This will be a great opportunity for the city. The massive site has long been a horrible eyesore as a gateway into west Philadelphia. The area has such great potential, and knowing Penn's record, they will do a good job. I hope Penn's new President follows through with it to the same extent that Rodin planned to do. Eitherway, its nice to see that the area has something to look forward to.

As an architect myself, I can't wait to see some plans and drawings. I also wonder how the Old Postal building will be utilized. I know they intend to tear down the annex, but its hard to imagine what function could fill such a large building.

Any thoughts?

-G

Having worked across the street for the past 7 years, I don't agree with the assesment that trucks cause the traffic problems. Right now, it's the light at 29th & JFK - traffic backs up, and people turning Left off Market can't get onto 29th, which backs up way down market and around 30th st.....

I'm glad to see that the post office will keep the existing service windows. Nice space in there that architecturally should definitely be preserved. Hopefully it remains 24 hour access as well.

I've been on some of the upper floors of the building before. Institutional only begins to describe it. I suspect that the interior of the building will have to be gutted to make it useful - presumably it's not bearing wall construction since Dranoff is upbeat about the project. Dranoff will take on difficult projects, but not if they can't be made feasible.

Every time I come up the South Street exit from either direction on 76 I cringe at what impression first time visitor must see on the center city side of the schyulkill. On one side you get the bridge which may just drop a hello chunk on you, then the JFK center which looks like an abandoned wharehouse, the ATT building that belongs in some suburban commerical park...at least on the UC side there is a plan for progress.

If you only look up at the view when you come up off the bridge you're ok, the only good news is the may turn the JFK center into condos http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:z...hl=en&ie=UTF-8.

Also if you go over the bridge on Civic Center Boulevard there is a billboard which reads "Center City Marina - COMING SPRING 2004" -guess that ain't happening...

gone

University City District Reveals Results of Year-Long Strategic Marketing Plan and Unveils Much-Anticipated New Logo and Brand Identity

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040629/dctu029_1.html

Tuesday June 29, 11:22 am ET


PHILADELPHIA, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, University City District (UCD) officially unveils the first new comprehensive identity package for the organization and the area. At an event last night, Eric Goldstein, Executive Director for UCD shared the results of a year-long marketing strategic plan and unveiled a new graphic logo for the organization and tagline for University City.
Goldstein explains that, "University City District was founded in 1997 to reinvigorate University City, the 2.2 square-mile neighborhood on the west side of downtown Philadelphia, by combating the issues of cleanliness and safety which threatened the community and to help change negative perceptions of the area."

Ever since then, UCD has worked to improve the quality of life for the area's residents, students, employees and visitors. The Public Space Maintenance program continues to significantly reduce litter and trash in the residential and commercial areas. The Ambassador program has helped improve public safety in the neighborhood, and crime continues to steadily decline each year. The early initiatives and actions by UCD have been enormously successful and have played a major role in the ongoing revitalization of the neighborhood. While the Clean and Safe team was making measurable impacts in the neighborhood, UCD's marketing program was seeking to raise the profile of University City to both internal and external audiences through the promotion of events, publications, a website and other collaborative, cross-promotional relationships.

Last summer, after 5 years of substantial marketing efforts UCD felt it was time to step back and analyze all of their marketing initiatives, funding, allocations, and human resources. They looked at how their partners in University City market themselves and surveyed the public to see if negative perceptions of the neighborhood still exist.

It was decided that the development of a strategic marketing plan was the best way to meet their marketing objectives -- to allow them to effectively, efficiently, and strategically market University City as a vibrant, diverse neighborhood. UCD then hired Kanter International to take a strategic approach to their marketing efforts.

Key conclusions from the research include:

• University City is no longer perceived negatively in the areas of cleanliness and safety versus other urban neighborhoods and is transitioning from the negative equity of the past into an extremely positive future -- the research indicates that the broader market views University City neutrally or not at all, which gives us the opportunity to define our own Vision.
  University City possesses the raw materials to become a distinctive community within this region.
  Many people don't know what University City offers and for what it stands; however, among those that do, the University City restaurant portfolio is our greatest immediate asset.
  To ensure consistent, concerted brand growth, UCD must play a leadership role as the centralized marketing arm of University City as well as its brand manager.

As the process begins of advancing this cohesive vision for the University City brand, UCD must put forth a compelling, consistent look that clearly conveys the essence of what want this community is all about.

A logo is one of the most important creative elements of a vision and organizational strategy. As UCD's marketing objective is to differentiate University City based on its unique assets, the logo must powerfully suggest those things that make the organization different and worthy of visitation, consideration and investment. In its abstraction, the previous UCD logo does not adequately convey the distinctive qualities of University City, nor does it suggest the leadership role UCD will play in the growth of the community. Thus, the report concluded that UCD needed a new graphic identity to better represent the organization and those they serve.

Kanter International developed a new logo for UCD that supports the vision and embodies the positioning. After much dialogue and deliberation, multiple logo designs were selected and "tested" with a wide range of constituents. "We wanted to create a situation where the viewer must figure out the abstraction and discover the meaning of the graphic. The logo is intellectual, progressive, and unique, while the colors promote diversity and fun," says Goldstein.

In addition, UCD created a tagline that is strong, compelling and communicates a positive personality that the brand can own because of both the location and the offbeat, diverse and funky offerings of University City. The line is clever, memorable and consistent with the brand. Again, after multiple taglines were presented and tested, UCD is moving forward with promoting University City as "Left of Center."

Lori Klein Brennan, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications for UCD says, "UCD won't completely change overnight. We are having a phased roll-out of the new identity to keep in line with our normal purchasing and to be fiscally responsible. Over the next year, you will gradually see our identity change -- from new marketing materials to vehicle identification to new uniforms. We anticipate this being a very positive change for both the organization and the community. UCD looks forward to the community adopting the new tagline. We'll be developing and packaging incentives for our partners to help us spread the word and to encourage them to link themselves with the new identity for University City. Look for the new ad campaign this summer and for things like new banner incentives, co-op advertising programs and much more."

To download a copy of the condensed marketing strategic plan, visit http://www.ucityphila.org.

University City District builds effective partnerships to maintain
a clean and safe environment and to promote, plan and advocate
for University City's diverse, urban community.


CONTACT: Lori Brennan of University City District, +1-215-243-0555, or lori@ucityphila.com.