Back in 2000/2001 FCDC obtained grants to do a huge study of the area that resulted in an over 40 page report by consultants that did a similar study and had great sketches and drawings of new shops, landscaping, living units, and on and on.
There is absolutely nothing new in this study. More money being wasted on consultants who are going to report what we already know only add nice little sketches.
The only sensible piece of this plan is what Terry Tobin stated......
CLEAN UP THE CRIME, THE DRUGS AND THE TRASH!
Use the money to pay for safety and clean streets! Did we really need a study to tell us that???!!!! Then talk about how safe it is to cross the street! Damn, of course it's not safe to cross the damned street when you're dodging a bullet or trying to get out of the way of the crap walking the street!
From Northeast Times 4/13/06:
By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

Frankford business and community leaders met with Philadelphia planning
officials at the Frankford Community Development Corporation last week to
discuss consultant findings in Phase II of the Frankford Avenue corridor
plan.
City planners had obtained a $150,000 grant from the Delaware Valley
Regional Planning Commission to arrange consultant studies of the Frankford
Avenue corridor, along with Market Street in Center City, as part of the
Transportation and Community Development Initiative.
The goal of the project is to assess the potential for commercial
revitalization around the Frankford Avenue transportation corridor. It also
calls for conceptual land-use plans, development guidelines and an analysis
of the best practices put to use by other communities.
After an analysis of existing traffic conditions along Frankford Avenue,
between SEPTA’s Frankford Transportation Center and Church Street,
consultants concluded that the area around the
FTC is 24 times safer thanaround the Church Street El stop. The consultants believe that thedecreased traffic in the less congested Church Street area tends to increase driving speed.
In some areas along the avenue, the consultants also found that crossing
mid-block was safer for pedestrians than crossing at corners, where drivers often failed to yield to them.
Curb extensions, a five-second traffic-light delay for drivers, and
mid-block crosswalks are possible remedies suggested by the consultants.
While Frankford’s population is increasing, the number of households is
decreasing. According to planners, the growth in people per household could
indicate an increased ethnic population as well as more than one wage
earner per household.
Frankford’s aging homes are facing functional and economical obsolescence,
with values in the $40,000 to $80,000 range, according to Stephen
Kazanjian, project manager for Real Estate Strategies Inc.
Statistics show that 60.5 percent of homes in Frankford are owner occupied,
with nearly 65 percent of them single-family rowhomes. While owners
occupying these residences is a good thing, Kazanjian said, Frankford’s
aging homeowners might not have the capability to keep up with needed
repairs, and city programs that can help them are restricted by limited
funds.
He also noted that the cost of rehabbing deteriorating homes can exceed
their value.
As a strategy to maintain Frankford’s existing housing stock, Kazanjian
said, neighborhood beautification projects can do a lot to increase values.
One such effort is the April 22 community cleanup planned for the Womrath
and Overington parks, along with one sponsored by the Cancer Treatment
Centers of America in and around Greenwood Cemetery.
Kazanjian also noted that 37.2 percent of Frankford’s population is without
cars, meaning that those people must walk to destinations or rely on public
transportation.
"A lot of the elderly can’t get out," said Peggy Hoch, president of the
East Frankford Civic Association.
As local leaders ponder ways to rejuvenate the Frankford Avenue commercial
district, Kazanjian suggested that businesses that offer delivery would be
a good fit for Frankford’s business area.
According to planners, most new businesses are looking for larger spaces
and wider window frontage.
"The real estate doesn’t meet prototype," said city planner Richard
Redding. "Mixing and marrying is a delicate balance of pedestrian-friendly
and preserving the historic nature of the architecture."
During the session, Yogesh Saoji, project director for Wallace, Roberts and
Todd LLC, discussed the current land use along the avenue corridor and some
possible alternatives.
As Saoji sees it, the Frankford Transportation Center and the
Margaret-Orthodox and Church Street stations of the El are unique in their
own way.
With the new FTC parking garage, commuters head for their cars and drive
home — a ritual that limits the opportunity to attract them to shops on the
avenue.
The Church Street station area is surrounded by historic buildings, nearby
Womrath Park is underused, and the area could serve as a gateway to
Frankford and possibly connect to the Frankford Creek Greenway, Saoji said.
Of the three stations, the planner noted, Margaret-Orthodox is the most
neighborhood-oriented, with corridor shopping, but it also is hazardous for
pedestrians because of street configuration.
All three, however, have much in common — the challenges of converting
shallow parcels for future redevelopment, noise and vibration from the
overhead El tracks, their blockage of natural light, and the lack of a
sense of place, Saoji said.
The planner discussed the possibility of increasing setbacks for future
development, thus allowing more natural light to brighten Frankford Avenue.
Community planner Mike Thompson explained that the final report will
include an inventory of historic places in Frankford, as well as a map of
those destinations. He described Frankford’s historical resources as a
"linchpin to build some hope on."
But hope doesn’t cut it for Frankford Y director Terry Tobin, who
reiterated concerns that he brought to planners at the initial meeting in
December.
"One of our major problems is crime and safety. Most people view Frankford
as a dangerous neighborhood," Tobin said.
Until that problem is addressed, he said, it will be difficult to encourage
people to come to Frankford.
When asked if that view of safety is real or perceived, Tobin answered,
"Both. It’s a different place at night."
He also criticized the media for tainting the image of the community. Just
a week earlier, four people, including two children, had been injured in a
spray of gunfire at an Arrott Street bar — the assailants’ arsenal included
an AK-47 assault rifle — but Tobin thinks the media sensationalize
neighborhood crime "to the hilt." There aren’t enough good stories about
Frankford in the papers, he said.
The Frankford Neighborhood Advisory Committee will address crime and safety
as well as community resources during an April 26 meeting at the Frankford
Group Ministry, 4620 Griscom St. The session will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Redding, the city planner, told Tobin that planners are taking safety into
account during the process.
"In the long run, (the plan) seeks to make Frankford desirable, with lights
on the street, bringing more safety with more eyes on the street," he said.
Tracy O’Drain, a business district liaison for the Frankford CDC, declined
to comment on the plan thus far, preferring to wait until the final version
is in hand.
A meeting to detail findings of the study’s Phase III is expected to be
held in June, followed by delivery of a final report in September. ••
Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or
dvillano@phillynews.com

Cool, great news! The problem with Frankford is that hasn't been enough surveys and expert analsyses. Good thing that $150,000 didn't get wasted on anything that might indiciate visible, tangable progress for the neighborhood!

Seriously, deja view anyone? Obviously the original Frankford Plan, which held out so much hope and was the result of so much sincere and intelligent effort, didn't work. Doing the same thing again but years later is the answer?

__________________
"Things are starting to get interesting right about now"

All comments made by me on his board are given freely and probably worth what you paid for them.

We could all have saved them alot of time and money and came up with the same conclusions as this group of "consultants" and all it would have cost them is maybe a few rounds at the Grey Lodge.

All the studies and consultations won't change Frankford Ave. below Cheltenham Ave. It's shot. End of story. What a waste of dollars.

Your apathy fuels the sentiment.

obviously, studies and consultations won't change Frankford Ave. but its a start.
What's more important is that someone takes the next step, and acts on these.
I don't believe that frankford ave is "shot" but it certainly needs attention. Just look at the new terminal, and how different the that block looks from a few years ago. We need to invest in the area if we want to improve.

Sorry, but I did my time and earned the right to feel apathetic about Frankford.
I appreciate anyone who has hope for Frankford Ave., but either they have foggy glasses on, are new to the area, or are a paid employee of one of the numerous "non-profits" who are never held to account for the money they are given to spend on the community.

I think the only hope Frankford has is that the current Northwood Civic president expands his interest and fighting attitude and takes on Frankford and its nonprofits and makes them accountable. If that happens and he shakes it up down there, my apathy and sentiment may change.

My glasses aren't fogged, I am not new, nor am I a minion to the non-profits. Just an old Frankford resident returning and refusing to give up.
C, I hope one day we will meet at the Grey Lodge to toast the end of the present regimes. There are some out there that don't have egomaniacal agendas.
Persistence is the word. It's happening slowly. Ya gotta keep the faith and bombard the politicians with the issues at hand. Let the squeeky wheels roll.

Wow. I am so glad to hear that, Homegirl!! Just the fact that you are returning to Frankford, and realize there is a current "regime" and some with "egomaniacal agendas" is a breath of fresh air.
Too many residents and business owners of Frankford are disenfranchised or just plain oblivious to the status of the area.
Sometimes you look at something depressing for so long, you get used to it. Pretty soon, you don't even notice it anymore. That's when things are allowed to deteriorate.
I too hope we will meet someday at the Grey Lodge Pub and toast the end of the present regime, and another toast to a strong, feisty, vision for the future of Frankford and all it could be.

Can't we just get these jack as$%#s out of that dam$%d FCDC and move on! Can't we just put pressure on whoever funds these non profits and make them oust their sorry as#$s! Don't these funding agencies ever come through here and see what they're getting for the money they throw this way?
And, can't we just get the point across to all the other non profit "egomaniacal" (Great Term!) twits to stop pushing their own agendas.
Get a business person, or at least someone who has actually run a small business as president of the business association. (And I know, the answer will be "No one wants to step up to the plate", well that's because they get run over by these non profit agendas and eventually just walk away in frustration! And, that's exactly what these groups love) Get the sit on your a$% staff of these non profits out of the decision making process. Start with shutting down or suspending operations at FCDC or at least doing a revamping of the entire organization. Make them accountable!
Other CDC's in this city work on bringing businesses to their communities and bringing services like clean streets and safe streets. Stop having these redundant meetings year after year after year and hiring these waste of time consultants and lazy A$% city planning dinasours to come in and basically throw out the same studies that have been done over and over.
Use the money to clean the crime up and clean the streets up.
And SEPTA didn't help all that much,they screwed up big time - yes, the FTC looks great, it's open and bright and has a nice appeal as you turn that corner coming south on Frankford Avenue and don't see that big hunk of rusting iron. But, they totally ran over the community when we tried to tell them it would seal commuters off from the community. They ran long time old businesses out without any consideration and just used the community for meetings for "suggestions" after they had already made decisions. They were going to offer retail space to them inside the terminal, at like $12 per square foot!
We complained about the noise and vibration from the El and they told us we were nuts, that they had done noise studies and it was quieter than the old El. Just walk the Avenue when that thing comes down the middle of the street, it's like a tornado coming through!
These studies show nothing new. Besides this, where is the action?! What do we ever have to show for these studies other than a billing statement from the consultant. $ 75,000 would do a lot for Frankford Avenue, maybe even buy some dam$%d light bulbs!
Other than this, have a Happy Easter!

On a positive note, the other week while riding the El, I looked up from what I was reading and caught a quick glance at a building that had been nicely rehabbed. We pulled out of sight before I could process it fully but made a mental note.

Last week I met Joan who is working to open Mozaic. Turns out her restaurant is going to be in that rehabbed building, which has been turned into artist studios. Joan seems like she can pull it off; it sure as heck won't be easy, but she seems more than up to the challenge.

Yesterday I walked by that building and it definitely give me hope, more hope than most anything I had seen for a while in Frankford. Less consultants, less plans, find and encourage more people like those.

I'm not knocking planning, it's one of the most important things you can do if you want to be successful. Eisenhauer had many great quotes about planning and I agree with them all, but Frankford needs action.

I'm not knocking consultants, their knowledge can be invaluable for doing things right the first time, but Frankford needs a bunch of small wins quickly, giving $150K to consultants isn't a noticable victory, it's more of the same.

__________________
"Things are starting to get interesting right about now"

All comments made by me on his board are given freely and probably worth what you paid for them.