PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[cjPhilly]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

I do think that Boston did have a geographical advantage. A move from Connecticut made Boston and NY area options the least disruptive.

Do you have a source for the actual numbers on this? Because, as much as I love Philly, I have to admit that given it's geographical size and population, I am fairly confident that Boston has us beat in this department. Or at least in terms of total enrollment, and certainly % of the population that are college students.

[summersm343]

City Ave and Belmont Ave - Bala Cynwyd
GSB parking lot development. Looks like their aiming for a 10 floor building.

Image is too large
http://www.cityave.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/GSB-photosim-after_revised.jpg

http://www.cityave.org/city-ave-cusp-dramatic-changes-according-philadelphia-business-journal/

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by br323206

I'm not so sure that extending the line to back to Norristown and beyond would really help that much. There probably isn't a whole lot of demand for a train from Cynwyd to Norristown. That's an easy drive and everyone living in that area has a car--not to mention the fact that not many people in Bala Cynwyd work in Norristown or vice versa. Would it be nice to have that line back? Sure. But with limited resources it definitely shouldn't be at the top of SEPTA's list. It would be much more beneficial, from a ridership perspective, to work with Lower Merion on upzoning the area to allow for denser multi-family development that is pedestrian-oriented.

Also, I don't think anyone is advocating to replace the Cynwyd line with light rail or BRT. I also don't see how light rail or BRT benefits developers and not commuters? That's a weird assertion.

I believe SEPTA is better off by returning to the old alphanumerical designations that they once had (i. e. R6 from Morristown or Reading to Cynwyd ) since it made a lot of sense to do so due to the fact that Suburban Station and Market East Stations have been connected, making a seamless railroad system. Other cities right now are trying to connect their railroad stations. We have one of the few railroad systems like that.

By having lines that could go E-W, N-S via Center City, we have less routes. The management felt that by converting the lines from it's alphanumeric designations, the color codes, and by not using the Center City Commuter Connection to it's advantage and allowing all the rail lines to terminate in of near CC, that it was a better decision. WRONG AGAIN!!!

Also, the Cynwyd line is nothing more than a byproduct of SEPTA"s incompetence, whether you want to believe it or not. Of course a small spur like the Cynwyd line is going to have a lot of trouble surviving, but I'd rather have that line than travel down to the congested Schuykill Expwy during rush hour!!!

Originally Posted by br323206

I think that SEPTA should focus on increasing headways and making service more efficient, rather than expanding to the Lehigh Valley or Lancaster. I would rather be able to get around the Phila region more easily and reliably than be able to get to Amish Country.

I believe that SEPTA should focus on reconnecting with the Lehigh valley and the Amish Country, not disconnecting away from it. It's a part of SE PA!!! I'm not sure how old you are, but at one time, before SEPTA even existed, you could travel from Center City Philadelphia, to not only the Valley and Amish Country, but also all the way to Newark, NJ via commuter rail. Yes, I said it, Newark, NJ!!!

I don't believe it's necessary for SEPTA to travel all the way to Newark, NJ, but it should be mandatory that SEPTA serve the outlying counties of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Lancaster because we do have commuters from those counties that utilize SEPTA to commuter to Phila.

And you may not want to travel to Amish Country. That's fine, it's your choice, but a lot of tourists may want to travel there rather than by automobile. Especially foreign tourists who don't want to drive and are unfamiliar with our roads and our laws. SEPTA is doing a great disservice by not providing rail service to those locations!!!

Originally Posted by br323206

Finally, and this is just a pet peeve of mine, "IMHO" means "in my humble opinion." When you are calling out SEPTA employees as "crackheads and cokeheads" and calling those that disagree with you crazy there is actually nothing humble about the way in which you are sharing your opinion.

When I say IMHO, I mean "in my honest opinion"!!! Even the nicest, most humble person, with the way SEPTA has been running our mass transit system, will even curse at SEPTA since the management has been running this system down to the ground. Anybody who takes one of our signature lines like the 23, bustitutes it, and splits it into two lines has to have something wrong with them in their heads. And what happened to the 47M and how come it's not running??? That should've been what the 45 is currently doing: serving South Phila!!!

I do like some of SEPTA's service (the subway-surface system, and the Transpass), but the subway doesn't reach all of Phila's parts (NE, NW, and SW) and environs (Chester, PA, Abington PA, and Norristown PA), the bus system is very sporadic and time consuming (the 26 doesn't make any sense to me, IMHO), and the commuter rail doesn't reach the smaller cities like Lancaster, Reading, and Allentown.

You may not like the fact that I called the management "crackheads and cokeheads", but with the way SEPTA's been running this system, they might as well be "crackheads and cokeheads" up in 1234 Market!!!

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

I believe SEPTA is better off by returning to the old alphanumerical designations that they once had (i. e. R6 from Morristown or Reading to Cynwyd ) since it made a lot of sense to do so due to the fact that Suburban Station and Market East Stations have been connected, making a seamless railroad system. Other cities right now are trying to connect their railroad stations. We have one of the few railroad systems like that.

By having lines that could go E-W, N-S via Center City, we have less routes. The management felt that by converting the lines from it's alphanumeric designations, the color codes, and by not using the Center City Commuter Connection to it's advantage and allowing all the rail lines to terminate in of near CC, that it was a better decision. WRONG AGAIN!!!

Also, the Cynwyd line is nothing more than a byproduct of SEPTA"s incompetence, whether you want to believe it or not. Of course a small spur like the Cynwyd line is going to have a lot of trouble surviving, but I'd rather have that line than travel down to the congested Schuykill Expwy during rush hour!!!



I believe that SEPTA should focus on reconnecting with the Lehigh valley and the Amish Country, not disconnecting away from it. It's a part of SE PA!!! I'm not sure how old you are, but at one time, before SEPTA even existed, you could travel from Center City Philadelphia, to not only the Valley and Amish Country, but also all the way to Newark, NJ via commuter rail. Yes, I said it, Newark, NJ!!!

I don't believe it's necessary for SEPTA to travel all the way to Newark, NJ, but it should be mandatory that SEPTA serve the outlying counties of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Lancaster because we do have commuters from those counties that utilize SEPTA to commuter to Phila.

And you may not want to travel to Amish Country. That's fine, it's your choice, but a lot of tourists may want to travel there rather than by automobile. Especially foreign tourists who don't want to drive and are unfamiliar with our roads and our laws. SEPTA is doing a great disservice by not providing rail service to those locations!!!



When I say IMHO, I mean "in my honest opinion"!!! Even the nicest, most humble person, with the way SEPTA has been running our mass transit system, will even curse at SEPTA since the management has been running this system down to the ground. Anybody who takes one of our signature lines like the 23, bustitutes it, and splits it into two lines has to have something wrong with them in their heads. And what happened to the 47M and how come it's not running??? That should've been what the 45 is currently doing: serving South Phila!!!

I do like some of SEPTA's service (the subway-surface system, and the Transpass), but the subway doesn't reach all of Phila's parts (NE, NW, and SW) and environs (Chester, PA, Abington PA, and Norristown PA), the bus system is very sporadic and time consuming (the 26 doesn't make any sense to me, IMHO), and the commuter rail doesn't reach the smaller cities like Lancaster, Reading, and Allentown.

You may not like the fact that I called the management "crackheads and cokeheads", but with the way SEPTA's been running this system, they might as well be "crackheads and cokeheads" up in 1234 Market!!!

Did a trolley conductor screw your wife or something? Give it a rest. You don't seem to understand the realities of this situation.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by cjPhilly

Do you have a source for the actual numbers on this? Because, as much as I love Philly, I have to admit that given it's geographical size and population, I am fairly confident that Boston has us beat in this department. Or at least in terms of total enrollment, and certainly % of the population that are college students.

They do probably have us beat in terms of percentage of population but while I don't have the numbers in front of me, I do remember that philly had a large lead in terms of overall numbers.

Remember a number of Boston's most notable colleges are not actually in Boston proper so city vs city philly has a lot more students. Then if you expand it to metro vs metro to include Harvard etc, you're suddenly including a ton of colleges in the Philly suburbs and Philly wins that way too.

[br323206]

Originally Posted by wanderer34

I believe SEPTA is better off by returning to the old alphanumerical designations that they once had (i. e. R6 from Morristown or Reading to Cynwyd ) since it made a lot of sense to do so due to the fact that Suburban Station and Market East Stations have been connected, making a seamless railroad system. Other cities right now are trying to connect their railroad stations. We have one of the few railroad systems like that.

By having lines that could go E-W, N-S via Center City, we have less routes. The management felt that by converting the lines from it's alphanumeric designations, the color codes, and by not using the Center City Commuter Connection to it's advantage and allowing all the rail lines to terminate in of near CC, that it was a better decision. WRONG AGAIN!!!

Also, the Cynwyd line is nothing more than a byproduct of SEPTA"s incompetence, whether you want to believe it or not. Of course a small spur like the Cynwyd line is going to have a lot of trouble surviving, but I'd rather have that line than travel down to the congested Schuykill Expwy during rush hour!!!



I believe that SEPTA should focus on reconnecting with the Lehigh valley and the Amish Country, not disconnecting away from it. It's a part of SE PA!!! I'm not sure how old you are, but at one time, before SEPTA even existed, you could travel from Center City Philadelphia, to not only the Valley and Amish Country, but also all the way to Newark, NJ via commuter rail. Yes, I said it, Newark, NJ!!!

I don't believe it's necessary for SEPTA to travel all the way to Newark, NJ, but it should be mandatory that SEPTA serve the outlying counties of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Lancaster because we do have commuters from those counties that utilize SEPTA to commuter to Phila.

And you may not want to travel to Amish Country. That's fine, it's your choice, but a lot of tourists may want to travel there rather than by automobile. Especially foreign tourists who don't want to drive and are unfamiliar with our roads and our laws. SEPTA is doing a great disservice by not providing rail service to those locations!!!



When I say IMHO, I mean "in my honest opinion"!!! Even the nicest, most humble person, with the way SEPTA has been running our mass transit system, will even curse at SEPTA since the management has been running this system down to the ground. Anybody who takes one of our signature lines like the 23, bustitutes it, and splits it into two lines has to have something wrong with them in their heads. And what happened to the 47M and how come it's not running??? That should've been what the 45 is currently doing: serving South Phila!!!

I do like some of SEPTA's service (the subway-surface system, and the Transpass), but the subway doesn't reach all of Phila's parts (NE, NW, and SW) and environs (Chester, PA, Abington PA, and Norristown PA), the bus system is very sporadic and time consuming (the 26 doesn't make any sense to me, IMHO), and the commuter rail doesn't reach the smaller cities like Lancaster, Reading, and Allentown.

You may not like the fact that I called the management "crackheads and cokeheads", but with the way SEPTA's been running this system, they might as well be "crackheads and cokeheads" up in 1234 Market!!!

Ok buddy, you're right. Everyone else is wrong. The world is out to get you and everything 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵!

[tsarstruck]

Originally Posted by summersm343

City Ave and Belmont Ave - Bala Cynwyd
GSB parking lot development. Looks like their aiming for a 10 floor building.
[/url]

Pretty sure that's just CityAve.org is saying is possible under the new zoning, not what's actually being proposed. The rendering is actually just a copy from here:

http://www.cityave.org/our-initiatives/zoning-and-policy/

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by tsarstruck

Pretty sure that's just CityAve.org is saying is possible under the new zoning, not what's actually being proposed. The rendering is actually just a copy from here:

http://www.cityave.org/our-initiatives/zoning-and-policy/

Ahh gotcha. Makes sense. I hope we get something as dense as that

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by cjPhilly

Do you have a source for the actual numbers on this? Because, as much as I love Philly, I have to admit that given it's geographical size and population, I am fairly confident that Boston has us beat in this department. Or at least in terms of total enrollment, and certainly % of the population that are college students.

I wasn't talking numbers when it comes to geographical advantage. Boston (and NYC) are simply closer to Connecticut. For a variety of reasons, a move within the same region (New England) is less disruptive, especially for the workforce.

If you are referring to the college statement, there's a compilation of various statistics for cities/metro regions. Something like the "Places Rated Almanac" or the like. I forget which one I read. It's been a few years.

[Human Scale]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

I wasn't talking numbers when it comes to geographical advantage. Boston (and NYC) are simply closer to Connecticut. For a variety of reasons, a move within the same region (New England) is less disruptive, especially for the workforce.

If you are referring to the college statement, there's a compilation of various statistics for cities/metro regions. Something like the "Places Rated Almanac" or the like. I forget which one I read. It's been a few years.

The reason it upsets me is because it really is a good fit and we all know it immediately. Just 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵.

[Philly Kid]

Maybe it's just me but is seems like development news has slowed down a bit since the New Year. Hopefully things start picking up as we await news on some possible big developments entering the pipeline this year.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by Human Scale

The reason it upsets me is because it really is a good fit and we all know it immediately. Just 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵.

There's no good reason not to have pursued GE. This area has so much to offer that it's almost embarrassing.

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

There's no good reason not to have pursued GE. This area has so much to offer that it's almost embarrassing.

There is one good reason not to have pursued GE: it would have been another instance of the city going after one particular company, giving them tax breaks etc., when they should be focusing on changing the overall tax structure so that it would be a no-brainer for companies like GE to at least consider setting up their hq's here. They should not keep making the exceptions, they should be changing the rules.

[Boku]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

There is one good reason not to have pursued GE: it would have been another instance of the city going after one particular company, giving them tax breaks etc., when they should be focusing on changing the overall tax structure so that it would be a no-brainer for companies like GE to at least consider setting up their hq's here. They should not keep making the exceptions, they should be changing the rules.

I'm sure they can manage to focus on more than one thing at a time.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

There is one good reason not to have pursued GE: it would have been another instance of the city going after one particular company, giving them tax breaks etc., when they should be focusing on changing the overall tax structure so that it would be a no-brainer for companies like GE to at least consider setting up their hq's here. They should not keep making the exceptions, they should be changing the rules.

Getting a bit ahead of yourself on giveaways when they didn't even market what we have. I'm not bent out of shape about it, however, because it would've been for symbolism's sake. A 600 person HQ would've been nice, but not earth-shattering.

[MetaldDeth81]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Getting a bit ahead of yourself on giveaways when they didn't even market what we have. I'm not bent out of shape about it, however, because it would've been for symbolism's sake. A 600 person HQ would've been nice, but not earth-shattering.

Who's to say nobody marketed to GE? Maybe Philly was among the "New York, Providence, and several other cities". Maybe Philly did pitch, it just wasn't enough, or what GE was looking for? Maybe any tax subsidies that may have been talked about weren't enough? C'mon, don't you guys know by now all the 🞵🞵🞵🞵 that goes on behind-closed-doors in this town?

[Larry King]

Originally Posted by MetaldDeth81

Who's to say nobody marketed to GE? Maybe Philly was among the "New York, Providence, and several other cities". Maybe Philly did pitch, it just wasn't enough, or what GE was looking for? Maybe any tax subsidies that may have been talked about weren't enough? C'mon, don't you guys know by now all the 🞵🞵🞵🞵 that goes on behind-closed-doors in this town?

Doubt they seriously considered anywhere besides ny or boston.. alot of it comes down to where their top execs want to live i'm sure. I think philly's competition is montgomery and chester county, not ny or boston or dc. Delaware Valley is an economic powerhouse of a region, if the city can beat the suburbs out for more and more jobs each year, we will be in great shape.

[iheartphilly]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

Getting a bit ahead of yourself on giveaways when they didn't even market what we have. I'm not bent out of shape about it, however, because it would've been for symbolism's sake. A 600 person HQ would've been nice, but not earth-shattering.

I dunno, luring GE headquarters to downtown Philly would of sent a strong message to Corporate America that Philly is the attractive place to do business and companies that do significant may set up shop to be near GE. I focus more on getting a new blue chip company into the area rather than the number of employees.

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

I dunno, luring GE headquarters to downtown Philly would of sent a strong message to Corporate America that Philly is the attractive place to do business and companies that do significant may set up shop to be near GE. I focus more on getting a new blue chip company into the area rather than the number of employees.

I'm not saying that the ability to "name drop" doesn't have value. It would've been a good thing.

[McBane]

Call me a pessimist but I have zero faith our leaders did anything. If anyone did anything, it would have been Brandywine pitching Cira or LPT pitching the Navy Yard, both of which are low tax zones.