Philadelphia 2035 (Wall, Penn: middle-class, real estate, apartments)

[thedirtypirate]

I feel like insurance and law is a big strong suit of the city. Wilmington being the corporate litigation capital of America probably helps with that. I learned recently that Vanguard is actually BlackRock’s largest shareholder now too. So the ETF Index fund world gravitates around Philadelphia. Vanguard just has no interest messing with their model. BlackRock has like 3 skyscrapers in Manhattan. If Vanguard had that in Center City it would be game changing

[Duderino]

Impressive trend lines for venture capital in Philadelphia continue. Really would not have expected the city/region to beat out cities like DC, Chicago, Austin and Seattle for deal volume:

Philadelphia cracks top 5 for closed VC deals in 2022 behind continued investment from Silicon Valley

Continued investment from the Bay Area and New York helped put Philadelphia among the five most active regions for VC deals in 2022, trailing only the nation's deep-rooted tech hubs.

After a 2021 that was largely looked at as an outlier with big money deals — and a lot of them — following strong capital markets, 2022 was a recalibration of sorts for the startup community. Philadelphia was no different. Total funding dropping 31% year-over-year and deal count dropped 10% from 2021, according to a new report from Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT) in collaboration with Pitchbook. However, the Philadelphia region showed a "resilience" in the face of uncertain macroeconomic conditions, said PACT CEO Dean Miller.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...p-funding.html

[thedirtypirate]

That's good news on the venture capitalist investment. Definitely need that to keep the old engine roaring. Job growth in the region is pretty steady overall. Leisure and Hospitality jobs look like the industry that has recovered the least since the pandemic. Lunch time crowds just aren't what they use to be.



Also it's killing me it's so cold this week. Many of the trees starting to bud last week and the cold right now is killing them. Beyond ready for real spring.

[thedirtypirate]

Philly to explore capping Vine Street Expressway with intent of making Chinatown whole again

Officials release construction timeline for new park above I-95 at Penn's Landing

Lots of highway capping news recently. PennDot says that the Penn's Landing park will be done by the 2026 Sestercentennial celebrations. Looking at the clock, pressure is on now to do that ha. At least all the money and design is all in place to just start construction


In terms of the Vine Street expressway, I think the blocks directly behind the convention center need to be the focus before any other areas. I think a nice park with some buildings adjacent could making walking north from there a nicer experience. What blocks do you guys think should be the focus?

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Philly to explore capping Vine Street Expressway with intent of making Chinatown whole again

Officials release construction timeline for new park above I-95 at Penn's Landing

Lots of highway capping news recently. PennDot says that the Penn's Landing park will be done by the 2026 Sestercentennial celebrations. Looking at the clock, pressure is on now to do that ha. At least all the money and design is all in place to just start construction


In terms of the Vine Street expressway, I think the blocks directly behind the convention center need to be the focus before any other areas. I think a nice park with some buildings adjacent could making walking north from there a nicer experience. What blocks do you guys think should be the focus?

Everything from 10th to Vine streets. If I have to choose one, I'd start with the 1000 block, which would have the greatest impact on Chinatown — and since the Convention Center begins on the west side of 11th, it would at least start at improving the walk north from there as well. After that, work on the 1100 block, then proceed westward block by block to Vine Street (with a hole for the eastbound on-ramp at Vine) if an incremental approach is needed.

Also, let's measure clearances to see whether any of the incline leading up from 10th Street to the elevated freeway at 8th Street can be capped. (It certainly won't be the entire stretch east to 9th Street, but even a wider plot of grass next to the east-side sidewalk on 10th would be an improvement.)

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Everything from 10th to Vine streets. If I have to choose one, I'd start with the 1000 block, which would have the greatest impact on Chinatown — and since the Convention Center begins on the west side of 11th, it would at least start at improving the walk north from there as well. After that, work on the 1100 block, then proceed westward block by block to Vine Street (with a hole for the eastbound on-ramp at Vine) if an incremental approach is needed.

I think this would be a good scenario. I'm not even sure capping between 9th and 10th is possible since the elevation changes to ground level. Man it would be awesome to a whole new strip of mixed-use city over top of the highway. I don't think making it into a long green space is a good idea though. It would be neglected and quickly turn crappy. It needs to be functional urban space.

[Oh2Me]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Also disappointing how lazy and inconsiderate some people are.
Maintaining a tree is somehow a burden... And so is picking up loose trash when out for a walk...

Either way, great news that the tree conversion is gaining momentum.

I think the point is we shouldn’t have to pick up garbage on our streets. We pay enough taxes to have adequate city services, including provisions for waste bins which the city has failed to implement.

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by Oh2Me

I think the point is we shouldn’t have to pick up garbage on our streets. We pay enough taxes to have adequate city services, including provisions for waste bins which the city has failed to implement.

I agree, but it goes both ways. All Jeff Brown said was "pick up the damn trash" as a general slogan for his campaign. Domb said "be a good neighbor and help clean up". Not exactly deep stuff and a general sentiment that I think everyone can agree with. Both have laid out more street cleaning plans than the other candidates

[Pennsport]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Everything from 10th to Vine streets. If I have to choose one, I'd start with the 1000 block, which would have the greatest impact on Chinatown — and since the Convention Center begins on the west side of 11th, it would at least start at improving the walk north from there as well. After that, work on the 1100 block, then proceed westward block by block to Vine Street (with a hole for the eastbound on-ramp at Vine) if an incremental approach is needed.

Also, let's measure clearances to see whether any of the incline leading up from 10th Street to the elevated freeway at 8th Street can be capped. (It certainly won't be the entire stretch east to 9th Street, but even a wider plot of grass next to the east-side sidewalk on 10th would be an improvement.)

Yeah, but what exactly would this be connecting? I mean, this is obviously an agenda-driven opinion piece. However, to humor the idea, north of Vine is basically a hundred or so residences that are still more or less Chinatown (Asian residents, who, I assume, mainly work in Chinatown proper), some random factories, and a few storage units. Otherwise, you have the Loft District. The article in Philly Voice states that this project would "make Chinatown whole again." While that may have been the case in the 1980s, more probable the 1930s, IMO, that time is long gone and won't come back.

I have several friends who have lived in the Loft District for quite a while now, and no one has ever said to me "Man, I wish it was easier to get to Chinatown, I'd be there all the time. And just to the south of Chinatown is the Convention Center, the Hard Rock and that sweet stretch of dangerous and f'ed Marked St." If they want to go to Vietnam or Dim Sum, they just walk across the busy street. It's not really a huge deal. The Loft District residents universally go north to Spring Garden, or northeast to NL, or southeast to Old City, or northwest to Fairmount, or slight northwest to the burgeoning N. Broad street corridor, or due west and catch the Broad St. line into CC. Or, they just stay in their neighborhood which has a handful of cool spots. The fact that our Chinatown has stood strong since the late 19th century and is still considered one of the top Chinatowns in the nation leads me to believe that this is a "nice to have" project for our city.

With this said, I am always in favor of improving walkability; and considering the smallish footprint of the area that could be capped, maybe we're not talking hundreds of millions of dollars. The article doesn't state a project estimate - only that they raised $4M so far. Assuming though that they are looking for tax dollars to chip in tens and tens of millions, I personally can see better ways to use those dollars to improve our city. I mean, we do have two rivers, with huge swaths of underdeveloped and often, completely undeveloped, vacant plots of land...

[MarketStEl]

Oh, dear. Oh, dear, dear.

I wrote:

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Everything from 10th to Vine streets.

Thanks to all of you for mentally inserting "Broad" where I wrote "Vine".