2040 PHILADELPHIA
assets freedom
IDENTITY
NEIGHBORHOODS
PHILLIES FRANK
transit
economic
mobility
eagles
loveable
access
DESIGN
farmers’ markets
WILLIAM PENN
GRID
AUTHENTIC
harmony
play
open space PARC
vibrant
METRO CENTERS
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
liberty
rowhouse
schuylkill
independence
choice
sixers
art
NEXT GREAT CITY
competitiveness
fun
walkable
REAL
mummers
youse guys
affordable
yo
community
PA
connectivity innovation CREATIVITY
scrapple employment
EL
byob
rights 1776
brotherly love
parks
WATERFRONTS
history preservation
soft pretzel
opportunity
ECOLOGY
water ice
jobs
wawa
gardens
unique
urban cowboys
city
equity
INTERCONNECTED
DIVERSITY
urban
215
health
liveability
GREEN
PHILADELPHIA 2040 Neighborhood Choice
Ariel Ben-Amos Faith Cole Nick Frontino Xin Ge
Xue Han Joshua Hoffman Natalie Hsueh Carolyn Johnson
Jeff Knowles Christy Kwan Donnie Maley Amanda Wagner
Acknowledgments This volume is one of a three part series of the Philadelphia 2040 Studio, conducted by University of Pennsylvania School of Design. The accompanying volumes are: A New Kind of Global City, and Green + Mobile City. Clients • Andrew Altman, Director of Commerce and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development • Rina Cutler, Deputy Mayor of Utilities and Transportation • Alan Greenberger, Executive Director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission • Mark Alan Hughes, Director of the Office of Sustainability Instructors • Richard Bartholomew, Principal at Wallace, Robert, and Todd • Alan Greenberger, Executive Director of Philadelphia City Planning Commission • James N. Kise, Principal at Kise, Straw & Kolodner • Harris M. Steinberg, Executive Director of PennPraxis Studio Leadership • Kate Daniel, Department Coordinator Extraordinaire • John Landis, Chair of PennPlanning • Marilyn Jordan Taylor, Dean of School of Design
Contents Executive Summary .................................................................... i Introduction ................................................................................ 1 The Vision: Choice ..................................................................... 5 The Path to Choice ................................................................... 21 The Citywide level ............................................................ 25 Metro Centers ........................................................... 27 FRANK . ..................................................................... 33 PARC ......................................................................... 39 The Neighborhood level .................................................. 47 Building the City of 2040 ......................................................... 55 First Steps ..................................................................................69 References ................................................................................ 73 About the authors .................................................................... 76
Executive Summary The freedom to choose where and how one lives is central to healthy and vibrant communities. Philadelphia 2040: Neighborhood Choice envisions a new Philadelphia that extends that freedom of choice to all neighborhoods by making places where people want to live and making it easy for them to get there. Clustering retail, services and amenities around logical neighborhood centers like schools and developing secondary downtowns in districts outside Center City will enhance places where people want to live, work and play. Connecting neighborhoods to each other by building new high speed transit lines and weaving open space throughout neighborhoods eases the connection between home, work and other areas of the city. Anchored by the values that defined the founding of the city, these investments and interventions will transform Philadelphia into a city of neighborhoods with greater access, healthier environments, a stronger economy and livelier communities.
Philadelphia Today
Neighborhoods of Choice
Employment and population loss over the past six decades has left behind vacancy, disinvestment, and neglect in many neighborhoods throughout the city. Four out of ten neighborhoods in Philadelphia have vacancy rates in excess of 10%. Abandoned and blighted property has lowered home values, encouraged crime, and added to the cycle of disinvestment. The current hub and spoke transit system has discouraged neighborhoodto-neighborhood travel, challenging the vitality of neighborhood retail and cultural institutions. Development patterns have been scattershot and have failed to promote equitable development in neighborhoods. Furthermore, nearly 50% of Philadelphians have poor access to open space, which has been associated with negative health and economic impacts.
Connectivity: This principle guides action not
There are Philadelphia neighborhoods, however that depart from this trend and offer residents the freedom to choose from a variety of housing types, job opportunities, open space, and modes of transportation. These neighborhoods are drawing new residents because the choices they provide create a quality of life worth more than the sum of its parts. They are enabling residents to start new businesses, rethink public space and re-imagine the city and their role in its future. This revitalization benefits not only those neighborhoods but the city as a whole. The Philadelphia of tomorrow must find ways to extend those same choices to all neighborhoods. i | Philadelphia 2040
only toward providing more transportation choices that connect people to places, but also policies that connect people to each other.
Health: This principle ties public health to the
health of the environment. Philadelphians have the right to access and enjoy quality open spaces where they can grow their own food, exercise, and enjoy the benefits of cleaner air and water.
Opportunity: This principle means that services
and amenities are distributed equitably so that one’s neighborhood does not determine his or her access to employment and a high quality of life.
Identity: This principle encourages the experession of unique and diverse neighborhood architectural and social characteristics.
Competitiveness: This principle informs
strategies that incubate human and social capital, providing places for ideas to grow and residents to achieve higher educational attainment.
Equity: This principle means that Philadelphia
prospers when its neighborhoods prosper. Public investments balance market considerations with social justice.
Vision Philadelphia neighborhoods will benefit from having closer access to retail and job centers outside Center City, new transportation options to get there, and greater access to public open space. These investments and interventions will ensure that changes at the neighborhood level can fully deliver CHOICE to all neighborhoods.
The Path to Choice Metro Centers: A cluster of predominantly eight-to-ten-story buildings centered on strategic intersections, Metro Centers bring together residential, retail and office uses, education, entertainment, open space, and rapid transit access. Acting as secondary downtowns throughout neighborhood districts, Metro Centers would be actively engaged not only in urban life, but also in augmenting Philadelphia’s contribution to the regional economy, effectively knitting the city into the regional economy.
FRANK: Neighborhoods would be connected by ringing the existing hub-and-spoke transit system with the Frequent Rapid Access NetworK (FRANK). The new light rail line would increase neighborhood access and support Transit Oriented Development in Metro Centers and along commerical corridors.
PARC: Green streets, greenway connectors, and distinct parks would work together as Philadelphia Areas for Recreation and Communities (PARC) to provide every Philadelphian the freedom to satisfy their recreational, wildlife, agricultural, and commuting needs.
Neighborhood Centers: This element would create neighborhood-gathering places by centering
resources on schools or commercial corridors, preserving existing assets, and reclaiming underutilized vacant or public land. Public buildings like libraries, schools, and recreation centers would physically locate near private and non-profit providers of other amenities, including commercial and cultural offerings. City of Neighborhoods | ii
The City of Neighborhoods This studio team has been given the opportunity to envision Philadelphia as a city of neighborhoods 31 years from today.
Critical to this charge is unraveling the meaning of neighborhood. A neighborhood is something that is hard to define intellectually but easy to understand in your gut – it’s where you live, meet neighbors, and engage in city life. It is impossible to tackle this task in a meaningful and comprehensive way at the neighborhood scale because of the interdependence between neighborhoods and the larger city. It is also ineffective, not to mention counterproductive, to plan every detail in every neighborhood because this would hinder the organic growth and evolution that make neighborhoods so wonderful. Therefore, this group seeks to balance the specific and the broad. Our aspiration is to imagine Philadelphia as a city of neighborhoods in a new and different way.
Neighborhoods by the Numbers Philadelphia City Planning Commission
Cartographic Modeling Lab
Philadelphia City Archives
12
NEIGHBORHOOD BASE
69
HISTORICAL NEIGHBORHOOD DATABASE
PLANNING ANALYSIS SECTIONS
409
City of Neighborhoods | 2
2009
Though this is a vision for the future, we need to first establish where we are today. What’s working and not working in our city in 2009?
Philadelphia is already a city of neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods are drawing residents and visitors from the city and the region, producing a chain effect of revitalization, rebirth, and reengagement with the city. This revitalization is occurring in part because these neighborhoods offer residents the freedom to choose from a variety of housing, jobs, open space, arts, and culture and transportation options that, together, are worth more than the sum of their parts. Philadelphia also has a rich network of community-based organizations and activists who care about the city and contribute time, sweat, and resources to make their neighborhoods better places.
However, Philadelphia is not without its challenges. Too many neighborhoods are constrained by an accumulation of disinvestment, neglect, and misfortune that can overwhelm good intentions and heart. These neighborhoods are drastically unlike Center City, which provides its residents with 225 arts and cultural organizations within a half-mile of their door (Social Impact for the Arts 1999). They lack clean and safe places to be outside, which studies have shown has an alarming correlation to highest rates of population loss, unemployment, and low housing values (Copp et al. 2005). Although some neighborhoods have been worse hit than others, the entire city is suffering from a globalizing economy, now in deep recession, and a half century of population loss that has led to vacancy, ineffective services, and barriers within and between neighborhoods. For all of these reasons, the residents of some neighborhoods in Philadelphia have false choices about where they can go and how they can get there. They are separated from Center City and each other economically and psychologically, creating negative effects for the city as a whole.
We believe that Philadelphia can only prosper when its neighborhoods prosper. And that neighborhoods prosper when resident have real choices. Luckily, this is the perfect time for the city and its neighborhoods to move towards a better future. The City is overhauling its zoning code and starting a new comprehensive planning process for the first time in over five decades. There is renewed public engagement in thinking about Philadelphia’s future initiated by the Civic Vision for the Delaware Waterfront and other efforts. And the nation as a whole is entering a time of renewed focus on urban areas.
City of Neighborhoods | 4
2 | Philadelphia 2040
Philadelphia neighborhoods are successful when they provide residents a variety of CHOICE. The freedom to choose where and how one lives is central to healthy and vibrant communities. Simply put, having choice is about creating places in Philadelphia where people want to live, work, and visit, and making it easy for people to get there. Choice emanates from a framework of six principles that guides decision-makers, and most importantly, the development of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods and residents.
City of Neighborhoods | 6
4 | Philadelphia 2040
Choice means Philadelphians are connected with each other and their city.
The principle of connectivity guides action towards providing not only more transportation choices, but more efficient choices. It also means implementing policies that strengthen civic associations and promote neighborhood-level social events. This principle means that public services are located in accessible locations or can be accessed easily over the phone or internet.
City of Neighborhoods | 8
6 | Philadelphia 2040
Choice means Philadelphians enjoy a balanced relationship with nature.
This principle ties public health to the environment. Philadelphians have the right to access and enjoy quality open spaces where they can grow their own food, exercise, and enjoy the benefits of cleaner air and water.
City of Neighborhoods | 10
8 | Philadelphia 2040
Choice means all Philadelphians can access jobs, services, and amenities.
This principle means that public investments through workforce development and economic policies create pathways for a range of employment opportunities. While not all opportunities may be available in each and every neighborhood, the city’s transportation network easily connects employees to employers. Furthermore, services and amenities are distributed equitably so that one’s income does not determine his or her access to quality public services.
City of Neighborhoods | 12
10 | Philadelphia 2040
Choice means neighborhoods celebrate unique and diverse characteristics.
The principle of identity makes certain that the preservation of the past ties in to modern architecture and land use to clarify each neighborhood’s geographic place. Place-making must rely also on the residents and the cultural heritage and involvement they bring to the neighborhood.
City of Neighborhoods | 14
12 | Philadelphia 2040
Choice means neighborhoods work together as the engine of the regional economy.
A competititve Philadelphia is one in which neighborhoods incubate human and social capital that spills into other areas of the economy. Providing places for ideas to grow and residents to achieve higher educational attainment benefits every Philadelphian.
City of Neighborhoods | 16
14 | Philadelphia 2040
Choice means Philadelphia prospers when its neighborhoods prosper.
The principle of equity ensures that public investments balance market considerations with justice. Equity means sharing resources and promoting affordability.
City of Neighborhoods | 18
16 | Philadelphia 2040
Connectivity. Health. Opportunity. Identity. Competitiveness. Equity. In 2040, Philadelphia is a city of vibrant neighborhoods that provide the freedom of CHOICE to all Philadelphians by creating places where people want to live, work and visit, and making it easy for people to get there. The framework of connectivity, healthy, opportunity, identity, competitiveness, and equity will transform and nurture Philadelphia into a city of thriving neighborhoods.
City of Neighborhoods | 20
2 | Philadelphia 2040
The Path to Choice A Philadelphia that provides CHOICE to all of its residents is possible. The following section outlines the elements necessary to make our vision real. In 2009, Philadelphia faces challenges on a number of levels. None are insurmountable. To successfully transform Philadelphia into the city of thriving neighborhoods its residents deserve, it is essential to address the issues that obstruct neighborhood prosperity at both the citywide and neighborhood-specific levels. A variety of changes is necessary to build a stronger economy, better access, healthier places and livelier communities. These changes are possible. The following explains the elements that collectively serve as the backbone of a city of unparalleled neighborhoods.
City of Neighborhoods | 22
A Glimpse of Metro Centers
The economic engines and cultural hubs of Philadelphia
Neighborhood Centers
Thriving neighborhoods with clustered services, empowered citizens, and strong local economies
23 | Philadelphia 2040
the City in 2040 FRANK
A frequent and rapid transit network that connects people with each other and their city
PARC
An open space network that connects people with recreational opportunities and promotes healthy neighborhoods
City of Neighborhoods | 24
6 | Philadelphia 2040
The Citywide Level The following section outlines three large-scale proposals that will enable CHOICE throughout Philadelphia in 2040. Each of these proposals set the stage for neighborhood prosperity by addressing challenges endemic to the city at large.
For neighborhoods to thrive, development needs to be encouraged closer to their doors. While Center City will remain the primary commercial hub for the city, nine growth nodes, or Metro Centers, will be spread throughout the city and serve as economic and cultural hubs for the surrounding neighborhoods. This element brings jobs and other opportunities closer to Philadelphians, regardless of where they live. FRANK is a new way of thinking about transit within the city. New light rail fills in the traditional hub and spoke system and provides Philadelphia residents with easy and quick access to areas of the city not available to them before. It makes transit a viable option for all Philadelphians and changes the way they can think about the city. While FRANK serves to physically transfer people from place to place, PARC brings all Philadelphians closer to various types green space and recreational opportunities. An equitable distribution of open space spread throughout the city will result in healthier and more civically-engaged communities.
City of Neighborhoods | 26
Metro Centers For the better part of the past 60 years, the national shift away from a manufacturing economy and the rise of auto-centric development patterns have helped the suburbs outcompete cities all over the country. Since 1950, Philadelphia has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs and even more people. Like many other cities, Philadelphia responded to suburbanization and urban decline by focusing on preserving the vitality of its downtown. In some respects, this approach has been successful as today, a revitalized Center City is a regional attraction for culture, business, and entertainment. However, this Center City focus ignores many Philadelphia neighborhoods, and too many Philadelphians do not benefit directly from Center City’s success. The jobs and amenities that were the backbone of Philadelphia’s thriving neighborhoods moved to the suburbs. The suburban job centers that have sprung up in the last half century connect to Philadelphia primarily through Center City, challenging the average city resident’s access to the regional economy. As a result, Philadelphians without direct access to Center City have few education and employment choices and more limited access to civic life and cultural activities. In addition, Philadelphia neighborhoods do not tap into the extensive collaboration between suburban centers. With only one major linkage to the regional economy, Philadelphia is underengaged in a productive regional economy. The success of Center City is signaling a renewed interest in Philadelphia. Rising transportation and energy costs, a growing distaste for traffic congestion, and lack of variety amongst suburbs has sparked renewed, nationwide interest in urban living. Philadelphia has the enviable assets of a walkable street grid and ample housing. Yet the City has been unable to translate these assets into a citywide strategy for spurring private development and enhancing quality of life for all residents.
Strategies that encourage development in Center City at the expense of other neighborhoods fail to meet the needs of every resident. A new model of development should shift this downtown-oriented paradigm and build on the renewed interest in urban living.
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In 2009, Philadelphia’s interaction with the regional economy is dominated by Center City, leaving out many city neighborhoods.
27 | Philadelphia 2040
Not only do Metro Centers allow more neighborhoods in Philadelphia to connect with Center City...
...they enable an expanded network of connections across all of Philadelphia, to engage more of the City in economic, cultural, and social activity.
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The Metro Centers concept would break this tradition by creating secondary urban centers that complement Center City and connect neighborhoods directly to the regional economy. Strategically identified centers would bring economic activity to neighborhoods across the city and offer neighborhoods a more meaningful connection to Center City. Neighborhoods would be actively engaged not only in urban life, but would augment Philadelphia’s contribution to the regional economy, and knit the City into the regional economy.
Metro Centers are bridges between neighborhoods and the regional economy. ! !
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At the regional level, Metro Centers allow Philadelphia to engage comprehensively in the regional economy in a way that involves all city neighborhoods.
City of Neighborhoods | 28
Metro Centers geographically diversify the Philadelphia economy. They are instrumental in fostering a new creative, energetic, and competitive economy. Connectivity is the foundation for their success, which spreads to nearby neighborhoods. They are centers of educational and employment opportunity, making it possible for more and more Philadelphians to exercise the kinds of choices they deserve. Metro Centers are high-density, high-activity, mixed-use places that provide a broad array of services, resources, and opportunities. A cluster of predominantly eight-to-ten-story buildings centered
on a key intersection, a Metro Center brings together residential, retail and office uses, education, entertainment, open space, and rapid transit access. A number of sites in Philadelphia have Metro Center
potential. Each of the Metro Centers identified on the map below has the potential to develop based on a unique competitive advantage. The drivers for growth in the various Metro Centers differ. They are outlined in the table on the next page.
Jobs Culture
Civic life
Commerce
Shopping Education Rapid transit access
Recreation
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Erie
52nd St Southwest
29 | Philadelphia 2040
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Frankford
Stadiums
Southwest Stadiums 52nd St
Near 70th Street between Essington and Lindbergh Avenues, there is the potential for an advanced logistics hub drawing on the proximity of the main post office, the Philadelphia International Airport, and the soon-to-arrive food distribution center. In South Philadelphia, near the stadiums and the Navy Yard, there is immense potential for a sports and entertainment hub. The vacancy left by the food distribution center allows for endless possibilities, including a cluster of manufacturing firms specializing in clean energy products, which would benefit from the close proximity of the soon-to-expand Port. In West Philadelphia, at the intersection of 52nd and Market Streets, the possibility exists to leverage the present Enterprise Center and the Lee Cultural Center to create a center for entrepreneurial and cultural innovation in the midst of an already popular commercial corridor.
Germantown
Downtown Germantown presents the opportunity to bend the Route 202 pharmaceutical corridor into the City. The intersection of Chelten and Germantown Avenues offers proximity to Center City and Fairmount Park as well as easy access to transportation – amenities not available in the suburbs.
Erie
In North Philadelphia, at the intersection of North Broad Street and Erie Avenue, the nearby presence of Temple University and Hospital provides the impetus for the revitalization of a once-bustling area.
Aramingo
In Port Richmond, the suburban-style retail developments on Aramingo Avenue between Westmoreland Street and Wheatsheaf Lane currently capture more market share in Philadelphia than any other area outside of Center City, indicating the potential for a denser, 24-7 Metro Center.
Frankford
At the Frankford Transportation Center in the Near Northeast, transit-oriented mixed-use development will serve the growing number of neighborhood residents that ride SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line.
Northeast
In the Far Northeast, at the intersection of Roosevelt Boulevard and Grant Avenue, there is the potential to utilize the nearby open fields for urban agriculture and develop a mixed-use complex anchored by agricultural labs.
It is essential that Metro Centers grow and develop organically, according to the needs of the Philadelphians that would frequent them, while ensuring that each offers a mix of services, resources, and opportunities that serve everyone. The sites identified here differ in their stages of development and in their transformative potential. Each of them falls into one of three categories. The Germantown and Frankford sites serve as existing hubs for their neighboring communities. The site for 52nd Street Metro Center and the site for Erie Metro Center are underperforming hubs that once served a broader role for nearby neighborhoods. The sites for the Northeast, Aramingo, Stadiums, and Southwest Metro Centers are all low-density areas with the potential for vast transformation.
This variation in context reveals three distinct strategies for identifying and building Metro Centers. They are Reinforce, Revive, and Rebuild.
City of Neighborhoods | 30
Downtown Germantown
Broad & Erie
Aramingo 31 | Philadelphia 2040
Reinforce
The Reinforce strategy focuses on strengthening existing transit-friendly retail and employment centers outside of Center City. The sites for the Frankford and Germantown Metro Centers are prime locations for the application of the Reinforce strategy. Already hubs of activity serving adjacent neighborhoods, these two sites bear the potential to develop into fully functioning secondary centers. Targeted improvements to transit and open space, as well as aggressive policies to attract employers and facilitate increased density will allow more Philadelphians to benefit from the services and amenities available in the Frankford Metro Center and the Germantown Metro Center. A concerted effort to reinforce what works at each of these locations will dramatically increase the choices available to Philadelphians in the Northwest and Near Northeast sections of the city.
Revive
The Revive strategy capitalizes on the legacy of Philadelphia’s industrial past by building on the underutilized assets of vacant housing stock and the street grid. The Erie Metro Center in North
Philadelphia served as a major crossroads of industrial Philadelphia, but it no longer fully serves the needs of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. The 52nd Street Metro Center was once a major retail and entertainment center, but, like Erie, no longer adequately serves the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods. These two sites are excellent candidates for a portfolio of transit and open space improvements, as well as new development to increase density around an easily recognizable core. A targeted campaign to attract a mix of uses to these centers will increase the quality of life for residents in North and West Philadelphia. The Revive strategy is inherently more intensive than the Reinforce strategy, as it aims to breathe new life into the vibrant urban hubs of the past.
Rebuild
The Rebuild strategy is the most radical approach for developing Metro Centers. With this strategy, the city officials must identify areas of the City with large tracts of vacant or underperforming land surrounded by neighborhoods, and then develop plans to transform them into highly-functioning, mixed-use centers that serve the needs of nearby residents.
The remaining four Metro Centers—Southwest, Stadiums, Aramingo, and Northeast—fall into this category. It is without question the riskiest and most intensive of the three strategies, but it offers the City the opportunity to fully transform how it performs for its residents. These Metro Centers are the blank canvases from which a 21st-century Philadelphia may most clearly rise. The development of these Metro Centers will require a thoughtful and strategic planning process to ensure that the appropriate density and mix of uses is achieved. City of Neighborhoods | 32
FRANK
Frequent Rapid Access Network FRANK brings frequent and rapid transit to neighborhoods.
To be certain, the Philadelphia region already has a rich transit network, offering one of the few truly multi-modal systems in the nation. Residents of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southwestern New Jersey enjoy access to buses, trolley buses, trolleys, light rail, heavy rail, and regional rail. The city’s existing infrastructure is an asset. It will continue to serve residents well, especially in an age of higher energy costs and greater demand for livable communities.
Bus and Trolley Network
SEPTA
Regional Rail Network
Bold = SEPTA Dashed = NJ Transit
Rapid Transit Network
Bold = SEPTA Dashed = NJ Transit and PATCO
33 | Philadelphia 2040
The map at bottom demonstrates the extent of the frequent and rapid network today. But, this network is focused on Center City and does not make transit an attractive option for all kinds of trips within the city.
But Philadelphia’s transit system is not without its deficiencies. Its
various modes can be classified according to three types of networks. The first, the bus and trolley network, is characterized by extensive coverage but poor quality service. Vehicles operate in mixed traffic with virtually no preferential treatment. Service is slow, unreliable, and unattractive. The second classification, the regional rail network, provides high-quality service in exclusive rights-of-way. Unfortunately, these vehicles speed past some of the most underserved neighborhoods at 65 miles per hour, and they only operate once or twice per hour.
Currently, only residents within the highlighted area can rely on frequent and speedy transit service -- and only if their destination is also in a highlighted area.
The final category has the lowest network coverage, even though it is perhaps the most useful of all three systems. The rapid transit network combines the speed of regional rail with the high frequency of buses. These services are most likely to contribute to the overall quality of life in an urban neighborhood. But this network isn’t only limited in its reach; it is particular in the kinds of trips it serves. Rail transit infrastructure in the city dates back to an era when most residents either commuted to Center City, or worked in their neighborhood and frequented downtown for shopping. Today’s travel patterns are much more complex. In order to provide residents with real transportation choices, Philadelphia must invest in a system that facilitates travel to destinations throughout the city.
FRANK connects neighborhoods.
True Choice means that transit is an attractive option for all kinds of trips. No schedule, no problem. Instead of a singular brand image, SEPTA should develop a unique branding strategy to make clear to potential riders which of its services offer both high speed and high frequency. Currently, those services would include the Market-Frankford Line, the Broad Street Line, and Routes 100, 101, and 102. SEPTA should also develop partnerships with PATCO and NJ Transit to jointly brand the lines they operate with similar service characteristics.
City of Neighborhoods | 34
Roosevelt Boulevard FRANK connects neighborhoods to Metro Centers. Locations like Broad and Erie, and 52nd and Market used to be stops on a transit line. In order to support highdensity nodes of activity, they must become multi-modal transit hubs. Four of the proposed Metro Centers would capitalize on the intersection of existing heavy rail transit with new light rail transit. FRANK’s 32-mile light rail loop and six new spurs expand access to the jobs, amenities, housing, and services Metro Centers have to offer. FRANK also enables the removal of redundant bus service, improving air quality, alleviating traffic congestion, and saving money in the process.
Before
35 | Philadelphia 2040
After
FRANK means frequent and rapid transit service.
Currently, only residents in the areas highlighted orange can access the Metro Center at 52nd Street within 30 minutes. FRANK expands that access to all residents in the areas highlighted red.
FRANK similarly enhances access to the new Metro Center at Broad and Erie.
52nd Street
FRANK operates in a wide array of contexts throughout the city, always in exclusive or semi-exclusive travel lanes.
Shown at top left, wide rights-of-way like Roosevelt Boulevard are transformed from auto-oriented expressways to active, mixed-use corridors. Twelve lanes of highway traffic become six travel lanes, two parking lanes, and a generous linear park, with FRANK running down the south side. FRANK also uses narrow rights-of-way, such as the 52nd Street corridor at left. A semi-exclusive center median allows for vehicular left turns at intersections and bicycle lanes replace parking.
Before
After
City of Neighborhoods | 36
Roosevelt
FRANK is a tool of revitalization, economic development and sustainability. of infrastructure is critical if the City is to enable Choice in neighborhoods.
Investment in this type
FRANK connects people to places and each other. With traffic priority signals, separated right-of-way, and stations spaced every 2,500 feet apart instead of every 500 feet apart, transit would be a viable option for trips in which it had previously been undesirable. Carroll Park would be 27 minutes from Central High School instead of 45, and the trip would not require transfers. Pennsport would be 25 minutes from the Art Museum instead of 40. Port Richmond would be 13 minutes from Temple Medical Center instead of 35. By collapsing the amount of time it takes to move across the city, FRANK also supports a competitive economy. Less time sitting in traffic, whether in a car or a bus, means more time being productive. Investments in high-quality transit are capitalized into property values. With service headways of 10 minutes or less, proximity to a rail station allows homes and businesses to capture the value of citywide access. FRANK stations would serve as anchors for new and revitalized Neighborhood and Metro Centers. Access paired with economic development opens opportunity. FRANK can open new areas for employment and then connect those jobs to people in neighborhoods across the city. For amenities like shopping, dining, and entertainment, residents could take FRANK to their nearest Metro Center, instead driving to a mall or commcercial stip. FRANK would create access to wide ranging recreational opportunities along both rivers or at a number of destinations within Fairmount Park. Finally, FRANK is a critically important system of green infrastructure. A comprehensive transit network enables sustainable and healthy lifestyles. Transit promotes walking and bicycle riding. Pervious track beds can aid stormwater management and fewer automobile trips can air quality. Energy efficient modes of transportation reduce our dependence on energy sources that contribute to climate change and political instability. FRANK can transform more than just the way people move around the city.
37 | Philadelphia 2040
Boulevard
Loop Line
Planning studies for transit improvements along the Delaware River Waterfront and Roosevelt Boulevard are already underway or have been completed. These plans can serve as a starting point for re-shaping the dynamic of our hub-and-spoke rapid transit system. The 32-mile Loop Line would have 70 stops, connecting five Metro Centers to each other and their adjacent neighborhoods. The Loop Line would intersect with existing heavy rail rapid transit lines at 5 locations, enabling a quick trip to Center City for many more Philadelphians.
Roosevelt Line
The Roosevelt Line can serve as an extension of the Loop Line past Frankford and into the neighborhoods of the Far Northeast. The 11.6-mile trip from Woodhaven Road to the Metro Center at Broad and Erie would take just under 30 minutes, making 19 stops along the way.
Germantown Line
Connecting the Germantown and the Erie Metro Centers to the Delaware River Waterfront, the Germantown Line would make use of exclusive right-of-way along the Lehigh Rail Viaduct. Passengers would travel this 5.6-mile route in less than 20 minutes, making 10 stops, four of which would allow for transfer to other FRANK lines.
Girard Line
Existing trolley service along Girard Avenue does not take full advantage of its wide right-ofway. The current Route 15 can be upgraded to true light rail status by eliminating stations closer than one-half mile apart, providing transit priority at traffic signals and physically separating vehicles from automobile trarfic. The 7.8-mile Girard Line would have 14 stops, connecting the Riverwards to Fairmount Park in less than 25 minutes.
Park Line
The Park Line would connect Fairmount Park to City Hall in 11 minutes. It would serve tourists looking to visit the Franklin Institute, the Barnes Museum, the Art Museum, the Zoo, the Please Touch Museum and the Mann Music Center. It would also serve the residents of Fairmount and Parkside. The full 4.3-mile trip would take only 15 minutes, making 10 stops.
Washington Line
South Philadelphia requires an efficient cross-town link. The Washington Line would connect the City’s two rivers in just 10 minutes. Residents of neighborhoods along the line could make quick north-south connections with the Broad Street Line, or either side of the Loop Line. This 2.4-mile spur would have six stops.
Airport Line
The Airport Line would provide faster service to the Airport for residents of South Philadelphia and ease access to the Southwest Metro Center. Making only four stops, this 5.2 mile route would connect the Broad Street Line Snyder Station to the Airport in 13 minutes.
City of Neighborhoods | 38
PARC
Philadelphia Areas for Recreation & Community Open space is key for linking recreational, cultural, and natural heritage amenities and is a pillar of any attractive, sustainable, and healthy community. Today, Philadelphia boasts over 10,000 acres of parks
and natural areas and 40 miles of riverfront trails, providing an average of 7 acres of parkland for every thousand people. Unfortunately, nearly half of city residents have poor access to these resources. Most alarming, 63% of those with poor park access also have a household income below the city median of $31,000.
Existing open space
Current access to open space
Today, Philadelphia’s open space is unevenly and inequitably distributed in terms of quantity and quality. Neighborhoods with the least amount of park space tend to also have the worst quality park lands.
39 | Philadelphia 2040
Our vision would expand the Fairmount Park system to create the Philadelphia Areas for Recreation and Community (PARC) network.
This network of green streets, greenways, and new parks would add over 2,800 acres of open space to the city’s portfolio.
The City could target interventions by: •• Leveraging existing open space and completing planned riverfront greenway projects,
•• Targeting areas with poorest access and lowest incomes, •• Remediating natural assets (like creeks and streams) and underutilized infrastructure (like abandoned rail) as logical starting points,
•• Ensuring that PARC investments enhance and reinforce ongoing economic development and infrastructure projects.
PARC would provide freedom for Philadelphians at every stage of life to choose a healthier and more active lifestyle while improving the city’s natural environment that surrounds and sustains us. Children, teens, the elderly, commuters, and recreational users would have access to PARC regardless of where they live or how much money they have. The City has an important opportunity to enhance CHOICE throughout neighborhoods across Philadelphia through an extended PARC system. PARC would increase connectivity and provide more opportunities for physical activity that leads to improved public health. Additionally, it would bring unique green places into disadvantaged neighborhoods to achieve a more equitable distribution of open space.
Green streets, greenway connectors, and district parks would work together to increase connectivity, health, access and equity within and between neighborhoods. By weaving elements of the natural environment into neighborhoods, PARC would give every Philadelphian the freedom to satisfy their recreational, wildlife, agricultural, and commuting needs.
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Green Streets
Greenways
New Parks
Existing Open Space
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Green Streets
Green streets bring PARC to neighborhoods.
They increase neighborhood connectivity as PARC runs along Philadelphia’s well-traveled avenues. They provide landscaping and street furniture to enable pedestrians and cyclists to move safely through the improved streetscape. These streets also use green infrastructure to provide the same level of air and water quality benefits as more natural PARC features.
Greenways
Greenways serve as park space as well as linear connectors that link neighborhoods to one another. They provide Philadelphians with safe and convenient access between neighborhoods and job centers that is physically separated from vehicular traffic.
New Parks
Leveraging Existing Assets
Strategically located large-scale parks celebrate existing waterway corridors and underutilized infrastructure. They represent a key investment for broader improvements to the area’s natural systems for the benefit of residents and the environment.
Addressing Areas of Greatest Need
The secondary purpose of the large-scale parks is to bring green space to the heart of neighborhoods with the greatest need. Three urban parks - West Philadelphia Park, Lehigh-Port Richmond Park and Point Breeze Park – are gathering places for sports, weekend cook outs, family reunions, and farmers’ markets.
Recreation.
Nature.
Agriculture.
Access.
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New Park
West Philadelphia Park is a community center closely linked to the 52nd Street Metro Center. It extends Lee Park and Lee Cultural Center and integrates Locke Elementary. West Philadelphia Park is able to provide a lively green place for many residents of all ages and a variety of incomes.
Germantown Metro Center
Erie Metro Center
New Park Greenway Connector
South Philadelphians enjoy Point Breeze Park, reclaimed from several underutilized blocks. It is connected to the 25th Street Greenway that runs parallel to the park above street level along a reimagined elevated rail viaduct and provides easy access to FRANK.
52nd St Metro Center
Southwest Metro Center
Greenway Connector
The Lower Schuylkill Park completes the Fairmount Park riparian system stretching 7 miles from the Art Museum to Girard Point, at the mouth of the Schuylkill River.
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Center City Regional Core
Stadiums Metro Center
Northeast Metro Cetner
Frankford Metro Center
New Park Greenway Connector
Lehigh-Port Richmond Park is another elevated linear park and greenway with scenic views and edible landscaping. The location offers an attractive alternative for commuters to and from the nearby waterfront metro center at Aramingo and Castor Avenues.
Aramingo Metro Center
New Park
Over 1,000-acres at the Navy Yard are reverted back to nature to create a Wetlands Center. Visitors explore the landscape along elevated boardwalks west of the port, and then board a shuttle bus that takes them to the western side of the Schuylkill for a visit to historic Fort Mifflin.
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Green Streets: The Street Front
Permeable pavers
Multi-modal sidewalk
Sidewalk planter
•• The street front accommodates all non-motorized movement on permeable pavements.
At a minimum, it contains a pedestrian sidewalk, an on-sidewalk bicycle lane, and a vegetated buffer to shield people from traffic.
•• The thoughtful arrangement of space–for pedestrians, bicycles, and landscaping on the street front and for cars and transit on the thoroughfare–maximizes user enjoyment and safety.
•• Wide roads accommodate an additional vegetated buffer that minimizes conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists.
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Green Streets: The Thoroughfare
Permeable parking strips
Bioretention garden as a center median
•• The thoroughfare accommodates all motorized movement and transit. •• All parking lanes on the thoroughfare are retrofitted with permeable parking strips or bio-retention curb extensions to aid stormwater management.
•• On wider roads, such as Broad Street and Oregon Avenue, center medians are greened with bioretention gardens and trees or with a simple lawn track if FRANK takes up that central space.
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The Neighborhood Level This section outlines the challenges neighborhoods face at the micro level and identifies strategies to address them. Together, these strategies come together to facilitate the development of Neighborhood Centers, which will serve as vital anchors for their communities.
Metro Centers, FRANK, and PARC provide the city-wide foundation for neighborhood prosperity, by addressing the imbalances that exist in development, transit, and open space within the city. Though they are integral to the provision of CHOICE for all neighborhoods, they are not enough. Neighborhood Centers directly address population loss, physical deterioration, and diminished civic pride by filling in development, smoothing edges within and between neighborhoods, and clustering essential services in new and innovative ways. When functioning optimally, Neighborhood Centers will complement Metro Centers, FRANK, and PARC to expand CHOICE.
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Challenges To varying degrees, many Philadelphia neighborhoods face the challenges of vacancy, physical barriers, and insufficient services. These challenges threaten CHOICE for all neighborhoods in Philadelphia and need to be addressed at the neighborhood level.
40% of neighborhoods in Philadelphia have vacancy rates between 10% and 43%. (2000 L&I Survey of all parcels) In 2009, too many Philadelphians live nearby abandoned lots and empty deteriorating structures that attract crime and trash. Abandoned structures and lots can be dangerous, especially to children because they attract illegal activity, can be structurally unsound, and can be littered with hazardous debris. Unfortunately citywide efforts to combat vacancy like the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative were not strategic and failed to accomplish all that was promised. In fact, they left many neighborhoods with missing teeth that were unlikely to become productive. A new strategy to combat vacancy is needed to confront the underlying problem of an oversupply of unsafe housing and unproductive land.
Physical barriers separate neighborhoods and exist within them. Abandoned industrial lands, highways, rail corridors, and other infrastructure create barriers that hurt neighborhoods. At best, these problem-edges are unattractive. At worst, they are so dangerous, loud, or polluting that they result in reduced property values and high levels of vacancy.
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Some neighborhoods have too few resources or lack services entirely. In many cases, neighborhood services and amenities are fragmented so that residents do not have a central place where they can access basic services, run small errands, and enjoy their neighborhood’s open spaces. Some neighborhoods lack financial institutions, quality schools, fresh food, and cultural institutions. For example, a Food Trust study found that the lowest-income neighborhoods have 156% fewer supermarkets than their highest-income counterparts.
As shown in this figure, schools and recreation centers exist in almost all neighborhoods. However, the services they provide are not coordinated (i.e., schools providing library services for a broader public), and they are not central places for neighborhood residents to gather.
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Neighborhood strategies Neighborhood Centers create neighborhood-gathering places by centering resources around schools or commercial corridors, preserving existing assets, and reclaiming underutilized vacant or public land. The strategies involve knitting the urban fabric and clustering new and existing services in innovative ways.
Clustering Services Clustering community services, recreation, commercial activity, and cultural providers around a neighborhood’s natural center – its schools or commercial corridors - has been found to strengthen social networks. For example, studies looking at the impacts of cultural providers have found a connection between clustering and neighborhood revitalization, defined as higher housing values, declining poverty, and increased population (Social Impact for the Arts 2008). 20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Lowest Quartile
25th - 49th %
50th - 74th %
Highest quartile
The more cultural providers within one-half mile of a neighborhood, the more likely it is to benefit from revitalization. (Social Impact for the Arts, January, 2008)
Neighborhood centers should not only have a tight urban fabric, but also provide city services and other amenities that meet the essential needs of residents in ways that are accessible and efficient. Clustering services means that public services such as libraries, schools, recreation centers, and fire stations collaborate more effectively and intentionally with private and non-profit providers of other amenities, including commercial and cultural offerings. This can be actual physical co-location or just the integration of hours of operation, service provision, and marketing or outreach. Clustering services acknowledges that the spheres of influence on neighborhoods, the cultural, education, commercial, religious, and civic components, often operate independently and, thus, incompletely.
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Knitting the Fabric As vacancy and divisions are prevalent within all neighborhoods, there is a need to incentivize development within neighborhoods and smooth edges between them. This can turn unproductive and unsafe land and structures into community assets, and reconnect neighborhoods to the city and each other. Gaps in the urban fabric caused by vacancy, abandoned rail corridors, and other divisions can be addressed through the following strategies, which not only draw resources into neighborhoods but create better transitions within and between them.
Infill development & adaptive reuse to revitalize unsafe, older, and vacant structures and parcels
Home & business maintenance programs to provide residents with the training
and tools to care for their own neighborhoods and sustain healthy structures and places over time
Urban agriculture & urban forests
to smooth the edges of neighborhoods while providing food or other natural products for community use, creating healthier environments, and better managing stormwater overflows
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Neighborhood Centers Using the Belmont neighborhood as a case study, we can look at how this strategy might be implemented. Belmont is a predominantly African American neighborhood where residents are more likely than average to live in poverty. More than 60% of adults struggle to find work without a high school diploma and 34% of properties are vacant (2000 US Census). Belmont’s main commercial street, Lancaster Avenue, has many empty storefronts and partially occupied buildings. A heavy rail corridor runs along the northern boundary of the neighborhood cutting it off from nearby communities. One way to cluster services would be to institute changes in the zoning code and target public and private investment to create a center around Belmont Elementary and an active portion of Lancaster Avenue. A park could be built on Lancaster to tighten or cluster retail and to provide green space at the heart of the neighborhood. In this way the community dually benefits from the reduced commercial vacancies and green space. To knit the neighborhood fabric and smooth problem edge caused by the rail corridor, infill housing can be incentivized closer to the school and urban agriculture and forestry can be created at the neighborhood’s northern boundary. This would transform the blighted land around the rail corridor to productive uses that enable residents to access fresh food, provide community space and jobs, and help capture stormwater. To increase open recreation space and eliminate vacancy, a playing field could be located to the west of the school.
Girard Ave.
Lancaster Ave.
Haverford Ave.
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Urban agriculture can turn formerly unproductive landscapes into community assets, provide healthy food, teach youth new skills, and create space for general community engagement. This farm smoothes the edge created by a formerly deserted urban parcel.
The new Belmont Neighborhood Center allows residents to access services like the school, library, and post office in one trip. It becomes a natural community-gathering space where people can meet, receive essential services, and participate in their neighborhood. City of Neighborhoods | 54
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Building the City
To carry a vision of Philadelphia forward to implementation, there must be a powerful, innovative, and holistic approach to planning within the city. Overall, the purpose of both the comprehensive plan and ongoing
planning is to create a dialogue, push people to make good decisions through information gathering, mediation, and outreach frameworks. By following the guidelines established below, Philadelphia can serve as a protector and amplifier of neighborhood voices. Updating the comprehensive plan • Conduct outreach and civic visioning to come up with the elements of the plan and develop an innovative new model for the plan. • Host a series of design charettes to plan for the use, design, and placement of development like Metro Centers, FRANK, PARC, and Neighborhood Centers. • Coordinate with the zoning reform to make sure that the zoning does not conflict (at the very least) and ideally augments the comprehensive plan. • Establish a process for iterative updates and feedback to the comprehensive plan. Ongoing planning • Establish principles for neighborhood plans that involve transparency, strategic thinking, equity, and efficiency. Tie implementation for planning with compliance of principles. • Set protocols for planning and implementing neighborhood visions at a city-wide level to ensure that neighborhood needs are met but services and processes are provided efficiently and effectively. • Provide space for dialogue among community members, across neighborhoods, and between different sectors. • Coordinate with agencies at the local, state,h and national level in the areas of education, public health, public safety and housing.
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Philadelphia Neighborhood Bank Beginning in 2010, the City plans to spend $7.8 billion on neighborhoods over a five-year period. Neighborhood investments
will be scattered across over 166 line items and across ten departments. It will pay for services ranging from streetscaping to the stormwater management. However, the City could do more with less by instituting a commonsense plan, we call the Philadelphia Neighborhood Bank (PNB).
Before Philadelphia Neighborhood Bank (PNB)
With Philadelphia Neighborhood Bank (PNB)
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Modeled after the National Infrastructure Bank, the PNB would evaluate and finance innovative neighborhood plans, coordinate Streets and Water Department improvements, and work with Commerce and other departments and agencies. The City would finance projects that are part of neighborhood plans that comply with the city’s comprehensive plan. The City would target PNB investments based on how plans rank on three criteria: •
Compliance. Plans must identify ways of re-knitting areas with high levels of vacancy that work with the city’s Urban TDR plan; cluster services; adopt land use recommendations that support transit-oriented development; and integrate the neighborhood with the PARC.
•
Capacity. Neighborhoods must demonstrate the ability to involve the entire neighborhood, different stakeholders, and local institutions in the planning process.
•
Need. Plans must assess the level of neighborhood need using indicators like housing values or local school test scores.
In this way, PNB enables neighborhoods to implement transformative plans that mirror the goals of the Comprehensive Plan. The Philadelphia Neighborhood Bank would be an independently chartered authority, which oversees budget spending on neighborhood improvements. However, the bank would also be funded by two value capture mechanisms. First, neighborhoods that so choose would become part of a benefits assessment district where residents and businesses would pay according to their ability. Neighborhoods would also become part of a tax increment-financing district where 20% of incremental growth would be devoted to the PNB. These two value capture mechanisms will enable the PNB to raise more funds and issue bonds that will create even more value for neighborhood investments.
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Urban Transfer of Development Rights A half-century of population loss and deindustrialization has left Philadelphia with an oversupply of housing and large amounts of vacant blighted properties. A transfer of development rights (TDR) program with an innovative urban bent could consolidate these properties and convert them to more beneficial uses. Learning from the experience of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, a TDR program would be a comprehensive way to consolidate land that would serve a higher public purpose as parkland, urban agriculture, or urban forest. The program could: 1. Acquire PARC properties, 2. Tighten neighborhoods by smoothing blighted edges, and 3. Protect environmentally sensitive lands. Through the program, developers desiring to build at higher-than-permissible densities would pay into a land trust in charge of strategically buying and converting properties. In this way, the development rights on PARC sites, environmentally sensitive lands, blighted edges, and obsolete industrial sites would be transferred to Metro Centers where higher densities are appropriate. Upon purchasing lands, a trust would convert and manage properties or transfer lands to other appropriate organizations. As a first step, the city would map areas where development rights should be vacated and those places where higher densities are appropriate. Secondly, the city would need to authorize and establish a non-profit land trust intermediary.
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2009
2040
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Philadelphia Development Corporation In 2009, cities across the United States, from New York to Boston, had agencies such as the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) that proactively built the city through public private developments (PPD). These PPDs created partnerships that developed parcels and neighborhoods that neither the public nor the private sector could develop individually. Philadelphia lacks this capacity. While the NYCEDC brought over ten projects online in the course of just three years, in twenty years Philadelphia had only two significant PPD projects under its belt - the Aramark Tower at 12th and Market, and the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia. In large part this is due to the fact that the only agency with significant capacity to pursue PPD, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), historically focused its efforts on industrial lands. In order to take a proactive approach to redeveloping the city, across all neighborhoods and across all uses, the City dropped the “I” from PIDC, and created the Philadelphia Development Corporation (PDC). The PDC was charged with engaging private developers to help build Metro Centers, spark development in non-traditional markets and coordinate the city’s redevelopment powers. The PDC would pursue an active land acquisition strategy along the FRANK line, and in the Metro Centers. Controlling land along FRANK and in Metro Centers enables the PDC and the City to actively pursue transit-oriented development and strategic economic development. Utilizing the full breadth of PPD tools - density financing, risk sharing, and rent forgiveness - the PDC finds the right off-budget tools to help spur development. While a non-profit arm of the Philadelphia government, the PDC would operate with significant business acumen, and ensure significant profit sharing in its development deals. These profits provide funding sources to ensure high quality public amenities accompany these PPDs. The PDC has the capacity to negotiate effectively for public benefit. The PDC enables the City to strategically wield financial incentives and enter risk-sharing agreements. By pursuing a proactive development agenda based on a clear vision for the City and the promotion of CHOICE, the PDC avoids the inefficient method of offering incentives and waiting for developers to come.
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Zoning Our vision for 2040 requires a flexible zoning code that enables the community, private sector, and public officials to enhance Philadelphia’s network of neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the present zoning code is far from fulfilling this need. The code and its nearly 1,000 amendments make Philadelphia’s development process complicated, confusing, and unpredictable. Recognizing the zoning code’s many shortcomings, the City Council created the Zoning Code Commission (ZCC) in 2007 to assess the code and adopt specific recommendations to improve it.
Today, there are 25 residential districts, 9 commercial districts, 10 industrial districts, 12 special overlay districts, and 4 master plan districts. Center City alone has 27 base districts and 22 overlay districts, subjecting a single parcel to as many as four different sets of land use restrictions. The present code cannot knit together the places where people live, work, and play. It fails to take advantage of transit assets to improve access to jobs, services, and amenities. It rarely reflects the rich historic urban fabric in existence long before the code’s creation, and is ill-equipped to construct the proposed City of Neighborhoods vision. Since Metro Centers and FRANK station areas will be 2040’s primary gathering places for commerce and social activity, they need exhibit the highest quality and innovation of design. Yet, traditional zoning cannot address their needs for mixed building uses, public transit, walkable streets, and environmental preservation. A
flexible zoning code is critical for Metro Centers and transit-oriented developments.
Four overlapping districts govern land use for several blocks in Old City.
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“The zoning code should create opportunities for transit-oriented development.” — The Zoning Commission, Interim Report (April 2009)
Transit-Oriented Design (TOD)
zoning will encourage the development of mixed-use, walkable centers around FRANK stations. A TOD zone includes all buildings within walking distance (at least ¼-mile and up to ½-mile) of the station. The highest intensity and variety of uses are clustered immediately adjacent to the station. All building layouts in the zone must create a positive pedestrian environment in accordance with TOD design guidelines. TOD zoning is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The new zoning code needs multiple TOD typologies to represent the full range of neighborhoods that FRANK serves – single family homes to high rises and corner stores to retail corridors – while preserving the basic principles of walkability and mixture of uses around transit nodes.
Conceptual Node-Oriented TOD
Cities such as Denver, Colorado and Austin, Texas have developed TOD station typologies that include node-oriented TODs like “Urban Centers” and “Downtown”, as well as corridor-oriented TODs like “Corridor Mixed Use” and “Main Street”.
Conceptual Corridor-oriented TOD
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A “planned development district could provide standards for review that are consistent with the city’s long-range plans for development.” — The Zoning Commission, Interim Report (April 2009)
The Planned Development District (PDD) is a modern zoning technique that is able to meet the needs of Metro Centers through a level of flexibility unknown in traditional zoning.
A PDD Document includes a Use Map and a Land Use Table, but the comparison to traditional zoning ends there. A PDD contains multiple parcels of land that are planned and built as a single unit. Concurrent development ensures that land uses complement one another, valuable amenities like open space are preserved, and the site design contributes positively to the surrounding community and the entire city. • The Use Map outlines locations of different land uses. It is a schematic land use map that is not parcel-specific. The Map circumscribes where development can occur and identifies the general types of allowable land uses, such as “Residential” or “Commercial”. The Map can also establish non-negotiable boundaries for public amenities like open space and transit. • The Land Use Table lists the permissible and conditional land uses that apply to each development area. On the surface, it may seem that the PDD is identical to the existing code’s Master Plan District, but the PDD is a far superior zoning tool. The Master Plan District requires the landowner to apply for the designation and submit a master plan for approval. The Master Plan districts are unclear about what and where the sitespecific amenities should be. For example, the Waterfront Master Plan District requires a 50-foot greenway starting at the “top of the bank”, which is an undefined term. Instead, the City (NOT the private sector) dictates where the PDD should be, which portions of the PDD should be dedicated for public benefit, and where development can take place within the PDD.
The PDD technique is ideal for Metro Centers - it guarantees the provision of vital public amenities, but allows for flexible site design. The PDD does not restrict a
Metro Center’s possibilities according to present-day realities, but rather lets future circumstances determine its form and function in order to sustain the city’s competitiveness in an ever-changing regional economy.
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Far Right: Westrum Company submitted a Master Plan proposal for the former Philadelphia Coke Plant in the Bridesburg neighborhood in 2007. The Plan called for 1,140 condominium units on the riverside of a North Delaware Avenue Extension and 900 townhouse units, 30,000 square feet of commercial space, and a community center on the opposite side of Delaware Avenue. The PD Zone Document shows a schematic land use map with the same development uses, but also specifies two public amenity requirements: a 50-foot waterfront greenway and a reserved right of way along North Delaware Avenue for FRANK.
PPD Zone Document Land Use Table
“P” = Permitted, “C” = Conditional Use
PD Area A Multi-Story Dwelling Units............. P Hotel.............................................. C PD Area B Residential: Single-Family Attached................. P Multi-Family Attached.................... P Ground Floor Retail....................... P Commercial: Ground Floor Retail....................... P Civic: Community Recreation Center...... P
Land Use Notes 1. The Greenway must provide pedestrian and bicycle trails along the waterfront. 2. The Greenway must provide recreation amenities, including but not limited to: benches, water fountains, bike racks, restrooms, lighting, signage, habitat restoration, fishing esplanades, and maintenance facilities. 3. A minimum 20-foot right of way must be reserved along the center of the North Delaware Avenue Extension for transit access. If site development occurs prior to transit installation, the right of way must be landscaped to manage the first inch of rainfall.
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Transit Funding FRANK represents a bold vision. But it is not an unrealistic one. President Barack Obama has indicated an understanding of the powerful influence transportation investment decisions have on our society. He released a policy paper near the end of his campaign that stated: Over the long term, we know that the amount of fuel we will use is directly related to our land use decisions and development patterns. For the last 100 years, our communities have been organized around the principle of cheap gasoline... we must devote significantly more attention to investments that will make it easier for us to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives. (Obama-Biden, 2008 Presidential Campaign) This perspective, paired with a new law governing surface transportation spending (due fall 2009) and a nationwide mandate to rebuild infrastructure, could presage a turning point as significant as the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. At an estimated cost of $3.0-$4.8 billion, FRANK would require a reorganization of established regional priorities. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Destination 2030 Plan allocates $3.4 billion for new transit capacity, yet all but $300 million of those funds are dedicated to expanding transit on the fringes of our region. That plan also calls for $2 billion in new highway capacity. Any capacity expansion at the edge of the region, transit or highway, will only result in more sprawl and more congestion. All major infrastructure projects involve significant Federal funding. Officials in Washington look favorably upon proposals that align with their own goals. It is imperative that Philadelphia begins to plan immediately if it intends to enjoy the financial support of the Federal government in an era when sustainable transportation decisions take priority.
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Tax Increment Financing
Revolving Loan Fund
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is an increasingly popular source of funds for local redevelopment projects, areas, or districts. In this funding format, future incremental tax revenues are pledged towards securing bonds that provide upfront capital for a project. TIF is a particularly attractive tool for local governments because it is offbudget and does not require additional tax revenue.
Inner-city markets are ripe with business opportunities. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs may have the right ideas and creativity but lack access to capital or business know-how. The establishment of a Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) could help fill this critical financing gap and provide technical assistance for local businesses.
The Pennsylvania Tax Increment Financing Act authorizes the City to create TIF districts, subject to City Council approval. TIF districts may be project-based, neighborhood-based, or district-based. In these areas, increases in certain tax revenue may be used to finance improvements. The borrower repays the TIF loan to the lender with the incremental taxes. Eligible TIF financing sources: • The loan amount is a function of the incremental taxes generated in the TIF area, determined by the lender according to its underwriting criteria. The incremental taxes may come from: • Real estate taxes, • Use and occupancy taxes, and • Sales taxes. Eligible TIF uses: • Acquisition, • Site preparation, • New construction or substantial renovation, • Machinery and equipment acquisition, and • Related project fees and costs.
Through the RLF, the City could offer businesses flexible financing and favorable terms unavailable in the private market. To ensure that the program maintains its “revolving” character, city-led due diligence would be essential for each proposed entrepreneurial venture. While the City would not demand financial market-rate returns, it would require full repayment of the loan and real returns would accrue from: • • • •
Number and type of jobs created or retained, Increase in tax revenue, Private funding relative to public investment, and Benefits to low and moderate-income citizens, from business ownership to job opportunities.
Possible initial funding sources • Private: Contributions from developers of public private development or planned development district projects. • Local & State: Taxes, general obligation bonds, and state lottery & direct appropriations • Federal: Community Development Block Grants (Housing and Urban Development), Economic Development Administration (Department of Commerce)
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First steps to 2040 Philadelphia 2040: A City of Neighborhoods presents a vision for a city that is comprehensive, ambitious, and achievable. The ingredients already exist and, in some cases, the right actions are already being taken. The city just needs to combine this longer term vision with a strategic focus and stronger collaboration between new and existing actors to make CHOICE a reality. •
Step 1: Streamline current neighborhood efforts Create an interdepartmental neighborhood task force to streamline existing neighborhood expenditures and planning efforts. Representatives from Parks and Recreation, the Planning Commission, Public Safety, Streets, and other City departments can coordinate spending and programming to use resources more effectively, efficiently and strategically. It can also build the foundation and inform the future development of the Philadelphia Neighborhood Bank.
•
Step 2: Restructure city-owned assets and development processes Assess the current inventory of city-owned land and start to assemble land along FRANK’s proposed routes, near potential Metro Centers, and in environmentally sensitive areas. Create a streamlined entity for coordinating land assembly and sale, such as the Philadelphia Development Corporation, and sell off land that is not vital to this long-term vision.
•
Step 3: Remove barriers and create opportunities for CHOICE in the comprehensive plan and zoning code Ensure that the new comprehensive plan supports neighborhoods in the process of planning and its substance. In zoning reform, incorporate transitoriented development and planned development districts along significant FRANK stations and Metro Centers.
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Neighborhood Choice This vision has the potential to transform Philadelphia.
Strengthening the heart of each neighborhood and connecting it to a nearby Metro Center via FRANK and PARC will restore and enhance the building blocks that make our neighborhoods the envy of every city in the nation. We envision a 2040 where all residents are connected to a broad range of educational and employment opportunities. It is a future where residents live in physically healthy and equitable neighborhoods that are distinctly Philadelphian and where people and places enhance the uniqueness of our city and strengthen the region. The development of vibrant neighborhoods and economic centers and the creation of robust networks of open space and transit will go far in providing Choice to Philadelphians. Together, these components will inspire the emergence of a new Philadelphia – one that delivers on its promise to enable connectivity, health, opportunity, identity, competitiveness, and equity to all residents.
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References Cartographic Modeling Lab. “Philadelphia Neighborhood Information System”. Data from a 2000 L&I Survey. Available at <http://www.cml.upenn.edu/nis/>. Copp, Cindy, Peter Haas, Bill Hangley, Jr. and Karen Hobbs. “Making the Connections: Parks, Open Space and Vibrant Communities.” City Parks Alliance and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, 2005. Food Trust. “Food for Every Child: The Need for More Supermarkets in Philadelphia.” 2001. Available at <http://www.thefoodtrust.org/>. Obama Biden Campaign. “New Energy for America.” Available at <www.barackobama.com>. Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. “PIDC Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Program.” Accessed 25 April 2009. Available at http://www.pidc-pa.org/svc-fina-loanprog-h.asp?itemid=12. Stern, Mark J. and Susan C. Seifert. “Re-presenting the City: Arts, Culture and Diversity in Philadelphia.” Social Impact for the Arts. April 1999. Stern, Mark J. and Susan C. Seifert. “From Creative Economy to Creative Society.” Social Impact for the Arts and The Reinvestment Fund. January 2008. US Census Bureau. “2000 US Census, Philadelphia County, SF 1 and 4.” Available at http://www. census.gov/.
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Studio Team Ariel Ben-Amos is a candidate for a dual degree in City and Regional Planning, and Government
Administration. A life long Philadelphian, he is committed to its growth, health, sustainability and soft pretzels.
Faith Cole is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio.
She studied Anthropology and History at Carnegie Mellon and has lived in Vienna, Austria and Cologne, Germany. Inspired by her travels and interest in promoting a healthy urban environment, she studied Land Use and Environmental Planning at PennDesign.
Nick Frontino is concentrating in Urban Development, with a special interest in the sustainable redevelopment of post-industrial urban areas. He received his A.B. from the University of Chicago.
Xin Ge is concentrating in Community and Economic Development. and comes to PennDesign from Bejing, China.
He has a degree in Architecture
Xue Han came from China two years ago. Living in a country which has developed at a fascinating speed during the last decade, it was easy for Xue to fall in love with urban development. She is dedicated to make the city a more livable place, for all races and all ages.
Josh Hoffman has worked on both the public and private side of real estate development in
Washington, DC. Last summer, he gained policy experience working with Mayor Fentyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office to implement the upcoming Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning program. Within the City Planning program, he is concentrating on Urban Development and also pursuing a Certificate in Real Estate Design and Development.
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Natalie Hsuehâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concentration is Land Use and Environmental Planning, and she holds a Master in Environmental
Studies degree from University of Pennsylvania. She came to the MCP program with a background in brownfield remediation, and continues to explore the urban environment and methods of sustainable development.
Carolyn Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work and on environmental issues in the Pacific Northwest inspired her to attend the MCP program. Her primary interests are preserving working landscapes, transforming sprawl, and reducing the auto-dependency of our cities and towns.
Jeff Knowles is concentrating in Land Use & Environmental Planning.
Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Jeff lived in Memphis, Tennessee, where he received a B.A. from Rhodes College in history.
Christy Kwan is concentrating in Community and Economic Development and is interested in utilizing planning to
make the world a better, more liveable place. She received a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego in Sociology and Critical Gender Studies.
Donnie Maley concentrates in Transportation. He came to city planning from teaching in the School District of
Philadelphia. He has a B.A. in sociology and urban studies from Northwestern University and an M.S. in education from Penn.
Amanda Wagner is concentrating in Community and Economic Development.
She has a background and interest in community-based research and food systems planning, and received a B.A. in Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.
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