Quote:
Originally Posted by Daario
Hi everyone, so it's been a long time since I joined this forum and a pretty long time since I even posted something. I joined when I was maybe 15 years old and only had a budding interest in architecture and planning. I'm now in my last year studying planning and geography at Temple and I really really hope to enter Penn's graduate planning program in the fall. Suffice to say, this forum has played a large part in my interest in planning and Philadelphia's development, so big shout out to everyone here (especially summersm.) For the last few months I have been working at the Rail Park, which is probably one of the most exciting parks we have going on in the city right now. As we all now, at the moment only 0.25 miles of the reading viaduct have been developed into parkspace, but we have been conducting a cost estimate x feasibility study on expanding to the full three mile vision in three phases. Here's our brand new website with some preliminary plans on our future phases: https://www.therailpark.org/vision/. Of course as with any nonprofit development, this will take a very long time until the full three miles are seen through, but once completed it will be the main thread connecting the entirety of Lower North Philadelphia together.
Also, I have been living in the Temple neighborhood for the past four years and by the train station for the past two years. For the longest time there has been a large undeveloped grass lot that has become an unofficial park for the neighborhood residents (located on 8th and Berks), but it seems to finally be developed into something. From what I've heard it'll be senior housing for elderly Latino residents. Sad that my favorite picnic spot is gone but I'm excited to see what happens |
Rail park is great and would love to see the next phase come to fruition. Seems like a really exciting job to have so early in your career!
Since you work there though, I can't resist pitching you on something I've brought up here before. The new section of the Viaduct you're looking to work on, is mostly to the north, but there is that small section that heads south before ending at Vine Street just east of 11th. From the end of that section on Vine street, the roof of the convention center is less than 300 yards away, and there is nothing standing in the way of continuing the rail park to that roof. All you have in the way is the northern street level portion of Vine St, the expressway, the southern street level portion of Vine St and then there is a ramp leading up from Vine Street to the Convention Center where the truck bays are located. I could be way off, but it seems pretty possible to continue the rail park right back toward Reading Terminal as it once did. Then, and again, no idea what the Convention Center roof could hold and what would be feasible, but imagine the rail park culminating in a giant park on top of the Convention Center. From the Roof of the Convention Center you could then easily set up access not just from the Viaduct, but from the Convention Center itself, which is already connected to Reading Terminal Market, to Market Street, to Broad St, to Jefferson Station, etc.
I feel like a giant park in the sky like this could be a totally unique attraction and would make the rail park much more accessible to the city at large due to transit connections and of course tourists at the Convention Center or at the National Park a few blocks away.
I'm sure it's a plan that would cost more than the cut and the Tunnel combined, but I also feel like it's a much more exciting plan that would probably be a lot easier to raise money for. Most importantly though, I think it's a plan that would get way more people on the Rail Park than the cut and the Tunnel ever would. And while I agree with those who'd rather use the cut and Tunnel for transit, I do get the appeal of extending the park there and if this extension to the convention center gets more people using the rail park, it would also probably make the cut and the tunnel easier to do in the future.
Just an idea. If anyone likes it, feel free to take all the credit.
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