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Old Posted May 11, 2012, 10:30 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: The City Of Philadelphia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila View Post
I'm not familiar with Philly, so I can't say what the effect of the Reading project will be. From the renderings, it looks far more like the High Line than the Bloomingdale Trail - manicured landscapes, fancy lighting/furniture, art installations, etc. They're expecting people to visit because it's a unique destination, not because it's a convenient place for recreation. I don't know the surrounding areas well enough to say whether that strategy will work or not.
The area around the viaduct is more or less the industrial hinterlands of downtown, the warehouse district.

There is no wide-ranging draw in the neighborhood - nothing there that will pull in daytrippers or tourists and the project is just far enough off of the beaten path to not have enough gravity on its own, I believe. Pablo correctly notes that it may indeed be better to go in another direction instead of hopping on the bandwagon. What makes this case different is that the amenity is seen as a catalyst for kickstarting revitalization instead of being a result of it. If a decade ago the neighborhood took off the way Northern Liberties has this would be a moot point - the project very likely would have already been completed a few years ago.

Using public money or assessing a special tax at this time - with the pressing issues city government has on its plate now - is not the way the way to go right now. This project, to some degree, is going to happen but it's gotten traction five years too late and that is going to show in the finished product - right place, wrong time.
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