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Presenter's Notes: People are starting to think about the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Vision2026 is meant to dovetail with that effort, asking people to think about how do to they want to present their neighborhood, city, and country to the world.
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Presenter's Notes: This is how planners imagined cities of the future in 1925. Vision2026 is about thinking big, but also thinking practically, and about the world we live in.
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Presenter's Notes: The study area is a dynamic district with many definitions.
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Presenter's Notes: In our research, we wanted to learn and show how much Old City and its physical relationship with the rest of the City have evolved.
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Presenter's Notes: By this point, Old City is an island in Philadelphia ... we think it's critical for a master plan to focus on helping people cross the divides that have been formed.
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Presenter's Notes: The previous slides show how Philadelphia was hollowing out its center during the twentieth century, reflecting continual drops in population. Now that population is growing again, and land values are rising, especially at the center and its edges, we need to begin thinking differently, and planning for a future that is no longer about decline.
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Presenter's Notes: Market opportunities in Old City are strongest around residential development and becoming a more densely populated neighborhood, complete with services supporting such development.
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Presenter's Notes: In our survey, we asked what people liked best about Old City. The top half of the list includes what we consider to be the most defining characteristics that are important to protect and further cultivate. We also believe that Old City's artistic and cultural identity extends beyond traditional arts uses like galleries and theaters, to include creative retailers, restaurateurs, and coworkers. The bottom half includes features that likely would benefit from some improvement. 16
Presenter's Notes: The survey included open-ended questions, from which we distilled a series of concerns.
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Presenter's Notes: Here is a bird's eye view of Old City from the Delaware River
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Presenter's Notes: This is the same view, showing Old City in context of the rest of Greater Center City.
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Presenter's Notes: The City of Philadelphia is working to re-zone and redevelop a new neighborhood between Old City and Northern Liberties. We believe that this will be a positive development for Old City, both providing residents within walking distance to support Old City retail, and ease some of the development pressure in Old City that risks changing its character in unwanted ways.
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Presenter's Notes: In our survey, we asked respondents which neighborhood they would like to borrow any characteristics from. These were the top four.
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Presenter's Notes: Despite the improving market conditions, there is a certain (though declining) amount of vacancy throughout Old City, including first floors, upper floors, and unbuilt lots. In our survey, we found that people would like to see more activity in Old City rather than less.`
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Presenter's Notes: The question will be, how to accommodate such growth, which can often come with unintended consequences.
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Presenter's Notes: Using an online database, we identified over 6000 publicly available parking spaces between 7th Street and the Delaware River. Survey respondents, little to our surprise, said they would drive more if there was more plentiful and affordable parking. Is this a tenable outcome in a real estate market with increasingly valuable "human uses"? And... are people actually interested in having more drivers in Old City?
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Presenter's Notes: During the previously described period of growth in greater Center City, driving has actually often been decreasing (something you'd be hard-pressed to find a traffic engineer ever predict), alongside robust growth in transit and bicycle ridership. Something is changing, and Vision2026 needs to recognize that and respond accordingly.
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Presenter's Notes: In our survey, we asked whether Old City would become a little better, a lot better, a little worse, or a lot worse if more people decided to travel by a variety of different modes. A strong majority of respondents said Old City would become a worse place if more people chose to drive. Not only that, but a significant proportion of respondents said they, themselves, would like to drive less than they do today.
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Presenter's Notes: Given that people are interested in growth, and markets seem able to support it, how will the district accommodate such growth without become a "worse place" with more people driving? To us, the answer is clear: provide much better alternatives.
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Presenter's Notes: This is an historic image of the 500 block of Market Street, where Independence Mall currently sits. In the 19th century, the Pennsylvania railroad ran right down market street. It was eventually replaced by trolleys, including freight trolleys, delivering goods to market sheds. This street design made a lot of sense, but by the 1920s, its time had passed. The lesson learned here is that streets change over the generations, and it is important for neighborhoods to plan them to reflect the needs and preferences of the present and future, not the past. 33
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Presenter's Notes: When visiting several businesses, we found that people who work in Old City rarely commute by car already. Does the infrastructure reflect their needs?
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Presenter's Notes: We often think of Amsterdam as a progressive planning paradise... but it wasn't always so. This street, in 1965, must have been almost indistinguishable from its American counterparts.
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Presenter's Notes: This is the same street today. The Dutch have made very deliberate decisions in transportation planning, and people's behavior has shifted. P.S. The success of businesses in the photograph is palpable.
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Presenter's Notes: Philadelphia is considering a VisionZero agenda. By shifting its transportation priorities, the Dutch achieved serious results.
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Presenter's Notes: The map above illustrates Old City's pedestrian infrastructure, especially its crosswalk network. Survey respondents overwhelmingly agree that more walking is good for Old City. What are the things that make for a more magnetic and comfortable walking environment?
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Presenter's Notes: Survey respondents agree that more bicycling would be good for Old City, and many would like to bicycle more, themselves. It's worth noting that 15% of respondents bicycle in Old City several times a week already. For the sake of comparison, about 30% say they drive several times a per week. Does Old City's Street infrastructure reflect this relatively comparable level of use? The map above illustrates existing bike lanes and Indego bike share stations, accounting for the neighborhood's bicycle-specific infrastructure. 41
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Presenter's Notes: Indego's Market Street bikeshare station is heaviliy used. Especially noteworthy is the count of 76 daily trips accommodated by two-parking spaces worth of bikeshare docks. How many trips did the previously existing parking spaces support?
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Presenter's Notes: Bike parking, like car parking, is often hard to come by
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Presenter's Notes: Old City's current north-bound bike lane on 5th street jockeys for space with tour buses, horses with carriages, and bridge-bound vehicular traffic. The lanes are frequently obstructed.
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Presenter's Notes: On 3rd Street, this is a common experience of city cyclists, also jockeying for position between traffic. Is this the safest, most visitor-friendly experience we can provide?
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Presenter's Notes: Survey respondents identified several things that would help them or make them more willing to bicycle in Old City. If we want more people to bicycle, which of these can we consider?
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Presenter's Notes: Even national retailers, reflected by this Banana Republic window art, are beginning to realize that shifting transportation priorities is good for business.
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Presenter's Notes: And the numbers often bare it out. The reason for these spikes in sales are thought to be because of increased access to retailers, and because walkers and bicyclists make smaller but much more frequent purchases than drivers.
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Presenter's Notes: 13th Street entrepreneur and Old City resident, Sarah Evancho says that she, her colleagues, and many customers bike to midtown village.
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Presenter's Notes: In terms of transit, the map above illustrates bus routes in Old City and subway stations. The two intersecting diamonds indicate a 7-minute approximate walking distance from each of the subway stations. Old City is among the most transit accessible places in Philadelphia. And though not as much as for walking or bicycling, survey respondents strongly feel that more people riding transit would be good for Old City. What are the things that need to happen to make behavior shift?
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Presenter's Notes: This modified version of SEPTA's center city bus map illustrates routes directly serving Old City. A map like this, where routes are color-coded, can help visitors know which routes take them where.
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Presenter's Notes: This modified version of SEPTA's center city bus map illustrates routes directly serving Old City. A map like this, where routes are color-coded, can help visitors know which routes take them where.
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Presenter's Notes: We also asked how people felt about various public spaces throughout Old City. Some, like Christ Church Park, jumped out as great opportunities for improvement with major impact.
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Presenter's Notes: Through our research, we distilled several core values, which come together to form the basis for a plan. The last item, anti-fragility, is a bit wonky, and worth clarifying. Beyond durability, which is about withstanding change, anti-fragility is about becoming better and stronger when stressors are applied. The suburbs almost invariably become worse places when more people are added to them. When cities function a their best, they become better and better when more people are added to the mix. The challenge is planning for shared assets that allow that to be the outcome. 55
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Presenter's Notes: A few months ago, we decided to bring some chairs to Christ Church Park to simulate what a more activated space would feel like. Even though it was cheap and minimal, we thought it was pretty great. The National Park Service, which owns the space, is open to making more permanent improvements, and we think this should become a high District priority.
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Presenter's Notes: Jackson Square in New Orleans provides a nice model for how Christ Church Park can evolve. Like Church Street, the street between St. Louis Cathedra and Jackson Square is a "people street," featuring markets, music, and many pedestrians.
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Presenter's Notes: On the other side of the Square from the Cathedral, and a larger street moves many people and good in a number of ways, not unlike Market Street. The green space, though larger than Christ Church Park and of a more southern character, is a very welcoming space, complete with walking paths and trees. `
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Presenter's Notes: Christ Church Park is a much smaller scale than Jackson Square. Fitler Square in southwest center city is a comparable size.
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Presenter's Notes: Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam is another square, comparable in scale with Christ Church Park. It sits and the junction of many tram lines, features an open plan, and eye-catching public art.
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Presenter's Notes: Paul Revere mall in the north end of Boston, next to the Old North Church is a hardscape public space, beloved by neighbors and visitors alike, commemorating a national hero.
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Presenter's Notes: Any future proposed improvements to Christ Church Park should reflect Philadelphia's character and rich tradition of great public space. Let's learn from the places we already love.
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Presenter's Notes: If the Old City District and National Parks Services elect to plan improvements to Christ Church Park, the guidelines above are a starting point for crafting that plan.
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Presenter's Notes: Presently, Christ Church Park functions as a makeshift dog park for those who don't want to go all the way to Penn's Landing. If the transformation of Christ Church Park into a better "human park," at the expense of the dogs, we believe that a section of Wood Street Park could serve as an excellent space for a new dog park. It is close to both current residents in the northern section of Old City, and future residents around Callowhill, creating an opportunity for the neighborhoods to come together.
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Presenter's Notes: The dog park at Schuylkill River Park serves as a great model for a dog park in Old City.
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Presenter's Notes: The southeast corner of Elfreth's Alley and 2nd Street is currently an undignified gravel/asphalt lot. By upgrading it to a a small park, amenity could be provided to the National and residents of Elfreth's Alley, and visitors would have a more pleasant experience when visiting America's longest continuously occupied residential street.
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Presenter's Notes: Welcome Park, south of Market Street, seems somewhat purposeless today. Further study should be undertaken to determine how to better activate this a space and serve neighborhood needs.
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Presenter's Notes: Today, unlike Washington Square, Franklin Square is very disconnected from Old City. This is in part because of the Mint, but largely because of the highhway-like approach to the Bridge from Vine Street.
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Presenter's Notes: The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is working with the Delaware River Port Authority to determine whether the landing of the bridge can be reconfigured to make for a better experience for pedestrians and motorists alike.
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Presenter's Notes: This rendering, by Olin Partnership, illustrates what that transformation could be like. We believe Old City should support PHS's efforts.
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Presenter's Notes: Despite the common urban experience and perception of lack of parking, there is a significant amount of parking available in Old City.
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Presenter's Notes: As in other sections of greater Center City, many Old City parking lots are now being considered for development, given the strength of the real estate market and increased value of development in a growing city. In many cases, such as one project at 12th and Walnut, these developments don't include any parking at all. The shifting availability of publicly available parking means that Old City should carefully consider how to best utilize what can be considered a diminishing resource.
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Presenter's Notes: Customers, residents, and visitors can be delivered to and transported from Old City in a variety of ways. However, until drone technology really takes off, trucking will be essential for delivering goods and materials to busineses. When it comes to parking and complete streets, first and foremost, commercial loading needs to be priorities. The District should consider how to increase loading, in both space and time, to better serve business needs. 81
Presenter's Notes: Passyunk Avenue, one of the neighborhoods survey respondents wanted to emulate, has done an excellent job of implementing district-based valet service.
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Presenter's Notes: The Ben Franklin Bridge is an opportunity for a certain amount of replacement parking. There are security concerns that would have to be resolved by the DRPA, but there are many examples of elevated highway structures accommodating parking below, including I-95 in Philadelphia.
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Presenter's Notes: There are a few large-scale development sites available in Old City. Incorporating shared parking assets into them is an option to consider to provide a certain amount of public benefit without the frequently adverse impacts of parking facilities.
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Presenter's Notes: Shared car services like Zipcar help people make trips that are not convenient by foot, bicycle, or transit without needing to own a car. Studies find that each shared car can eliminate the need for 15 privately owned cars. We have been in touch with Zipcar in Philadelphia, and know they would like to establish a more robust presence in Old City. The District should help them find the space.
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Presenter's Notes: We want people of all ages and abilities to feel comfortable ridycing a bicycle in Old City. A silver lining of Pope Weekend back in September was that we were able to see how many more people would bicycle in Philadelphia when streets feel safe. How do we create this sense of safety and community in our daily lives?
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Presenter's Notes: We don't think the aforementioned existing infrastructure makes enough people feel safe or comfortable enough to bicycle regularly in Old City.
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Presenter's Notes: Today, there is limited "great" bicycle infrastructure connecting Old City to the rest of the City.
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Presenter's Notes: But there are big plans on the table throughout the city, including a Spring Garden Greenway, the Delaware River Trail, and protected bike lanes on Market Street and JFK, west of City Hall.
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Presenter's Notes: We believe that worldclass bicycle infrastructure through the heart of Old City is key to becoming the place it wants to be.
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Presenter's Notes: The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation is in the middle of designing the Delaware River Trail. This built section on Penn Street, shows that type of infrastructure that can be expected up and down the river. Old City will benefit greatly from its implementation, especially if key connections are made.
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Presenter's Notes: These key connections include resolving the last leg between the trail and the Spruce and Pine bike lanes, and a connection from the Riverfront to Franklin Square, building on the DRWC's Race Street Connector project.
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Presenter's Notes: Rather than expanding existing stations, a new Indego station north of Market Street would both draw visitors to a key shopping area of Old City, and provide residents with more convenient access to bikeshare. One site worth considering would be the corner of 3rd Street and Quarry Street.
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Presenter's Notes: Market Street actually appears to be overbuilt for the amount of traffic traveling on it. By putting Market Street on a "road diet," it can become a safer environment for pedestrians, and space can be created for bicycle without compromising parking. Further evaluation and design need to be done, but this example from Hoboken shows how a street of a similar scale can be reimagined.
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Presenter's Notes: Old City's north and south streets, despite being important destinations, offer little bicycle infrastructure.
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Presenter's Notes: Protected bike lanes, created by a variety of physical divisions, make people feel safer and lead to increases in bicycle useage. If Pittsburgh can do it (shown here), why can't Old City?
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Presenter's Notes: Back in the summer, we decided to simulate a bike lane on 3rd Street.
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Presenter's Notes: It worked out really well. Isn't this the street you'd like to bike on?
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Presenter's Notes: Here's a mockup of how Old City's north-south streets might be reconfigured. This transformation will require careful planning to ensure that parking, especially commercial loading, is properly apportioned.
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Presenter's Notes: South of Walnut Street, a Second Street bike lane would need to travel on the Belgian block of Dock Street. Fortunately, there's lots of space to a accommodate such a lane without sacrificing vehicular travel or parking, but creative material choices need to be make, in order to make the ride comfortable.
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Presenter's Notes: SEPTA is planning to renovate the 5th Street Station on the Market-Frankford line. This station is a key portal to Old City, and the District should support this project.
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Presenter's Notes: In a way, Market Street defines Old City. Today, it functions as much as a barrier between north and south.
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Presenter's Notes: How do we transform Market Street into a place worthy of Robert Venturi's aspirations?
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Presenter's Notes: Given that the Market Street subway carries 180,000 passengers per day, we think the 200 block of Market Street can be reconceived, not just as an onramp to the highway, but a station plaza for the subway, and a public space for Old City. This doesn't mean that cars need to be eliminated, but that they ought to arrive as polite guests in a pedestrian-oriented environment.
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Presenter's Notes: Though not exactly how Market Street should look, this scene from Germany shows the feeling that a linear plaza can have. Notice that cars and deliveries still exists, but that the environment is principally designed for pedestrians.
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Presenter's Notes: A few miles away, at 30th Street Station, the Porch now serves as a station plaza. There, however, the traffic volume is high enough that the plaza is still very much separated from the roadway.
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Presenter's Notes: In New York City, 33rd Street has been completely transformed. What was once a typical street outside Penn Station...
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Presenter's Notes: ... Is now a completely pedestrianized environment. This isn't the right thing for Market Street, but demonstrates how cities are reimagining their streets. The project was led by surrounding property owners, who realized that a more pedestrian-oriented space was better for business.
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Presenter's Notes: In Amsterdam, Damrak, the City's main thoroughfare to and from Centraal Station provides almost no space to cars. The right of way, very similar in dimension to Market Street, provides primarily for pedestrians, bicycles, and trams, with a single vehicular travel lane in one direction.
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Presenter's Notes: We think Toronto provides the right example for Market Street in Old City. The street outside the City's Union Station used to include a raised median and several travel lanes.
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Presenter's Notes: Today, the street has been reconfigured as a curbless environment, with subtly differentiated pedestrian and vehicular domains, fewer travel lanes, and a pedestrian refuge instead of a raised median. With this transformation, the street becomes a public space.
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Presenter's Notes: To make a reimagined 200 block of Market Street really work, we actually recommend considering taking out the traffic signals at 2nd and 3rd Streets to allow for slower but more fluid processing of traffic, where drivers and pedestrians are meant to be more aware of eachother to make safe choices. Though counter-intuitive and requiring much further analysis and design, this technique has been demonstrated to work in many cities. Please see the videos we also posted on the District webpage, showing how uncontrolled intersections become much more pedestrian-friendly places. 123
Presenter's Notes: In the 1970s and 1980s, Philadelphia made a bold experiment with the Chestnut Street Transitway. It didn't work for many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that it was the 70s and 80s, and with few exceptions, almost nothing in America's cities was working. Still, this is not what we are proposing today.
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Presenter's Notes: We're recommending something you might call "transitway lite," akin to what New York City has implmented on 34th Street to improve crosstown transit connections. Today, it can frequently take just as long to walk from 4th and Walnut to 20th Street as it does to take the bus. To foster better connectivity between Old City and the neighborhoods to the west the District can work with SEPTA, the Parking Authority, and the Streets Department to restablish transit lanes with through striping, signal priority, and increased enforcement.
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Presenter's Notes: Configuring Walnut and Chestnut Streets for rapid bus service would not be very different from today.
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Branding Route 51
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路---路 Presenter's Notes: Route 57, running on 3rd and 4th Streets is the only SEPTA route passing through Old City but not other core business districts. Key initiatives, including increasing service during off-peak hours, and visually branding it, can help better tie neighborhoods to the north and south to Old City.
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Presenter's Notes: Here is a simple example of how typical bus advertising could be purposed to brand Route 57 as the "Old City bus" between Northern Liberties and Pennsport.
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Presenter's Notes: Here are the rapid transit lines serving central Philadelphia.
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Presenter's Notes: Implementing rapid bus transit on Walnut and Chestnut Streets, and enhancing Route 57 would greatly improve access to and from Old City, but wouldn't fundamentally change geographic connections.
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Presenter's Notes: Some of Greater Center City's most substantial growth is happening in the corridors just north and south of the the core. New services to consider for Old City might be L-Shaped Christian Street and Spring Garden Street routes.
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Presenter's Notes: Old City is a very walkable district, but there are key enhancements to make that make the experience that much more pleasant and safe.
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Presenter's Notes: Several of the alley crosswalks on the south side of Market Street are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. A great starting point for improved Old City walkability would be retrofitting these crossings. This can be done quickly and in advance of more transformative changes.
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Presenter's Notes: An an example, side streets in Amsterdam frequently yield to the sidewalk when intersection with a major thoroughfare.
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Presenter's Notes: Pennsylvania vehicle code defines "unmarked legal crosswalks" as extensions of sidewalks at cross streets, even if they are not marked. Many of these exist in Old City, and should be formally marked. The photograph above illustrates such an implementation of a crossing of 20th Street between Spruce and Locust Streets.
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Presenter's Notes: In some places, it may be appropriate to add a midblock crossing. This example from NACTO shows how such a crosswalk could even be raised across a major street.
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Presenter's Notes: In New York City, Sixth and a Half Avenue is being proposed to receive a midblock crossing. While not featuring a raised crosswalk, it does include a visual narrowing of the crosswalk with the use of material changes and plastic bollards.
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Presenter's Notes: This crossing of 4th Street is a perfect example of a candidate for a midblock crossing. Pedestrians already frequently cross here, so formalizing the crossing with striping and bumpouts would let drivers know that pedestrians have the right of way. The Parks Service has considered requesting a traffic study here before. Collaboration between the NPS and the Old District on a package of such requests to the streets department would be a clear statement of policy priority.
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Presenter's Notes: Because of security concerns, the sidewalk of Independence Hall is closed to pedestrians. We believe that a walkable neighborhood would allow such pedestrian passage and that security needs can be met in other ways. A dialogue between Old City District, the City of Philadelphia, NPS, the necessary security agencies would be a good start to reclaiming public access to the cradle of liberty in America.
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Presenter's Notes: Once upon a time, you could even freely walk through the exterior grounds of the hall. This is another restriction worth reconsidering.
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Presenter's Notes: Walkable streets are well lit. The Philadelphia Streets Department has a good pedestrian light standard, which ought to be deployed on several streets throughout Old City.
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Presenter's Notes: In addition to street lighting, the Ben Franklin Bridge provides an opportunity for public art that joins together Old City with neighborhoods to the north.
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Presenter's Notes: Lighting of the bridge would both highlight its stunning architecture and provide a greater sense of safety and community.
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Presenter's Notes: While a Second Street station plaza is partly a transit enhancement, it its also a major pedestrian improvement. A "shared space" design would make Market Street much safer to cross more frequently, thereby eliminating the divide it inadvertently forms today.
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Presenter's Notes: Shared space is more typically deployed on smaller streets. Streets like Church and Quarry presentaly have a difficult time meeting requirements of the American's with Disabilities Act. Especially if they evolve to include more shopping or dining, they could be repurosed as curbless environments where cars pass through when needed, but pedestrians dominate the street.
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Presenter's Notes: Quarry Street is a quiet street today, with a mix of uses, including semi-industrial ones. If property owners consider reinvestment and redevelopment on a more people-oriented basis, a shared space retro-fit would be very appropriate.
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Presenter's Notes: This example from Germany shows how cars and pedestrians can share space on a small street, allowing space previously dedicated to sidewalk space to be more dedicated to retailing and dining.
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