Quote:
Originally Posted by jsbrook
This is nice to see! In my opinion, deliberate cultivation of satellite cities is the key to the affordability crisis. While I support affordable housing initiatives that are done in a way that makes sense, the law of supply and demand is somewhere between a man-made law and a natural law, leaning more towards a natural law. Affordable quotas for new construction buildings in the core and other desirable neighborhoods in alpha and beta cities can only be taken so far before they stymie construction and development because projects become unprofitable given land and labor costs.
I think states and cities should be devoting substantial resources to the development of satellite cities near alpha and beta cities, including development of intra-city transportation in said satellite cities and transportation to the alpha or beta city. Only this way, will be able to retain decent percentages of middle and low income people in cities. Otherwise, cities where people want to live are all headed the way of Manhattan and San Francisco as demand rises (or even steadies) and population grows. I believe it's about a 25 minute subway ride or ride on regional rail from Chester to Philadelphia. That's less than the time it takes to the city core from many of Philadelphia's outlying neighborhoods. So, we should be promoting development efforts in Chester, where renovation and conversion of buildings and even new construction can be done much more cheaply than in Philadelphia. For other cities, with more expensive land cots and less cheap housing further out, this is even more important. Focus should also be paid to densifying certain suburbs and transforming edge cities into true cities with more walkable downtowns and residences.
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I couldn't agree more with everything you've stated! You also indirectly made a good case for something that would substantially benefit the region: converting the Regional Rail into a rapid transit service.
Like other regions, housing prices continue to rise in the core city. Unlike other regions, however, Philly has a ton of urban nodes in the suburbs. They are spread across multiple counties and states, united by the Regional Rail. A Regional Rail ride from Chester to University City does indeed take around 25 minutes, which is about as much time as it takes one to ride a local BSL train from Fern Rock to City Hall. If the Regional Rail could run at even 20 minute headways, the city would become so much more accessible to the outlying area. Building affordable housing out in the suburbs--where cheap land, in-tact urban downtowns, and transit centers exist--would help to ease price pressure within the city. Combine this with a fare restructuring, and we have great connectivity throughout the region. Transit connectivity is a big reason that affordable housing tends to be highly concentrated in cities.
The Cynwyd Line should be SEPTA's guinea pig: it is short, has high-level platforms at 60% of its stations (Suburban, 30th Street, and Wynnfield Avenue), and has Platform #7 specially designated for it at Suburban. It also stops at Bala, which is under high-traffic City Avenue. That area has a ton of college students at St. Joe's, a lot of workers at the surrounding office buildings at Bala Cynwyd, and the Montgomery Avenue business district in Bala. Run two-car trains along that line at 20 minute intervals throughout the day and watch ridership explode. The 1, 44, 52, and 65 could also drop passengers off at Bala, providing a quick trip to Center City. With the new SEPTA Key technology, the cost of a trip along that line can be made to be the same as a typical transit trip.
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