Re: [UC] Re: Parking Spaces @ 43rd Baltimore
Summer All Ready wrote: Mister, All there is in the bellow response is a good amount of irrational fear [not that fear is ever rational, but this is panic] and a senseless second paragraph resulting from an ill attempt to ridicule my sensible use of points within words to clarify meanings. Why that much negativity? How is one installation possibly compromising 'public good'? Whose 'current eco-consumerism' [speaking about labeling]? I have been working and living sustainability for more than thirty years. HOw about you? Living with better understanding of own surroundings and interdependency of living forms is a way of life, not consumerism. Nothing oriented towards ecological living could possibly 'compromise' your 'citizenship'. On the contrary. Let's just put an effort in being a little more positive. Best, Ana sorry for the misunderstanding. the attempt was to be open-minded, to speak your language -- not negativity or overreaction -- recognizing that we might actually be on the same page. so the question was: knowing what we do about how 'greenwashing' may be used to promote/defend any number of our consumer and civic choices, how can we justify parkletting, where select businesses capture public spaces? there's no easy answer; others have been discussing it. here's an interesting article from ny times (2007) which points to how eco-consumerism intersects with citizenship: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/fashion/01green.html .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: Parking Spaces @ 43rd Baltimore
Summer All Ready wrote: Why such overreaction?Park-let is not a 'park'. it's an urban installation achieved by let.ing go of park.ing spaces, and turning them into temporary social.izing spaces [seats, benches...] Let's open our minds. yes, let's be open-minded about how to achieve public good without compromising public good, how to enact our current eco-consumerism without compromising our citizenship. park.letting in its present form lets select businesses capture public spaces. how is that just.ified beyond name.branding and eco.turfing and voo.doo.polling? http://dailyreporter.com/levelheaded/2011/07/15/parklets-are-for-the-bird-lets/ http://ebar.com/columns/column.php?sec=bbarticle=103 http://street.sfstation.com/2010/12/22/parklets-controversy/ .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Parklet
On 8/17/11 11:49 AM, Karen Allen wrote: I think the idea is a miss on a number of fronts. First, the name parklet (I use quotes because I don't like the conjured-up name) creates an expectation of sylvan greenery that is not met in the final product. Call it what it is--outdoor seating. As generic outdoor seating, it's functional, and looks OK. But giving it that particular name defeats its own purpose by inviting comparisons to a park, which it certainly is not. Second, the seating could work in locations that need recreation or relaxation space, but it should not be directly tied to any commercial enterprise. The miss here is instead of finding neutral locations, it's been placed next to a business with an outdoor cafe; thus drawing accusations of favoritism in its placement. Here's a positive suggestion: the 45th/ Baltimore/Springfield and 47th and Baltimore traffic triangles. They've both already been landscaped, and have enough space for small seating areas. 45th Street could be reconfigured mindful of pedestrian and auto traffic, and 47th is already fenced on the 47th Street side. They could help the overall 45th and 47th and Baltimore business strips without appearing to give favored treatment to any particular one. And they could become REAL parklets (without quotes!). agreed. the question here isn't about taste or aesthetics or (what was that fancy latin word, al?), but with whether or not these things are designed as truly public spaces. meaning: designed in response to actual public demand; designed in a standard way, like parking kiosks, so as to be recognized everywhere by the public as truly public spaces; designed so as to function independently of businesses; and designed without taking away anything that is already publicly paid for. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: Parking Spaces @ 43rd Baltimore
Gavin W. Burris wrote: There is no nerve to strike As I ride by the parklet on my bike Please, no latte for me I prefer black coffee or some tea Academia may be my industry of choice I can think of few others that give the mind such voice for what it's worth, ucd is not academia. yes, ucd is founded and funded by penn, but its mission and role are not academic (compared, say, to other penn intrusions into the community, like the LIFE program al mentions or other 'community partnerships' that involve penn students ['civic scholars'] working with neighborhood entities for class credit or graduate work). ucd's rather pedestrian role is to transform our neighborhood into a whitewashed ghetto of 'clean and safe' people in their proper places, where, among other fun, never-ending creative ideas, ucd-defined desirable businesses are promoted and supported, while undesirable businesses are marginalized and relocated. ucd works in tandem with campus apartments (another non-academic arm of the university with enlightened self-interest) to accomplish this, and the neighorhood community associations and voodoo polling are the rubber stamps -- an arrangement that neatly gets around city hall while appearing to be inclusive and representative. along with perverting our citizenship, ucd perverts free-market consumerism as well: as ucd does its work, it removes the premise that any local business should succeed or fail depending on local demand by creating and funding an artificial penn-positioned business landscape -- one which they are working to be funded and sustained, ultimately, by taxpaying (eg. parklets, bid). many consumers living here buy into this, which is likely why many at their laptops are reduced to tapping out doggerel. academic voices? ha. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: Parking Spaces @ 43rd Baltimore
Brian Siano wrote: Pretty much the definition of silly. here's what sounds silly: the premise and the experiment. the premise that west philly is so teeming with people that we need parklets to provide the public with extra tables and chairs in the street so that they can enjoy the sun and shade -- AND that west philly is so teeming with people that we could do with less parking spots for their cars (or cars that were once so important to provide thru philly car share). the experiment that captures parking spaces and converts them into public places for sitting at tables and chairs -- right next to a big public park. silly! ucd continues to treat west philly like it's a teeming downtown, a bustling congested business district, when it is neither. ucd's experiment would be better conducted in downtown center city. (yes, that's a suggestion.) here's another: perhaps it would be more honest to admit that what's going on here has less to do with whether or not people need to be sitting in parking spots at tables and chairs in order to enjoy the sun and shade, and instead has more to do with 1) boosting selected businesses or 2) discouraging driving in the city or 3) promoting ucd or 4) paving the way for a future BID. question: will free public-use parklets attached to select eateries need to be continuously monitored to ensure that those eateries don't provide food service to the parklets? and how will that be enforced? or is there some kind of provision that will allow eateries to provide food service to their attached public-use parklets? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: Fwd: Dangerous Pit Bull in Clark Park
On 8/9/11 8:25 PM, Linda wrote: :( Perhaps inappropriate language for the listservs... I'd also say that the majority of pits are good and gentle dogs. We know many wonderful pitties in the area. Obviously some dogs are 'trained' to be aggressive, or aren't trained at all. Blame the dog's owner. Like. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Fwd: robbery at gunpoint 10:30ish aug1, 2011
out there. At Southwest Detectives we are doing our best to catch the ones that get away. We don’t forget the ones from months or even years ago. Everything usually comes full circle out here…things have a way of solving themselves. As detectives we are reactive more often than proactive when it comes to dealing with crime. I think we could do a lot better in getting tips out or alerting the public to crime patterns. That being said, a lot of the tips I would give may seem like common sense to most. Dont walk with your iPod on full blast at night. If you must walk late night try to use the more well-lit blocks. (Riding my bike to and from work has really shown me just how dark these streets get. Next time you’re riding down Pine St at night just try to make out people walking down the sidewalks. Impossible.) If you must walk late at night, just be aware at all times. I’m not saying be paranoid, just use common sense when picking and choosing routes. Crossing streets instead of walking through groups of kids. If something doesn’t feel right..it probably isn’t. Trust your instincts. Missy: I happen to think that a decrease in drug activity has led to more robberies from older teens and guys in their early 20′s. In West/SW we just don’t see the volume of drug sales that we did before. How else can some criminals make money if the drug game isn’t what it used to be? As far as the younger kids, the group/gang mentality seems to be the fad. The kids in their early teens seem to favor the shock and awe approach meaning they bum rush and attack then take whatever they can get their hands on. It should be noted that when separated from the group in the police station they tend to weep uncontrollably. Naomi: As far as requesting escorts, it depends on where you live. 215-898-WALK is the number to request a security guard walk-along on and near PENN’s campus. From Upenn’s safety website: Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, between 30th to 43rd Streets and Market Street to Baltimore Avenue. Escorts are also available from 10:00am until 3:00am between 30th 50th and Spring Garden Street to Woodland Avenue via the University’s partnership with the University District Ambassador Program. And Missy you mentioned the criminal element moving closer to the neighborhood. This is a major city. There are nice neighborhoods and not so nice neighborhoods. As a fact of life, the haves and have-nots are going to cross paths somewhere in the middle. Pick a nice neighborhood and I can give you examples of robbers/burglars slipping in from an adjacent area to commit crime. Just use common sense and trust your instincts and more often than not it will be enough to keep you safe. If anyone has any questions or problems in West or Southwest division feel free to respond here or email me at murrays...@aol.com mailto:murrays...@aol.com or call me at my office #215-476-1131. -- .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Fwd: robbery at gunpoint 10:30ish aug1, 2011
exactly. On 8/2/11 11:44 AM, Margie Politzer wrote: Vladimir Sled was an innocent victim. Evan Morris was the aggressor. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/20110731_Drexel_student_s_killer_acted_in_self-defense__police_say.html Margie On Aug 2, 2011, at 11:20 AM, UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote: drexel student stabbed to death near campus -- without the accompanying vladimir sled outrage/vigil/posturing: http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/article/drexel-student-stabbed-death-near-campus Drexel student stabbed to death near campus Philadelphia police found Evan Morris at an apartment at 34th and Race with critical stab wounds by Sarah Gadsden | Friday, July 29, 2011 at 2:14 pm Drexel University student Evan Morris died early Friday morning, shortly after Philadelphia Police found him in a residence near campus with critical stab wounds. Police were responding to a reported break-in at about 4:55 a.m. when they found Morris, the alleged intruder, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. Morris, 22, was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 5:58 a.m. The stabbing occurred at 34th and Race streets after an altercation with “a student from another university,” according to a statement from Drexel. Additional information about the other student is currently unavailable. Penn’s Department of Public Safety is not aware of any Penn students involved at this time. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the altercation occurred after Morris kicked in the apartment's door, and that police said they do not expect to file charges against the other student because they believe the stabbing was in self-defense. Things could change, and we're still investigating, but that's what it looks like right now, Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark told the Inquirer on Friday. The incident, which occurred at an off-campus apartment at 34th and Race streets, is under investigation. The Philadelphia Homicide Division is handling the investigation with the cooperation of the Drexel Police, according to Drexel's statement. “University officials have been in contact with Evan’s family and offered our sincerest condolences and support,” the statement said. “In a close-knit community like Drexel, the death of a fellow student is deeply felt.” Drexel’s Counseling Center is open to those affected by the incident. The Drexel Department of Public Safety did not issue an alert to students. According to the statement, a DrexelALERT was not sent because the non-Drexel student was taken into custody immediately following the incident. The intersection of Race and 34th streets is about four blocks north of Market Street, which marks the northernmost edge of the Penn DPS patrol zone. Race Street borders Drexel’s campus. On 8/2/11 10:45 AM, Linda wrote: On Mon, Aug 1, 2011 at 11:49 PM, Jason's Pet Care jasonspetc...@gmail.com mailto:jasonspetc...@gmail.com wrote: one shot fired on the s. 200 block of 46th st just north of spruce around 10:30 i think. cops were out there and said someone was robbed. they found the casing but not the perp. Begin forwarded message: *From: *Amara Rockar aroc...@gmail.com mailto:aroc...@gmail.com *Date: *August 2, 2011 10:05:45 AM EDT *Subject: **Re: [UCNeighbors] robbery at gunpoint 10:30ish aug1, 2011* * * According to SW Detective Joseph Murray, the victim gave up his wallet but decided the gun wasn't real and demanded the wallet back and then was shot. Murray's response to a recent post on West Philly Local and comments has a lot of good information in it and I thought I'd share: TheFuzz9143 Says: July 31st, 2011 at 11:32 pm http://www.westphillylocal.com/2011/07/31/another-rash-of-neighborhood-robberies-keep-police-busy/#comment-8700 AFB, I respect your decision to not give up your things during a robbery. I don’t agree with it, but to each his own. You cited a robbery from earlier this month in which a store clerk was shot in the face even though he gave up the money that was demanded of him. If we were going tit-for-tat I could remind you of Mustafa Shaker who was killed in his store at Front and Girard in late May. Shaker had enough of being a victim and started throwing cans at the robbers. One of the guys turned and shot Shaker in the face with a shotgun as he fled the store. Could his death have been prevented by simply giving them what they wanted? Who knows. All I know is I will never tell a 20 year old Penn student to take a guess on whether a gun is real or not so he can keep his iPhone. In 2009, the FBI states police departments around the country handled more than 400,000 robberies. Within those numbers we can find stories of heroes and stories of tragic, senseless loss. I recommend giving your phone up when approached by someone with a gun. In West and Southwest Philly, we have a damn good track record of catching robbers. In the past few months you may have read some of the robberies I’ve posted on Twitter
Re: [UC] New chemical burns visible
On 6/21/11 9:25 PM, Glenn wrote: Considering the amount of time since the herbicide was last applied and today, I think we are seeing the evidence of the long period of killing potential! ( I doubt that anyone ever believed the Tony West/landscape architect explanation about dry soil causing these bizarre burns. Dry soil-haha.) I did most of my research on RoundUp two years ago, but I recall reports of finding intact chemical long after the initial application, if the right conditions bury the chemical as we've had in Clark Park recently. (The yellowing is also visible just outside of the mulch circles around trees which had their roots soaked.) these are not parodies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk-15KUIzEs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKozfMsGxXs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqJbrpvo03g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUzgJFHtEBQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkbQn2QKQNE these are trying to be parodies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM_ENZLbXtQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNycZHr3AnM .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] RoundUp burning is visible
Glenn wrote: And if you look down from Walnut St just east of WXPN, almost the entire Frankenstein lawn adjacent the new parking lot construction has the same yellowing. yes! I noticed this recently and wondered about that strange yellowing, because that sod had been recently laid and everything was green, and then suddenly the weird swaths of perfectly uniform yellow appeared, that didn't follow the pattern of the sod pieces -- and this dead yellow appeared after plenty of rain had just fallen. and what's so odd is that when you look at it from above, you see perfectly green patches of grass right next to patches of completely dead yellow grass -- it's not even a gradual shift... also, no dandelions or clover, from what I can see from the bridge... so roundup is causing that? seems consistent with the practice of applying roundup at the beginning of new landscaping operations; the stouffer triangle on woodland walk is also relatively recent (just last year?) - - - - - if penn's ucd is indeed resorting to poisons, that is inconsistent with penn's stated commitment to sustainability: http://www.upenn.edu/sustainability/ perhaps neighbors can investigate whether or not penn's ucd is aware of harvard, and look into organic compost teas for our clark park -- I haven't heard mention of this compost tea in this discussion, I first heard about it on this old house: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/garden/24garden.html .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] RoundUp burning is visible
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote: perhaps neighbors can investigate whether or not penn's ucd is aware of harvard, and look into organic compost teas for our clark park -- I haven't heard mention of this compost tea in this discussion, I first heard about it on this old house: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/garden/24garden.html or, closer to home: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/grd/2413917807.html http://www.upenn.edu/sustainability/greenfund.html#morris3 http://philadelphiagreen.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/compost-week-striking-a-balance/ .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] RoundUp burning is visible
Glenn wrote: Once a person goes through this, as I have, he or she will understand this technique used in an iron triangle. the solution seems obvious: penn's ucd can go to the farmers' market at clark park next saturday and buy up all the bottles of organic compost tea, and then spray it wherever they've used chemicals in clark park. no need for the community, focp, OR the city's parks dept. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] unsubscribe UnivCity
On 5/5/11 1:56 PM, William H. Magill wrote: 1- The public unsubscribe is usually done by people who have little Computer experience and, quite literally, have no idea how to unsubscribe . . . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] End of events, Clark Park Secrecy, 01-11
Glenn wrote: BUT THERE ARE HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE IN WEST PHILLY WHO WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH CLARK PARK AND ARE TIRED OF THE RUN AROUND, AND MISINFORMATION. http://www.flickr.com/photos/7653848@N03/446322343/in/pool-46baltimore http://www.flickr.com/photos/7653848@N03/1578283290/in/pool-46baltimore/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/highstrungloner/1296397649/in/pool-46baltimore/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/photorayz/1207733403/in/pool-46baltimore/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/photorayz/1207733381/in/pool-46baltimore/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/7653848@N03/446768815/in/pool-46baltimore/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/7653848@N03/446802067/in/pool-46baltimore/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/evrik/1588267161/in/pool-46baltimore/ etc .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Clark Park Secrecy, 01-11
On 4/29/11 12:30 PM, Lalevic, Darco wrote: University City’s gentrification (I don’t know what else to call it) over the last 15 years has had plenty of positive as well as negative effects. the main negative effect is that we now have a staunchly divided neighborhood. and it's a big effect, one which will continue to carry penn -- and its catspaws ucd and campus apartments and so-called community association leaders -- farther and farther. an advance that feeds the very divisiveness that fuels their progression. in case you missed it first time around, you now get a second chance to watch, in real time, the same strategic university narratives as they begin their next mighty roll: http://articles.philly.com/2010-10-05/news/24976839_1_drexel-university-neighborhood-university-city-district http://articles.philly.com/2011-04-18/news/29443549_1_drexel-campus-drexel-university-powelton-village [if you can detect the contradiction behind the fact that such articles even need to be written today, 15 years after penn has claimed such success in transforming university city, then count yourself as someone who's already pretty observant.] .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] It is Round Up in Clark Park
On 4/6/11 1:37 PM, Glenn wrote: I just spoke to the landscaping crew in the fenced off portion of Clark Park. The unknown chemical that is being sprayed on Clark Park, as I write this, is the herbicide, Round-Up. About two years ago, I witnessed the same procedure and reported the event to this public list. But the FOCP and UCD claimed that the only chemical EVER used on Clark Park was an organic fertilizer. But we know from the devastation and the early signs posted that they have been dumping this poison, twice a year, for about ten years. (Apparently, they must be telling the workmen to no longer put up the warning signs. The workman was blamed for putting out the signs by MISTAKE when I caught them two years ago!) I was called the usual names when I reported the incident. And we were all told that everyone outside the secret and anonymous Clark Park Partnership should never be believed regarding Clark Park. I'd estimate about 20 gallons of empty bottles were being cleared as I spoke to them. There is know way to know the total amount of the poison being used today. I watched the workman soak the tree roots of just 1 tree with a huge amount. Please go down immediately and ask the supervisor to confirm the name of this poison. I've been told that people no longer doubt me so much or believe the pack of lies like they once did. Nevertheless, I hope someone corroborates this important fact! Glenn glenn, perhaps a petition opposing the use of harmful inorganic sprays in the park could be set up at the next clark park farmer's market. surely the buyers and sellers at the farmer's market would find such sprays objectionable; and in any case, anyone at the farmer's market would be interested in learning about what was actually being sprayed in the park. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Meeting on plans for 49th Spruce lot - February 28th
On 2/26/11 1:10 PM, Freda Egnal wrote: GARDEN COURT COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION ZONING COMMITTEE invites you to a community meeting regarding the sale by the City of Philadelphia and subsequent development of the parking lot at 49th and Spruce Street. Please attend and meet the possible developers for the site. They will be there to describe their plans and address your questions and concerns. When: Monday, February 28, 2011 Where: Beulah Baptist Church 50th St. Entrance* Time: 7 PM anything to report for those of us unable to attend? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] at a hotel near you
http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/article/students-and-residents-react-new-hotel The hotel will be Penn’s first development project west of 41st Street. Homewood Suites will feature about 130 rooms on nine to 10 floors and will cater to patient families of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as professionals who require longer-term stays. the earlier dp article said the location was chosen because it had a commercial aesthetic. this article's photo shows that a few more houses were torn down to enhance that aesthetic. (the article gets the location wrong; it's not being built next to the restaurant school, which is in the next block west) .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] hotel, hotel, hotel
the dp has a story about a hotel that west philly can call its own! (the same hotel that campus apartments is building for penn's hospital patients): http://thedp.com/article/embroiled-past-new-hotel [check out the interactive timeline] Embroiled past for new hotel Hotel currently under construction was once moved due to community outrage. It is slated for completion in spring 2012. West Philadelphia will soon have a new hotel to call its own — both to the praise and annoyance of its residents. The Hilton Homewood Suites Extended Stay Hotel broke ground on Dec. 8, 2010, and will stand tall at eleven stories high. According to a press release from the Brownstein group — Campus Apartment’s communications firm — the hotel will encompass 110,000 square feet and consist of 136 suites. Each suite will have a full kitchen, dining table and complimentary phone and Internet access. Additional amenities include complimentary breakfast, a concierge, shuttle services, a fitness center and an indoor pool. However, opposition to the hotel’s construction in the residential Spruce Hill community has been voiced since 2008. Spruce Hill resident Chris O’Donnell urged to oppose the project in a February Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, whose approval was needed to begin construction. Despite a recommendation from the Philadelphia City Planning Commission to approve the project on Sept. 16, 2008 and a $2 million loan from the state, neighbors testifying in front of the ZBA held up its approval. In October 2009, the site of the hotel moved from 40th and Pine streets to 41st and Walnut streets, but the complaints have not quite stopped. On Nov. 19, 2010, The Philadelphia Brownstoner blogged regarding the demolition of a “gorgeous townhouse at 4107 Walnut Street” to make way for the new hotel. The project costs approximately $50 million but is highly subsidized. It receives funding through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, The Reinvestment Fund, US Bank Community Development Corporation and Beneficial Bank. The eco-friendly hotel is the flagship commercial project for Philadelphia’s EnergyWorks program, a fund that provides low-interest loans to finance sustainable building and redevelopment. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: [UCNeighbors] Outdoor Firepits
not sure what 'small amounts of wood' means, but instead of burning wood, maybe look into chipping it (for compost, for mulching...) http://www.thefind.com/garden/browse-mcculloch-chipper *From:* Brian Siano *Sent:* Wednesday, January 05, 2011 1:34 PM *To:* u...@ucneighbors.org; univcity *Subject:* [UCNeighbors] Outdoor Firepits Does anyone in the neighborhood have an outdoor firepit, or some means of burning small amounts of wood outdoors? I was thinking of getting one, but given that this is a close little neighborhood, I was wondering if anyone has had problems, issues, complaints from neighbors, etc. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] and now for something completely different
well, 15 in dog-pony years On 12/29/2010 12:14 AM, Kimm Tynan wrote: Only 15? On 12/28/10 3:29 PM, UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote: a 15-year-old narrative finds new stomping grounds: http://www.phillymag.com/articles/feature_is_west_philly_the_next_center_city/page1 You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] and now for something completely different
a 15-year-old narrative finds new stomping grounds: http://www.phillymag.com/articles/feature_is_west_philly_the_next_center_city/page1 .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] The case for city zoning reforms
krf...@aol.com wrote: I'm not a fan of the community engagement process on which Harris Sokoloff is building his reputation, but craigso...@aol.com wrote: I'm not happy with the way they engaged in selective engagement. It was deficient at best, fraudulent at worst. the 'community engagement' process: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg24571.html .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] hotel and office building on walnut
krf...@aol.com wrote: They wrote In 2009, developers announced they planned to build the hotel at 40th and Pine streets. They changed locations after nearby residents expressed concerns that the building would harm the neighborhood’s identity. The project site was then moved to Walnut Street to fit in better with the road’s commercial aesthetic. The truth was that the University and their developer cohorts were dragged, kicking and screaming, from the deserted Penn-owned site at 40th Pine by members of the community -- after having engaged one of the city's top real estate attorneys, spending huge amounts of money, and lying through their teeth to get the zoning changed so they could build the hotel there. And, surely, one of the objectives of what's supposed to be a world class university should be to inculcate in its students sensibilities for justice, consideration of others which viewpoints that may differ from their own, and a realization that you can't have everything your way simply because you can outspend the people you either disagree with or don't care about. quietly, quietly, the university and its pawns (ucd, campus apartments, co-opted community organizations) continue to redefine -- physically and narratively -- our community in terms of penn's agenda. structures planned and developed by campus apartments are replacing residential buildings in order to promote the interests and activities of penn. local businesses are being replaced and facelifted by ucd and campus apartments in return for votes for penn's upcoming bid. meanwhile the university continues to claim that it is engaging locally and improving the neighborhood. the identity of the neighborhoods surrounding the pine street hotel was -- and is -- this: neighbors excercising their civic duty in the name of responsible development over a decade ago, penn made the decision to put the penn tower hotel -- which included extended stay suites for visitors to the university and its hospitals -- to other uses. now penn has decided it needs to build another extended stay hi-rise hotel, not on campus property, but in our neighborhood. how long will it be before this new hotel becomes obsolete? and how long will it be before penn decides to build another must-have hi-rise-for-penn elsewhere in our neighborhood? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] hotel and office building on walnut
On 12/10/2010 8:49 AM, krf...@aol.com wrote: The DP had yet another take... including this truly memorable paragraph: In 2009, developers announced they planned to build the hotel at 40th and Pine streets. They changed locations after nearby residents expressed concerns that the building would harm the neighborhood’s identity. The project site was then moved to Walnut Street to fit in better with the road’s commercial aesthetic. I'm afraid that the Penn people really believe this the penn people and the hotel developer believe the hotel is in the interests of penn. it appears some residential buildings on walnut and 41st are being torn down from the road's commercial aesthetic to accommodate this hotel/office project. some background about the penn tower hotel, part of the penn health system and owned by penn health system: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v42/n33/pennmed.html .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] hotel and office building on walnut
by two real partners in several joint ventures: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20101207_New_hotel_near_Penn_stirs_hopes.html Posted on Tue, Dec. 7, 2010 New hotel near Penn stirs hopes It's for long-term stays. The groundbreaking will be the city's first for a hotel this year. By Suzette Parmley Inquirer Staff Writer Philadelphia has not seen construction begin on any new hotels so far this year, but work will begin on at least one before 2011 begins. Campus Apartments L.L.C. will break ground Wednesday on an upscale, $50 million Homewood Suites by Hilton in University City, catering to medical professionals, patients, and their families who are planning to stay for a while. We started digging and found really no place to stay for an extended amount of time in University City, said David Adelman, chief executive officer of Philadelphia-based Campus Apartments, one of the largest privately held student-housing companies in the country. Staying in a full-service hotel can get expensive, so we knew we wanted an extended-stay hotel which looks a lot like apartments. To accomplish that, each of the 136 suites in the all-suite hotel will have a full kitchen and one bedroom and average of 500 square feet of space. Additional amenities include a fitness center, complimentary shuttle service, and an indoor pool. The amenities will allow for a sense of normalcy that will certainly be important to this market, Bill Duncan, global head of Homewood Suites by Hilton, said in a statement. Adelman said his firm decided on Hilton Worldwide for the brand since it manages the nearby Hilton Inn at Penn. The Homewood Suites at 4109 Walnut St. will employ about 300 people, including construction workers. He said that demand for such a hotel grew as the area blossomed into a destination for world-class health care, life sciences, and higher education, including the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Medicine, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The market for this product is both patients and their families . . . to make this a really good experience for people while they're here receiving treatment, he said. The hotel will be one of only a few all-suites hotels in central Philadelphia and the only one in University City, said Peter Tyson, vice president of Colliers PKF Consulting USA. Such hotels appeal greatly to commercial and leisure travelers with extended stays, he said. Travelers working on longer-term projects at the universities or the hospitals, and families of patients in, or post-op 'outpatients' at, the University City hospitals for extended periods will be naturals for this hotel. Tyson said the area's only two hotels - the 238-room Hilton Inn at Penn and the Sheraton Philadelphia University City Hotel with 331 rooms - continue to perform well, particularly midweek and on weekends, when there are events at the University of Pennsylvania or Drexel University. He said the two hotels usually perform at or above the average occupancy for the city annually. For October, the latest data available for central Philadelphia's combined 45 hotels, the occupancy rate was 79.5 percent. Further, the Sheraton University City is now 40 years old, and the Inn at Penn is over 10 years old, Tyson said. Some new hotel product in the area should be well-received. Ed Grose, head of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, called the hotel, scheduled to open in March 2012, a perfect fit for West Philadelphia, and he said he hoped it was a precursor to more hotels to come. We are hoping that this shows signs of a recovering credit market, Grose said, so that we will hopefully see the addition of another anchor hotel for the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Adelman, of Haverford, acknowledged that getting financing for a hotel in the current climate was no easy feat. He had been marketing the project for three years. Lenders looked at the demographic data as well, and agreed with our story, he said. We're probably going to be one of the city's biggest construction projects in 2011. Campus Apartments manages about $1 billion worth of properties and 27,000 beds in 26 states. It has a working relationship with the University of Pennsylvania dating to 2000. Adelman said that Penn approached him about a new hotel because Campus Apartments already managed the university's off-campus apartments and the two were involved in several joint ventures. We're real partners in the redevelopment of University City, he said. We're excited to be a part of the area's renaissance and investing our capital to make University City a better place. After the hotel's completion in the spring of 2012, the second phase of the two-phased project will be a neighboring 150,000-square-foot office building. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information
Re: [UC] Clark Park: Power and secrecy was the goal, UCR
more: http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/article/map-shows-race-division-philadelphia Map shows race division in Philadelphia New map detailing racial breakdown shows de facto segregation, even in University City Monday, October 4, 2010 by MK Kleva excerpt: While the Civil Rights Act abolished segregation 46 years ago, a new map of Philadelphia serves as a reminder that racial separation still exists around the city, even near Penn’s campus. The map, created by Eric Fischer on photo-sharing site Flickr.com, uses Census 2000 data to demonstrate the racial makeup of the city. The map shows most neighborhoods are dominated by a single racial group. ... Rory Kramer, a sixth-year sociology doctoral student, researches segregation patterns in Philadelphia. “Penn has successfully gentrified westward,” he said, with more white and fewer black individuals living in the area. He said that while more white people now live around Penn, it is not necessarily indicative of integration. For the newcomers, it is a pleasant place to live because there are more stores and activities for them, he said. However, for the small number of black West Philadelphians still living near Penn, friends and neighbors have moved away along with their businesses and neighborhood dynamic. Charles attributed some of this change to the University encouraging faculty and staff to live closer to campus in University City and Spruce Hill. Nevertheless, she said diversity in University City is minimal in relation to the predominantly black population in West Philadelphia. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote: thanks, darco Lalevic, Darco wrote: Sure, as Glenn points out, numerous attempts to paint the neighborhood as a wild, out of control neighborhood that UCD and associated entities have now made safe. I disagree with UCD taking on an enforcement roll of any kind. I disagree with the entire Clark Park revitalization plan. I think it's wasteful at the least, and at worse, part of an effort to clean up the park to make it more appealing to the gentrification of the neighborhood and push certain people out. The structure of the UCD is designed to advocate for the corporate entities (and while, yes, it's their money mostly, the net effect is the general public is left out of decisions). -Original Message- From: owner-univc...@list.purple.com [mailto:owner-univc...@list.purple.com] On Behalf Of UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 10:07 AM To: univcity@list.purple.com Subject: Re: [UC] Clark Park: Power and secrecy was the goal, UCR Lalevic, Darco wrote: I too am often offended by the bias and misinformation that is often propagated as marketing for University City. can you cite examples of this? Sure, I disagree with UCD and FOCP on many issues, examples? The fact is, by not engaging the argument in a logical, academic way, you've pushed the relevance of your argument to the wayside. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Clark Park: Power and secrecy was the goal, UCR
thanks, darco Lalevic, Darco wrote: Sure, as Glenn points out, numerous attempts to paint the neighborhood as a wild, out of control neighborhood that UCD and associated entities have now made safe. I disagree with UCD taking on an enforcement roll of any kind. I disagree with the entire Clark Park revitalization plan. I think it's wasteful at the least, and at worse, part of an effort to clean up the park to make it more appealing to the gentrification of the neighborhood and push certain people out. The structure of the UCD is designed to advocate for the corporate entities (and while, yes, it's their money mostly, the net effect is the general public is left out of decisions). -Original Message- From: owner-univc...@list.purple.com [mailto:owner-univc...@list.purple.com] On Behalf Of UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 10:07 AM To: univcity@list.purple.com Subject: Re: [UC] Clark Park: Power and secrecy was the goal, UCR Lalevic, Darco wrote: I too am often offended by the bias and misinformation that is often propagated as marketing for University City. can you cite examples of this? Sure, I disagree with UCD and FOCP on many issues, examples? The fact is, by not engaging the argument in a logical, academic way, you've pushed the relevance of your argument to the wayside. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Clark Park: Power and secrecy was the goal, UCR
Lalevic, Darco wrote: I too am often offended by the bias and misinformation that is often propagated as marketing for “University City”. can you cite examples of this? Sure, I disagree with UCD and FOCP on many issues, examples? The fact is, by not engaging the argument in a logical, academic way, you’ve pushed the relevance of your argument to the wayside. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Clark Park: Power and secrecy was the goal, UCR
but then soon after glenn invoked chaucer, and Right so as bees out swarmen from an hyve, Out of the develes ers ther gonne dryve Twenty thousand freres on a route, And thurghout helle swarmed al aboute, And comen agayn as faste as they may gon, And in his ers they crepten everychon. He clapte his tayl agayn and lay ful stille. :-) Cindy Miller wrote: No, but according to Wikipedia, it means that Glenn has lost and the discussion is now over. -cm On Sep 24, 2010, at 7:45 AM, Kathleen Turner wrote: Does comparison to the Holocaust invoke Godwin's Law, and if so, does that mean that Glenn is forever barred from writing further messages on this topic? Kathleen On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 6:47 PM, craigso...@aol.com mailto:craigso...@aol.com wrote: “They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. And then we came for Glenn, and everyone cheered up. Ciao, Craig You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Sherrod, and straw man technique
Kimm Tynan wrote: Amen, Wilma. Wilma de Soto wrote: The Sherrod incident is troublesome on many fronts. recently, helen thomas lost her job when the same thing happened to her. like sherrod, her comments were distorted and she was vilified by sound bites and hair-trigger reactions. (for starters, thomas was asked about 'israel', but almost every headline had her talking about 'jews'. big distinction! but a viral holocaust card will trump everything, no question.) if sherrod is given different treatment than thomas as a result of media-created firestorms and politically-fueled agendas, we are, unfortunately, back to square one: racism. (not disagreeing with any of the 'wows' or 'geez' here, just adding another note, one year after obama's 'teachable moment' beer summit that was supposed to put dialog before reaction.) .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] UCD is innocent
Glenn moyer wrote: As for evidence, there is rarely any evidence unless you're there, and since some people believe it's more likely than not, they require evidence that it did not occur. back in 2003, ucd used l+i to get rid of undesirable established businesses. now that it's 2010 and ucd has the 'right' new businesses on baltimore avenue [many re-façaded in ucd colors -- or is it campus apartments?], ucd is warning businesses of an l+i sweep and helping them to prepare for it. whether it's 2003 or 2010, ucd knows how to apply l+i to baltimore ave, is in close communication with l+i, and knows in advance of unsuspecting businesses what l+i plans to do. 1 oct 2003: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg04748.html letter to uc review from chris white: I talked to Eli Masser [ucd's corridor manager for baltimore ave] when I saw him at the Neighbor to Neighbor Street Festival, the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. I confronted him about the rumors that he had been calling LI. He admitted to calling LI and pushing for a general crackdown on businesses on Baltimore Avenue. I don't expect you to agree with me about this, said Masser, but new businesses can't compete with neighboring businesses that are totally illegal. We debated for about half an hour. During this time, he made many slanderous remarks about Baltimore Avenue businesses saying that they do not pay their taxes or care about the community. I asked him why he thought new businesses would compete with established ones, especially when they are offering different products and services. I defended merchants he spoke against as businesses I depend on for my needs. And I challenged him to find out from business owners what would really help them improve their businesses besides urging them to go into debt for facade changes. 12 may 2010: http://tinyurl.com/325envq the uc review reports: Joe McNulty, the Commercial Corridors Manager for the University City District joined them [Editor Robert Christian and Staff Reporter Nicole Contosta] to announce an LI sweep of Baltimore Ave from 40th through 52nd Street starting the week of June 14th. An inspector will visit every business to make sure that it has the proper licenses and zoning, said McNulty. As the conversation unfolded, McNulty explained that some of the most pressing concerns facing those businesses along Baltimore Ave include making sure owners have an up to date privilege license and other applicable licenses such as for liquor. Also, is not currently legal for a business to provide outdoor seating unless it is in the bounds of that property, added McNulty. In an effort to help business owners along Baltimore Ave prepare for the upcoming inspection, McNulty has asked an inspector to come to the next Baltimore Ave Business Association Meeting on June 1st. Note: The UCD is in no way involved with the LI Sweep, it would simply like to help businesses prepare for it so the Avenue can maintain its vitality. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] UC Review
Karen Allen wrote: http://www.phila.gov/PHILS/Docs/otherinfo/pname3.htm great link! especially because they include the years. thanks for posting it. another philly site I love: http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/Home.aspx .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] FOCP: Re: What would honest people do?
Brian Siano wrote: The following is FOCP President Frank Chance's response to Glenn Moyer's recent messages. -- Forwarded message -- From: *Frank L. Chance* chanc...@gmail.com mailto:chanc...@gmail.com Date: Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 10:02 AM Subject: [focp-board] Re: What would honest people do? To: Glenn glen...@earthlink.net mailto:glen...@earthlink.net Cc: Board of FOCP focp-bo...@yahoogroups.com mailto:focp-bo...@yahoogroups.com Responses interspersed below. this is hilarious. FRANK CHANCE: glenn, why aren't you a member of focp! GLENN MOYER: frank, why aren't you subscribed to uclist! FRANK CHANCE: uclist is dysfunctional! has been for years! GLENN MOYER: focp is dysfunctional! has been for years! FRANK CHANCE: focp is NOT dysfunctional! we work WITH ucd! GLENN MOYER: focp is ucd's PAWN! the park plans are ucd's! FRANK CHANCE: no way! for example, ucd never ONCE posted park plans on that dysfunctional uclist! GLENN MOYER: yet ucd's so COSY with that dysfunctional focp! FRANK CHANCE: well uclist is dysfunctional! because of YOU! GLENN MOYER: and yet, for example, YOU'RE replying here! FRANK CHANCE: glenn, you really should join focp! GLENN MOYER: frank, you really should join uclist! .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] New mass arrests for poor and minorities, pot
Glenn moyer wrote: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100408_Editorial__Justice_for_all.html Book: The New Jim Crow. You can find interviews with author Michelle Alexander in the archives of Democracy Now and Bill Moyer's Journal. http://www.thenewpress.com/index.php?option=com_titletask=view_titlemetaproductid=1617 I watched this very same author speaking on bill moyer's journal the other night; she was awesome in her clarity. she and bryan stevenson. basically: the u.s. incarceration system today is the new jim crow. here's a summary, with links to video and transcript: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04022010/profile.html Alexander believes that King would be deeply troubled by the remaining inequality in America. As she tells Bill Moyers, I think Martin Luther King would be thrilled by some of the individual progress of African Americans, but stunned, absolutely stunned and saddened, by the state of African Americans as a whole today. Stevenson adds that to reach King's dream, America must address the causes of poverty, I think in America, the opposite of poverty is justice. I think there are structures and systems that have created poverty, and have made that poverty so permanent, that until we think in a more just way about how to deal with poverty in this country, we're never gonna make the progress that Dr. King envisioned. Both believe that America's policies of mass incarceration continue the cycle of poverty. America is the largest jailer on the planet, with 2.3 million people behind bars. But the policy of mass imprisonment, unique among industrialized nations, disproportianatetly affects minorities, especially African American men. One in 100 adults in America is behind bars, but one in nine African American men aged 20 to 34 is behind bars. Much of this arises from the war on drugs. According to Human Rights Watch, African American adults have been arrested at a rate 2.8 to 5.5 times higher than white adults in every year from 1980 to 2007. Yet, according to government statistics, African Americans and whites have similar rates of illicit drug use and dealing. - - - - - - - in other news, coming to penn april 14 to speak about public parks is author alex garvin (Public Parks: the Key to Livable Communities). he'll certainly cover a lot of the issues about public parks that have been discussed on this list about clark park, and can provide a precision of language and a clarity of focus (I'm reading one of his books now) -- so there might be interest here. one of his more revealing quotes: The most difficult question is whether publicly owned and managed open space is *public* if people are excluded? details: http://www.upenn.edu/penniur/events_upcoming.shtml#Apr14 .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Civility
Wilma de Soto wrote: € I agree with you that the planned community approach has nothing to with a listserv and that is my point; especially in an area with so many different types of people that live and work in UC. speaking of civility and the tensions between control and diversity, penn is hosting a forum next tuesday at 5 pm called The Polarized Polis: Public Debate in the United States. details here: http://www.upenn.edu/president/silfenforum/ ...If public debate is indeed in trouble, from a democratic perspective, who or what is to blame? Whatever the causes, what remedies are available given America's historic commitments to broad civic participation and free expression? if you can't make it to the event, it'll be webcast live: http://www.upenn.edu/president/silfenforum/webcast.html ironically (or not) the forum is being held at annenberg's new public policy center -- annenberg school for communication (asc) is/was the host for kyle's list: http://lists.asc.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/ucneighbors .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Civility (Was: Re: Drug pushers in the NYTimes)
Frank Carroll wrote: If I remember correctly—and I'm sure that I do—Kyle started his personal listserv less than a week before his book was released. I always suspected that he did it to avoid any discussion about the book's subject matter. In that sense I agree with you. I don't think he can easily deal with disagreements. I could be wrong. when kyle announced his new list on june 28 2007, it was also during a time when there was a lot of discussion on this list about the newspaper reports of the ucd scandal over john fenton. here's kyle discussing it on jun 27: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg18162.html these discussions were also tied to discussions about the scandal's negative impact on ucd and its proposed nid, which had been a long ongoing topic on this list and which kyle actively took part in. over the years, and even today, many discussions on this list reveal a lot of things that organizations (like shca, uchs, fopc, ucd) would, understandably, not like to be publicly available. that's the thing about this list: it has a publicly accessible archive. here's kyle on jun 28, announcing his new list and his intention to unsubscribe from this list: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg18858.html and here's kyle later that same day, asking if we could stop talking about ucd and fenton: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg18194.html . . . but the nice thing about this list's archive: any reader can access the context and behaviors of the people posting, and see and judge for themselves their degree of civility, their taking sides, forming cliques -- or not -- and how such an archive makes disgusting pieces of revisionist history impossible. it also shows how people like to hear themselves validated on a list, by like-minded people. for example, just before kyle formed his new list, here he was, with ross, mike vanhelder and brian, laughing together over a murder that had occurred at 49th and locust: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg17995.html and here was al calling attention to that: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg18016.html .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Penn deserves credit, was Civility
Glenn moyer wrote: PS. For those of you not subscribed to UCNeighbors, that listserv is now a Google Group and is no longer hosted by or affiliated with Penn. Thanks for this great news, Frank! The Penn administration deserves credit for kicking them out! does this link still work? should it be modified/removed? http://lists.asc.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/ucneighbors .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] common decency on the UCLipServ
Lewis Mellman wrote: is something like this possible? yes. but it can't happen by disengaging. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: [Ucneighbors] possible gatherings of juveniles 40th and Mkt this...
craigso...@aol.com wrote: There are many incidents of badly behaving kids, usually black, in a majority minority city that goes unreported in the press. when penn students do their flash mobs there's no helicopters, no alerts. maybe they're not doing it right? http://fh.house.upenn.edu/Lists/News/DispForm.aspx?ID=117 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1RgIf1If_4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fAOMhqRc34 http://www.collegeotr.com/university_of_pennsylvania/the_twelve_best_strange_absurd_creative_college_flash_mobs_ever_17173 etc. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Community meeting tonight regarding possible Starbucks at 42nd and Woodland
Frank wrote: From the City Paper: http://citypaper.net/blogs/mealticket/2010/03/23/community-meeting-tonight-regarding-possible-starbucks-at-42nd-and-woodland/ hahaha funniest comment there so far is craigsolve's .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: [UCNeighbors] Community meeting tonight regarding possible Starbucks at 42nd and Woodland
Kathleen Turner wrote: Why should USIP students be denied the same rights as Penn and Drexel students? They should also have easy access to overpriced, lousy coffee! Kathleen On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 12:38 PM, Frank fcarr...@pobox.com mailto:fcarr...@pobox.com wrote: From the City Paper: http://citypaper.net/blogs/mealticket/2010/03/23/community-meeting-tonight-regarding-possible-starbucks-at-42nd-and-woodland/ earlier today: Green Line Cafe owner Douglas Witmer just Twittered this: Do you want a Starbucks at 42nd Woodland? Community meeting tonight @ SHCA (257 S. 45th St.) 6:30pm to hear their plans. update on city paper page says it was a zoning meeting: UPDATE: We’re now told that tonight’s zoning meeting, which would involve the University of the Sciences accepting community feedback regarding a zoning variance to open the Starbucks, has been postponed. We’ll update when we have more info. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] UCD to Annex Powelton Village Mantua
Karen Allen wrote: RE: UCD to Annex Powelton Village Mantua Mark this as the first time a Liberal Democrat and a Conservative Republican can agree on something... From: craigso...@aol.com Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:25:39 -0500 Subject: [UC] UCD to Annex Powelton Village Mantua To: univcity@list.purple.com; ucneighb...@hector.asc.upenn.edu The introduction of Fry Speed as the new time keeper for Drexel University's administration expected to be announced today. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/87197792.html waiting for ucd's BID to rear its ugly head again! .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] letter in UC Review, Clark Park closure
Glenn moyer wrote: Dear neighbors, You probably read about the latest FOCP survey victims in the UC Review last week. The report also uncovered that the FOCP/UCD partnership plans to close A park in March. The editor published my response this week. (Sorry for not providing a link. For some reason, my message bounces back when I include a UC Review link. Just type in Weekly Press or University City review) here's the link to the article about the clark park meeting: http://tinyurl.com/yar6jp6 the most revealing line from that article: The best way to have a say in Clark Park, said [Tony] West, is to become a member. the most revealing comment so far about that article: Frank L. Chance | chanc...@gmail.com JAN 15 | I would also like to thank the UCR for covering *our* meeting. It is very important to get the word out to *our* community about *our* activities, and especially about the upcoming revitalization construction in Park A. and here's glenn's letter about that article: http://tinyurl.com/y995xgm Re: Mistrust Generated Over Results of the Large Events Survey at Friends of Clark Park UC Review | 20.JAN.10 Eight years ago, I reported in this paper that the Clark Park Music and Arts festival and Woodland Ave. Reunion were targeted by one of these dishonest FOCP surveys. These surveys have always been an attempt to manufacture a crisis, and bully individual Clark Park stakeholder groups. Dog owners, festival organizers, drummers, and immigrant soccer players have all been targeted by the leadership of FOCP over the years. The People?s flea market organizers are only the latest victims. Corroborated by the current article, the FOCP and their UCD partners have instituted a pay to play power structure over a public Clark Park. At this point, your readers probably laughed at the reassurances about the survey and justifications by the civic association leaders. But the ridiculous survey is not the important information Ms. Contosta uncovered. Since the planned UCD redesign of Clark Park was first announced, the leadership of FOCP has maintained a secret exclusive back room process over all park plans, and does not allow the public or stakeholders to participate. Their public meetings are tightly controlled dog and pony shows at which they sell their plans formed in back rooms. Throughout the years, this redesign process has been repeatedly rejected by the larger community as well as the members of the FOCP. A so called planning committee decides where to put fountains, etc. Have the public or stakeholder representatives ever been invited to participate in those meetings? The park is about to be closed between Baltimore and Chester. The three month timetable reported is no more believable than any survey conclusions. This park redesign has always been designed as the physical support for the Penn myth so often in the news, that UCD/Penn recreated a ghetto wasteland into an upscale paradise. Control over public space is a well studied technique used in the community destruction and corporate gentrification process. The old Clark Park and the rights of the public must be redesigned to support the myth, even though the community likes the park and its wonderful culture. How many times will the community stand helplessly and ignore the truth about this partnership between UCD and the insular civic association leadership gang? The surveys and park closure are both intended to wipe out the park groups who currently use park A. The flea market and capture the flag will be banned by fiat because a pay to play FOCP exclusive activity has a monopoly on the use of park B most Saturday?s when these activities will be locked out of their normal space. When the rights of some are so easily destroyed, it?s foolish to think that any rights will be preserved under the new order. We either need to fight the UCD park conversion plan or lose our rights to a public park. Thanks for the coverage, Glenn Moyer .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Civic engagement, CSpan, Censorship
Glenn moyer wrote: Neighbors, The current UC Review reports a Penn civic engagement project by invitation only. BIDS, special service districts, civic association leaders, and developers will work secretly on a public engagement process for zoning matters! Hahahaha The Penn Praxis process sets up worthless statistical reports based on a series of false dichotomies to prove a pre-conceived agenda. But the people of Spruce Hill know that ALL of the problems with public engagement on zoning issues arise from the back room dealings between those very untrustworthy groups! (Remember Campus Inn!) The real answer for community engagement is easy, and the public is the only group that needs to be invited to deliberations� Link below here's the exact link: http://www.ucreview.com/default.asp?sourceid=smenu=1twindow=mad=sdetail=1870wpage=1skeyword=sidate=ccat=ccatm=restate=restatus=reoption=retype=repmin=repmax=rebed=rebath=subname=pform=sc=2320hn=ucreviewhe=.com another truly fine example of penn's hand in pre-emptively framing the process, start to finish. Penn's Project for Civic Engagement Hosts Workshops (closed to the public) on the Public Engagement Process of City's New Zoning Code By Haywood Brewster | 05.JAN.10 The University of Pennsylvania Project for Civic Engagement, in partnership with the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Architects (under its umbrella organization of the Center for Architecture) and media partner WHYY will host a series of deliberative workshops to provide input to the Zoning Code Commission about the public engagement process of Philadelphia's new zoning code. ... These workshops provide an opportunity for the development community and civic leadership to come together and help formulate the basics of how communities will have a voice in development decisions in their own neighborhoods, Harris Sokoloff, the director of the Penn Project for Civic Engagement, said. By building common ground up-front, we're more likely to have a project review process that will be transparent, effective and enriching both to the neighborhoods and the city as a whole. ... The workshops will not be open to the public and are by invitation only. The Penn Project for Civic Engagement will work with the AIA Philadelphia to produce a report from each of the three workshops, as well as an overall report analyzing the work that has been accomplished, and to share any recommendations that have emerged from the forums. The Project for Civic Engagement is housed at the Graduate School of Education at Penn. Funding for the workshops is provided by the William Penn Foundation. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Hotel at 40th and Pine
mcget...@aol.com wrote: The proposal to erect a hotel at 40th and Pine is now officially dead. Congratulations to all of our neighbors who put so much effort into fighting this misguided project - it is no small achievement to defeat a large institution and deep-pocketed investors. If Spruce Hill manages to keep its historic character and its livability for current and future generations, it will be thanks to committed people like them. So much time and money could have been spared if the developers had only used common sense and initially chosen a more suitable location, like the current site on Walnut. Perhaps they and others will learn from this experience. Does anyone have any information about the new plans for 40th and Pine, other than the request to change the zoning from two to three residences? And what's happening to the 4224-26 Baltimore Avenue site? How long will we have to look at an empty lot surrounded by chain link fence? while it may seem that preventing the 11-story hotel at 40th and pine is a victory, the fact that penn's developer wants to put it at 41xx walnut -- same height even tho there's no historic building this time forcing him to build it that tall -- shows that we haven't won a thing. it's still penn expanding the campus into the neighborhood -- in this case, a building for university use, not community use, being built in the neighborhood, not on campus -- and it's still penn using private developers to do what penn wants -- in this case, tom lussenhop and david adelman building an extended-stay hotel for penn. like karen allen and other neighbors pointed out earlier, this sets precedents for penn and developers in our neighborhood, including the property at 4224-26 Baltimore Avenue. and while the dp calls it 'neighoborhood development' it's really 'campus expansion.' penn promised in 2004 it would never extend the campus west or north. here is judy rodin making the promise: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v50/n27/rodin.html I want to stress the point about our integrated approach. Many urban colleges and universities had taken action on one front or another. None had attempted to commit to intervening holistically on all fronts at once. Here is what we promised we wouldn't do. First, we would never again expand our campus to the west or to the north into residential neighborhoods. We would only expand to our east, which was made up entirely of abandoned buildings and commercial real estate now we see how penn is breaking that promise, through proxies like lussenhop and adelman. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Fwd: Any Beekeepers In the Neighborhood?
Lauren Leatherbarrow wrote: There is David Trickett who is a professional bee keeper who lives at 4621 Spruce if he is still there. I haven't seen him recently. There used to be some hives at the Woodlands and I once considered it. I decided not to because my kids were (then) too little and I was afraid of vandalism. I am willing to try it. I think All you do is host the hives and the professional beekeeper comes and services them and you get some honey for it. - Lauren Leatherbarrow there used to be hives along the north edge of the gardens at 43rd and baltimore -- the very spot where they tore down the house (4224-26 baltimore -- http://tinyurl.com/qtzx9u). I discovered this one day on my way to the park -- I had spotted a trail bees flying over the fence, and looked over, and there were the hives, stacked among the ivy. and it was dave trickett who minded them. I remember talking to him about the bees there (up close, you could smell the honey): he'd been doing it since '95, harvested twice a year, and split the hives about once a year, using bees from hives he had in pennsylvania and new jersey. he bottled his honey and sold it at sam's place (I got a jar, it was nice.) http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~rrorke/Play/food/localhoney.jpg this was back in august, 2005. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN there are also hives at bartram's. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Isn't it about time...
krf...@aol.com wrote: Isn't it about time that the Mayor started seeing through the anointed vision of Penn Praxis? This, from today's Philadelphia Bulletin: *Developers, Community Groups Battle Over Waterfront 'Vision Plan'* Having Blurred ‘Vision’ By JENNY DeHUFF, The BulletinWednesday, April 22, 2009 this was prologued earlier in the month with a nicely dovetailing editorial by penn's harris sokoloff (director of penn project for civic engagement at penn's grad school of education), in which he told readers what their elected city council should do and how city council should behave (basically, city council should emulate his workshops). [excerpt]: Still, the mayor's plan may miss the mark in significant ways. When that seems to us to be the case, let's not ask how could they be so dumb, crass or evil. Let's ask: If not this, then how do we balance the budget while holding on to our vision for a better Philadelphia? Part of this challenge is to demand new behavior from City Council. Just as taxpayers must avoid old habits of complaint, Council must avoid the habit of grandstanding for or against particular budget items. We must demand that Council do the same kind of work taxpayers did in the workshops. They should discuss what they consider to be the low-hanging fruit and why. What's off the table and why. And their public deliberations should include what kinds of shared pain and gut-wrenching cuts and increases they will propose - and why. In the process, they should build on the work of the more than 1,700 taxpayers at the budget workshops. Push the mayor on the values that emerged from those workshops. Regardless of which taxes Council members want to increase, they should say how it will further the values that emerged from the workshops - and how their ideas will further the vision they hold for the city. True public engagement isn't a one-time thing. It's not an end in itself and shouldn't be just an item checked off a political to do list. Rather, it should kick-start a two-way conversation between city government and its taxpayers. Taxpayers and the mayor have picked up that challenge. Now it's time to see whether Council is interested in more deliberative engagement. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] The Gutman administration has acted strangely at times...
mlamond wrote: Oh, come on, Al! It must be the DP's annual April Fools issue! Melan it's their yearly gag issue (Gag Issue 2009), and doesn't have a fixed date for appearing. the dp's gag issue commemorates an incident years ago when the dp was 'gagged' (funds suspended, issues confiscated and burned) but over the years some people have come to call it the april fool's issue... brief history here: http://tinyurl.com/c7frft today's issue had this funny bit: The Daily Pennsylvanian is the daily (well, at least for now) newspaper published by The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. The paper serves the editors who edit it and the managers who embezzle money out of its funds. The community should start its own paper if it wants to be represented. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Taxation and the libraries
Glenn moyer wrote: But one tax scheme that seems like a no-brainer to consider now, even though to Nutter, it is inviolate and can't be mentioned or considered- The ponzi scheme called the ten year tax abatement. interesting article about the tax abatement in this week's inquirer: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/42312127.html excerpt: The tax abatement has got to go, North Philadelphia resident Madeline Shikomba said last night to laughs and cheers at a City Council budget hearing at Temple University. Even before Nutter formally proposed higher property taxes, the volume of grumbling over the abatement program was up. At a series of February budget workshops organized by the University of Pennsylvania and WHYY, attendees said they opposed higher real-estate taxes largely because of the abatements, said workshop leader Chris Satullo. A lot of people see the tax abatement as a sop to rich people from somewhere else. They see it as not fair to people who've lived here their whole lives, said Satullo, a former editor of The Inquirer editorial page. They think their taxes built the streets and the schools, and they're still paying taxes while people who make a lot more money than they do are not paying taxes. Despite the clamor, Nutter remains a staunch supporter of abatements. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] The Praxis 100 point game
Glenn moyer wrote: I said that we were being treated like third graders. 3 more forums, on 3 consecutive days -- interesting to compare penn's technique of engagement with temple's: - - - - feb 23: the essence of leadership preceptorials hosted by wharton's michael useem and penn's president gutmann http://tinyurl.com/d5dba8 For part of the session, students were divided into groups and asked to pick a historical or contemporary figure they all agreed was a good leader. Each group then presented its choice along with two to four qualities that defined its chosen leader to the rest of the room. Students presented on leaders as diverse as Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammed Ali, Steve Jobs and Penn's own Ira Harkavy - founder of Penn's Center for Community Partnerships. Perseverance, good communication skills and the ability to lead by example came up frequently in different groups' leadership templates. This exercise demonstrated the inductive way in which the preceptorial was designed to work. Useem told students to take example and experience and extract the underlying principles of leadership. Gutmann said she was impressed by how well the students completed the assignment and by their level of engagement. - - - - - feb 24: seven community forums to get input for citywide mural project, led by ppce's sokoloff and whyy's satullo http://tinyurl.com/aerxy8 Two teams of artists will incorporate the beliefs of participants of all seven forums into proposed murals, and later, residents will pick the mural that most represents the theme. Murals are about what is possible, said Harris Sokoloff, director of the Penn Project for Civic Engagement, which is running the forums with WHYY. And these forums are an opportunity for people to come out and talk about their beliefs and what's possible for the city, rather than focusing on the negatives. Tonight will represent a different kind of civic engagement for Sokoloff We're going to ask people to share a story with someone else, Sokoloff said. People will sit in pairs and interview each other and ask what it's like to live where they live, what it feels like, tastes like, smells like, sounds like, Sokoloff said. Out of that, we will talk about what they believe -- what beliefs or values are implied in that story. - - - - feb 25: temple's spin forum about the local effects and responses to the economic crisis, hosted by temple's student public interest network http://www.temple.edu/law/spin/forum.html The Temple SPIN Forum will address the local effects of, and responses to, the global economic crisis. The global economic crisis has hit Philadelphia hard, impacting the city in a number of ways. The city is faced with an enormous budget deficit. Health centers are closing and access to affordable healthcare is down. Unemployment and foreclosures are rising. The purpose of the forum is to engage with members of the community, politicians, researchers, students, and advocates, to inform the policy debate about how to deal with the economic crisis here in Philadelphia. Panelists will speak about housing, jobs, and healthcare issues, how the budget cuts have affected their work and their clients, and solutions they have devised. - - - - - .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] [Fwd: PlanPhilly: A President's House Divided]
Glenn moyer wrote: Milton Friedman would be very proud of their use of a crisis. A crisis is a terrible opportunity to waste. -- Amy Gutmann http://tinyurl.com/d5dba8 .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] The Praxis 100 point game
Glenn moyer wrote: Four categories are set-up to assign the points for the predetermined and outrageous list of cuts, “low hanging fruitâ€� and “No way, no howâ€� are the first two. gut-wrenching and shared pain are the other two buckets. but notice how these 4 buckets evaluate the game-playing itself, and not the items in the budget. http://www.gse.upenn.edu/node/732 In small working groups, citizens reviewed list of budget cuts and revenue options the PPCE [Penn Project for Civic Engagement] constructed from the city’s budget scenarios. Working first as individuals, then as a group, citizens prioritized ways to close the budget gap by placing them into four buckets — Low-Hanging Fruit, No Ways No Hows, Shared Pain, and Gut Wrenchers. “Low-Hanging Fruit” means those options that are immediate winners, that generate a quick consensus. “No Ways No Hows” represent the immediate losers, or those choices citizens believe to be off the table. “The Shared Pain” bucket contains those options that are unpleasant and unpopular, but that they feel would be acceptable. “Gut Wrenchers” are those choices that no one wants to make but they recognize as what needs to be done to help the city as a whole. - - - - there has been feedback about how this process pre-determines outcomes [feedback that doesn't appear on penn's site]: http://whyy.org/blogs/itsourcity/2009/02/18/structure-of-budget-workshop-left-many-frustrated/ Take Northeast resident Jim Curran who started his work session with a friendly grilling of City Councilman Bill GreenBut it wasn’t long before Curran was up and out. “This is all putting us down a cattle shoot - the questions have already been prepared,” he said of the workshop design. “It’s too pat, it’s all too pat. You should put this in the paper or something so we can study ahead of time.” And Curran wasn’t alone. I saw others leave their workshops in similar frustration. One was Stan Strez, 65, of Bridesburg His gripe? “This is ridiculous. Cutting jobs on the police force? There’s gonna be so much crime its ridiculous.” Later he explained a bit more, “They’re not including everything [in the budget scenarios]. And not just that, they’re not addressing what the real problem is coming from.”... Like Jack Morley, 46, of South Philadelphia. “They defined the format and the structure on how the public was giving input, and that hamstrung us,” he said of his group, which only made it half way to its goal [online post by Jeannine]: There may also be serious consequences for cutting instead of taking deeper consideration of alternatives. Putting a mostly same-old, same-old, cut-til-it-bleeds scenario to a largely naive but motivated public felt like a bloody disservice to us all. etc. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Demolition alert: 4224 Baltimore Ave - Guy Laren's comparison to Campus Inn project
Kimm Tynan wrote: Melani, If a small, vocal group of our UC neighbors continues to reject the restrictions which a local HD would impose, then, because of the increasing popularity of our neighborhood, we are probably beginning an era of tear-downs and requests for changes in height. This is a false dichotomy and red herring. There¹s absolutely no reason that a historic district is the only way to maintain height restrictions. It¹s not an either or choice. I agree, kimm. and this was spelled out here pretty early on, back in october 2007, about the proposed hotel at 40th and pine. how this a ZONING question, not a historic preservation question: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg20121.html it's odd that anyone would still be stuck on seeing this as an issue about historic preservation, and then use that false premise to justify support for a 10-story slab on that property. hotel opponents have been trying to protect a NEIGHBORHOOD, through responsible zoning, and have argued that neighbors would welcome 'responsible development' of the site: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg21283.html .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Demolition alert: 4224 Baltimore Ave - Guy Laren's comparison to Campus Inn project
mlam...@aol.com wrote: Alas, the proposed inn's location at 40th Pine is not in a local historic district! If it were, then the developers would not be able to tear it down, AND they would not be able to build a tall building, and perhaps more UC neighbors would be satisfied! the reason the developer can't tear down the mansion is because it's individually designated, that's what lussenhop originally wanted to rescind when he went before the phc back in spring 2007. but the phc denied its being delisted in july 2007: http://tinyurl.com/2zmxx9 your argument for supporting historic districts is misplaced here. in fact, your arguing for a 10-story hotel at 40th and pine is AGAINST everything that historic districts are designed to protect (streetscapes, fabric, ensembles, etc.) the question has always been a zoning question, and it happens to involve a property that penn purchased, knowing that it was a designated property. zoning is a tool to protect residential areas from unwanted commercial (or other) development; that is what's being defended here -- and what you are missing, because you keep arguing that the only way to defend it is with an historic district. all this was pointed out to you earlier, onlist, in oct 2007, and I'm surprised you're still trying to make this argument: http://www.mail-archive.com/univcity@list.purple.com/msg20121.html .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Demolition alert: 4224 Baltimore Ave.
mlam...@aol.com wrote: Our community would be so much better off if we could look more closely at the merit of the issues before us, rather than only at the names of the persons supporting or opposing them. And we'd lead much less stressful lives if we could respect one another's' different opinions, honestly fight the good fight, and then shake hands and move forward without being vocal, angry enemies for life Let us try to work in thoughtful, professional ways, even if we have different opinions. melani, would you acknowledge that you respect the overwhelming opinion of so many of your neighbors that was demonstrated at the 13 feb 2007 meeting? where they gave their opinions, backed by the merits of their good reason, against the hotel? have you fought the 'good fight' and supported your neighbors before any of the city agencies that have ruled on this hotel (phc, pcpc, the architect committee)? have you understood why this is a zoning issue, and why it was important to uphold zoning as a way to protect both the mansion and the neighborhood -- as well as future properties throughout the neighborhood, whether they're historic or not? the time to see this issue as more than just personal passed long ago. the time to come together and support and respect those with different opinions is still ahead of you, at the upcoming zba hearing. The second half of the ZBA hearing on the Campus Inn is scheduled for Feb 19 at 2:00 pm, 1515 Arch St, 18th Floor. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Skunk cabbage by any other name (apologies to Juliet)
krf...@aol.com wrote: The following is an excerpt from a piece in this morning's Inquirer. I'm genuinely sickened by the thought that the city is going to run four of what we, in UC, have come to know and hate as the Foregone Conclusion Forums run by Harris Sokoloff -- now not just a prof in Penn's Graduate School of Education but the director of the Project for Civic Engagement. We've all seen how these shams operate -- a discussion carefully framed by the people who sponsor and run them, leading to vague conclusions supposedly given credence by calling them principles (or am I getting that term wrong?). Then the sponsors claim -- well, the name says it all -- civic engagement. Al Krigman From the Inquirer: --- Then, at 7 that night, the first of four community budget workshops will take place, in which residents will have an opportunity to consider actual city budget data for the 2010 fiscal year. Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Project for Civic Engagement, the forums will be run as workshops, and residents will be able to comment on the budget decisions facing department leaders. We have interactive small-group exercises for citizens to work together to figure out what they are and are not willing to live with, and what we learn from that will become the advice we give to the city, said Harris Sokoloff, director of the Project for Civic Engagement. We'll see what happens. --- without penn's help, the mayor held a series of 'town meetings' about the city budget back in december, in the wake of the news about the library cuts: http://youngphillypolitics.com/mayor_nutter039s_town_hall_meeting_schedule ironically, without even attending the first of these meetings, sokoloff was pre-emptively telling us how the mayor's meetings were all wrong and how he (sokoloff co. -- penn/inky's great expectations project and the penn project for civic engagement) had it right: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20081126_Making__town_hall__meetings_work.html the further irony here is that sokoloff co. had already conducted, in the spring, 10 forums on the budget -- one in each city council district -- where citizens were asked to talk about the mayor's six major budget areas. who is in charge here? and when? who decides when 'town forums' are done right and when they're done wrong? what is an average citizen to think? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Penn-gemony receives its next Mayor
Joe Clarke wrote: This relationship precedes Nutter's administration and will probably succeed it as well. Penn's School of Education has produced at least one -- Connie Clayton -- head of the school board. I know that the city's Human Resource database, SOS, was built by Penn. The BRT database was also a co project with the University's social work, urban planning, etc.. There are probably dozens of other links to the city--why wouldn't there be. To have that much expertise a half mile west, you'd have to be out of your mind not to use it. However, I'd like to see the city be less beholdin' to one institution that already has enough money to consider putting tanning booths in each dorm room in order to achieve a more diverse student body. I'd like to see them mix it up a bit. Get some of the other schools involved. Don't just go to Penn each time you need an expert on ethics, genetics, faith-based initiatives (this is laughable), on and on. Penn wants to guard its place at the funding trough (Penn is often the distributor-of-choice for funds to the area, the local agent, for which it gets a hefty administrative fee). Penn positions itself to benefit Penn and there's no better way than to be up to your nose in political access. The community is also Penn's petri dish for social programs and other government initiatives to help out the community. No doubt, Penn does good for some, but it is always on Penn's terms, as it positions itself to be in the front of the line when the ole funding spigot gets turned and that vital replenishing liquidity comes gushing forth and streaming down over them like lucre's holy sacrament (secular alleluia's are appropriate here). In the meantime the community beneficiaries get to be close by when all that comes rushing through, where even the spray is enough to revive a program for the next funding year. Amen agreed, joe. and while it's questionable enough for penn to interfere, as a private entity, with the waterfront development, with businesses along 40th street, or with the kimmel center re-do, it's even more questionable for penn to interfere with decision-making about city budgets. especially when penn does not offer concomitant expertise on how taxpaying voters can hold penn agencies (and their creations) accountable. example: penn praxis on 40th street http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/40th/ UNACCOUNTABLE the praxis-delivered principles for 40th street run counter to the proposed hotel. principles like: small-scale retail values of the community commerce and culture reflecting the surrounding neighborhood reduced energy consumption continued consultation, communication, dialogue and promotion and yet it is the friends of 40th street who are held responsible for these principles. (by whom?) NON-TRANSPARENT the meeting minutes of the praxis-created friends disappear from the website in oct 2007, and never mention the hotel (the story of the hotel broke publicly in the uc review oct 2007). and yet it is the friends of 40th street who are held responsible for 'communication.' (by whom?) will this model (where penn frames the dialog and creates non-accountable, non-transparent friends), be applied to philadelphia's budget decision-making? to what extent will nutter be accountable? not accountable? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Penn-gemony receives its next Mayor
KAREN ALLEN wrote: As far as this is concerned: the praxis-delivered principles for 40th street run counter to the proposed hotel. principles like: values of the community commerce and culture reflecting the surrounding neighborhoodThat's where our neighbors who feed at the Penn trough come into play on behalf of Penn. It would seem that few people think (or, at least, will say out loud) that it seems odd that the most strident and outspoken supporters of Penn Real Estate's hotel proposal just happen to be mostly real estate agents and large property owners who rent to Penn students. Nor does it seem to be odd that those self-same real estate agents, property owners, and the hotel developer were the same people who all somehow ended up being named to the steering committee which tried to get Penn's UCD BID proposal passed into law. Now it's been revealed that a local community association has had board members quit in disgust over its zoning committee seemingly ignoring their members' loud and clear objections t o the hotel. All of this is to say that the community can be hijacked by those with self interests who are willing to throw the actual community under the Penn bus. Pay no attention to my blatant conflicts of interest, and to near-unanimous opposition from everyone else. I am the Community, and I am here to rubberstamp anything Penn wants! yes. our neighborhood associations can hijack the community and be hijacked by penn interests; meanwhile penn can invent 'surrogate' neighborhood associations for us. these are the pseudo 'community engagement' groups (like 'friends of 40th street'), spawned by the likes of penn praxis -- groups (or forums or workshops etc) which not only frame the terms of the engagement and its outcomes, but also give the appearance that public debate and deliberation have taken place and that communication and dialog are continuing. unfortunately, as we've seen so close at hand with 'friends of 40th street', there are no accompanying mechanisms to ensure accountability or transparency or continued communication -- no matter which side one is on in any given issue! rather than serve or empower or engage citizens, these groups, like the neighborhood associations, ultimately serve only to give the appearance of community engagement. meanwhile the power entities do what they want; in the case of 40th street penn builds and develops whatever penn wants to build and develop, shca's zoning committee decides zoning questions however shca's zoning committee wants. and at the end of the day, no one is accountable, yet everyone is 'engaged'. and I was asking joe if this model is what we can expect with the upcoming penn-led workshops for the city budget. and much earlier I was asking if, with obama's inauguration, we had entered upon a new chapter of understanding about our roles as citizens. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Penn’s landing, literally
Anthony West wrote: Name one meeting or plan delivered by PennPraxis at which the Campus Inn even came up. Cite one overarching principle enunciated by PennPraxis with regard to 40th St. that, in your opinion, means there should be no highrise hotel at Pine St. exactly: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/40th/ and now that you're just hitting reply in order to prove my point, not yours -- I'll say adios. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] Re: DP reporting, national problem
Glenn moyer wrote: Ray and list, What’s disturbing to me is a general pattern that is emerging, as exemplified in the DP series on the hotel. I’ve been reading serious reports about civics education not being part of school curriculum, law students without an understanding of basic ethics; and as DP readers know, a loss of basic principles in journalism. Young folks today are immersed in a web of marketing. Newspapers have traditional ads, news stories as ads, editorials as ads, and now opinion columns as ads. ha -- and college hall agenda items are to the dp what hair removal ads are to a local rag like city paper. neither paper is in a position to make refusals. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Penn’s landing, literally
Anthony West wrote: However, it is the Mayor that got to pick and choose PennPraxis in the first place, for any of its 'engagements' with the public. No Mayor, no PennPraxis. you're leaving out how it was penn praxis that first framed and crafted the 'civic vision', which was then used by penn praxis and the mayor to disapprove the existing plans for the waterfront. no penn praxis, no choices for mayor. the casino developers knew this and called it a 'rigged game'. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Penn’s landing, literally
Anthony West wrote: Your notion that [snipped] your fantasy ramblings miss the simple fact that penn praxis opposes developers at the waterfront while not opposing developers at 40th and pine, even though neighbors in both cases are opposed to the developers. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] DP continues on NIMBY shame
Glenn moyer wrote: Check out today's installment which I've linked below. http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2009/02/02/Opinion/David.Lei.another.Stitch.In.The.Seam-3607392.shtml if this hotel is such an obvious benefit to everyone (as this writer claims), such a pivotal part of penn's long-range vision for 40th street, why didn't the dp utter a single word about the planned hotel from the beginning? why did neighbors only first publicly hear about the hotel when the story broke in the university city review in october 2007? wouldn't the dp (or any other penn publication) have announced news about this wonderful hotel a year or so in advance of everyone else, like they've done for the other wonderful buildings along 40th street, like they're doing now for the wonderful transplant patient facility at 40th and spruce? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Penn’s landing, literally
Anthony West wrote: So let's look past your crisis spin as well as everybody else's crisis spin. let's begin by asking whether the collapse of the real estate market is a crisis or a 'less pressured environment'. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Penn’s landing, literally
Glenn moyer wrote: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/38686427.html the closing back-to-back paragraphs from this article dovetail nicely: problem-solving, part I (developing waterfront by mayors to address longstanding waterfront crisis inevitably creates a crisis): For years, Philadelphia mayors resisted the idea of a formal master plan for the waterfront, preferring to negotiate directly with developers. That view softened after the state decided to locate two casinos on the riverfront and developers flocked to the area with proposals for nearly two dozen skyscrapers. problem-solving, part II (developing waterfront by non-elected, penn-advocated corporation in the midst of immediate crisis will not create crisis): Because of the collapse of the real estate market, the new waterfront corporation will be able to start planning in a less pressured environment. interesting how, in response to crises, all kinds of entities step in with 'solutions,' while 'crisis' gets defined and re-defined. it becomes all the more crucial for us to distinguish problem-solving from opportunism, to look past the crisis spin. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Penn’s landing, literally
Anthony West wrote: (Diners beware, lest you carelessly fall into Yin's power: she also Sits On A Board.) you may want to read the menu more closely. yin did not create the very board she sits on. who writes the menu and who's on the menu are two different, but definitely interrelated, things. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Libraries and tactics that are doomed to failure
Anthony West wrote: A nice phrase! By the same metaphor, though, Nutter -- and every other mayor -- uses proprietary software to fix public buildings, cut down public trees and computerize public offices. They are called private-sector contractors and they are utterly normal, completely familiar to our Founding Fathers, and absolutely inevitable. That's why the City Procurement Dept. exists. budgets (city treasuries) are what enable mayors to cut down trees, fix public buildings, computerize public offices. decision-making about those budgets isn't proprietary. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Libraries and tactics that are doomed to failure
Anthony West wrote:
Will its public meetings accomplish anything in the end? That seems like
a more reasonable suspicion. Wharton has been flinging buckets of
high-financial brains into Wall Street for a generation, and look where
that's gotten us. On the other hand, nobody else knows what to do
either. So excluding Penn from any role in its city's fate seems odd, to
say the least.
d'oh! turns out nutter's a wharton grad ('79)
http://www.nutter2007.com/index.php?/about/
..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Libraries and tactics that are doomed to failure
Anthony West wrote: Baloney. Mayors all across the country use proprietary contractors such as computer-network installers and planning facilitators and space providers, to help their decision-making. That doesn't mean they are paying them to do their decision-making (although that might also happen, and might not be good). At the end of the day, it'll still be Mayor Nutter and City Council that actually make these decisions. They may decide to balance the budget by not punishing the largest surviving private employer in town any more than they have to, at least not this year. Such a decision may distress some readers, but I am not convinced it is really so bad for The People. I think The People, at least the ones I know, face much bigger challenges than the University of Pennsylvania these days. nutter made a budget decision about the city's libraries. problem was, city council and The Voting Public didn't agree with it. THEN nutter reached for a proprietary solution: penn workshops. it helps to keep in mind what these much bigger challenges that we The People, at least the ones you know, are actually facing these days. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Libraries and tactics that are doomed to failure
Anthony West wrote: What does it prove, that Nutter hired a Penn arm rather than a Temple arm or a Loyola arm to grease a political adjustment? That Penn is the largest private-sector employer in the city? That it is growing and flourishing, and appears to be on top of its industry's game? That it's a logical source for a strapped municipality to seek assistance from? That maybe a superior knowledge industry might generate knowledge that is applicable to the City's budget meltdown? Precisely what is wrong about Penn's contributing to solving the budget woes of its home city? Should it refuse to do so, in your opinion? the problem here, in short, is that nutter's trying to use proprietary software to run an open source operating system. (aye. 18th century principles in 21st century language. the founding fathers were indeed wise beyond their years.) .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Libraries and tactics that are doomed to failure
Anthony West wrote: As for the Founding Fathers, they did care deeply about accountability, transparency, debate and public participation, although it would never have occurred to any of them to use any of those precise words as they made their cases -- our language has changed that much in the past 230 years. well, you've gone from calling it lofty rhetoric to language that's different now, but it's hard to see how the f'ing fathers could have been more clear or relevant about the principles of our citizenship. We the people is about as basic as you can get to caring deeply about and establishing an enduring process for accountability, transparency, debate and public participation. yes, language is important -- it's how we recognize that I did it my way or I'm the decider or I won is no excuse for handling a crisis, whether we're talking about a city budget, an overseas war, or a nation's economic plan. it's how we recognize the difference between truths and sound-bites, values and press releases, principles and internet memes. and now that penn praxis has been inserted into nutter's budget process as a non-elected, non-accountable and self-serving entity posing as an impartial facilitator, we need to remain as responsible as ever to principles, as attentive as ever to language. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Libraries and tactics that are doomed to failure
Anthony West wrote: Attentive indeed. So let us begin by noting that Penn Praxis has *not* been inserted into Nutter's budget process. The agent in this situation is the University of Pennsylvania Project for Civic Engagement. That there are relationships between the two entities is significant. That there are distinctions between the two entities, however, is also significant. Getting names right is not the end of learning, but it is definitely near the beginning. So why don't we go through that gate first? yes, you wrote: Penn's Harris Sokoloff is the quarterback for UPPCE. He is part of the team that is otherwise mobilized as PennPraxis. and what is significant here is that PENN has been inserted into nutter's budget process. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Libraries and tactics that are doomed to failure
Anthony West wrote: I'm totally supportive of your rhetoric ... but baffled by your proposed legislative and administrative solutions, Ray. What are they, in this particular case? How do you think the articulation of principles, the rule of law, the rights of man, the facing down of fascism and communism, and the keeping of the legacy urge us to scrap certain of the Mayor's efforts to balance the budget, and adopt certain other budget-balancing measures in their place? If lofty rhetoric and principles cannot generate policy initiatives, they don't serve any purpose. Please (everybody else as well) come up with some alternative policy initiatives now. Now's when the city needs them! well, the principles I was referring to (and that I thought glenn had been referring to, and that I thought obama's words were referring to) are HOW our empowered, elected leaders go about making decisions -- the process, the 'rule of law and the rights of man' -- in the face of a crisis. which is pretty basic stuff, not lofty at all. joe had asked: 'are we not in a crisis?' and the answer is yes. but that should not become the expedient basis for what glenn has called 'shock doctrine' -- emergency powers which justify decision-making behind closed doors and which pre-empt public debate. instead -- and esp. in the face of a crisis -- we have a profound duty to preserve the legacy of our founding fathers' principles, so that no matter what's done, there should be accountability, transparency, rigorous debate, and inclusive public participation. this is not mere rhetoric. it's not a sound-bite. we have all seen the real costs of what happened 8 yrs ago when the bush administration responded to the 9/11 crisis. and we have seen the time and energy philadelphians had to spend AFTER nutter made his recent budget decisions about the libraries. we hear now that nutter has announced that there will be an unprecedented level of public engagement in the budget process as we go forward. as glenn reported: Budget workshops will be one piece of this public engagement which will ensure that citizens are involved early on in the budget process, like never before. The aim is to examine different budget options, discuss choices that need to be made, and gather input from people across the city on their concerns and priorities. it would appear from this that nutter now believes that 'lofty ideals and principles' DO matter, that they CAN (and SHOULD) generate policy initiatives, that they ARE practical and serve a purpose. it's that same old idea of ben franklin's at work: those who would give up liberty to purchase some safety, deserve neither (or, as obama put it: we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals). and these ideals apply to local, national, and international levels. obama was speaking to the world when he was inaugurated, and he made it a point to say that that world included even the tiny village in kenya where his father was born: What is required for us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. This is the price and the promise of citizenship. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Gotham Book Mart collection comes to Penn!
Frank wrote: http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticleustory_id=3df7dab0-2beb-4363-9850-a79ba034ce38 UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote: see the picture on the wall in the photo? a self portrait painted by william carlos williams (1914). I heard they opened one of the gotham packages last week -- stay tuned... a glimpse of what's in the packages: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/features/012209-3.html .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Libraries and tactics that are doomed to failure
Joe Clarke wrote: Are we not in a crisis? Cutting the libraries without consulting the community (or the City Council) may have been hasty but where is the money going to come from to cover the deficit? Is there any area of the budget -- fire stations -- that somebody, including the city employees, doesn't find unacceptable, draconian, etc...? I don't think the libraries were selected by the administration for any sinister reason. That's your take on it. I think the libraries are an important part of a free society and are an asset to communities that rely on them for information and activities. But it's not like the fascists who go after the intellectuals first in order to crush their dissent. You putting Nutter on that level makes me think that his decisions and administration are just fodder for your conspiracy theories. Is Obama next? I think glenn's been trying to articulate principles here, and using examples that maybe get us confounded because they're on different scales (size-wise, time-wise). me, I tend to habitually think about these things (principles) as applicable on the entire local-global continuum... so, for example, when I hear local questions about how a city's budget CRISIS relates to the actions of an elected mayor and the expectations of his municipal voters, I can hear possible answers in what our national leader just said the other day in his address to the world: As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint. We are the keepers of this legacy. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Gotham Book Mart collection comes to Penn!
Frank wrote: http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticleustory_id=3df7dab0-2beb-4363-9850-a79ba034ce38 see the picture on the wall in the photo? a self portrait painted by william carlos williams (1914). I heard they opened one of the gotham packages last week -- stay tuned... .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: [Ucneighbors] White Dog Closed?
ok this may explain everything: I just heard that judy wicks has turned the white dog's kitchen over to martin grimes (of moshulu). here's the new lunch menu: http://media.philly.com/documents/wdlunch.htm .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote: the other morning we watched as they power-hosed some metal grill things out on the sidewalk. so cool -- the water started out as steamy hot spray, but by the end of the block, where it had drained, it was a solid sheet of ice. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN David Toccafondi wrote: Their answering machine says they're closed for renovations and they'll reopen Friday. dave On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 7:34 PM, John Ellingsworth j...@ellingsworth.orgwrote: Yes. (My friend, who is/was waitstaff, left today.) John B Andersen wrote: I heard that the White Dog closed today. Any truth to this? http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/showthread.php?p=974024 You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Re: [Ucneighbors] White Dog Closed?
the other morning we watched as they power-hosed some metal grill things out on the sidewalk. so cool -- the water started out as steamy hot spray, but by the end of the block, where it had drained, it was a solid sheet of ice. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN David Toccafondi wrote: Their answering machine says they're closed for renovations and they'll reopen Friday. dave On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 7:34 PM, John Ellingsworth j...@ellingsworth.orgwrote: Yes. (My friend, who is/was waitstaff, left today.) John B Andersen wrote: I heard that the White Dog closed today. Any truth to this? http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/showthread.php?p=974024 You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Campus Inn
Anthony West wrote: Liz, Truthfully to portray the chief concern of Philadelphia City government as 2009 is ushered in, is not advocating. It's just reporting. The chief concern of City government at this hour, like most other jurisdictions across America, is to sustain its local economy. If zoning regulation helps to sustain that economy, zoning will do quite well without my advocacy. If zoning regulation is perceived by local deciders to hamper this economy at this hour, then regulation enthusiasts face a challenge I recommend they respond to smartly. nice try, tony, but at this hour, the question is not whether a campus inn at 40th and pine can sustain or hamper the local economy -- not when penn owns so much other property on which to build a campus inn. and the question is not whether a zoning change at 40th and pine can sustain or hamper the economy -- not when penn owns so much other property with the zoning it needs. so you're still advocating for penn here, not 'just reporting'. the question today is whether a developer should change the existing zoning at 40th and pine, for a purchase that penn made 5 years ago, at the permanent expense of our neighborhood. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Campus Inn
KAREN ALLEN wrote: And if they're going to build a 3 story building in the 3900 block of Spruce, around the corner from 40th and Pine on a VACANT LOT, why can't they build the Campus Inn on the vacant lot and renovate the mansion for the other project??? thank you! I've been wondering the very same thing since hearing the news about the 3-story building (a transplant patient facility) behind allegro's near 40th and spruce. apparently, plans for this 3-story patient facility were in the works as early as, if not earlier than, february 2006, when the lot at 40th and pine was already vacant: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb06/trnshse.htm and it's been reported that plans for the campus inn at 40th and pine began in spring 07 (after the transplant facility). in any case, it appears that all this vacant real estate at this end of 40th street was going to be developed and funded by penn's hospitals -- not by ucd's 40th street corridor vision, nor with the intervention of penn praxis. [this could explain what had been long noted on this list, how neither ucd nor penn praxis have published anything public about this hotel...] but what's unclear is how penn can justify planning and building these patient care facilities AWAY from all the new patient care facilities that penn was planning and building. for example, the perelman center, a state-of-the-art patient care facility -- connected by a bridge to the penn tower hotel, btw -- opened this fall on the very boulevard where all of penn's hospitals are located: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/perelman/release-advancing-real-time-medicine.html Designed by Perkins Eastman/Rafael Vinoly Architects, a Joint Venture, the Perelman Center was built to create a comfortable and easy-to-navigate environment for patients and their families. The soaring glass atrium creates a central welcome space adjacent to café and retail space. Exam rooms are a spacious 110 square feet, providing ample room for family members and friends. Special consultation rooms throughout the facility bring doctors, nurses and other medical professionals directly to patients and their families, eliminating the need for visits to different offices around the medical campus. Additional family waiting rooms offer a comfortable retreat for caregivers during appointments, supporting research which found that social interaction helps patients with cancer live longer. Among other comforts are valet parking that puts patients within steps of their clinics, and free wireless internet access throughout the facility. ... The economic impact of the Perelman Center in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is expected to be $348 million, and $212 million in the City of Philadelphia. When it is fully operational, the building will create more than 400 new jobs within Penn Medicine and support 2,772 jobs directly and indirectly throughout Pennsylvania. - - - - - with all this development of the hosptial complex AT the hospital complex, and all this concern about patients and families being in close proximity to each other and to their doctors, why is a residential area in our neighborhood being asked to be rezoned for hospital uses? what is the logic behind this vision at this end of 40th street? and should we neighbors be appealing to penn-the-hospital rather than penn-the-academy [with its 17-18 rejected proposals for the site]? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Disclosure of relationships at hearings
conditions of the site, local resident Chris O'Donnell urged the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee to oppose the project. The nearby home owners all - and I don't mean most or many of us - all unanimously oppose this project, O'Donnell said. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Hospital was, Campus Inn
Glenn moyer wrote: These are excellent questions. another question: did lussenhop and campus apartments and the hersha group (while developing the campus inn for penn hospital visitors at 40th and pine) know about the plans for the parcel near 40th and spruce (for penn hospital transplant patients)? if so, when did they know; and if not, why not. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] From today's edition of METRO
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Developing situations: Place for parents, patients by solomon d. leach / metro philadelphia NOV 12, 2008 UNIVERSITY CITY. Families visiting the University of Pennsylvania or either of the university’s hospitals could soon be taking solace in a new extended-stay hotel in University City. Campus Apartments, a campus-housing developer, and Hersha Hotels plan to start construction on a 10-story Hilton Homewood Suites at 40th and Pine Streets early next year. The project got a $2 million loan last week from the state’s Building Pennsylvania program, which invests in development that will create good-paying construction jobs. The project still needs approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustments as it seeks to adapt the David Leas Mansion, but has already gotten the thumbs up from the Planning Commission and conceptual approval from the Philadelphia Historical Commission. “With all the extended stay demand generated by the health system, Penn and [Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania], that’s why we’re developing this property where we are,” said Tom Lussenhop, a partner in Hersha. The 115-room hotel, which will feature spacious rooms with kitchens, is pushing ahead despite the economic downturn because it depends on business from the hospitals and universities, which is year-round, Lussenhop noted. Some neighbors complained the hotel would steal scarce parking from residents, while others feared the owners might turn the building to a rental property if the hotel failed. Developers said neither of those would happen, pointing to a deal with three parking garages in the area for 75 spaces and a long lease with Hilton. John Farnham, head of the Historical Commission, said the hotel would fix up the aging building, which was considered an excellent Colonial house. notice how carefully the article talks about so many of the issues -- EXCEPT the hotel's massive size and scale in a residential area. and how nicely the article echoes monday's dp article: http://tinyurl.com/5b6f86 Economy doesn't halt construction Experts say demand for education makes planned apartments feasible in U. City By: Shawn Aiken Posted: 11/10/08 Shaky economic times and a tumultuous housing market have not prevented new properties from springing up throughout University City in recent years. Since 2006, a number of mixed-use, luxury apartment complexes have come to call West Philadelphia home. With more construction on the way, it may seem like the area isn't feeling the pinch of the global financial crisis. Experts cite demand for education, faith in the Nutter administration and the desirability of the area as reasons for continued development in University City. Hub I, located on 40th and Chestnut streets, was completed in 2006 for $23 million. In 2007, the $71-million Domus complex, located on 34th and Chestnut streets, was up and running. And the Radian on 39th and Walnut streets was finished this past August for $50 million. Over the next year, construction on Hubs II and III will begin on Chestnut Street near the original Hub. Costs for Hub III are projected at about $19 million, while costs for Hub II have not yet been released. Wharton Real Estate professor Albert Saiz attributed much of the construction in the area to positive trends the city has experienced over the last 10 years. At the national level, with the general rise in incomes, there is increasing demand for living in high-amenity, dense areas, Saiz wrote in an e-mail. He said young people and empty nesters are the most likely candidates to pursue living in the area. Central cities with cultural, historic, and recreational amenities, such as Philadelphia, are faring well demographically and economically all over the USA, he wrote. Saiz added that renewed optimism about Mayor Michael Nutter's administration has drawn many in the business and civic community to the area, making for a greater demand in housing. University City is a desirable place to live and work, and the stability of the market is indicative of the stable demand fundamentals, said Paul Sehnert, Penn's director of real-estate development. Still, Sehnert said he did not consider the area immune to the problems that have recently plagued the national housing market. He cited the cancelation or postponement of several high-profile projects in Center City - such as Donald Trump's planned 45-story Trump Tower - as evidence that Philadelphia has been affected by national housing problems. But Saiz said he saw education as a major reason for the large investment in the area to build luxury complexes, despite the economy. Demand for college and Masters education is very strong and growing, he wrote. In fact, enrollments in some master's programs is countercyclical: When the economy is not very good, people go back to grad school. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You
Re: [UC] SHCA non-opposition and Goldman letter
Glenn moyer wrote: I just returned and read Ms Goldman’s letter in the UC Review. Bravo Ms. Goldman! here's mary's letter in the ucreview: (http://tinyurl.com/5fuvsw) RE: TAKING A STAND! UC Review | 22.OCT.08 Several years ago the University of Pennsylvania purchased the abandoned nursing home at 40th and Pine and subsequently selected a developer to build an 11-story, 114-unit on the site with 4 on-site parking spaces in a residential neighborhood of four- and five-story buildings. Needless to say, the immediate neighbors and many other residents of Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) were aghast that such an out-of-scale development would be placed in an historic, low-rise neighborhood and expected that the SH would represent their views. Alas, in a complete abrogation of its responsibility, SHCA not only refused to take a position on the proposed development, but held a closed Board meeting at which no discussion of and no vote on the merits was taken. Taking no position added insult to the injury of a closed discussion. This neighborhood deserves a more representative Board that debates such issues fully and votes no matter how divisive the issue. A group, which purports to represent the community, should have the courage to take a vote on whether the community wants to trade an eyesore for a behemoth. Mary Goldman University City haha: out-of-scale... behemoth... the size/scale of that hotel just never goes away. now perhaps pcpc's nilda ruiz will tell mary that the neighbors will 'get used to' the betrayals of shca. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Scale and its adjudicators
Glenn moyer wrote: As I just responded to Ray's comments, the traffic study was never relevant. well, the traffic study DID became relevant at some point. and that point was at pcpc's may 20 hearing. prior to may 20, the hotel's height and scale was THE issue -- in newspaper articles, at the spruce hill meeting, in inga saffron's column, and even for pcpc and the developer. it's why pcpc recommended rejecting the hotel on april 15, it's what the developer was responding to when he adjusted the plans on april 25, and it was these height/scale adjustments that pcpc said it would use to approve the hotel on may 20 (even while admitting 'it's still an 11-story building.') in other words, it was all about the height and scale, for everyone involved, up until may 20. but on may 20 the developer cited a traffic study, the pcpc tabled any decision until it could consider this traffic study, and finally in september the pcpc approved the hotel based on the traffic study, telling the neighbors that they would 'get used to' the 'overbearing' height and scale of the hotel. I come back to my original question: what happened to the main issue of the hotel's height and scale? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Scale and its adjudicators
Frank wrote: At the Woodland Terrace meetings I attended we were informed that aesthetics, including scale, would not be as important to focus on as things like traffic. We were told that a traffic concerns would have more impact on the City agencies involved and that aesthetics were not really a valid thing to complain about. I assume this was true at other neighborhood meetings. This might be why traffic became a major talking point. On the other hand, we were very careful that each of the neighbors speaking at the first PCPC meeting had a different angle on the subject of the hotel so that the Commission would see that there were many concerns, not just traffic. Of course, the minutes, which I know are only supposed to be an outline, don't reflect those. thanks. what's still not clear is why the woodland terrace people were being 'informed' to focus on traffic before the may 20 pcpc hearing. traffic only became an issue AT that hearing, when the developer cited a traffic study and pcpc asked for a delay to consider it. how was it that the pcpc did not initiate any request for a traffic study (and prior to may 20 wasn't even considering traffic), and yet, in preparation for pcpc's may 20 hearing the woodland terrace group was being advised to focus on the traffic issue? (and the developer was planning to cite a traffic study)? who was it that initially decided that traffic was the issue -- the developer? the woodland terrace advisor? it wasn't pcpc and it wasn't the neighbors. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Scale and its adjudicators
Glenn moyer wrote: Throughout this smokescreen of propaganda, all important relevant issues raised by the community were erased from all the city records while the falsified records put forth only a single unresolved issue behind the delay, the parking/traffic study. Was all of this a simple recurring error? Was the DP editorial board amazingly prescient so long ago? Why would all other issues not cloaked by a traffic study and worthless U. promises be erased after tabling the matter in May? what's laughable is that pcpc even bothered to consider a traffic study when they were so confident that the neighbors would 'get used to' the height and scale of the hotel. by pcpc's reasoning, surely neighbors would also 'get used to' the hotel traffic, along with the permanent fact of the hotel's height and scale. by pcpc's reasoning, there shouldn't have been any need to even consider traffic. neighbors would simply 'get used to it'. why, then, was traffic so important for pcpc to consider? and why was traffic more important to pcpc than the hotel's height and scale? and why was traffic so overridingly important for pcpc to consider in september, but not in april? it's because pcpc couldn't approve the hotel on the basis of its height and scale in april or may. pcpc decided, after tabling the matter and scrubbing neighbors' testimony in may, to use, in september, a stand-in issue as its criterion: traffic. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Scale and its adjudicators
Anthony West wrote: PCPC did consider physical size and scale an issue, and a serious-enough one to reject the proposal in April -- but not, I repeat, as a deal-breaker. pcpc DID consider the hotel's height and scale, from the very beginning. it was that serious. but pcpc couldn't justify approving the hotel's height and scale in the face of neighbors' opposition and a pcpc staffer's reservations (even after the developer's revisions). so pcpc tabled their decision in may, scrubbed the neighbors' testimony from their minutes, and instead used an approved traffic study months later in september as their justification to approve the hotel -- while telling the neighbors they would 'get used to' the 'shock' of the hotel's height and scale. the hotel's height and scale was always an issue that pcpc considered. they chose to ignore it, to minimize its importance, and to choose, instead, another issue (traffic) as their reason for approving the hotel. that is why I originally asked: 'what happened to the main issue: the hotel's massive scale and height and footprint?' You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Scale and its adjudicators
Anthony West wrote: My post didn't ignore anything; it modestly addressed the question of whose job it is to weigh in on an issue of scale, if you'll pardon the pun. and my modest point is that, whether anyone admits it or not, everyone IS weighing in on the issue of the hotel's size and scale, because every issue about that hotel has to do with its size and scale. some have tried to get around this by distorting drawings, others by scrubbing testimony from meeting minutes, others by telling us that we'll get used to it, and still others by reducing the issue to one of traffic. and now some will tell us it's really nobody's business. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Scale and its adjudicators (Was: Re: Did anyone see this from the DP?)
Anthony West wrote: SHCA's warrant doesn't reach east of 40th St. false. it goes east to 38th street. http://www.sprucehillca.org/map.html the rest of your post, like phc and pcpc and shca, simply ignores the height and scale issue of the proposed hotel. the hotel's massive height and scale have been at the heart of the opposition to the hotel since the very beginning, and this opposition to the height and scale has been publicly voiced, again and again since 2007, in neighbors writing to uc review, the dp, and the city paper; it has been publicly demonstrated, repeatedly since 2007, in neighbors testifying at phc, pcpc, and shca's public meeting. indeed, the height and scale issue was so important that in dec 2007 the developer himself published distorted drawings of the hotel in an attempt to minimize the appearance of its actual height and bulk. and as recently as last week (sept 16) nilda ruiz and other members of pcpc acknowledged that the height and scale was 'overbearing', a 'shock' and a 'problem', but that neighbors would 'get used to it'. well, the neighbors have not gotten used to it, and the agencies involved have not gotten used to it. while the developer, with the help of penn, squeezes their hotel through the mayor's offices at city hall, the hotel's massive height and scale remains the elephant in the room. ignoring it each step of the way does not mean approval or support, in fact, the very attention and effort given to dismissing it is what's been so necessary to push it this far. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Did anyone see this from the DP?
Glenn moyer wrote: I missed this one. This an interesting editorial It makes sense that some young writer, inexperienced journalist, would be susceptible to the snakes behind the Penn propaganda machine. I doubt Ms Hart understood how she and the DP were being used. http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2008/03/03/Opinion/Editorial.Responsible.Development-3246870.shtml this editorial, which the dp's 'opinion board' published in the dp on 3 mar 2008, began like this: It's time for Campus Inn to check in to its new home at 40th and Pine streets. just days before, on feb 27, our neighbor mary nixon wrote a letter to the uc review (http://tinyurl.com/3tezvp) which went like this: It is time for Tom Lussenhop and company to find another site for their aggressively greedy hotel After an incredible amount of criticism, nothing ever changes. He still insists on the same number of rooms, the attached restaurant, the maximum of four onsite parking spaces. How many times can you say IT'S TOO BIG before he hears you? ... It is time for the Spruce Hill zoning Committee to realize that the only ones benefiting from this project are the University of Pennsylvania and the developer. ... It is time for the University of Pennsylvania to relinquish control of 400 S. 40th Street and to put the property up for sale. clearly, the dp's 'opinion board' was reading, and responding to, mary nixon's opinion in the uc review. and this 'opinion board' shifted the issue to one of parking, reducing the height/scale issue to one of mere aesthetics: That doesn't mean neighborhood concerns, especially about potential traffic congestion, are unfounded. Penn officials need to ensure that developers provide extra parking and try to respect the aesthetic landscape of the low-rise community. what the dp's 'opinion board' -- and, later, pcpc -- are ignoring here is that the hotel's massive height/scale is not just an aesthetic problem, it's not a visual that can be blurred away or gotten 'used to'. it's the root problem, defining the size and scale of all the other issues, like traffic and parking and density and future development. .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] South St Bridge neighbors make a difference!
Frank wrote:
From the DP:
Many of the 11 new revisions were first formally recommended in an
April study commissioned by the coalition, which includes community
leaders and associations, such as the Bicycle Coalition of Greater
Philadelphia.
The revised plan has reduced that number (of vehicle lanes) to four
to accommodate wider lanes for pedestrians and bicycles.
http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2008/09/24/News/Bridge.Design.Alters.Bike.And.Vehicle.Lanes.Speed.Limit-3448444.shtml?reffeature=htmlemailedition
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:
I was happy to read that article, and glad to see that you posted it.
it reads as a nice example of what neighbors can do when they work
together -- hammer out alternatives and compromises so that everyone's
concerns are respected AND progress is made. a civic win/win.
why hasn't something like that happened with the penn-proposed hotel
at 40th street? why are we still stuck with an 11-story hotel as the
only option for that corner?
Frank wrote:
It hasn't happened because we're dealing with Penn which we know is a
lot less flexible and neighbor-friendly than the City.
I hear ya. I'm thinking it also has to do with neighborhood
organizations not working for their neighbors.
meanwhile, one of the dp's blogs ('the spin') had this entry
yesterday:
Please don’t be my neighbor
Zachary Noyce
It looks like I might be getting some new neighbors.
Last Tuesday, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission
agreed unanimously to recommend building an eleven-story
hotel just around the corner from my apartment. A hotel
at 40th and Pine should create a few jobs and will occupy
the space of one of the only abandoned building on the
block, so it’s not surprising that the proposal has
advocates. (Count Penn among them.)
But the hotel would have neighbors too, so it’s not
surprising that it has opponents.
You’ve probably read that the building is “historic” or
something. Truth be told, first and foremost, it’s ugly -
probably the least attractive building on the block. The
empty mansion is hardly a community asset.
It does, however, at least it obey the first principle of
the Hippocratic oath — first, do no harm.
The proposed 11-story hotel would do significant damage
to the neighborhood of two- and three-story houses. A
former colleague of mine [Jim Saksa] has meticulously outlined many
of the project’s worst flaws [http://tinyurl.com/4dpu4t]. It would compromise
the
integrity of the area and invite higher density and
commercial development that could displace families. The
building’s valet parking would rob the neighborhood of
several blocks of sorely-needed parking places.
What’s most shocking, though, is the developers’ attitude
toward their future neighbors. They’ve known of and heard
these complaints for a long time now, but they still
haven’t done anything to reassure current residents that
anything but their worst nightmares about the hotel are
true.
I’m not too attached to my current address. I probably
won’t be around for the hotel’s construction or its
completion.
But the people who live on this block really are the
University’s closest neighbors — so the University’s
decision to support the project as it has is a
particularly cruel message.
http://tinyurl.com/4ap6yr
..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] South St Bridge neighbors make a difference!
Frank wrote: From the DP: Many of the 11 new revisions were first formally recommended in an April study commissioned by the coalition, which includes community leaders and associations, such as the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. The revised plan has reduced that number (of vehicle lanes) to four to accommodate wider lanes for pedestrians and bicycles. http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2008/09/24/News/Bridge.Design.Alters.Bike.And.Vehicle.Lanes.Speed.Limit-3448444.shtml?reffeature=htmlemailedition I was happy to read that article, and glad to see that you posted it. it reads as a nice example of what neighbors can do when they work together -- hammer out alternatives and compromises so that everyone's concerns are respected AND progress is made. a civic win/win. why hasn't something like that happened with the penn-proposed hotel at 40th street? why are we still stuck with an 11-story hotel as the only option for that corner? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] From today's DP: Commission recommends approval for hotel
the daily pennsylvanian wrote: Like most members of the Planning Commission, commissioner Nilda Ruiz agreed that the hotel's appearance might seem overbearing at first. But she just doesn't see it being that much of a problem after the initial shock - she thinks residents will get used to the sight and not notice it after a while, Ruiz said yesterday. haha this is my favorite part of julia harte's article in the dp. openly admitting to the problem with the proposed hotel -- while trying not to see it! .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Did anyone see this from the DP?
Glenn moyer wrote: I missed this one. This an interesting editorial It makes sense that some young writer, inexperienced journalist, would be susceptible to the snakes behind the Penn propaganda machine. I doubt Ms Hart understood how she and the DP were being used. http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2008/03/03/Opinion/Editorial.Responsible.Development-3246870.shtml it's fascinating how, as far back as march, the dp was framing the question of the hotel in terms of parking. and here we are now, with pcpc scheduling its hearings about the hotel in terms of parking. what happened to the main issue: the hotel's massive scale and height and footprint? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Three terrible ideas-Campus Inn
KAREN ALLEN wrote: Or they would trot out rental-property mogul Danny DeRitis to tell everyone (paraphrasing his testimony yesterday) that he lived in this neighborhood leventy-zillion years ago, and since he left, there are hardly any residents in that area anyway [apparantly, his tenants don't count as residents]. who else testified at yesterday's hearing? do you remember who else from the neighborhood was there? .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] Is an after party planned?
Glenn moyer wrote: Neighbors, Today is the day that the Penn City Planning Commission recommends the Campus Inn! and this thursday is the next board of trustees meeting at penn: Thursday, September 18, 2008 Executive Committee Meeting; Budget Finance Committee Meeting http://www.upenn.edu/secretary/trustees/trusteemtgs.html [the dp had reported that the proposed site, owned by penn, would be leased to developers if plans are approved by penn's board of trustees and philadelphia zoning officials.] .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] PennPraxis and 40th St.
Anthony West wrote: Ray and Glenn are saying, then, that no meetings count as meetings and no neighbors count as neighbors unless everyone present agrees with Ray and Glenn. It's hard to imagine this view carrying much weight with City officials. Councilwoman Blackwell is wide awake at 8 am when she shows up at First Thursday meetings, and she expects others to listen well. The 60-odd West Philadelphians who attend find they're an excellent source of diverse information. Attendees at First Thursday heard about the hotel proposal several months before it was presented at the SHCA Membership meeting, for instance. Also unlikely to persuade ZBA members is the idea that meetings don't count when held in a senior center. There's not a politician in the city who doesn't regularly attend public meetings in senior centers. Therefore, people who wish to have a practical impact should take advantage of any opportunity to present their case (and also listen) at any relevant meeting. Those with concerns about 40th St. development might explore this opportunity, then. When a person runs out of substantive grounds to stay excited, using lots of exclamation marks won't make a blunted critique sharp again, or a windy parody concise, or a poor political approach clever. It was a long First Thursday meeting, packed with agenda items, and Tom had only a few minutes to make his presentation. -- Melani Lamond concise! .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
Re: [UC] PennPraxis and 40th St.
Anthony West wrote: So, are you for more meetings or against more meetings? Take a stand, concisely. More meetings, or no more meetings? yes, let's see more meeting minutes! http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/40th//reference.html http://www.sprucehillca.org/publications.html http://www.uchs.net/ http://tinyurl.com/6p266k http://www.upenn.edu/secretary/council/ccl.html .. UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
