Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan
Here is another line that I found to be funny:
"In addition, planners and economic development officials say, the building promises to propel efforts to reinvigorate the riverfront and University City neighborhood, once a forbidding area and one that is still far from thriving."
It's crazy how much change University City has gone through in just 10 years. It went from an area "that is still far from thriving" to everything included in the mind blowing picture that Summers posted about a week ago. In 2016, we have a new "tallest west of the Schuylkill" rising, UCity Square, and almost all of Chestnut and Walnut fully filled in from 30th to 40th. This is why I LOVE my city!  |
University City is indeed on fire. However, even with the two and half completed Cira buildings, the immediate area around 30th Station still feels like a dead zone. Schuylkill Ave might as well be a highway. The Porch is nice but 30th St Station still feels like an island surrounded on all four sides by traffic lanes, taxi stands, and parking. The Post Office building is beautiful and full of jobs but the building itself is like a fortress that kills street life along Market and Chestnut. There is a dearth of dining/retail in the area. And the elevated nature of Walnut and Chestnut offer no street level experience until 33rd. If you've ever walked to Penn's campus from Center City or 30th Street, you know what I mean.
For all that the Cira complex has added to our skyline, the area immediately surrounding these buildings is still surprisingly a work in progress. Getting people there is an important first step and these buildings accomplish that. But Brandywine, UCD, and the city need to continue to make additional improvements to this area.
P.S., this is not a knock of Brandywine at all. The issues that I described above existed long before the first shovel hit the dirt on the original Cira Center.