"Upscale" shopping and restaurant areas are really nice, but ask the people who live in Manayunk what development there has done to their neighborhood . . . and where they go to get the things they NEED; the answer will be that they have to get in their cars and drive somewhere else, i.e., the suburbs.
And this doesn't even mention the folks attracted to the neighborhood in part because they don't have the means to drive to the suburbs or anywhere else, and for whom public transportation is another unaffordable cost increment, for what they consider necessities now available within walking distance. You know the folks mean. The folks who came here when the upscalers were fleeing in droves, and who not only held the community together but helped make it the vibrant neighborhood that is now attracting the more affluent and sophisticated people back.
Also, Brian Siano's comment that "this requires a greater community role in UCD," may highlight the weakness leading to many of the controversies in this part of town. Namely, the lack of process transparency that would give people a voice in planning from the outset. And, at the risk of beating a dead horse, not in the phony way ostensibly provided by the Baltimore Ave "survey" but with genuine participation by stakeholders. There will always be differences of opinion and not everybody will be happy with the way each issue comes down.
If a private entrepreneur wants to take a shot, say, at opening an establishment that caters to an affluent clientele in an area that's otherwise very basic, that's one thing. If it happens and succeeds, and more follow, that's OK too. A version of "the American way." But some kind of agency, especially one that's answerable to its own patrons rather than to the public, ought not be deciding what's acceptable and what isn't. Spending money they obtained in grants but never had to struggle to earn, in doing so. It may well be that the latter isn't what the Baltimore Avenue Corridor Project is all about. But UCD is certainly acting in a manner that creates this impression.
Al Krigman
