Deleware Ave already has bike lanes, so you can already enjoy the please of riding with traffic. It's pretty exciting, as you subconsciously complete with the cars, which means you push yourself harder than you would on a normal road.

I don't see what the idea of the casinos as planned and the development of the Delaware waterfront are incompatible; the casino in South Philly is promising a waterfront promenade as part of its third stage of development. Why couldn't that be connected into a larger park/trail plan?

At this point, the two casinos would probably completely redevelop everything between them along the river themselves if it meant they could start construction tomorrow.

I'm not sure about the approval process. I always assumed that if a design changed, it needed to be resubmitted for approval. If Trump Tower sits around too long, they're going to want to redesign it. It's not stunning architecture as it is.

I don't know if Bridgeman's View was ever approved. I think it's probably the most tasteful of the waterfront projects and respects the streetscape more than the others. It's not directly on the river either, it's set back a block, so it doesn't bogart the waterfront from the public. The ones that are particularly bad for the public are the ones like Waterfront Square and Trump Tower which fence off the waterfront from the public, and sit on a gated, suburban lot. Bridgeman's View is a very urban design.

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The idealistic are no longer concerned with influencing public opinion and creating a free world of responsible and ethical social choices, but rather imposing opinion through legislation, mandating these ethics, and outlawing choice in what the loudest sample finds offensive.

Ban the Bans. It's a slippery slope between Idealism and Fascism.

Isn't it a project by the same guys who are behind the Headhouse Sq project, which has earned good reviews even from Inga? For some reason, good design gets bitchslapped all the time while things like Symphony House get plastered on the Philly scene without as much fuss.

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New term of the day 1/24:
Electile Dysfunction: The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either of only parties in the 2008 election year.
http://www.votenader.org/index.html


5/22, because i'm feeling punny:
As the great Jedi English teacher was quoted in saying, "metaphors be with you."

Yep. Headhouse Square is Stamper Square, right? Yeah, good designs integrated well into the city scape like Stamper Square, Bridgeman's View, the Rimas property at Broad and Washington get blasted by neighborhood organizations, yet places like Waterfront Square and Trump Tower somehow seemed to get little resistance, or at the least, very little publicized resistance. In a lot of respects I think community organizations have less of an issue with isolated, gated projects than they do with integrated urban designs that will actually change their streetscape.

__________________
The idealistic are no longer concerned with influencing public opinion and creating a free world of responsible and ethical social choices, but rather imposing opinion through legislation, mandating these ethics, and outlawing choice in what the loudest sample finds offensive.

Ban the Bans. It's a slippery slope between Idealism and Fascism.

I thought Bridgeman's View was met with high praise from the neighborhood groups and was further lauded for its cooperation with said groups from the inception of the project...

I'm fairly certain BMV was only halted by its own ambition butting heads with the rising construction costs and slumping real estate market (as it seems many recent projects were slayed by this 1-2 punch... or at least have yet to rise from the canvas)

Inga Saffron is not an arcitect


She's only the critic because...as she said "no one else wanted to do it"


Why she counts boggles my mind.

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"

I like reading Inga. Sometimes I agree with her, sometimes I don't. Movie critics are rarely directors, actors, or writers. To qualify one as a critic, you simply need to be an audience participant who has a way with words. Your average Inquirer reader is going to experience architecture on a daily basis, unprofessionally, which is what Inga represents. I think it's good to have a strong civilian voice, particularly for the more notoriously arrogant architects and developers who have lost touch of what those who have to live with it really want.

__________________
The idealistic are no longer concerned with influencing public opinion and creating a free world of responsible and ethical social choices, but rather imposing opinion through legislation, mandating these ethics, and outlawing choice in what the loudest sample finds offensive.

Ban the Bans. It's a slippery slope between Idealism and Fascism.

__________________
"You down wit OPM?"
Fumo: "Yeah, you know me!"

I'm more qualified.

For me she influences people the wrong way.

Most of the things f not all of the things she advocates are either totally fiscally impossible or just can't be done.


She actively hurts Philadelphia's growth by targeting developers.


It's to a point where our local developers...who already jump through 30 hoops and have to deal with hundreds of bored rich "community groups"..

...have to print defenses to sold out buildings.

Buildings she glorifies...suck at being actual buildings.

She praised Skirkanich.

Lambasted the Convention Center for demoing historic structures.


Here's the rub...

SKirkanich Hall destroyed an AIA award winning "Philadelphia School" building.

The convention center demo'd a ruined facade.


WHat's Inga's take?
Convention Center = Scum
Penn = Brave Architects


and she promotes the river trail ...until it threatened her tomatoes... then she's against it.



Maybe somebody should teach her about budgets, bottom lines, and municipal upkeep of civic structures.

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"

Huh?

You're kidding right? Everyone and their mother hates Pepto House. We all have different opinions of what good taste is. Everyone hates that damn building and is vocal about it.

Inga gets it right sometimes. Other times she is as wrong as finding health food at McDonalds. Anything that Erdy McHenry does she loves. IMHO, they have done some good, some bad. Inga loved Liberties Walk for f**ks sake. The crappiest development in Northern Liberties.

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http://therealmccain.com/