Late last week, Councilman Curtis Jones and Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown introduced legislation that would modify the 10-year property tax abatement of new constructions, conversions and big improvements so that it would be contingent upon obtaining LEED certification.

Gov. Rendell is pushing for Pennsylvania's legislature to enact a state building code that would require environmentally friendly, energy-efficient construction. Whether he wants both residential and commercial development included is not yet known.

Boyd Theater makes endangered list

By Inga Saffron Inquirer Architecture Critic

With the celebrated Boyd Theater once again for sale, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has placed the art deco movie palace on its annual list of the 11 most endangered historic sites in America.

86 neighborhood planning surveys prepared and published by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission between 1946 and 1990. These reports contain descriptions of current conditions of housing stock; population trends; property turnover; public transportation; community activity. Recommendations are made for future action.

The Philadelphia Neighborhoods Planning History Project creates a web presentation of the full content of 86 neighborhood planning surveys prepared and published by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission between 1946 and 1990. These reports contain descriptions of current conditions of housing stock; population trends; property turnover; public transportation; community activity. Recommendations are made for future action. The project will facilitate university and public research on Philadelphia's architectural and social environment by providing access to a body of material whose content is of current and future interest but whose printed format is ephemeral and subject to physical deterioration and loss. The reports are a primary resource for the study of how the problems and aspirations of Philadelphia neighborhoods were described during decades of debate about urban renewal in Philadelphia. School of Design faculty have affirmed the survey's continuing relevance to the curriculum of the school. At the same tiime, the initiative aligns with the University's stated commitment to Philadelphia as an urban environment.

Planphilly is a new city planning and urban design web site for Philadelphia and the region. It will be a place you can come to for timely news about major projects being planned or under way in the city and a place to learn about, and participate in, the challenges and opportunities that our developing city faces.

Philadelphia City Planning Commission site with current plans for Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Looks totally fascinating -- GO GO GO. And tell me how it goes.

prepared by the Urban Institute and Cambridge systematics, Inc ... with the assistance of the Pennsylvania Economy League.

The TCDI program is intended to assist in reversing the trends of disinvestment and decline in many of the region's core cities and first generation suburbs by:

1. Supporting local planning projects that will lead to more residential, employment or retail opportunities;
2. Improving the overall character and quality of life within these communities to retain and attract business and residents, which will help to reduce the pressure for further sprawl and expansion into the growing suburbs;
3. Enhancing and utilizing the existing transportation infrastructure capacity in these areas to reduce the demands on the region's transportation network; and
4. Reducing congestion and improving the transportation system's efficiency.

This study summarizes the results of a mailed survey and follow-up interviews with municipal and agency representatives from southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey townships, boroughs and counties located adjacent to Philadelphia and/or Camden City. The purpose of the survey was to define and evaluate barriers and opportunities for greater collaboration between the cities of Philadelphia and Camden and their adjacent suburban counties and municipalities. The report illustrates the outreach and coordination process that was used to obtain information about current and future collaborative efforts. The outcome of the survey and interview process provides an inventory of current and future potential inter-governmental and inter-agency collaborative activities. Tables and maps highlight the survey findings and analysis. The complete survey and responses can be found in the Appendices.

Session 282
Monday, January 23, 2006, 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM, Hilton
Transportation and Economic Development
Michael Bell, MEB Associates Inc, presiding

Sponsored by:
Transportation and Economic Development Committee (ADD10)

Sharing the Wealth: Targeting Transportation Funding to Economic Development in Low-Income Communities (06-1677)
Shirley M. Loveless, Coleshill Associates

Highway-Induced Development: Evidence from Sri Lankan Household Sector (06-0202)
Kumudu Gunasekera, Parsons Brinckerhoff
William Anderson, Boston University
T. R. Lakshmanan, Boston University

Stochastic Data Envelopment Analysis Based on Choice Theoretic Approach to Analyze Interaction Between Transportation and Economic Development (06-1208)
Jobair B. Alam, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Konstadinos G. Goulias, University of California, Santa Barbara

Assessing Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Transport Infrastructure Projects: Case of Lyon-Turin Corridor (06-1256)
Wolfgang K. E. Schade, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Germany

Subject Areas:
Transportation Policy

Sharing the Wealth: Targeting Transportation Funding to Economic Development in Low-Income Communities (06-1677)
Shirley M. Loveless, Coleshill Associates

ABSTRACT Economic development benefits are often cited as justification for transportation investments. For a variety of reasons, Federal transportation funds go mainly to large, regional-scale projects with identified regional economic benefits. Local benefits to low-income communities—where they exist—are usually incidental. The transportation and economic development needs of such communities generally get overlooked in transportation project planning. This has led to distributive inequity. A review of state and regional level transportation programs found few that target transportation investments to economic development in disadvantaged communities, either in effect or in stated purpose. The Transportation and Community Development Initiative (TCDI) program administered by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) is one of a very small number of such programs. This program is in its fourth year of competitive grants to local municipalities. While the DVRPC’s municipal eligibility criteria for the TCDI now go beyond strictly disadvantaged communities, in order to serve other goals such as regional growth management, the economic development benefits are still aimed primarily at disadvantaged communities. The program can point to some impressive results in local economic revitalization of disadvantaged neighborhoods that probably would not have occurred without the impetus the TCDI provided. On balance, the TCDI program is a good model for integrating transportation and economic development planning for the purpose of reviving disadvantaged communities. However, even TCDI’s emphasis on revitalization of such communities is no guarantee that their inhabitants will benefit from economic development that might be generated by the program’s projects.

by David E. Boyce [and] Vukan R. Vuchic.