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
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