Not to get in the middle of your argument with zur, but you can pour in january without accelerants especially since the winters have been mild lately. If the night time temps dont go below 35 or so you can pour. You can also use heat blankets and other equipment to keep the concrete from freezing. Carry on.

Thanks for enlightening me. I think you misunderstood me: the residents are as much to blame. As I mentioned, I recognized that during construction it is very difficult to maintain and clean. What about before the prjoect happened? The streetscape not being finished hasn't hastened the street from looking bad already, do you think? I do agree the contractors do a good job and it is not their responsibility to maintain the properties.
I know your stance on the local business owners as I've read your postings before...but guess what, its the cost of doing business. I don't mind business owners placing trach on the curb because of dumpster laws. The problem is when the following morning the trash is all over the place for whatever reason. Let's use whatever example vandels or homeless. Guess what, in the morning after I place my trash out and vadels or homeless have gone through it, I clean up.

My comment about the SSHD worker was actually in defense of their hard work. But the reality is they are not there to do mass cleanup. So my point was I as he picked up a cig butt, there were piles of garbage (loose) that were not ociked up. And yes, I was pathetic because I stood close by and watch just for my own confrimation. Again, not his fault.

So then as a business owner, you wouldn't want South Street to look better? and have more attention granted by the city?

I am a business owner and resident of QV. Your question is being proposed like some of the people who run the groups around here. Would I like South Street to look better? Of course. I also want peace in Darfur, the sudan, and georgia-but it ain't gonna happen for awhile.

Respectfully, please go out and see how many trash cans you see. Mostly None. Why? Because of the streetscape! Even the most well meaning people give up and just drop their trash somewhere. Soon whe will have 4times the trees and 4times the trashcans, and things will get better. There is currently a sample on display at 2nd and Pine for all to behold and rejoice. Meanwhile, the city does remove trash everynight; however, I've gone into my office as early as 7am, only to see certain corner bins already filled with residential trash. When I called a cop about it, and they came out, he actually fined two people who dumped trash while we were standing a few inches away! They act completely clueless, as if this is the middle ages and they have the right to a trash heap at the edge of their village.

Believe it or not, it is the cleanup crew's responsibility to do mass cleanups everyday. They do bulk removal as well as street sweeping, although they are not responsible for business trash that is usually gone by 8am. If you see a problem, you can always contact the district office or the company(LRC), and they do address concerns.

On QV's residential side, trash pickers have become a huge problem, especially since the local rags have chosen to write articles about how profitable trash picking has become. I yelled at 3 truckloads of people who were picking through the nieghborhood trash the other night, and its only going to get worse as the economy deepens and scrap metal prices increase.

__________________
Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

It would be nice if some of the existing landlords on South St use the streetscape project as a springboard to upgrade their propertie's facade. Although I do see new businesses doing improvements, places like Retrospect & Copabanna look so grungy and dirty, and they will look worse when the st improvements are done. Look what Bridget Foy did; a complete renovation.

Having said that, I do feel sorry for merchants having to deal with the graffiti and tagging that goes on in QV, BV, ans South St.
I noticed that new self service vending store had to reglaze even BEFORE they actually opened due to acid tagging on their windows.

Thanks for your comments.

I am still convinced that the City of Philadelphia could/should be doing a better job. There should be more cops who are willing to issue citations as people walk down the street and delibertly throw garbage while there is a prefectly good trash can on a corner (this is before the south street project started).

Oh, I hope to clear up any association with any groups around here...that can be another posting!

Copa's planning a facelift since they got that second floor.

Retrospect is owned by the New Jersey chapter of Goodwill, so I highly doubt they give a rat's arse.

Bridget Foy's did a good job, but a car going through their facade kinda helped their transition along faster than others...hehe

I've constantly said that people should picket Triad Realty, as they have a gross monopoly of being the principal realtor for south street.

__________________
Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

Sometimes that nifty little fact gets lost in the details.

__________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x-fkSYDtUY

"Censorship is free advertising by the government"--Federico Fellini

"Do you mind if I smoke while you eat?"

They actually stripped this area of cops, and the ministation cops that are left have had their area widened to include QV/BV/Hawthorne. It has spread our cops out far too thin, and problems have gotten worse as a result. Hopefully we'll be getting more back.

__________________
Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

Rode my bike down yesterday. The sidewalks look great and while the bright red of the street lights is a bit much, it's sure as hell an upgrade and will look cool at night. They'll be painted black within 5 years anyway.

__________________
"Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people." - B.H. Obama

"Power does what it wants." - George Carlin

I miss the spark plug