[volguus zildrohar]

Indeed, the idea of "historic nature" is a little stretched when applied to Market East. I have to do some research to find them but there are images of what Market Street looked like at night in the 20s, 30s and 40s - it was indeed Philadelphia's Great White Way so to say that there is no precedent for the strip is a damn flat-out lie.

Taking the time to adjust what areas, presumably, would be covered by the zoning change is sensible to a point. For example, a popular target for the ire of CCD-types is the concrete garage at 7th & Market on the same block as Dow. In one of it's previous reports on improving the state of Market East that garage in particular is mentioned as being a good candidate for just this type of thing. Of course the structure is across the street from the Graff House, next door to the Atwater Kent and a block from The Liberty Bell. Would giant neon signs really be a good transition from a commercial corridor to the historic heart of the city? Should the zoning change stop at 8th Street instead of 7th? These are the "pertinent" problems and they are, I think, easily resolved as long as the people who make the decisions use common sense and don't give in to some wingnut media luddites.