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Hello, everyone! This is my first thread on the City-Data forum.
Since I have been home from college since May, I have had a lot of time in my hands. I used a lot of that time to do researching. From my research on City-Data and other places on the web, I have no doubt in my mind that Philadelphia is finally starting to get the national and international recognition it deserves! With construction booms in Center City and University City, new public transportation funding through Act 89, visionary urban planning, aggressive national and international marketing, and a population growth, Philly is becoming a destination for people to visit and to live. This makes me happy as a Delaware Valley native! I might just stay in Philadelphia after I complete medical school (hopefully at Penn or Temple!).
Since Philadelphia is starting to gain a stronger presence in the spotlight, here is what I think should happen in order for Philadelphia to become a prime destination, both for tourism and to live:
General Stuff
#1. Continue to attract companies who will invest and build in Philly
-With the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center rising to 1,121, Philadelphia will receive its new tallest skyscraper, which will be the 8th tallest in America. A city's skyline is integral to its identity. With several iconic buildings already in Philly (One and Two Liberty Place, Comcast Center, etc.), the skyline is a great asset when attracting tourists.
Urban Transportation
#2. Keep the Market-Frankford Line and the Broad Street Line running 24 hours
-We are the fifth largest city in the United States; there is absolutely no excuse why we SHOULDN'T have 24 hour subway service. This is understandably hard at the moment as the operators must collect fees; however, with the ushering in of New Payment Technology, the Market-Frankford Line and Broad Street Line should run 24 hours like PATCO does.
#3. Extend the BSL north to at least Roosevelt Blvd. and Rhawn Street, and extend it south to the Navy Yard (or possibly PHL)
-Northeast Philadelphia is in need of reliable transportation via heavy rail. The Northeast Extension of the Broad Street Line could serve this purpose. Looking further south, the Navy Yard is growing at a fast rate. Residences are also set to be built in that area. Broad Street Line stations in the Navy Yard would greatly serve the current business and future residential communities of the Navy Yard. Finally, since service on the R1 Airport Line ends at midnight, a Broad Street Line stop at PHL would give tourists and other passengers an alternative way of getting into Center City.
#4. Extend PATCO to 30th Street
-Even though the Delaware River Port Authority owns PATCO, they should seriously consider extending it to at least 30th Street. With the construction explosion currently going on in Center City, South Jerseyans will undoubtedly need a fast way to reach University City.
#5. Build a new subway
-There are three tourist destinations in Philly that are not served by rail: South Street, the Museum District, and the Art Museum. This can be corrected with a new subway. This line could start in Fairmount Park, make its way down to the Art Museum, make a turn onto the Parkway, make another turn onto Arch Street, have a station or two in Penn's Landing, run along Columbus Blvd, and lastly run the length of South Street.
#6. Renovate City Hall Station (15th Street Station)
-That station is old, dark, damp, and sometimes creepy. It also has a strong smell of urine. Imagine the impression that this must make on our visitors! I say that City Hall Station needs to be renovated and modernized.
#7. Connect 30th Street Station to the Market-Frankford Line via a tunnel
-After riding to Philly by Amtrak, it is pretty inconvenient to have to walk outside to get to the MFL. A walking tunnel would do Amtrak's passengers who wish to connect to the MFL much good.
Urban Planning
#8. Renovate Market East
-The area between City Hall and 5th Street could use improvement, especially when going down Market Street. The Gallery should be renovated and attract new tenants. If everything goes well with the casino license, Market8 may be able to take care of that.
#9. Convert the former Reading Viaduct into an above ground park
-New York may have their High Line, but we have our very own right here in Philadelphia! If the city could purchase it from Reading and convert it into a nice above ground space, then maybe Philadelphia could cash in on some extra tourist dollars.
#10. Revitalize Penn's Landing
-I have seen some of the artist renderings for Penn's Landing, and I am in love! Philly has an awesome waterfront with awesome views of the skyline and Ben Franklin Bridge! With some capital investment in Penn's Landing's revitalization, Philly could really profit off of it. This brings me to my next idea...
#11. Tunnel I-95 from Christian Street to Arch Street
-Penn's Landing is cut off from the rest of Philadelphia by I-95. If we tunnel it, then the waterfront would be much more accessible, and therefore more heavily patronized.
#12. Clean the city
-Philly gets quite the reputation for being a dirty city! I say that Philly should clean up the city, possibly with prisoners. Also, Philly should impose stricter fines for those who keep their properties messy.
Suburban Transportation
#13. Extend and restore several Regional Rail lines
-The R3 Media/Elwyn Line should be restored to West Chester (it is being restored as far as Wawa currently).
-The R5 Paoli/Thorndale Line should be restored to Atglen.
-The R6 Cynwyd Line should be extended to King of Prussia and Valley Forge.
-The R6 Manayunk/Norristown should be extended to at least Pottstown.
-The R5 Lansdale/Doylestown Line should be extended to at least Quakertown.
-The R8 Fox Chase Line should be restored to Newtown.
-The Norristown High Speed Line should be extended to King of Prussia.
#14. Restore intercity service
-The SEPTA trains that ran to Allentown/Bethlehem and Reading/Wyomissing. The Allentown/Bethlehem Line is especially important as the Lehigh Valley is growing in population.
#15. Other extensions
-The R2 Wilmington/Newark could be extended to Perryville, MD. After all, Cecil County is considered a part of the Philadelphia area.
-Future service to Kennett Square and Oxford via the former PRR Octoraro Branch.
...These are my ideas on what Philadelphia should do to become a prime East Coast destination both nationally and internationally. What are your ideas?
As a mass transit advocate, I agree with most of your ideas in that area. One exception is that I don't think a PATCO extension to 30th is necessary; it already exists with a transfer at 8th Street to the Market-Frankford El. I don't think digging an additional line underground would be worth it for the five minutes (or less) it takes during rush hour to walk from the Speedline and hop on the next El.
(As an aside: a Perryville, MD terminus would theoretically allow for a seamless transition to a less expensive, if more time-consuming option for commuter rail buffs who want to travel between eastern CT and Fredericksburg, VA without using AMTRAK.)
I envisioned #12 as something that I thought would be part of the second federal stimulus package, putting actual neighborhood residents - rather than prisoners - back to work and restoring pride in poor urban and rural communities. Obviously that didn't happen...or at least not in Philly.
A lot of your other ideas have been expressed in the forum over the years and seem to have support from especially those who want better SEPTA coverage and a more sightly waterfront. But, of course, that takes money: something which even a more receptive Harrisburg would have difficulty providing in this current economy.
Last edited by FindingZen; 07-04-2014 at 02:11 PM..
#5. Build a new subway
For subways I think the MFL should stop in between 15th and 30th. Also the BSL spur should go down south philly, go west, and come back up say 19th. To my understanding that extension could replace the two most used buses that go similar routes.
#7. Connect 30th Street Station to the Market-Frankford Line via a tunnel
I think they should also build the moving walkways like many airports have.
#12. Clean the city
The nice parts of philly are kept pretty clean. I don't think we should make strict rules though, everybody hates dictatorships (HOA's, traffic cop pirates, etc).
Another idea would be a high speed rail to NYC. I think they need to make the regional rail faster and better support the reverse commuter by making it easier to leave their car parked monthly outside the city. They should also then promote the idea of reverse commuting.
#5. Build a new subway
For subways I think the MFL should stop in between 15th and 30th. Also the BSL spur should go down south philly, go west, and come back up say 19th. To my understanding that extension could replace the two most used buses that go similar routes.
#7. Connect 30th Street Station to the Market-Frankford Line via a tunnel
I think they should also build the moving walkways like many airports have.
#12. Clean the city
The nice parts of philly are kept pretty clean. I don't think we should make strict rules though, everybody hates dictatorships (HOA's, traffic cop pirates, etc).
Another idea would be a high speed rail to NYC. I think they need to make the regional rail faster and better support the reverse commuter by making it easier to leave their car parked monthly outside the city. They should also then promote the idea of reverse commuting.
I really like the moving walkways idea! I think that could fit well into the design of 30th Street Station.
As for the high speed rail to NYC, that would be tough. I'm not too sure that Amtrak would allow SEPTA trains past Trenton due to the sheer volume of the Northeast Corridor (NEC). One way that this could have happened is if the former Reading Railroad would have electrified the West Trenton line past West Trenton. This way, the R3 West Trenton Line could travel on a double tracked main line up until Newark, and then could use the Aldene and Hunter Connections to get to Newark Penn, Secaucus, and finally New York Penn Station. An alternative to this would be for SEPTA to purchase dual mode units. This way, transfers would not be needed as dual modes can switch from electric power to diesel. This would also enable SEPTA to regain some of its lost trackage (Allentown/Bethlehem, Reading/Wyomissing, Newark, and Newtown).
#5. Build a new subway
For subways I think the MFL should stop in between 15th and 30th. Also the BSL spur should go down south philly, go west, and come back up say 19th. To my understanding that extension could replace the two most used buses that go similar routes.
I recall your suggestion in past threads. Not unlike extending the PATCO Speedline to 30th Street, I believe adding El stops between 15th and 30th would involve major money and coordination for (IMO) a currently minor transfer process.
Quote:
#7. Connect 30th Street Station to the Market-Frankford Line via a tunnel
I think they should also build the moving walkways like many airports have.
I like this idea and it probably wouldn't be too terribly expensive to implement. Maintaining safety, however, would be another thing. IIRC, there was once an underground tunnel between the train station and the El/trolley stop but crime became too much of an issue. Security cameras (if not also personnel) would likely be required.
Quote:
#12. Clean the city
The nice parts of philly are kept pretty clean. I don't think we should make strict rules though, everybody hates dictatorships (HOA's, traffic cop pirates, etc).
It would be nice, of course, if all of the city could be kept reasonably clean. Notwithstanding the level of personal responsibility in some neighborhoods, and absent any private/philanthropic investment, the only way I see things changing would be something akin to the stimulus package I suggested albeit coming from Harrisburg.
Quote:
Another idea would be a high speed rail to NYC. I think they need to make the regional rail faster and better support the reverse commuter by making it easier to leave their car parked monthly outside the city. They should also then promote the idea of reverse commuting.
Similar to what PhilliesPhan2013 said, that's out of SEPTA's and NJ Transit's hands. Amtrak's Acela service is the closest we're going to get unless/until Amtrak is able to convince Congress to fund something faster.
All of those are great ideas, but until the City gets a handle on the poverty/blight/crime problems in North Philly is will always be a place that people will want to visit... but are afraid to.
Oh, and clean the streets. Get rid of the "Philthadelphia" image. Too many people mar the beauty of the city with it's constant and overbearing litter problem. So I would stress:
#12. Clean the city
The nice parts of philly are kept pretty clean. I don't think we should make strict rules though, everybody hates dictatorships (HOA's, traffic cop pirates, etc).
Last edited by blktoptrvl; 07-04-2014 at 02:46 PM..
The nice parts of Philly are not kept pretty clean, I do not think. We shouldn't need a clean up crew to come through and clean up after us like we're children. If the city is to go to the next level we need to see more commitment from the average citizen of the city.
Tone, I used to think like you about not having the stop between 15th and 30th because you can just get on the trolley at one of these two stations, but honestly I've had to wait quite a long time for the trolley sometimes when transferring at 30th and I think that should be addressed. Most of the time I'd say the timing is fair for the trolleys, but I was taking them a lot at one point and sometimes they would take 15-20 minutes and that is unacceptable in my opinion.
Tone, I used to think like you about not having the stop between 15th and 30th because you can just get on the trolley at one of these two stations, but honestly I've had to wait quite a long time for the trolley sometimes when transferring at 30th and I think that should be addressed. Most of the time I'd say the timing is fair for the trolleys, but I was taking them a lot at one point and sometimes they would take 15-20 minutes and that is unacceptable in my opinion.
There's only so much SEPTA can do with the subway portion of the trolley lines. It's never going to get the speed or the frequency levels that the "rapid transit" subway lines like the MFL, BSL, and PATCO offer. At least the trolleys run 24/7 in the subway portion of the green line, which is something that not even Boston's green line offers.
There's only so much SEPTA can do with the subway portion of the trolley lines. It's never going to get the speed or the frequency levels that the "rapid transit" subway lines like the MFL, BSL, and PATCO offer. At least the trolleys run 24/7 in the subway portion of the green line, which is something that not even Boston's green line offers.
With how many trolleys run between 15th and 30th, I honestly don't see how this is a problem. If you look at the schedule they are technically supposed to run a lot faster than that, but they fail to do so at many times for whatever reason. Sometimes the trolleys are way better than the trains, in my opinion. I'm not asking for them to be fast, but certainly more frequent and more frequently on schedule at the least. We can't even get our trains to run very fast, so I really don't expect much for the trolleys. People say 10 minutes is good for a subway, but I highly disagree. I realise that they can't really run back-to-back in Philadelphia though, because there aren't even enough people on the things to really justify that. It isn't a huge deal now, but if the city grows at a fast pace then I think these things will become an issue. Although I don't really see it ever getting to that point, especially in America where people aren't public transport minded.
Tone, I used to think like you about not having the stop between 15th and 30th because you can just get on the trolley at one of these two stations, but honestly I've had to wait quite a long time for the trolley sometimes when transferring at 30th and I think that should be addressed. Most of the time I'd say the timing is fair for the trolleys, but I was taking them a lot at one point and sometimes they would take 15-20 minutes and that is unacceptable in my opinion.
Fair enough, CNote. Perhaps then developing a way to make the trolleys more efficient when traveling through the underground portion of their routes would be something to consider before adding El stops?
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