subscribe to this page
City concourse gets a breath of fresh air
Warren of tunnels is now scrubbed daily.
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writer
As a sensory experience, few things can match Philadelphia's Sherwood Forest in August.
For the uninitiated, Sherwood Forest is what police and public works crews call part of the concourse below 15th Street linking Suburban Station with tunnels to City Hall, the Municipal Services Building, and the Broad Street Subway.
It's a copse of concrete columns inhabited not by Robin Hood's Merry Men but by a band of homeless people seeking shelter from the elements. And in August, when Philly's temperature and humidity soar, the pungent odor of urine-soaked concrete is unforgettable.
But help is here.
The Center City District, the privately funded organization created to improve cleanliness, safety and the quality of life downtown, has begun tackling the quality of life below ground along 31/2 miles of corridors connecting the subways, Market East Station and the Gallery, Suburban Station, and much of South Broad Street's Avenue of the Arts.
For the first time, at least in anyone's memory, crews are cleaning the concourses 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Center City Underground
Politicians who helped it get a dedicated financial base and its riders want to see improved services.
By Paul Nussbaum
Inquirer Staff Writer
Memo to SEPTA: Be careful what you ask for.
The state last week gave the Philadelphia region's long-suffering transit authority what it had always needed: money. Now, riders and politicians expect something in return: better service.
After years of blaming budget crises for its dingy subway stations, antiquated fare system, crowded trains, balky buses, and indifferent customer service, SEPTA has funding for this year and a dedicated, inflation-sensitive source of money for years to come.
Gov. Rendell on Wednesday signed a landmark transportation law, establishing new funding streams for mass-transit agencies. It provides about $156 million more in operating funds and $58 million more in capital funds for SEPTA this fiscal year, and eliminates the need for threatened service cuts or additional fare increases this year.
When he signed the bill, Rendell said he hoped SEPTA, and the state's other transit agencies, would use the money not to just stave off cuts but to "enhance some services."
He has lots of company.
Editorials & Commentary >
Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007
Spot zoning fails to accommodate the greater good
By Harris Steinberg
... Spot zoning yields mega-projects alongside three-story historic structures. It allows soulless parking structures to sit along once-vibrant retail corridors. And it enables gated communities to straddle the river's edge.
| Posted on Thu, Oct. 26, 2006 |  | |
| Involving public in waterfront plan Harris M. Steinberg is executive director of Penn Praxis, School of Design, at the University of Pennsylvania | ||
Posted on Thu, Oct. 12, 2006
Architect named as new Phila. planning chief
...
"As we move forward with plans to redevelop and revitalize our riverfronts along the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers, we need the expertise and guidance of the Planning Commission," Street said in lauding Woodcock and her decades of experience in Seattle, Boston and Portland.
Kenney, DiCicco: Zoning, planning need new look
The councilmen say codes and systems are out of date. They want to set qualifications for appointees.
By Kera Ritter
Inquirer Staff Writer
City Councilmen Jim Kenney and Frank DiCicco plan to introduce legislation today that would revamp the city's zoning and planning systems, which they say are too outdated to be effective.
The legislation would set qualifications for mayoral appointees on the City Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Adjustment and give the Planning Commission more time to review projects. The councilmen also want to have a public hearing on fees paid by developers to help the community.
Critics said the compromise proposal would not go far enough to curtail abuse. Builders and municipalities lauded the bill, which a sponsor expects will pass.
By Elisa Ung
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
TRENTON - After a four-month review of how the most densely populated state allows the seizure of land for private redevelopment, key Democratic lawmakers are working on legislation that would tighten the criteria for exercising eminent domain and require more public notification. Builders and the New Jersey State League of Municipalities cheered the proposal, while property owners, Republicans, and the state's public advocate said it did not go far enough to curb eminent-domain abuse. "The real question is: What will this do to stop the abuse taking place now? And the answer is: Nothing," said Bill Potter, a Princeton lawyer who heads the Coalition Against Eminent Domain Abuse. ...