PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[VikingDutchman]

It's essential that these new "brains" vote to fix Philadelphia's entrenched, tax dollar sucking, self-serving political system. If that can be done, Philadelphia will stand alone among US cities. And history is on Philadelphia's side, in that it was done here once before. If I could, I would vote to have Wharton run the city.

While I understand and totally agree with your frustration with Philly's political elite, the thought of Wharton running the city sounds horrifying. As a Penn alum and current employee of Harvard Business School, let me share a few things:

1. Despite what they teach, business schools are severely, hilariously, poorly managed. Sure maybe anything is a step up from the mess that is City Hall right now, but it would be a very small step.

2. They'd spend the entire budget hiring endless hordes of consultants who never do much of anything but graduated from and donate to Wharton.

Yes I realize your original statement was likely tongue-in-cheek, but I had to get that off my chest.

[MSFHQ]

Philly is getting there. I'd just like to see a little more political diversity in the city. Keep cutting that wage tax and simplify the business tax code and things will naturally improve. With Comcast II, FMC, SRS and all the other buildings going up this city is going to have a ton of people both living and working here. I mean within 3-5 years just think of all the new construction and density. Even the less stellar projects fill in parking lots and provide revenue and residents that shop and contribute.

I think this is more of a huge East Coast building spree going on. NYC, Philly, Boston, DC, Baltimore. All are developing and growing. For the life of me I don't understand why we can't get a high speed rail connection here. I don't think it makes sense elsewhere, but along this corridor it does. Once that happens, wow. Game changer.

[JustSomeGuyWho]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

Is Philly the 11th-Best City on the Planet?

Got to love the Spaniards...

http://www.phillymag.com/news/2014/05/16/philly-11th-best-city-planet/

I love Philly but ... no.

The question is what "best" means / what criteria was used.

[ILovePhilly]

Originally Posted by gttx

Right, because the bankers have done such a good job running everything else. Why look to Wharton when you have one of the best city planning and urban design programs in the country at Penn?

Better yet, why worry about either of them when you have their graduates running really great civic organizations, non-profits, and private companies in the city? This network of people is what keeps Philadelphia humming, even when the politicians try their best to get in the way.

Hear hear! Penn Design is a great program. (To be fair I'm an alumna so I'm a bit biased.) The fact that Council and the City Planning Commission seem to work against good urban planning whenever possible is extremely frustrating.

The new zoning code is a perfect example; the first redo in half a century and we don't get anything out of it except a slightly denser version of a 1950's, single land-use (with some MX in the mix), car-centric, low-height, plan. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, progressive or even modern. And yet there are 75 people graduating with Masters in City Planning every single year who could do so much exciting work in the city if it weren't controlled but such Luddites. The new zoning is in effect, individual neighborhood plans are in process or are complete but the new zones are already in effect. The thing about City government is that it seems impossible to break into it!

Approving CHOP with that bike lane curb cut but not approving 2300 South is another example. Needing zoning variances for 1900 Chestnut or Comcast II or SLS are important problems that good urban planning in the first place would have fixed.

And as for Wharton, no thanks.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by MSFHQ

For the life of me I don't understand why we can't get a high speed rail connection here. I don't think it makes sense elsewhere, but along this corridor it does. Once that happens, wow. Game changer.

AMEN, brother.

While Europe and Asia continue to leap ahead on this, it's outrageous how little progress we've made in the US. And, as you point out, ESPECIALLY in the Northeast Corridor. No other 400-mile stretch in the entire world merits this more. Hell, how about just the 230 miles between DC and NYC, for a start. Not to get too political, but we need to start calling out the politicos who stand in the way of this kind of infrastructure progress as, well, Un-American.

[domodeez]

Castleway may be back in the game for this albatross of a lot. From the CCRA newsletter sent out today:

"Heard the phrase about always being a bridesmaid? Think about the winsome L shaped plot fronting on the north side of the 1900 block of Walnut Street through to Sansom then westbound to 20th Street. Since a 1994 fire shuttered the Eric Rittenhouse Theater, the parcel has circled the altar on many occasions. First there was a proposal for a parking garage and movie theater. Then an Irish developer, Castleway, pressed its troth promising not castles in the air but something more suitable for a city lass, a high rise featuring a north south access road running between Sansom and Walnut. Next was a brief affair, a fling really, with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society which created a much enjoyed pop up garden - she never looked finer. After that dalliance, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported that Toll Brothers came a courting. But now, as happens in these matters, Castleway, the former suitor, is having second thoughts and has returned with promises of a luxury residential condominium high rise and boutique hotel with ground floor retail and underground parking. CCRA has appointed a task force to investigate the proposal."

[JustSomeGuyWho]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

AMEN, brother.

While Europe and Asia continue to leap ahead on this, it's outrageous how little progress we've made in the US. And, as you point out, ESPECIALLY in the Northeast Corridor. No other 400-mile stretch in the entire world merits this more. Hell, how about just the 230 miles between DC and NYC, for a start. Not to get too political, but we need to start calling out the politicos who stand in the way of this kind of infrastructure progress as, well, Un-American.

Ok, looking at the Mega regions in the US -

Arizona Sun Corridor
Cascadia
Florida
Front Range
Gulf Coast
Great Lakes
Northeast
Northern California
Southern California
Piedmont Atlantic
Texas Triangle

Of those, high speed rail seems to make the most sense for the Northeast and for connecting Northern California to Southern California. California has a plan for it but it appears to be "derailed".

Of any mega region, the northeast makes the most sense. Enormous population consisting of numerous large, important and dense cities. There is already some supporting infrastructure. Rail is an accepted mode of transportation so adoption should be quicker than anywhere else. If we are going to tackle high speed rail, I can't think of a better place. Get it working there and then you can look at it for other regions.

I could see some others getting one eventually. The Florida region ... Miami - Orlando - Tampa/St. Petersburg could benefit. Stop at disney Cascadia - Vancouver - Seattle - Portland. The Great Lakes is a tough one ... it is a large region with Chicago obviously the hub. Too large and spread out ... there isn't one line that could cover the region. I'm not sure about Texas either. Definite car culture. The three areas are huge (Dallas/Ft.Worth - Houston - Austin/San Antonio) but they are very spread out ... I think right now people would be more inclined to fly (especially Houston-Dallas since both are airline hubs) or drive. I could even see Raleigh-Greensboro-Charlotte-Atlanta given the tremendous growth of those cities (starting with Charlotte-Atlanta) but like Texas, these cities are primarily suburban in nature.

[JustSomeGuyWho]

So is Wharton a case of those that can't do, teach?

[hammersklavier]

^^^ That seems to be the case in business school.

Anyway, something a lot of people don't realize is the American density gradient. It turns out that, east of the I-35 corridor (i.e. the Midwest/Plains edge) the United States is, on average, as dense as Central and Western Europe. It also turns out that the Northeast is at a whole 'nother level of density entirely, easily as dense as the Randstad megalopolis* and not that much less dense than the Shin-Osaka corridor.

It also turns out it's not cars HSR competes with, it's short-haul flights.
____________
*The Randstad is the core network of Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and the Hague) lying more-or-less at the geographic center of a megalopolis that includes London, Paris, the Benelux (duh), and the Ruhr Valley.

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

AMEN, brother.

While Europe and Asia continue to leap ahead on this, it's outrageous how little progress we've made in the US. And, as you point out, ESPECIALLY in the Northeast Corridor. No other 400-mile stretch in the entire world merits this more. Hell, how about just the 230 miles between DC and NYC, for a start. Not to get too political, but we need to start calling out the politicos who stand in the way of this kind of infrastructure progress as, well, Un-American.

We do technically have a high speed train, the Acela. It just can't go full speed because we never laid separate tracks for it. I think one of Amtrak's biggest obstacles is that it's not regional. If the NE line were managed solely by the NE states using only our taxes, we might have a real high speed line between DC and Boston. But whenever Amtrak wants funding, politicians in MO and TX, places that basically don't even want the rail that they have, start asking why they're paying for trains in PA and NY.

[Jelly Roll]

Originally Posted by Insoluble

Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong here, but the vast majority of the city has not actually been rezoned yet. The new zoning code has been written, but the zoning of actual parcels has not been changed. I think a very crude reinterpretation took place so that everything that used to be C5 is now CMX5 and so forth, but there are still a whole lot of parcels that are under zoned or poorly zoned because their zoning is based on a land use that has been out of date for decades. Hopefully a lot of these issues are fixed when they finish re-zoning city parcels.

You are correct. The zoning of individual areas will be updated once the 2035 plan is finished.

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by philatonian

But whenever Amtrak wants funding, politicians in MO and TX, places that basically don't even want the rail that they have, start asking why they're paying for trains in PA and NY.

Good point. But I think we've also lost sight of the transcendent national benefits of some regional projects that used to exist in our national policy and political debates and narrative. For example, can you imagine the Hoover Dam or the Tennessee Valley Authority coming about if they had been solely dependent on funding from Nevada, Arizona, and California in the first case, or Tennessee and the immediately surrounding states in the second (and especially during the Depression)? Or the interstate highway system built in the '50s and '60s--where was most of that money spent compared to the location of the population that paid for it (albeit with a national defense justification)? Or any number of federally funded bridges, tunnels, or other infrastructure projects that have been built in various regions over the last century? And it's not as if the national governments in Asia and Europe aren't investing in this kind of infrastructure, e.g., high speed rail, realizing that the benefits to their national economies and quality of life outweigh the regional provincialism that might deter national funding of such projects.

OK, end of rant.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by domodeez

Castleway may be back in the game for this albatross of a lot. From the CCRA newsletter sent out today:

"Heard the phrase about always being a bridesmaid? Think about the winsome L shaped plot fronting on the north side of the 1900 block of Walnut Street through to Sansom then westbound to 20th Street. Since a 1994 fire shuttered the Eric Rittenhouse Theater, the parcel has circled the altar on many occasions. First there was a proposal for a parking garage and movie theater. Then an Irish developer, Castleway, pressed its troth promising not castles in the air but something more suitable for a city lass, a high rise featuring a north south access road running between Sansom and Walnut. Next was a brief affair, a fling really, with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society which created a much enjoyed pop up garden - she never looked finer. After that dalliance, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported that Toll Brothers came a courting. But now, as happens in these matters, Castleway, the former suitor, is having second thoughts and has returned with promises of a luxury residential condominium high rise and boutique hotel with ground floor retail and underground parking. CCRA has appointed a task force to investigate the proposal."

I'll believe it when I see it, but welcoming news none-the-less

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by summersm343

I'll believe it when I see it, but welcoming news none-the-less

Come on, dude, think positive thoughts (every cloud/silver lining, one door closes/another opens, yadda yadda yadda). We need to get some positive karma going on this one.

[Kidphilly]

http://mentalfloss.com/article/56736/how-philadelphias-neighborhoods-got-their-names

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by Kidphilly

http://mentalfloss.com/article/56736/how-philadelphias-neighborhoods-got-their-names

Good stuff, thanks for sharing!

47-story hotel/condo tower at Broad & Spruce clears final hurdle
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/47-sto...rs_final_hurdle.html#3zWtQkKXY4vs6TsJ.99

***************

Flooding delays debut of Manayunk park
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140518_Flooding_delays_debut_of_Manayunk_park.html

[Kidphilly]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Good stuff, thanks for sharing!

47-story hotel/condo tower at Broad & Spruce clears final hurdle
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/47-sto...rs_final_hurdle.html#3zWtQkKXY4vs6TsJ.99

***************

Flooding delays debut of Manayunk park
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140518_Flooding_delays_debut_of_Manayunk_park.html

NP - BTW enjoy a lot of your links and keeping things up to date outside the city

this from naked Philly more on the East Market development - if this ends up anywhere near the plans think will be a real game changer for the area - hopefully more catalyst for continued improvement with more residential (this and Mellon) and also the C21 redo and hopeful positive changes to the Gallery

http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly/ma...%3A+nakedphilly%2FKNdO+%28NakedPhilly%29

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan

Good point. But I think we've also lost sight of the transcendent national benefits of some regional projects that used to exist in our national policy and political debates and narrative. For example, can you imagine the Hoover Dam or the Tennessee Valley Authority coming about if they had been solely dependent on funding from Nevada, Arizona, and California in the first case, or Tennessee and the immediately surrounding states in the second (and especially during the Depression)? Or the interstate highway system built in the '50s and '60s--where was most of that money spent compared to the location of the population that paid for it (albeit with a national defense justification)? Or any number of federally funded bridges, tunnels, or other infrastructure projects that have been built in various regions over the last century? And it's not as if the national governments in Asia and Europe aren't investing in this kind of infrastructure, e.g., high speed rail, realizing that the benefits to their national economies and quality of life outweigh the regional provincialism that might deter national funding of such projects.

OK, end of rant.

You're ranting to the choir my friend. Of course a lot of those midcentury projects (Hoover Dam, Interstate Highway, etc.) were Federal post-Depression recovery projects. We've since become much less Federalized in many ways. It's also tricky to compare the US's investment in Federal projects to Asia or Europe because we've always been far less Federalized.

Still - and I hate to fall down the political rabbit hole - so much of the resistance to Federal projects like Amtrak comes from parts of the country that reap the benefits of Federal funding but contribute little. Federal investment in the NE benefits the whole of the country because the NE contributes much more to the Federal reserve than say the Bible Belt. Hearing people in Tennessee complain about Amtrak funding in the NE is like listening to Congressmen in upstate PA complain about SEPTA funding, ignoring the fact that the Philadelphia region makes up more than 30% of the state's entire economy.

If those regions that benefitted from projects like the Hoover Dam or a NE high speed line were the sole contributor to those projects, no they wouldn't happen. But if our economies were independent (completely speaking theoretically here), if the NE's economy was exclusively regional and our Federal taxes stayed within our specific region, the NE would probably be even wealthier than it is. The small pockets that want things like Amtrak improvements - California, the NE Corridor, the Pacific NW, the Great Lakes - largely carry this country. We get back less than we put in.

End of my rant...for now

[Philly Fan]

Originally Posted by philatonian

You're ranting to the choir my friend.

I had thought about riffing on that whole regional makers and takers thing in my rant, too.

[mmikeyphilly]

From the article:
"It was the size of the project, which also includes a bar and restaurant and retail space at ground level, that required it to go before CDR. Both committee members and the local civic organization – Washington Square West – were largely supportive."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/47-sto...rs_final_hurdle.html#kMYIFuZkFxgwVm3G.99

Oh hell yea, they can't forget the BAR!

I actually thought they completed the last hurdle weeks ago, but eh, so it goes. Come on, let's see some shovels!