Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanRevival
I think you're onto something there. Let's organize a mass shoveling.
In all seriousness, if this doesn't turn out to be the turning point for giving historic preservation in Philly much more power and authority, I don't know what will.
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This might be splitting hairs, but the HC in Phila has consistently said that it doesn't have enough resources to oversee the present rules and regs. They have gotten more staff in the last couple years but who knows how long that will last.
In addition to being well funded I'd like at least one if not two new categories of preservation to be codified, so that not every situation has to be treated the same. The present status is one size fits all. Jewelers Row would have been a hard case to make using the present definitions, as it was such a mix of ages and styles and preservation levels. But far and away the general thinking has been that what Toll was planning to do was not good for the streetscape. That's an example where very strict following of the existing rules got in the way keeping the feel of that block.
I live in UC in a part where large Victorian twins are the norm. One house that long ago had been turned into 3 apartments, got trashed a year ago, much smaller windows that are casement style were installed top to bottom, the front porch---often the key to these twins----was modernized, and the exterior was stuccoed. No one except the owner likes the what happened, but likewise most people unfortunately don't care enough to restore very well. I've heard for years people saying that they just wanted to make things alittle simpler and no one would notice the small changes, but over 40 years they add up. Again it would be nice if there were other standards that were available but not be as costly as true preservation and restoration, which foolishly I still believe in.