As far as public trans go's 30th St. would to hard too top . 30th St. station is served by 11 regional rail lines , 1 subway line ,5 trolley lines , several bus lines , 1 interstate highway and Amtrak . Amtrak should be very appealing for Amazon with 1.1 hr. ride to Manhattan ,30 minutes from Princeton and D.C. 1.8 hrs. . I can't think of a more connected location then University City . Philly could be very adventitious for Amazon saving years of travel time especially in terms of east coast city travel and air travel to Europe . Even a 1.5 hr. flight can take 7 hrs. or more when you consider traveling to and from airports and 2 hr check in, then add in other delays . Whereas by train it's downtown to downtown and your done .
Maybe this is the wrong thread but , can I change the subject for just one minute please ..... Does anyone ,
anybody , any any ,.... have ANY updated information , photos , renderings , cartoons or pipe dreams concerning
progress at the second 284' high rise at Market East .
__________________
...... I had that weird dream again !
Maybe this is the wrong thread but , can I change the subject for just one minute please ..... Does anyone ,
anybody , any any ,.... have ANY updated information , photos , renderings , cartoons or pipe dreams concerning
progress at the second 284' high rise at Market East .
there should be pics in the thread. They are up to the 13th or 14th floor right now.
I might argue that Washington has a better system than Philly, just because of how good the Metro is. My own experiences on it (granted, it has been a while since I rode it) were very good, although my aunt who lives in Arlington says it's horrendous.
You're kind of wrong. The Boston T is frickin' enormous. They have subways connecting all over the city rather than just two lines, and commuter train lines to the suburbs. Boston is really damn expensive though, and that's it's biggest detracting element.
Metro has impressive coverage in the DC area- the service and reliability is another story. The Metro is essentially a combination of a subway and commuter rail system when you see how far it goes. That said, the fact that it's so new and that many of the outlying stations are not really integrated into their suburban surroundings makes it quite a bit different than SEPTA RR. I was in northern VA and I saw the under construction silver line which runs through the median of a highway and has stations that are connected to huge 5 story parking garages by 500ft long pedestrian bridges. It's better than having no rail connection, but it's ugly, the garages are huge and the stations are totally segregated from their surroundings.
From what I recall Boston's subway lines aren't much more extensive than ours. They do have trolleys that run underground and commuter rail akin to RR feeding into the city though.
Boston and DC both have far superior mass transit. Just look up coverage maps.
Philadelphia's big advantages in this competition (over other North East cities) are its affordability, the location of Schuylkill Yards, and the city's proximity to both NYC and DC.
Boston and DC both have far superior mass transit. Just look up coverage maps.
Philadelphia's big advantages in this competition (over other North East cities) are its affordability, the location of Schuylkill Yards, and the city's proximity to both NYC and DC.
Far superior? I'd consider both better. They're comparable. I've lived in Boston, I've spent plenty of time in DC, both systems have issues. I'd consider Boston's the overall best of the three.
But to act as though our transit system can't even compete with theirs is not accurate.
Amazon would be hard-pressed to find a site with better transit accessibility than Schuykill Yards anywhere else in the nation. There, you have the El and trolleys (with free interchange to the BSL), several bus lines, all 13 Regional Rail lines (with the Airport Line providing a quick trip to PHL), and Amtrak all housed within the most beautiful train station on the Northeast Corridor.
Public transportation access alone is exactly why Philly needs to ditch any notion of having Amazon locate in the Navy Yard or the Far Northeast, and promote the shit out of Schuylkill Yards.
By the way, SEPTA holds up pretty well compared to the T, MTA, and WMATA. Where SEPTA may come up short in system breadth (its system breadth is very comparable to Boston's, imo), it makes up for in reliability. The MTA and WMATA have all kind of reliability issues right now. SEPTA also has several 24/7 routes and 24 hour subway service on weekends, which is more service than the T provides.
Not sure if this means anything but there is a remark in here that Allan Domb considers the Navy Yard to be the leading contender to be pitched to Amazon.
Boston and DC both have far superior mass transit. Just look up coverage maps.
Philadelphia's big advantages in this competition (over other North East cities) are its affordability, the location of Schuylkill Yards, and the city's proximity to both NYC and DC.
metro coverage is not far superior. Coverage? RR goes out 40 miles from CC in 4 directions and PATCO goes 10 miles or so into SJ from CC. Like RR metro has relatively limited late service on most lines.
Not sure if this means anything but there is a remark in here that Allan Domb considers the Navy Yard to be the leading contender to be pitched to Amazon.
Pretty dumb article. It's not in a KOZ, it's completely isolated from public transit, the area itself is removed from regional benefits. It's also high in crime, drugs, and frankly aesthetically pretty ugly. As I often say about the northeast - all of the problems of big city life, with none of the benefits.
I might argue that Washington has a better system than Philly, just because of how good the Metro is. My own experiences on it (granted, it has been a while since I rode it) were very good, although my aunt who lives in Arlington says it's horrendous.
I've been spending a lot of time in Northern Virginia. The metro is great but it has been so massively underfunded for years that that it requires billions now to try to bring it up to standard. Virginia/Maryland/DC are reluctant to spend all that is needed so service cuts are being planned in case the money doesn't come through.
What Northern Virginia has that is awesome, and we could really use, is a bus system with routes specifically designed to bring people from their neighborhoods to the metro stations. You can walk from your home in Reston, or Herndon, or Chantilly to a bus stop and go quickly to the metro. It's great.
Last edited by hammersklavier; Sep 26, 2017 at 7:18 PM.
Reason: Needed to fix formatting
I might argue that Washington has a better system than Philly, just because of how good the Metro is. My own experiences on it (granted, it has been a while since I rode it) were very good, although my aunt who lives in Arlington says it's horrendous.
I've been spending a lot of time in Northern Virginia. The metro is great but it has been so massively underfunded for years that that it requires billions now to try to bring it up to standard. Virginia/Maryland/DC are reluctant to spend all that is needed so service cuts are being planned in case the money doesn't come through.
What Northern Virginia has that is awesome, and we could really use, is a bus system with routes specifically designed to bring people from their neighborhoods to the metro stations. You can walk from your home in Reston, or Herndon, or Chantilly to a bus stop and go quickly to the metro. It's great.
well that is sort of necessary there when you look at how many of the suburban metro stations are situated. I'd say 95% of SEPTA RR riders park at their respective stations, but we do have bus service to most of the major stations here as well.
Last edited by hammersklavier; Sep 26, 2017 at 7:18 PM.
Reason: ibid
Not sure if this means anything but there is a remark in here that Allan Domb considers the Navy Yard to be the leading contender to be pitched to Amazon.
With something like a ~4-6 story height restriction, there is a need for a ton of short buildings. If you look at the last 3-5 buildings completed at the NY in recent years, most are only 80-200k sq ft. Estimate on the high side (200-300k) for Amazon and there still needs to be 20 buildings.
Deep in the NY master plan update of ~2015, there was at the time 6.3 million sq ft of occupied space, 5.4 million sq ft of new construction, and 1.7 million sq ft of space to be renovated. These numbers include the proposed residential space. I'll assume two buildings were completed since 2015 to shift space from new construction > occupied.
So I still don't know how the numbers add up for Amazon to land in the NY. Unless they want to build a primary campus at SY and some type of 500k-million sq ft. satellite campus in the NY.
With something like a ~4-6 story height restriction, there is a need for a ton of short buildings. If you look at the last 3-5 buildings completed at the NY in recent years, most are only 80-200k sq ft. Estimate on the high side (200-300k) for Amazon and there still needs to be 20 buildings.
Deep in the NY master plan update of ~2015, there was at the time 6.3 million sq ft of occupied space, 5.4 million sq ft of new construction, and 1.7 million sq ft of space to be renovated. These numbers include the proposed residential space. I'll assume two buildings were completed since 2015 to shift space from new construction > occupied.
So I still don't know how the numbers add up for Amazon to land in the NY. Unless they want to build a primary campus at SY and some type of 500k-million sq ft. satellite campus in the NY.
If they did the primary campus at SY / secondary campus at NY, we would get the BSL extension FOR SURE. Maybe even a PATCO connection to it from the other side of the river.
well that is sort of necessary there when you look at how many of the suburban metro stations are situated. I'd say 95% of SEPTA RR riders park at their respective stations, but we do have bus service to most of the major stations here as well.
Perhaps in some areas. I live within a few miles of 6 stations on four lines. All the parking is full very early in the morning or is all permit. Buses routes aren't designed to get people to rail. I can get there but the timing is terrible.
Last edited by hammersklavier; Sep 26, 2017 at 7:19 PM.
Reason: ibid
Far superior? I'd consider both better. They're comparable. I've lived in Boston, I've spent plenty of time in DC, both systems have issues. I'd consider Boston's the overall best of the three.
But to act as though our transit system can't even compete with theirs is not accurate.
When you lived in Boston, didn't you feel like you could get pretty much anywhere you needed to go on the T? Do you feel the same way in Philadelphia? That's all I meant. We're largely in agreement so let's leave it at that.
A lot of this forum is very defensive. I think Philadelphia is a great city or I wouldn't be here posting here. I just think that when it comes to a competition for Amazon it would be wise to keep the focus on the city's comparative strengths.
When you lived in Boston, didn't you feel like you could get pretty much anywhere you needed to go on the T? Do you feel the same way in Philadelphia? That's all I meant. We're largely in agreement so let's leave it at that.
A lot of this forum is very defensive. I think Philadelphia is a great city or I wouldn't be here posting here. I just think that when it comes to a competition for Amazon it would be wise to keep the focus on the city's comparative strengths.
I think boston is about 60 sq miles, about 40% the size of Philly- so limited reach of the T will get you closer to more of the city vs Philly for that reason alone.
I think boston is about 60 sq miles, about 40% the size of Philly- so limited reach of the T will get you closer to more of the city vs Philly for that reason alone.
not really. Just saying Boston is more compact so by default a greater % of the city is reachable by their subway system. It definitely reaches in more directions than the one here- but that isn't saying much. Either way don't think amazon will make it's decision based on subway maps- especially considering they are a west coast company.
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