I wanted to go, but tix were sold out.

Please pray do tell more.

A) A quote in the article even said that this type of fly-by-night proposal was a common thing during the boom years of the 00's (101 Sky, anyone?). The 'developers' surely could not have thought that no due diligence would have been done - certainly in a place like Philadelphia. It's quite clear they've done no homework on how things operate here.

B) Good news on 401.

C) Mayor Nutter continues to beat the drum for a major anchor hotel downtown, according to Metro. For that, we need to give 'em what they want which means a spitshine and upscale clientele. This is one of those things that comes because of the good image of a place - it is not a means to get there.

Thanks for the photos :tup: this project looks good, I pass by it a lot. Now we just need to fill the few empty lots in the area.

They had speakers who first discussed the removal of the Park East expressway in Milwaukee and the relocation of I-195 in Providence, also a community activist leading the push for tearing down the Sheridan expressway in the South Bronx. Then the leader of Next American City discussed how the 3 miles of 95 might be replaced with a boulevard and transit. Last, the Phila chief of staff for transportation and infrastructure gave us all a little reality check, pointing out how much more traffic that stretch of 95 carries than previous ex-highways did, and promoting the city's current Delaware waterfront plan.

He didn't say it can't be done, and everyone else took this as a cue to push for grassroots organization to pressure PennDOT, the USDOT, and the city to examine the possibilities.

The whole thing was webcast, but an archived video is not presently posted. Check back here: americancity.org/buzz/entry/3381/

Hunter Pence bought a penthouse in the Murano... that should attract people to live there. That's a huge score for the owners.

I was reading the downtown LA thread and they had a link to this report about how parking requirements affect downtowns. While, Philadelphia is not mentioned in the article it was an interesting article that I think applies to Center City.

http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/People,Parking,Cities.pdf

j

Just out of curiosity, what time zones are these threads on? Definitely not Eastern Standard Time. The last post was past 9:00 pm

The default is set to Western Europe. If you go to User Control Panel and then edit options then scroll down to time zone you can change it.

Thanks!

Wow, imagine the women that will in and out of that pad.

I don't think I can imagine, haha.

Let's go eat! :yes:

:haha::haha::haha: This made my day

Here is the article about it, and it definitely sounds like it was a good discussion:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pe..._for_I-95.html

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And some metro news about West Chester's DT, for those interested. I really like WC's charming DT, and it's nice to see that it will only be getting better! :tup:

Bustling West Chester is dreaming of a Center City of its own

Posted: Sun, Feb. 26, 2012, 3:01 AM

Philadelphia's promising land along its hidden river

(Harris M. Steinberg is executive director of PennPraxis of the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania)

Philadelphia is a city of hidden treasures. From the vast acreage of parkland that stretches deep into the Wissahickon Valley to the wooden paving blocks of her tiniest alleys, Philadelphia reveals herself in layers.

When the first Dutch settlers piloted their boats up the Schuylkill, they called it the "Hidden River." Unlike the broad and swiftly flowing Delaware, the tidal Schuylkill meanders gently, bending back and forth as it snakes its way from the Delaware to what is now the falls at the Art Museum. Traveling upstream you pass tank farms and auto graveyards, old cement works and the remnants of our 19th-century industrial prowess. There are also intermittent glimpses of a bucolic past, from Bartram's Garden to Woodland Cemetery's verdant slopes. It is an area of both mystery and promise.

Mystery because the lower reaches of the Schuylkill have been nearly cut off from the city by a tourniquet of infrastructure - rail lines, highways, and bridges. Until recently, the area wasn't welcoming to visitors. But things are poised to change, and that's where the promise comes in.

Since November, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. and the city's Commerce Department and Planning Commission have been working on a plan for the Lower Schuylkill - from the Grays Ferry Bridge to I-95 and from the Schuylkill Expressway on the east to Lindbergh Boulevard and Island Avenue on the west. This roughly 4,000-acre district connects Philadelphia International Airport to Center City and the Navy Yard to University City.

Why the Lower Schuylkill?

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion...den_river.html

Back in high school I was in a regatta on the Lower Schuylkill and I have to say rowing up and down that area was awesome. It is a mix of creepy and fascinating old buildings and rail bridge crossings.

I have high hopes for the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan.

I wanted to go..... but I had to wash my hair LOL

Quite sad when you think about the part in bold/underline:


Posted: Fri, Feb. 24, 2012, 3:01 AM

Philly gets $50M in tax credits for development

By Troy Graham
Inquirer Staff Writer

The city has won $50 million in federal tax credits that will be used to spur economic-development projects in targeted neighborhoods, Mayor Nutter announced Thursday.

The money will be doled out by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. primarily for four types of projects - supermarket-anchored shopping centers, health-care facilities, manufacturing, and mixed-use developments.

The city last received the New Markets Tax Credits in 2007, using the money to help finance four projects, including the SuperFresh grocery at Second Street and Girard Avenue and the Hilton Homewood Suites on City Avenue.

That year, the city won $60 million in tax credits.

Nutter praised this year's award as a jump-start to the city's economy and job market.

"I can only characterize this almost as money falling down from the sky," he said. "And it could not have come at a better time."

PIDC president John Grady said the money, which probably will not be available for a month or two, would be used to help projects that are close to breaking ground but need "that last piece to get over the hump."

"We're not going to sit on these dollars," he said. "We're not going to promise them to projects that are going to sit for months."

In the application process for the tax credits, PIDC identified a couple of pending projects as potentially worthy recipients of the funds.

One example Grady cited was the redevelopment of the former Tasty Baking plant in Nicetown.

The money will go only for projects in certain lower-income census tracts, Grady said. About 80 percent of the city's neighborhoods would qualify, he said.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/po...velopment.html