PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by cardeza

i dont necessarily agree with everything clarke does but people here (some at least) seem incapable of recognizing a simple fact- a district councilperson responds to constituent concerns. Has is ever occurred to people that some of what Clarke does is actually in line with what many in his district want? I know it's hard to believe, but just consider for a second....

It's hard to believe because it's false. He's entirely self interested. Even when his actions seem to superficially reflect the will of the majority of his constituents, that's never his primary concern. You also can't ignore that in his role of significant influence he has a part in shaping what some of his constituents care about to his own self interest.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

I love the way that little appendix descends into Rittenhouse Square in such a way as to let the 2nd District's Kenyata Johnson (and previously former Council Prez Ann Verna) wet his beak with a little of that Rittenhouse Square neighborhood goodness, while grabbing most of the immediate Square proper for the 5th. That may go back all the way to when John Street was district 5 and President and earlier.

https://phlcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/D5.pdf

Small preview image:

Literally the richest and poorest Philadelphians all in the same district, but just tilted ever so slightly as such that he can completely disregard his upper middle and upper class constituents, which is basically everything south of Girard.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Literally the richest and poorest Philadelphians all in the same district, but just tilted ever so slightly as such that he can completely disregard his upper middle and upper class constituents, which is basically everything south of Girard.

He certainly ain't helping the poorest Philadelphians either. They just get more lip service.

[DudeGuy]

As a resident of Center City, we are absolutely gerrymandered in the current district configuration.

[justremember]

Originally Posted by ok-ez

I've lived in his district 20+ yrs and never voted for him, he was unopposed last time and probably always has been

And this is the real problem. I was talking to an activist constituent in his district (an older, African American, anti-gentrification resident) and she was trying to figure out how to get him to be more responsive to resident concerns. My response was somebody has to primary him.

Unfortunately, too many people are woefully uneducated about how the systems of government and politics work, and many are so jaded that they won't engage the very systems that can make the changes they want to see. Furthermore, politicians like Clarke can convince people that the solutions to their very real problems are the things that don't really solve the problem.

For example, gentrification that displaces poorer, often disproportionately black and brown people and makes them feel unwelcome in their own communities is a real thing. Part of that problem is rising housing cost, and a real solution would be to increase the supply of safe, livable housing to keep costs in check. Even better would be to have enough housing to earmark more units for people at various economic levels. However, too often politicians present LESS housing (more restrictive, low density zoning i.e. the Girard Avenue overlay) as a solution to gentrification. So development continues, but without any contingency to help indigenous residents remain in the community and actually benefit from the development.

And Clarke wins because he can point to shiny new buildings in his district and at the same time claim to be fighting gentrification.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by allovertown

It's hard to believe because it's false. He's entirely self interested. Even when his actions seem to superficially reflect the will of the majority of his constituents, that's never his primary concern. You also can't ignore that in his role of significant influence he has a part in shaping what some of his constituents care about to his own self interest.

you know him much better than I do, I didnt realize you were so intune with his inner thoughts and motives. So who am I to argue, I don't study him all that closely. You do realize this isnt china and thus people in his district can vote him out during the next election right?

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by cardeza

you know him much better than I do, I didnt realize you were so intune with his inner thoughts and motives. So who am I to argue, I don't study him all that closely. You do realize this isnt china and thus people in his district can vote him out during the next election right?

Considering how we’ve just discussed that his district is the most gerrymandered in the city, do you see how there might be some hurdles?

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by cardeza

you know him much better than I do, I didnt realize you were so intune with his inner thoughts and motives. So who am I to argue, I don't study him all that closely. You do realize this isnt china and thus people in his district can vote him out during the next election right?

Wow, I forgot Clarke has the most efficient district in Philly. He's doing great!!!

You seem to own a pair of his boots as well since you vouch for him.

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by cardeza

you know him much better than I do, I didnt realize you were so intune with his inner thoughts and motives. So who am I to argue, I don't study him all that closely. You do realize this isnt china and thus people in his district can vote him out during the next election right?

I don't need to get in his mind to see what he's doing. His electorate is worried about gentrification and being pushed out of their homes which is an incredibly real and reasonable fear. It's also a fear that he constantly addresses and stokes but with policy that is of no real help. Height limits? Making it harder to build dense transit oriented housing? He can walk around and talk up how much he's doing to prevent gentrification but he's literally doing less than nothing.

All he's doing is increasing the demand for housing units that already exist in his district. All he's doing is making housing in that area artificially scare and hastening gentrification.

If he actually wanted to stop gentrification from pushing his constituents out of their homes he would make sure his constituents can obtain rent control for those who rent and have property tax relief in place for long time owners in areas of skyrocketing property taxes. He's done nothing to actually address the legitimate concerns of constituents on this matter and has even actively hastened their troubles.

All he's doing is making sure the slumlords who own property in his district and fund his campaigns can charge ever more astronomical rents for their shitty uncared for properties while at the same time ensuring their is no quick influx of people that large buildings would bring in that would make it more possible for someone to challenge him and actually take his seat.

Why anyone would defend this nakedly self interested man is truly perplexing.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by allovertown

I don't need to get in his mind to see what he's doing. His electorate is worried about gentrification and being pushed out of their homes which is an incredibly real and reasonable fear. It's also a fear that he constantly addresses and stokes but with policy that is of no real help. Height limits? Making it harder to build dense transit oriented housing? He can walk around and talk up how much he's doing to prevent gentrification but he's literally doing less than nothing.

All he's doing is increasing the demand for housing units that already exist in his district. All he's doing is making housing in that area artificially scare and hastening gentrification.

If he actually wanted to stop gentrification from pushing his constituents out of their homes he would make sure his constituents can obtain rent control for those who rent and have property tax relief in place for long time owners in areas of skyrocketing property taxes. He's done nothing to actually address the legitimate concerns of constituents on this matter and has even actively hastened their troubles.

All he's doing is making sure the slumlords who own property in his district and fund his campaigns can charge ever more astronomical rents for their shitty uncared for properties while at the same time ensuring their is no quick influx of people that large buildings would bring in that would make it more possible for someone to challenge him and actually take his seat.

Why anyone would defend this nakedly self interested man is truly perplexing.

For real. His Wikipedia helpfully lists out some controversies he's embroiled himself in, including a pretty damning statement from the PA Inspector General. The man is a crook.

Cardeza, you're smarter than this. I want to believe that, at least. Everyone in Philly who keeps up with local politics knows about how terribly Clarke and Johnson run their districts. Do you have a financial interest tied up in this? Why would you waste energy defending Darrel L Clarke?

[SEFTA]

Some of you may have seen this.
Isla Segalovich talks about 5 over 1 housing
Affordable housing, gentrification and the aesthetic of capitalism.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUBbt7RABa1/...TCzM__zboQ-jgHHNyqf_KfN3SWIix80kVH-kpzfw

[Urbanthusiat]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

Some of you may have seen this.
Isla Segalovich talks about 5 over 1 housing
Affordable housing, gentrification and the aesthetic of capitalism.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUBbt7RABa1/...TCzM__zboQ-jgHHNyqf_KfN3SWIix80kVH-kpzfw

Don’t even give her attention, she makes so many bad arguments in this video. “capitalism is bad but also people should live in old single family homes that were built under a far-less-regulated version of capitalism 100 years ago as copy-and-paste homes over many many blocks.” “5-over-1’s are ‘non-places’” lol tell that to the people that live in them. You know what was a “non-place”? The surface parking lot this 5-over-1 replaced with two hundred new residents and shops on the ground floor. It literally makes no sense, her arguments are not very well-thought out at all. People like her are the kind of people that claim they want affordability but will fight against the 100% rent-restricted proposal at 5000 Warrington bc GeNtRiFiCaTiOn. I bet she tells herself that she thinks that we should encourage people to walk and use transit but doesn’t like a 5-over-1 built on a former strip mall a block from a subway - entirely contradictory positions. Political ideology is like a circle (IMO) and going to far one way will put you on the wrong side of what you think you support.

Edit: looked her up on Twitter and she seems to acknowledge that she got some things wrong, so kudos to her for that, always appreciate people willing to admit they were wrong, and in that spirit I’ll say perhaps I was too quick to judge.

[kool-ski]

CDR Submissions are up for October 5th. Mostly low-rise and 3 of them are close to each other in West Philadelphia

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Don’t even give her attention, she makes so many bad arguments in this video. “capitalism is bad but also people should live in old single family homes that were built under a far-less-regulated version of capitalism 100 years ago as copy-and-paste homes over many many blocks.” “5-over-1’s are ‘non-places’” lol tell that to the people that live in them. You know what was a “non-place”? The surface parking lot this 5-over-1 replaced with two hundred new residents and shops on the ground floor. It literally makes no sense, her arguments are not very well-thought out at all. People like her are the kind of people that claim they want affordability but will fight against the 100% rent-restricted proposal at 5000 Warrington bc GeNtRiFiCaTiOn. I bet she tells herself that she thinks that we should encourage people to walk and use transit but doesn’t like a 5-over-1 built on a former strip mall a block from a subway - entirely contradictory positions. Political ideology is like a circle (IMO) and going to far one way will put you on the wrong side of what you think you support.

Edit: looked her up on Twitter and she seems to acknowledge that she got some things wrong, so kudos to her for that, always appreciate people willing to admit they were wrong, and in that spirit I’ll say perhaps I was too quick to judge.

She also chimed in in the corresponding discussion in the fb group formerly known as UrbanPHL and came across as much more reasonable and nuanced there. Short form videos such as her original tiktok (I think it was) are not a good platform for presenting complex ideas.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

For real. His Wikipedia helpfully lists out some controversies he's embroiled himself in, including a pretty damning statement from the PA Inspector General. The man is a crook.

Cardeza, you're smarter than this. I want to believe that, at least. Everyone in Philly who keeps up with local politics knows about how terribly Clarke and Johnson run their districts. Do you have a financial interest tied up in this? Why would you waste energy defending Darrel L Clarke?

Im smart enough to know this- anyone who makes blanket statements that assign 100% evil to one side and 100% wholesome purity to their side of things is usually leaving something out. I'm not defending anyone- I stated obvious facts which led to a dozen responses lecturing me about what I should and should not know. I said there are probably aspects of clarke's decisions that are supported by many of his contituents (whether or not people respect the opinions of said folks is a different matter) and I also said he could be replaced during an election. This reminds me of arguments about whether or not Bob Brady would have been a good mayor. His old school style offended the high minded good government types who are all about theory but have no idea how stuff gets done, but some were arguing Philly needed someone who could get stuff done and move the ball fwd even if some of the dealmaking and stylistic issues were offensive to the know it all class.

I would be careful calling anyone I don't like a criminal, but that's just me. If it's said on here it must be gospel!

[eixample]

Originally Posted by cardeza

This reminds me of arguments about whether or not Bob Brady would have been a good mayor. His old school style offended the high minded good government types who are all about theory but have no idea how stuff gets done...

I don't really disagree with you about your Darrell Clarke point, but this is the most obnoxious, condescending BS. Good government types are not naive, head-in-the-cloud idealists, but instead they are well aware that nepotism, political patronage mills, judicial elections, councilmanic prerogative, etc. don't exist in most of the municipal governments in this country. More than anyone on this board, you are the one who consistently exposes themself as utterly clueless to the fact that the rampant, entrenched bad government practices in Philly aren't a universal fact of life in municipal governance.

[PhilliesPhan]

Wow, this would be a hugely positive addition to the southwestern end of Germantown! That's a lot of parking given its proximity to a Regional Rail station that offers subway-like frequencies during peak periods, but I'm still impressed! It's great to see Germantown grab a piece of Philly's redevelopment boom, especially given its underappreciated assets.

ZP-2021-011193C
Sep 23, 2021
113-29 BERKLEY ST, Philadelphia, PA 19144-3603
WAYNE JUNCTION PROPERTIES 8

For the erection of a 6 story structure plus cellar with 1 vacant commercial space, 143 dwelling units with common residential roofdeck(s) accessed by roof access structure(s) / elevators with lobby, as per plans Application to include 143 dwelling units, 1 vacant commercial space, 93 accessory parking stalls [(2) ADA, (4) ELEC] and 50 class 1a bike stalls on accessible route, roof decks accessed by pilot roof access structure(s), all as per plans

This may be a long shot, but if the southwestern edge of Germantown were to see a ton of development centered around Wayne Junction, I wonder if we'd see any development leak over into the northeastern corner of Nicetown. The housing stock surrounding Wayne Junction on the Nicetown side is just as high-quality as the homes in Germantown, except that Nicetown is much cheaper.

[Mayormccheese]

Originally Posted by justremember

And this is the real problem. I was talking to an activist constituent in his district (an older, African American, anti-gentrification resident) and she was trying to figure out how to get him to be more responsive to resident concerns. My response was somebody has to primary him.

Unfortunately, too many people are woefully uneducated about how the systems of government and politics work, and many are so jaded that they won't engage the very systems that can make the changes they want to see. Furthermore, politicians like Clarke can convince people that the solutions to their very real problems are the things that don't really solve the problem.

For example, gentrification that displaces poorer, often disproportionately black and brown people and makes them feel unwelcome in their own communities is a real thing. Part of that problem is rising housing cost, and a real solution would be to increase the supply of safe, livable housing to keep costs in check. Even better would be to have enough housing to earmark more units for people at various economic levels. However, too often politicians present LESS housing (more restrictive, low density zoning i.e. the Girard Avenue overlay) as a solution to gentrification. So development continues, but without any contingency to help indigenous residents remain in the community and actually benefit from the development.

And Clarke wins because he can point to shiny new buildings in his district and at the same time claim to be fighting gentrification.

It’s a shame because the land bank could have really done a lot of good for a lot of people instead it was used by at least one councilman to make money for their buddies

[mcgrath618]

CDR Submissions

4145 Chestnut
Architect: Cosica Moos
Height: 8 Floors
Verdict: Yay! Good! This is a funky looking (in a good way) development that will help break up the JKRP schlop going up on other blocks of Chestnut.

4519 Chestnut (West Catholic)
Architect: Sitio
Height: 7 floors
Verdict: Awesome looking development! Brings much-needed density further out west. The dominoes are beginning to fall for that big surface lot at 45th and Market...

4301 Chestnut Street
Architect: JKRP
Height: 8 floors
Verdict: Ew. Gross. I stepped in dog shit. Still, better than some of the other stuff this firm is putting out...

1201 Normandy
Architect: Digsau
Height: 4 floors
Verdict: More infill at the Navy Yard. Fits in well.

4050 Conshohocken
Architect: Designblendz
Height: Various
Verdict: Cool! Didn't even know about this development.

90 Rochelle
Architect: JKRP
Height: 4 Floors
Verdict: Yawn.

2019 N 29th
Architect: JKRP
Height: 4 floors
Verdict: I... like this. Why couldn't JKRP design everything like this?

933 N Penn
Architect: Harman Deutsch Oller
Height: 7 floors
Verdict: Can't help but feeling like the land is being underutilized here. Some more height and I'd be satisfied. Should help kickstart development in the area though. Maybe we could finish off those other two towers next door?

[Raja]

[QUOTE=mcgrath618;9405172]CDR Submissions

4050 Conshohocken
Architect: Designblendz
Height: Various
Verdict: Cool! Didn't even know about this development.


Whoa, real throwback there with the mansard roofs. Huge site.