PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[McBane]

Originally Posted by Londonee

The wires are also a little subconscious - you don't necessarily think about them, but you do feel them.

Agree with your post but wanted to highlight this, which is totally true. It's a lot like the difference between a street that has a curb and does not have a curb, or a sidewalk, or trees. Subtle things that, individually, each make an outsized impact on the aesthetics of a street.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

I have no reason not to believe you. And I do.

But are you honestly saying that if you were comparing two houses to move into in a "hot neighborhood" and they were identical homes, let's say, with the same orientation, light, same general view, same school catchment, etc, and the only difference between the homes would be that in one, from your master bedroom window on the third floor you saw a gaggle of wires hanging from a power line literally feet from your house, and in another, from the same exact room you had an unobstructed view with no wires...you would pick between them at random? Or pick the house with wires in front of it without even thinking about it?

A "gaggle" of wires right in front of my master bedroom window? Yea sure, sounds bad. I doubt I'd notice until I bought the place though, that's how little I care.

I don't have a gaggle though. The power lines, which run on the opposite side of my street, run an electric line and a cable across the street and to the corner of my house, roughly in the middle of the my second floor. The lines then run down a skinny gray pvc pipe down the side of my house and into my basement. You can barely see any of this through the tree right in front of my house. I never thought so much about power lines before, but now that I have, the gray pvc pipe bothers me more than the lines themselves. And even then, the amount it bothers me is hardly at all.

But I did say all things being equal, I'd rather bury them if for no other reason than it is more reliable. So sure, bury them when the time is opportune and the cost is low. But in general, all things are not equal and considering I don't care about power lines, I'd rather spend that money on roughly a million other things.

I don't see what is so hard to grasp. They don't bother me.

[eixample]

Street trees would alleviate the utility line problem in large part. Walk around cedar park or spruce hill and I bet the lines aren't bothering anyone's sub-conscious compared to a vegetatively bare row home block.

[iheartphilly]

^
As long as the street trees aren't planted under the utility lines it looks great. When they are mature, the pruning of the branches makes the trees look weird and unnatural.

[Busy Bee]

^I believe the word is butchered.

[Tlphila]

Does anyone have any recent pics of the progression of the Met on North broad? It is opening early December so they have getting close.

[frbrown]

Originally Posted by Tlphila

Does anyone have any recent pics of the progression of the Met on North broad? It is opening early December so they have getting close.

Inga's article last week had some progress pics from the interior, and first hand experience.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/column...-20181115.html

[mcgrath618]

Honestly, I know the phrase “kick start North Broad” is used for basically anything nowadays (cough cough Hanover north Broad cough cough) but I honestly think the Met is really going to spur some awesome development in the area. What a gorgeous building.

[nimshady]

So I am not sure how to upload photos (im posting from my phone) but I just came back for thanksgiving and speaking of the Street Department wasting nearly 1 billion dollars on curb cuts. At Somerset and Coral Street in Kensington there is a massive sink hole at least 10 feet deep and 30 feet long and 10 feet wide and my grandmother said its been there for a few weeks now and growing every day. I called 311 and they said they would get on it but they have cones around it that as the sinkhole has grown the cones are now in the hole and nothing stopping kids from falling in...

[tsarstruck]

Originally Posted by frbrown

Inga's article last week had some progress pics from the interior, and first hand experience.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/column...-20181115.html

And Dan Deluca's piece from today has more:

http://www2.philly.com/entertainment...-20181121.html

[frbrown]

Originally Posted by tsarstruck

And Dan Deluca's piece from today has more:

http://www2.philly.com/entertainment...-20181121.html

Wow look at this photo from that article. Looks like an amazing venue!

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by allovertown

A "gaggle" of wires right in front of my master bedroom window? Yea sure, sounds bad. I doubt I'd notice until I bought the place though, that's how little I care.

I don't have a gaggle though. The power lines, which run on the opposite side of my street, run an electric line and a cable across the street and to the corner of my house, roughly in the middle of the my second floor. The lines then run down a skinny gray pvc pipe down the side of my house and into my basement. You can barely see any of this through the tree right in front of my house. I never thought so much about power lines before, but now that I have, the gray pvc pipe bothers me more than the lines themselves. And even then, the amount it bothers me is hardly at all.

But I did say all things being equal, I'd rather bury them if for no other reason than it is more reliable. So sure, bury them when the time is opportune and the cost is low. But in general, all things are not equal and considering I don't care about power lines, I'd rather spend that money on roughly a million other things.

I don't see what is so hard to grasp. They don't bother me.

A gaggle.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9649...7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9628...7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9640...7i13312!8i6656

[Mr Saturn64]

The Met is truly beautiful. That is one amazing restoration job.

[PHL10]

Saturday Drive-by of the retail addition at the former State Office Building.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by frbrown

Inga's article last week had some progress pics from the interior, and first hand experience.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/column...-20181115.html

once again, Inga is exhausting.
this article, like many if not most of hers, is more history than architectural review. not much new here. her descriptions of some of the details start to be on the right track, but it's not enough.
also, she starts the article by saying that the theater was built on the wrong side of Broad Street, but does not explain. Is that just her opinion, or was there a genuine mistake? no clue. if she's going to make a statement like that, and spend most of the article talking about history, she should explain that. but she doesn't.
because she stinks.

[jhdiesel]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

she starts the article by saying that the theater was built on the wrong side of Broad Street,
because she stinks.

I think she means it was built on the wrong side of Market St -- South Broad is where all the other theaters are. That's rather plainly the better place to put an opera house. I don't think there's any functional difference between being on the East or West side of Broad.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

also, she starts the article by saying that the theater was built on the wrong side of Broad Street, but does not explain. Is that just her opinion, or was there a genuine mistake? no clue. if she's going to make a statement like that, and spend most of the article talking about history, she should explain that. but she doesn't.
because she stinks.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have but she is assuming that the reader knows that the theater district is located on South Broad and by building on North Broad, Hammerstein isolated his theater.

[mcgrath618]

December CDR is out. Just a bunch of lowrises (and that god awful Self-Storage building on Spring Garden).
https://www.phila.gov/CITYPLANNING/P...ignReview.aspx

One that did stand out was 2110 East Norris St.
A nice 6 story apartment building right next to the El in Kensington.

[Kfmcshan]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

December CDR is out. Just a bunch of lowrises (and that god awful Self-Storage building on Spring Garden).
https://www.phila.gov/CITYPLANNING/P...ignReview.aspx

One that did stand out was 2110 East Norris St.
A nice 6 story apartment building right next to the El in NoLibs.

This is the border of Fishtown and Kensington. It is northeast of Northern Liberties. However, I really like the density of this project.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

once again, Inga is exhausting.
this article, like many if not most of hers, is more history than architectural review. not much new here. her descriptions of some of the details start to be on the right track, but it's not enough.
also, she starts the article by saying that the theater was built on the wrong side of Broad Street, but does not explain. Is that just her opinion, or was there a genuine mistake? no clue. if she's going to make a statement like that, and spend most of the article talking about history, she should explain that. but she doesn't.
because she stinks.

It is clear your hate of her informs your criticisms rather than vice versa. As other have pointed out, she's obviously talking about north side vs south side of Broad St, and implying it world have done better in the theater district. Though I do like your suggestion that it could be a genuine mistake. As though someone read a blueprint wrong and somehow built the building in the wrong location. Funny.

It is a restored historic theater, I think delving into the history is the logical path to take.

Architecture criticsm like any type of criticsm, obviously hinges on the author's standards and opinions. If your opinions on architecture deviate from her's in a significant way, it will clearly affect how you view her work.

I do not always agree with Inga, but she is a Pulitzer Prize winning critic. She is a clearly talented writer and I always look forward to her columns. It's a shame you can't look past whatever real or imagined issue you have with her to recognize her as the asset she is to this community.