The Inky did a nice little summary of the Penn Praxis design process today:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_...aterfront.html

The Inky did a nice little summary of the Penn Praxis design process today:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_...aterfront.html

It sounds like the best parts of the "new" Navy Yard, which I don't think would be a bad idea at all.

from the article:
There are no vast, gated communities.
There are no big-box stores blocking the view.
There are no acres of blacktop.
There are no casinos.
Instead, there is a grid of walkable streets - much like the neighborhoods to the west of Interstate 95 - that extend right to the river's edge.
There are parks with green space.
There are wide sidewalks and a public pathway along the water.

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designphiladelphia.wordpress.com

Oh...you're getting casinos.


and by just building housing you're not doing the city budget any favors.


Big Box stores pay taxes and don't need schools, parks, FD's etc..


also...homes for who? The people already not using the thousands of abandoned homes or 30% vacant neighborhoods already dense, walkable and historic with pre-existing parkspace?


Who pays for it's construction? Who buys all the houses?


What works?


This works.

In NYC and in Chicago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Point_Tower
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_...eastriver.html


not more rowhomes... and less parking... it's unrealistic and unfundable especially in a city with so many blighted neighborhood already ripe for redevelopment.


Again...it's like building a new kitchen on a house that's falling down.

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Good article. Thanks for the link. It's nice to see Penn Praxis getting some more press. Nutter also endorsed it in last nights mayoral debate while also endorsing the peoples right to choose with regard to casino issues. The sooner we can reconnect the river to the grid, the sooner a genuine, properly scaled, people-friendly waterfront will be achieved.

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i would like big box stores if they weren't so big and boxy...
...and fairer to their employees. but zur's right. they pay taxes. although they usually try not to. so the question is: how to integrate those damn things into the rest of the waterfront?
also, impermeable surfaces are NOT the answer. and neither are more waterfront squares. that's LA design for you...

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...don't forget Biden, too!

"Lifestyle Centers"

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designphiladelphia.wordpress.com

I think there's an old brokendown version of the same out Germantown way, off the 23. but maybe zoning specific piers for business would make sense, like openair malls with pedestrian access to the waterfront, perhaps a canoe dock if anyones brave enough to go boating in the river...

damn. i logged myself on.

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...don't forget Biden, too!

Rivers are still the lifelines of American cities, but in a new age of urbanization, once-crowded waterways boast a greener complexion.

Rivers run through myriad U.S. cities, many of which coalesced around waterways as their cores. Recently, those cities have begun transforming these vital stretches from industrial working zones and neglected landscapes into pleasantly parklike spaces. Many of these projects place as much emphasis on restoring ecosystems as on providing an urban amenity. For exmple, whereas the factory-lined Buffalo Bayou in Houston ailed from neglect and persistent subtropical flooding, the South Platte River in Denver suffered at the hands of hundreds of polluters; today, both waterways are places where habitat and recreation coexist, with attractive redevelopment and new construction overlooking the waterways.

(Here in Philly, our waterfront suffers at the hands of our elected officials. Extorting as many dollars as possible from the potential developers. But HEY! Thats just Philly being Philly.)

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Well, let's not limit our waterfront to "habitat and recreation," expanding our port operations will go a long way to helping the city.