The fee for buying on board isn't $2 any more, they just round it up to the nearest whole dollar amount, for instance zone 3 is $5.50 and buying on board makes it $6.00. What they did do was eliminate daytime off-peak fares.

http://ilovebricks.blogspot.com/2011...ladelphia.html
This project looks very nice (rendering on the website) and helps to show how there are a lot of park developments happening throughout the city.

Very true. The "integration" is a huge problem though. They need development and density around them to be successful.

In some ways that was the idea. The three parks you named exist in comparatively hard-to-access locales and having these parks there gives the people of the city ownership over what were once no-man's-lands. Everything else about them is great but access - particularly to Race Street Pier and Franklin Square - needs to be addressed much better.

Don't forget Penn Park... that's going to be a huge city resource and will help bring down the psychological barrier between CC and West.

Okay last post about this. :^) I was coming back from Penn Station and the Amtrak was sold out (work trip). So I stood in line for the 3 vending machines. The machine I got didn't work. So then I had to slid to the next one. The machine wouldn't read any of my credit cards. So I had to start stuffing cash into the machine to get the ticket. It was a 20 minute ordeal counting the line. Though the double decker train cars are pretty cool, I must say.

The only thing that would possibly be torn down is what's left of Snellenburg's, which honestly is so little that most people don't even know what it is. It was literally chopped down from about eight stories to two. The facades were all removed leaving only it's frame, and it was wrapped in what kind of looks like a giant, 1970s McDonald's roof. It's a long, flat, block long disaster, and was originally intended to be only a placeholder for future development. I suppose it's better than a parking lot.

http://nakedphilly.com/university-ci...arly-complete/
A section of Clark Park on Baltimore Ave is finishing renovations and will open on June 16th. This park renovation is only a fraction of the entire park so far but is an improvement nonetheless.

That's works for me. I'm in that area often enough and those fences have been getting to me.

20th and Market
 

Has anyone seen what's going on there? Passed by the empty lot today and it looks like they're putting up a small vendor stand accompanied by some landscaping.

Does anyone know what's going on on Sansom Street between 12th and 13th? They tore down the old pawn shop that spanned the block all the way to Walnut. I hope they're not planning to expand the surface lot.

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is creating a temporary community garden where people can learn and do whatever. This is certainly an upgrade from an empty grass lot with no purpose but I hope that it will be replaced with a decent sized skyscraper.

As to philatonian's comment, there has been a hotel and condo tower planned on that lot, but nobody really knows if the demolitions are for the tower exactly.

The demolition is apparently for 'Fergie's Tower'.

I saw the activity on 20th Street last week and meant to mention it. The temporary use is quite nice - better to do something with that plot than nothing at all.

Home ownership declines in Philadelphia

By Alan J. Heavens

Inquirer Real Estate Writer

The percentage of Philadelphians who rent rather than own their homes rose from 40.7 percent to 45.9 percent between 2000 and 2010, one of the largest such increases among the country's biggest cities, according to U.S. Census data.

Factor the recession and the housing industry's nosedive into this statistic, of course. But the primary reason for the jump can be summed up in two words: Center City.

Since 1997, almost 13,000 units - primarily condos and apartments - have been built or rehabilitated downtown and in adjacent neighborhoods, the Center City District reports.

And since 2000, the district's numbers show, the population of Philadelphia's expanding core has climbed to 93,000, from 78,900.

Thirty percent of those residents fall into 25-to-34 age group. The median age of U.S. home buyers is 39, the National Association of Realtors says.

Empty nesters from the suburbs also have been part of the movement to the city, and large numbers of them rent initially.

"The increase in both population and our housing stock - both of which are disproportionately located in Center City - are the underlying reasons behind this rise in the rental rate," said economist Kevin Gillen, vice president of Econsult Corp. "Much of the population growth has come from young households, which are more inclined to rent."

In the five decades preceding 2000, there was little residential construction in and around Center City. That changed in the late 1990s, when City Council passed tax-abatement laws for new and rehabbed buildings.

Apartment construction and renovation peaked in 2002, at the start of the for-sale housing boom. By then, Center City had 23,000 apartments.

Beginning in 2003, many buildings launched as rental apartments converted to for-sale condos, and fewer rental units were built.

Chart: http://media.philly.com/images/600*4...rs_renters.jpg

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20...ladelphia.html

***********************

Since we had numerous discussions pages back about LOVE Park and the changes that need to be made, I figured this was worth sharing for those that didn't hear. Sadly, maybe this is what it will take to get the attention it needs:

Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Homeless woman stabs teens at Love Park

A 19-year-old homeless woman will face aggravated assault charges after stabbing two teenage girls at Love Park, in Center City, Wednesday evening, police said.

Two girls, ages 15 and 16, were playing in the fountain at Love Park at about 7 p.m. when someone threw a water bottle at Gabriel Hodges, a homeless woman who was nearby.

Hodges thought that one of the girls threw the bottle at her, police said. An argument ensued and Hodges pulled out a pair of scissors.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/d...Love-Park.html

We've had an unfortunate series of events the last three weeks.

On another note - is that the kind of article that needs to be publish in the paper? It's been the topic of discussion in my office all day...and not in a good way.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20...of_Philly.html

Parkway 22
 

Wowowow Does this mean. It's back on ?!?!?!

http://www.burthill.com/projects/pages/parkway_22

There has been a rumor floating around that this had been reworked as a senior living community.

No - this is 3 years old.

Philadelphia Inquirer sold again
 

Philadelphia Inquirer building up for sale again

By Mike Armstrong

Inquirer Staff Writer

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...ale_again.html

I think I read a few days ago that Ronald Perelman was considering buying the papers. I wonder if he actually is the new "owner" that they don't really mention?

I was curious about who the Perelman's actually are since they keep donating to where I work (which unfortunately doesn't go to me LOL). The Perelman Quadrangle on Penn's campus was named after Ronald, the son of Raymond and Ruth. Raymond, his son Ronald, and his other son owned Standard Paper back in the day and made buku bucks buying up struggling companies (like the Philly papers) and selling them later for massive profits.

Ronald is worth $12 BILLION and at one point was the wealthiest person in the U.S. He donates something like $60-$100 million every year to this and that. Raymond and Ruth have donated $250 million to Penn Medicine since I have been working there that I heard of anyway.

Isn't the PMA expansion due to the Perelman's also?

I joked at work that we will all get 10% raises this year but we had to change our middle names to "Perelman". Hell I'd do that for a 10% raise hehe.

I still need to find who the brother is.

Cheers,
G.