
- the condo development in seen-better-days Downtown Malvern was a good idea
- etc.

This region's elite/ruling class (many of whom live in places like Villanova) definitely need a czar to mandate common sense ideas. People in Villanova foolishly fought the Blue Route and are foolishly fighting the University's plan to improve that oh-so-beautiful collection of parking lots right on Route 30. That plan will get students and their cars out of neighborhoods and back on campus, but (horrors!) a four-story building?!?! That belongs, I don't know, maybe in Chester or near the airport, not here.

Yes, this area needs a common-sense czar, because people who live hear are small-minded and will do anything to make sure their country township/fiefdom doesn't change.

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

I think one of the most interesting outcomes of this Broad & Washington drama is that it has indeed revealed that the planning emperor has no clothes beyond what the ZBA can do.

The Civic Design Review panel, ballyhooed when the new zoning code came out, is particularly useless, because the only power it has is exhortation - a builder is free to ignore every suggestion it makes, and as we have seen, many, maybe most, who go through CDR do just that.

I think, though, we do now have the raw material for an interesting exercise, maybe even a book or a series of articles - and maybe it's something the Desigh Advocacy Group might take on: What if we produced a series of designs that reflected changes recommended by the CDR panel but ignored by the builder for various large projects?

It needs to be written and put on the front page so everyone knows how this process really works. The ZBA hands out exceptions to developers like free candy and our Civic Design Review is constantly making "suggestions" to better align developments with our zoning codes and master plans.

Our zoning needs updates as well. PlanPhilly had a nice article on some tweaks that are needed, but nothing ever came of it. The new zoning is really a paper tiger, filled with gaps and an amenable ZBA that knows little about true burdens/exceptions or planning. And Philly.com has no clue what they're talking about either. They wrote article six months ago about how a neighborhood association near/in Fairmount disliked a piece of development and ended up working it out and it was a great success story. The outcome? Garage-fronted rowhomes right near the Ben Franklin Parkway. Just what we want, suburbia bordering Center City...

Ultimately, the planning process needs to be taken away from the usual suspects. The planning commission should have THE teeth to steer development toward appropriate use under our city-wide zoning. Not councilmen, not some other organization. Same goes for our streets. The Streets Department should be making a call on how streets should be planned and used, not people like Bill Greenlee.

[Pine to Vine]

More development in UCity: Developer breaks ground on $56M University City project.